The Good Time Country Buffet, opening this Saturday in the East Village, offers a plucky throwback to all-you-can-eat feasting — a onetime staple of New York City that’s been undergoing a bit of a resurgence.
The new eatery comes from the restaurateurs behind hotspots Kisa and C as in Charlie, who plan to update the cozy buffet concept with downtown cool.
“The whole concept is humble soul food, but that doesn’t mean cheap food. We are serving restaurant-level food that is fresh and tasty and completely Southern,” Good Time Hospitality’s Steve JaeWoo Choi told Side Dish.
While the city used to have many all-you-can-eat spots, a number of them had to close due to health rules introduced during the pandemic. But recent years have seen new all-you-can-eat spots like Mikiya Wagyu Shabu House, which has several NYC locations, and Fogo de Chão’s Brooklyn outpost cater to hungry New Yorkers on a budget.
“The buffet kind of concept is much needed for the economy nowadays because everything is so expensive,” Choi said, citing examples like $20 salads at Sweetgreen.
“I know there’s inflation and whatnot, but it’s just crazy. We want people to come in without thinking about what to get – just walk in and not be shocked by the price,” he added.
Good Time blares its bargain prices on a vintage-style board you see as soon as you enter the premises at First Avenue and 10th Street – $26.99 for dinner, with discounts for seniors and kids. Lunch is $19.99 for adults.
There are also to-go containers costing $9.99 for small and $19.99 for large.
Choi and his partners David JoonWoo Yun and Yong “YK” Min Kim grew up in Atlanta, where they noticed many of the all-you-can-eat buffets were run by Korean immigrants like themselves. Yun’s first job was as a cashier at one of them, according to Choi.
He said the trio is calling on that background to bring a “humble” menu, with options like rib tips, Salisbury steak, meatballs, cornbread, mac-and-cheese and collard greens in addition to fried chicken and fried catfish. Korean fried chicken isn’t on the menu, though Choi said there’s room for all kinds of collaborations down the road.
There is also a salad bar and dessert offerings like peach cobblers, puddings and made-to-order ice-cream sundaes. And, unlike buffets in Atlanta, there’s a full bar with an emphasis on frozen drinks like a Southern Georgia peach cocktail.
Good Time’s founders hope the new buffet will be the latest in a string of successes, all of which, in different ways, go back to their roots.
They opened C as in Charlie in 2022, combining tapas-style Korean and Southern small plates, along with sake shots. Kisa, modelled on the kind of joints Korean taxi drivers frequented in the 1980s, came two years later.
“When we were thinking about what we should do for a third, we thought, let’s go back to Atlanta,” Choi said.
He and his partners always wanted to open a buffet, he added.
“We have very fond memories of growing up and eating at these buffets. We would just stack up our plates and just had very enjoyable memories,” Choi said. “So we just thought, why not?”
Authentic touches include wall-to-wall carpeting, a buffet staple for seniors to prevent them from slipping.
While buffets around the country are not known for haute cuisine, Choi said diners can expect top fare at Good Time.
And he’s optimistic the business model can work after having success with Kisa’s affordable, limited menu.
“We wanted to keep the prices as low as possible. But the rent is crazy,” Choi said.
“The idea is that we’re willing to take a hit at the beginning to see if the concept works. We strongly believe that it will.”
We hear… As the US Open heats up, tennis lovers have also turned the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center into a foodie destination. And if you really want to splurge, you can also get there in style. Blacklane is offering a “Tennis Class” — a “curated VIP experience.” For $3,700, you get a chauffeur booking for up to eight hours, complete with a package of goodies for “match-day essentials,” from lightweight binoculars to a designer tote, sunglasses, and Ralph Lauren cardigans.
“Tennis Class was created as an opportunity to redefine what luxury mobility can mean and to incorporate our passion for exceptional hospitality,” says Kasra Moshkani, CEO Americas for Blacklane, adding that “major sporting and cultural moments should feel exciting with the experience of getting to the venue being part of the occasion itself.”
On the flip side, while tennis pros come to make their name — and fortune — at the US Open, many players are on far tighter budgets than their fans. To that end, Ainslie — known for its wood-fired pizzas and housemade pastas — with locations at 199 Bowery and in Williamsburg at 76 Ainslee St., is offering free meals for competing US Open players as a way “to celebrate their dedication and hard work” to such a demanding, and expensive, sport.
Many of the top 100 players cover the cost of competing, including the travel, themselves.
Ainslie’s Bowery location is also showcasing all of the US Open matches in its beer hall and garden, where the famed Honey Deuce cocktail is also on the menu.