East Village Buffet Opens
The upcoming Good Time Country Buffet in New York’s East Village, slated to open mid-September, promises to add a unique culinary experience to the neighborhood’s diverse dining scene. This new all-you-can-eat buffet is the brainchild of restaurateurs David Yun and Steve Choi, who aim to recreate the beloved country buffet experience they enjoyed during their teenage years in early-aughts Atlanta. The buffet will cater to those seeking a relaxing, affordable dining experience in downtown Manhattan.
From Seoul to Atlanta: A Culinary Journey
Yun and Choi, who met at Bethany Presbyterian Church in Georgia, have previously opened successful restaurants that celebrate their Korean-American heritage. Their first venture, C As in Charlie, blended southern tapas with Korean bar food, while their second, Kisa, replicated the taxi-driver restaurants popular in Seoul in the 1980s. Now, with Good Time Country Buffet, their third venture with partner Yong Min Kim, they’re revisiting their American upbringing and paying homage to the country buffets that were a staple of their youth.
Nostalgia on a Plate: A Southern Comfort Food Extravaganza
Yun explains that the country buffet was a staple of their youth, offering a smorgasbord of southern comfort foods. “It’s a true serve-yourself, all-you-can-eat affair with a fixed price,” he says. “You could eat chicken — as much as you wanted.” Choi recalls overindulging on multiple plates of food, a sign of the buffet’s allure. Good Time Country Buffet will replicate this experience, featuring a variety of dishes that will change regularly, ensuring there’s always something new to try.
The buffet will feature core dishes such as double-fried chicken, brined in buttermilk and emerging with a shatter-crisp skin, and barbecue rib tips, slowly simmered for three hours and tossed in homemade barbecue sauce. Collard greens braised in bacon-fortified chicken stock will sit alongside a golden tray of mac and cheese, a combination of cheddar, mozzarella, and American cheeses, folded in with heavy cream.
In keeping with southern-buffet tradition, specials will rotate on a regular basis. Mondays might bring meatloaf and rib tips, fried green tomatoes, stuffing casserole, French fries, and chicken noodle soup. Thursdays could feature meatballs and fried shrimp, fried okra, green beans, hash browns, and chowder, with Saturdays and Sundays reserved for country ham and fried catfish, onion rings and hush puppies, grits and tomato soup.
Yun stresses that affordability is key. “We could charge more, but we want to keep this affordable,” he says. Adult prices are set at $26.99, with kids’ meals at $13.99, including a 10% senior discount. The buffet model relies on maximizing food consumption and table turnover, with Yun confident that the concept will succeed, citing their experience running Kisa. However, the profitability of flat-rate pricing depends on varied customer appetite, according to Eric Chiang, a professor at the University of Nevada Las Vegas who has studied all-you-can-eat buffets.
The new space at Good Time Country Buffet has been made as painstakingly authentic as Kisa. “One thing that I’m very proud of is we’re going to use carpet here,” Yun says. “I don’t remember the last time I went to a restaurant that used carpet in New York, but when you step on carpet, it feels good.” The buffet occupies a large back room, about a third of the overall space, with plans to seat around 70 people at a time to ensure food remains fresh. The titular buffet is the heart of the restaurant, offering a wide variety of dishes that cater to diverse tastes and dietary preferences.
Despite the risks associated with the all-you-can-eat buffet model, Yun is optimistic about bringing the country buffet experience to downtown Manhattan. “Our confidence comes from operating Kisa,” he says. “Once you’re seated, you don’t have to decide what to order. You just go grab a plate and get your food.” Good Time Country Buffet promises a relaxed, affordable dining experience that might just become an East Village favorite.
