Place: Golden Corral
Item: the lunch buffet
Price: $6.49

Thanksgiving and eating contests are usually the only time we Lunch Guys stuff ourselves to the top of the old esophagus. Yet for a recent lunch, we decided to pretend we were hungry cowboys (instead of doughnut-fed desk jockeys) as we strapped on the all-you-can-eat feedbags at the Golden Corral.

At dinner, the Corral shovels out steak and seafood to the crowds waiting in the theme-park-style lines. The noontime scene is thankfully quieter, though it still offers meat and veggie stations alongside the salad bar and bakery. We definitely came out stuffed, but were we satisfied?

Chris: I've been burned before on other Western-themed buffets -- your Bonanzas, Ponderosas, et al. Slimy salisbury steak and goopy vanilla soft serve do not inspire a second trip down the cafeteria line. So I thank you, Golden Corral, for making me wish I had four stomachs, like our lucky bovine brothers.

I managed to squeeze 20 different entrees, sides and desserts onto my three plates, but I wish I had had the anatomical capacity to try the 40 or so other items. Miraculously, almost everything hit the spot. While the spinach quiche tasted Sara

yellow rice. At one of the healthier stations, I scooped up piping hot homemade chicken soup, cottage cheese, giant strawberries and baby spinach salad. Positioning my items became a chess game--carefully arranging complementary dishes like a United Nations of food. No one was looking at me funny because they were all doing the same thing.

To round out the meal (and my waistline), I finished with a cinnamon roll worthy of what they do in the mall, a chocolate chip cookie and a Rice Krispies treat. This was no “gather-round-the-chuckwagon”-style buffet. It was more like brunch at Caesars Palace!

Chris: Very true, Tom. And I loved that whether I want a 30-course meal or just a heaping salad with a side of peas, $6.49 is a real deal. The Corral cooks quality into its quantity.

Tom: Don't downplay the quantity. Apparently overeating is in style at Golden Corral. We were the lightest people in the place—and that's if we got on the scale together! But if that's not your concern, dig in. And keep digging. It's worth the weight.

Rating: 5 sporks (out of 5)

E-mail The Lunch Guys:
tomandchris@thelunchguys.com

Lee-ish, the bourbon chicken, ham steak and beef tips were fresh and beautiful. The country pea salad was a mountain of mayo, but who carewhen you've got country beans and Southern-style cabbage like this? At almost every steaming, heaping, gleaming bin (the manager confirmed fresh, full and clean is the Corral's policy), I saw an unexpected wonderment. It was like my Texas grandma had been cooking for two months to provide me with this extravagant blowout. And yes, I saved room for dessert -- three puddings, two cakes and one pie. I'm still digesting.