What Takeout Looks Like At A Golden Corral Buffet

Ah, Golden Corral. Whether you're dining solo or looking to appease the whole family's tastes in a casual setting, this decades-old franchise delivers. Sure, it's not the fanciest buffet or even one of the best buffets in the country, but it's consistent and won't break the bank. If you've yet to visit one of its 400 locations, Golden Corral is known for providing a huge array of comfort food at a great "all you can eat" deal. The place is open most of the day too, and it even has one of the best-value breakfast buffets around. Unlike some buffets, there's no time limit either, so you can theoretically spend all day appeasing your cravings at Golden Corral, if that's your thing. 

What if that's not your thing? Can you get a buffet to go at Golden Corral? If you're craving GC but don't want to actually go and eat there, you do have alternatives for getting your hands on that sirloin steak, boneless chicken, cheesy scalloped potatoes, and more. As it turns out, you can order takeout from Golden Corral in a few simple ways. 

Start by visiting the buffet restaurant's website or app and using the "Order Online" tool to find a nearby location. From there, you'll see three main options: online order pickup, "Weigh and Pay", or delivery through external partners (DoorDash, Uber Eats, or Grubhub). For larger groups, you can also order catering. Not every to-go service is available at every GC location, however, so you'll want to check what's offered near you. 

It's also worth noting that, while all the main popular items, like the sirloin steak, are available, the Golden Corral to-go menu looks a bit different. You can choose from family meals, wings platters, combo meals, sides, desserts, fried chicken boxes, and kids' meals. There are also whole pepperoni and cheese pizzas available for both pick-up and delivery. While practices may vary from store to store, most to-go meals are prepped and boxed up separately from the buffet, so you don't have to worry about them sitting out and getting touched by other patrons before they reach you. The downside of all this is that you don't get to customize your meal quite as intricately as you can while going through the buffet yourself.

You can also go pick out food from your local Golden Corral and take it home yourself. Before you ask, no, you cannot take home leftovers from GC. It's an all-you-can-eat establishment, but that extends to your time there only. Even GC employees don't get to take home leftovers at the end of the day. 

That said, there is still a way you can go to Golden Corral and take home what you want straight from the buffet. This is the "Weigh and Pay" option, which gives you full access to the buffet, so you can pick and choose exactly what you want in there and how much. Depending on how hungry you are, it may not be as good of a deal as sitting and eating everything you can, but, hey, it's having these kinds of options that has helped GC survive in modern times, unlike all the chain buffets you'll never see again.