Articles | Buffet Authority

From forgotten buffet empires to emerging all-you-can-eat trends, remarkable dining traditions and ideas that seem almost too good to be true — we go deeper into the stories behind the abundance.

SEPTEMBER 17, 2026

Who Was General Tso—and Why Is His Chicken So Delicious?

One of America’s Most Familiar Chinese Buffet Dishes, Explained

General Tso never tasted General Tso’s chicken. The dish was created in Taiwan, sweetened and crisped in New York, then carried into America’s 1990s Chinese-buffet boom. Its strange journey also explains why that sticky, tangy, crunchy chicken remains one of the buffet line’s safest bets.

SEPTEMBER 17, 2026

Mexican Buffets: What You May Not Know—If You Know Them at All

A Mexican buffet can seem perfectly ordinary in one American city and nearly imaginary in another. From Pancho's old full-time model to neighborhood lunch buffets and increasingly ambitious Sunday brunches, an overlooked all-you-can-eat tradition has survived by becoming several different things.