The Wire

News and dispatches from the world of all-you-can-eat dining.

October 8, 2026

Chef’s Kiss in Topeka, KS Plans a Return With Pasta on the Move

A tentative October 16 Italian buffet at The Woodshed adds small pasta tastings delivered to the table.

Chef’s Kiss is planning a $24.95 AYCE Italian dinner at The Woodshed on October 16, subject to construction and final licensing. Buffet favorites will share the evening with Pass the Pasta tastings brought to diners’ tables.

October 8, 2026

Pennsylvania’s Mount Airy Wednesday Buffet Drops Below $19 for Rewards Card Holders

October’s 30 percent discount brings the $26.99 buffet to about $18.89 before tax and tip.

A Mount Airy Rewards Card brings the Wednesday buffet to about $18.89 before tax and tip this October. October 14, 21 and 28 are still ahead, with the 30 percent discount available during service from noon to 8 p.m.

October 8, 2026

Hot Pot Grill Joins Centerra’s Next Restaurant Lineup in Loveland, CO

The signed tenant is anticipated by spring 2027; an AYCE format has not been announced.

Hot Pot Grill has signed on at The Promenade Shops at Centerra in Loveland, with its arrival anticipated by spring 2027. The restaurant’s menu, prices and service format, including whether it will offer AYCE, have not been announced.

October 7, 2026

Olive Garden Schedules Nine Openings Across Six States Through December

Texas gets three restaurants and Florida two on the company’s fall opening calendar.

Olive Garden’s official calendar lists nine openings from October through December, led by three Texas locations and two in Florida. The new addresses extend the chain’s everyday soup-or-salad and breadstick refills; its seasonal pasta promotion runs on a separate calendar.

October 7, 2026

Wagyu House Plans AYCE Japanese Barbecue at Lincoln Square in Bellevue, WA

The Bellevue Collection expects a late-November opening, following an earlier target in December 2024.

Wagyu House is planned for Lincoln Square North’s former Din Tai Fung space, with table grills and a beef selection spanning American Wagyu through Japanese A5. The landlord expects a late-November opening; Bellevue prices and tiers remain unannounced.

October 7, 2026

Andaaz Returns in Downtown Asheville, NC, With a Seven-Day Lunch Buffet

After Helene destroyed its Biltmore Village restaurant, Andaaz rebuilt across from Grove Arcade.

Andaaz has reopened downtown after Helene destroyed its Biltmore Village home. The new restaurant serves a lunch buffet seven days a week, with a new executive chef, a private dining room, and surviving statues connecting it to the old location.