Golden Corral’s return to Knoxville, Tennessee, now has December 8 attached to it, with the chain’s official grand-opening giveaway naming that Tuesday as the day to get in line at 8503 Kingston Pike.
The new restaurant is taking over a former Party City in the shopping plaza with Ollie’s Bargain Outlet, Sunrise Supermarket and The Gilded Gown, according to Knoxville News Sentinel reporting. A Knoxville Chamber ribbon-cutting listing also identifies December 8, 2026.
For Knoxville buffet regulars, this has been a fairly long intermission. The previous Golden Corral at 6612 Clinton Highway closed in November 2020. WVLT reported at the time that an employee attributed the shutdown to COVID-related issues after roughly 15 years in business.
The Kingston Pike restaurant is a return to the market at a different address. Golden Corral has been a recurring entry on Knox News readers’ restaurant wish lists since the old location closed. Apparently, six years is quite enough time to be thinking about yeast rolls and honey butter.
The buffet and the opening offer
The Knoxville location page already carries Golden Corral’s standard menu, including Bourbon Street Chicken, pot roast, meatloaf, fried chicken and cooked-to-order sirloin at dinner. Shrimp, fish and a carving station also appear in the dinner lineup.
The sides run through macaroni and cheese, mashed potatoes and gravy, vegetables, a baked potato bar and those rolls, with the salad and dessert bars rounding things out. Specific selections vary by meal and restaurant; Knoxville’s opening prices and full operating schedule have not been posted.
The grand-opening promotion offers the first 50 qualifying dine-in guests one free buffet each week for 52 weeks. Guests must buy an adult buffet, enroll in Golden Corral Rewards and scan the app at the register. It is limited to adults 18 and older, with one winner per household.
The weekly meals are valid at the Knoxville restaurant, exclude beverages and do not roll over when unused. The first reward arrives December 14, so opening day itself still requires a paid meal. That is the useful fine print for anyone preparing to set an unusually early alarm.
The restaurant has been recruiting an opening team of 160 employees, according to its Knoxville Chamber job listing. Earlier company material targeted early fall, and October recruitment notices said November; the current giveaway rules now specify December 8.
Knoxville was one of six development projects Golden Corral identified in April, when it listed this restaurant and a Kissimmee, Florida, location as under construction. The company’s broader growth plans include converting former retail and restaurant spaces, alongside building new buffets from the ground up.
