The latest Buffet Beat brings a new all-you-can-eat sushi address in New Jersey, a substantial Pizza Inn development deal, holiday buffet booking in Indianapolis and two restaurants preparing to retire their buffet service. Here is where things stand.
OPENINGS
Sakana — Wayne, NJ
Sakana soft-opened Sept. 19 at 25 NJ-23 in Wayne, adding a second New Jersey location to its New Brunswick restaurant. The address formerly housed a Hooters; it now offers made-to-order all-you-can-eat Japanese dining, with guests placing rounds on a tablet during a 90-minute sitting. À la carte dining is available, too. Reservations are open, and the last AYCE seating is 9 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 9:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday. Sakana says menus and prices are location-specific; it has not posted a Wayne AYCE price.
COMING SOON
Pizza Inn — U.S. markets unannounced
Pizza Inn parent RAVE Restaurant Group said Sept. 24 it has signed a development agreement for 10 buffet restaurants with a multibrand operator experienced in pizza but new to Pizza Inn. The company expects the first five to open in fiscal 2027, though it has not named the operator, markets or sites. Pizza Inn’s buffet count posted its fifth consecutive year of net growth in fiscal 2026, and RAVE says additional products are coming in December; it has not yet said what they are. For now, the 10 restaurants are a signed pipeline, not 10 announced addresses.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
L.S. Ayres Tea Room — Indianapolis, IN
Reservations are open for the L.S. Ayres Tea Room holiday lunch buffet at the Indiana State Museum. It runs daily from Nov. 27, 2026, through Jan. 3, 2027, except Christmas Day. The price is $39 for adults and $21 for children ages 4–12; children 3 and younger eat free. Tax and service are included. Tables can be booked through the museum’s website and OpenTable or by calling 317-232-1637; seatings last 90 minutes.
The 2026 menu includes chicken velvet soup, chicken pot pie, cherry walnut chicken salad, tuna, cucumber and club tea sandwiches, miniature pastries and a mini pecan ice cream ball. Hot tea, coffee, iced tea, soft drinks or hot cocoa are included. The museum’s 64-seat recreation of the department-store Tea Room opened in 2002, after the original closed in 1990.
Olive Garden — Nationwide
Darden Restaurants said on its Sept. 24 earnings call that Olive Garden will promote its existing unlimited soup, salad and breadsticks weekday lunch later this quarter. The chain also plans to test a separate lunch platform with more variety and the “abundance” associated with Olive Garden. Management said the soup-and-salad marketing had been delayed amid consumer concern about lettuce. The test menu, markets and price have not been disclosed, so the new lunch platform remains a plan rather than a new nationwide offer.
BD’s Mongolian Grill — Participating U.S. locations
A Sept. 24 explainer from BD’s Mongolian Grill spells out its existing Unlimited option: dine-in guests at participating restaurants can return to the fresh market bar for as many build-your-own bowls as they like, changing the proteins, vegetables and sauces each time. It is not a newly launched promotion, and unlimited trips do not include a bowl to go. Participation and pricing vary by location; single-bowl and weekday lunch options remain available.
CLOSURES
Urbana Lodge — Urbana, MD
Urbana Lodge says it will close Sept. 27 after just over a year at 3335 Worthington Blvd., a former Buffalo Wild Wings. Its brunch and dinner buffets, normally $24.99, will be half-price on the final day. The group behind Clarks Lodge in Clarksburg and Creek Lodge in Rockville plans to open Maharaja Palace in the same space, and final-day diners will receive $10 off their first visit to the new restaurant. There is no announced opening date, and the group has not said whether Maharaja Palace will offer a buffet.
Nawab’s Indian Cuisine — Springfield, MO
Nawab’s Indian Cuisine at 3654 S. Campbell Ave. announced Sept. 18 that it will stop offering its buffet and move to a fast-casual format, citing food and operating costs and staffing challenges. The restaurant itself is continuing; it is the all-you-can-eat service that is going away. Nawab’s has not specified a last buffet date or described the new ordering format in detail.
