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Golden Corral will be reopening a few of these shuttered stores.Photo courtesy of Golden Corral
Golden Corral is closing more restaurant locations in 2026 than usual, the company confirmed, addressing media reports that at least seven locations of the buffet chain were shuttered.
The closures, according to USA Today, include:
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Canton, Ohio: Closed on Feb. 1, according to the Canton Repository.
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Alton, Illinois: Closed April 30, according to the Belleville News-Democrat, because franchisees said the business can no longer “operate sustainably.”
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Davenport, Iowa: Closed on July 6, according to the Moline Dispatch & Rock Island Argus.
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Boynton Beach, Florida: Closed on July 26, due to operational shifts and end of lease agreement, according to the Palm Beach Post.
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Boise, Idaho: Closed in September, according to the Idaho Statesman.
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Brownsville, Texas: Closed on Sept. 14, according to My San Antonio, due to rising costs.
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Independence, Missouri: Closed on Oct. 4, according to the Kansas City Star.
Golden Corral would not confirm the total number of closures the company has faced so far in 2026, but a representative for the company did say that several of the affected locations will reopen under new franchisee ownership.
“While there are more closures this year than our normal rate of attrition, the reasons vary and are specific to the individual franchise entities that operated the locations,” Golden Corral said in an emailed statement.
Despite these challenges, Golden Corral began the year optimistically. In March, the company hired Trona Balkissoon as CFO, helming the company’s financial department at a time when Golden Corral said it planned to double its portfolio size by 2035. The company also saw double-digit same-store sales growth for multiple recent quarters.
Golden Corral’s sales rebounded strongly after the pandemic, which was a particularly brutal time for buffet restaurants. From 2022 to 2025, the company’s sales grew by 15%, according to Technomic data. However, at the same time, the company has been slowly but steadily closing units, shrinking its unit count from 362 in 2022 to 348 in 2025.
Golden Corral said in an emailed statement that the company has six new restaurants “currently under development.”
Contact Joanna at [email protected]
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