‘Expect grandma’s cooking.’ Generational comfort keeps Southern buffets popular in SC
The feeling of Southern nostalgia and family is palpable when someone walks into Judy Boone’s Family Kitchen.
The wood-paneled walls, filled with old nautical decorations, and popcorn ceilings are reminiscent of a 1970s home. A large family sits in the back, with moms cracking jokes while the children run to grab more fried chicken. Southern delicacies, like chicken bog and fried flounder, sit under a heat lamp, waiting to be eaten.
When The Sun News asked customer John Poston what he anticipated from Judy Boone’s, he said, “I expect grandma’s cooking.”
In an environment where chefs are trying to innovate restaurant menus, bring in fusion flavors and create unique dishes, Southern buffets have stuck to classic country cooking — and it is paying off.
Magnolia’s in downtown Myrtle Beach has been around for 31 years, serving up family recipes. Judy Boone’s is a remake of the former Prosser’s Barbecue buffet, which was open for over 20 years before the COVID-19 pandemic. Simply Southern Smokehouse, which opened in 2013, is consistently ranked as one of the best places to find barbecue in Myrtle Beach on Yelp.
“Country buffets specifically always hit on family tradition. They’ve always wanted to make it where it’s something where (tradition is) celebrated,” said Culinary Encourager Jamie Sanderson. He is a Southern food writer from Georgetown. “(Buffets are) where the family gatherings happen, where they come together.”
Where did the buffet begin?
Buffets have been enjoyed for centuries, with multiple sources attributing the Swedish “smörgåsbord” for popularizing the practice. The smörgåsbord gained popularity in the 1500s before spreading to the rest of Europe, according to Mashed. Elites typically enjoyed the smörgåsbord, which started with cold foods like pickled herring and cheeses, before moving to room-temperature foods, then hot dishes and ended with dessert.
In Western Europe, the practice took off by the 1700s. Countries would use a specific piece of furniture, called a “buffet” in French, to serve the food. A buffet was seen as a way for hosts to spend time with guests while serving food and allowed more privacy than a typical restaurant meal, Mashed continued.
A few centuries later, the modern all-you-eat buffet started to take hold in the United States, Mashed wrote. Herb McDonald opened the Buckaroo Buffet in Las Vegas in the 1940s after noticing casino-goers looking for late-night snacks. Buckaroo Buffet was open 24 hours a day and cost $1. While the buffet itself was not a money maker, it drew more people to the El Rancho Vegas casino.
The concept took off across the United States in the 1980s, with chains like Golden Corral and Cicis Pizza opening hundreds of locations in various states, according to Mashed. The heyday of buffets did not last long, as by the 2000s, the restaurants were beginning to close as consumer habits changed.
While buffets do not reign supreme as they did decades ago, the coastal vacation atmosphere attracts seafood buffets to the Myrtle Beach area. This gives customers many options on where to find all-you-can-eat crab legs and prime rib.
Along with seafood buffets, the Myrtle Beach area also has several Southern buffets, Chinese buffets and breakfast buffets.
Family cooking over trendy fusion
New restaurants opening in Myrtle Beach include Burger Social, a burger place serving 14 kinds of fries in a modern diner, and the Lotus Den, a cocktail lounge specializing in tapas. These places are trying to find a way to stick out from the thousands of restaurants in Myrtle Beach.
A Southern buffet goes the opposite direction.
“Some of these families have been visiting these buffets for generations. Why? Because of generational recipes,” Sanderson said.
When it comes to a Southern buffet, there a few staples that customers will always find: fried chicken, collard greens and macaroni and cheese. There are other common staples like banana pudding, pulled pork and mashed potatoes.
Judy Boone’s head chef Tommy Wilson said the recipes he serves come from Ella Mae Smalls, the woman who taught him to cook. Smalls died in 2019, but her recipes live on.
Bobby Anderson, the owner of Magnolia’s at 26th and a farmer in Conway, spoons out his family recipes at Magnolia’s, according to his daughter and Manager Michelle Sturzenbecker. Anderson still eats at Magnolia’s at least once a day to make sure the food is up to par.
These restaurants are not trying to be innovative. Instead, they go for a feeling of comfort.
“A lot of the seafood buffets are going to be more little fancier dishes, probably. We are more memories of home comfort food,” said Jason Cox, the general manager at Simply Southern Smokehouse. “Everything we have, most people can probably make from their pantry.”
The simplicity does not scare away customers who think they would make the same meal at home — the comfort food draws them in. During lunch at Judy Boone’s on July 9, multiple customers said they felt like they were eating at their grandmother’s house.
“Whatever (customers) like, it’s what you stick to,” Wilson said. “You learn your clientele. You can have the best food in the world, but without clientele, it’s no good.”
This food brings in loyal regulars. When The Sun News visited Judy Boone’s on July 9, everyone was eating lunch in the dining room — except Duke Grove. He sat at the empty bar, eating out of a to-go box and chatting with the staff.
Grove began as a regular at Prosser’s, where Wilson worked as the head chef. After Prosser’s closed and the staff moved to Judy Boone’s, Grove came with them. He said he comes multiple times a week, specifically looking for Wilson’s cooking.
Buffets have their normal customers like Grove, but being a vacation town, there are also the tourist regulars.
“A lot of times when you actually ask somebody, ‘Where are you from?’ They have been on vacation here before, and this is always one of their stops when they’re on vacation,” Sturzenbecker said.
Southern buffets as an economical choice in Myrtle Beach
With its swath of buffets, Myrtle Beach is an anomaly from other cities. The market can feel saturated with seafood buffets, offering over 100 kinds of food, including crab legs and steak, for $50 a person. However, Southern buffets offer a different experience.
The Southern buffets in the Grand Strand are often a great way to eat a large meal for less. Judy Boone’s, Simply Southern Smokehouse and Magnolia’s all offer a lunch buffet for $15 or less per person before tax.
When asked how Judy Boone’s keeps prices low, manager Jamie Johnson said, “That’s the golden question.”
Cox said he shops around to get the cheapest prices. He will sometimes buy in bulk from Sam’s Club or the U.S. Foods store near 82nd Avenue North. Other times he orders what is on sale on the truck.
“If you have the time and you’re aware of what the pricing should be, just take advantage of it,” Cox said. “Unfortunately, our menu doesn’t change that often, so I don’t have the flexibility of completely changing out our cuisine because of seasonal pricing.”
At Magnolia’s, the family farm helps. Sturzenbecker said her father’s farm sources many of the vegetables and beef. This brings farm fresh produce as well as local meat to the table.
“That is something that sets Magnolia’s apart from everybody. And you can taste that, that difference of the tomatoes that you know people know, like that’s just been picked today and brought to the restaurant,” Sturzenbecker said. “When we don’t have enough to supply the restaurant, we do use South Carolina as locally sourced as we can, because we can’t grow enough to keep Magnolia’s sustained at all times.”
While buffets have, for a long time, drawn in older generations, Sturzenbecker and Johnson said they have been seeing more young people coming in. At Simply Southern Smokehouse on July 11, there were multiple groups of people in their 20s eating lunch.
This shows that Southern buffets have staying power in the changing food world.
“Elders have been bringing their families in, and it’s like passing the torch, right? The culinary torch, so to say,” Sanderson said. “If you’re doing a buffet right, then you’re bringing in multitudes of people.”
