K&W cafeteria closing

GoHeelsweeeehoooo said:
Does anyone remember Morrison's cafeteria? I remember there being one inside I think a Belks department store in Charlotte - maybe at Eastland Mall?
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Morrison's Cafeteria was the chain cafeteria I went to most as a child. There was one in Eastridge Mall in Gastonia and my grandmother & aunt would take me there for lunch whenever we'd go to the mall to go shopping. I think it was on the 3rd floor and, if I got lucky, we'd get a table near the windows and I could look out over a good bit of Gastonia from pretty high up while eating.
 
Didn't we have a K&W thread a while back?

My parents loved it. I really didn't like it, but we would eat there often when visiting them.

There was one in that weird mall at Friendly Shopping Center.
 
I fondly remember way back in the day when we used to go to the K&W that was in University Mall and one of the cooks was always singing. Got excited when he would come out of the kitchen with food so we could hear him better. Made waiting in line rather enjoyable.
 
The last Cafeteria iI ever ate in was in Wake Forest, NC, Forks Cafeteria on Brooks Street IIRC. Not the greatest of menus like K&W or S&W offered, but it offered enough for my young nieces & nephews that they were very much excited to go to.
Back in the 70s, there was an S&W at the Landmark Shopping Mall that was always very busy . . .
I miss those good old days.
 
Since money was so tight for my family, the K&W in Fayetteville was one of only two places that we really ever got to eat out when I was a kid growing up, the other being Ryan's in Lumberton (the buffet place similar to Golden Corral), and the latter we would only ever eat on Monday night when kids could eat free with the purchase of an adult buffet. Kids could eat for 99 cents at K&W, I believe it was. Good times. Couldn't have told me we weren't eating better than the governor back then!
 
IllegalMotion9999 said:
I fondly remember way back in the day when we used to go to the K&W that was in University Mall and one of the cooks was always singing. Got excited when he would come out of the kitchen with food so we could hear him better. Made waiting in line rather enjoyable.
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My favorite K&W (at UMall) story was not terribly atypical for the place, just terribly funny for me and my friends.

If you're not familiar with this K&W, the folks serving the food, for whatever reason, (a) liked to plate food as early as possible and (b) would try to address specific people by their clothing to get their attention to try to get them to order. This wasn't normally a problem, unless it was really crowded.

One time we're in there and the place is packed; the line is way backed up but it's moving at a decent speed. We're in line waiting our turn when some unsuspecting guy in a Reebok shirt is deep in conversation and doesn't realize that the meat server wants to take his order despite the fact that he's a good 15-20' from where the actual food is.

It starts with the server saying, "Next in line, what would you like?"

*silence*

Server, looking at the line: "Reebok, what would you like?"

Reebok: *carries on private conversation*

Server: "Reebok, what would you like?!"

Reebok: *carries on private conversation*

Server: "Reebok!"

Reebok: *carries on private conversation*

Server, getting annoyed: "Reebok!"

*brief pause*

Server, more annoyed: "Reebok!"

*briefer pause*

Server, quite annoyed: "REEBOK!"

Reebok: *carries on private conversation*

Server, eyes and veins bulging: "REE! BOK!"

Reebok: *carries on private conversation*

Dude next to Reebok, bumping Reebok's arm: "Hey, dude, she's talking to you."

Reebok: "Huh?"

Server, still very annoyed: "REEBOK, WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE!?!"

Reebok: "Uh, I dunno. I was gonna see what looks good when I get up there."

The server looked like she was going to have a stroke, then just turned and walked back into the kitchen.

About half the line started laughing, the other half looked too scare to make any noise at all. (We were in the laughing half.)
 
Sad news. My grandparents and parents always enjoyed eating at the one in Winston over the years when they were in town, and as we were with them we kids had to go too. It was pretty good Southern country food, and relatively cheap, and you got a lot for a little. It seems to me that they started dying out about 10 to 15 years ago as people's tastes in food changed. I've noticed a lot of younger adults don't like the whole buffet line idea. Apparently covid wrecked their business and they declared bankruptcy, only to be bailed out by Piccadilly which bought them all in 2022, but then suddenly closed them all today. A little bit of NC restaurant history and tradition just went away.

There is a smaller chain called C&H which has basically the same setup and seems to still be doing well. I've eaten with relatives at the one in Kernersville a few times and they're always packed, albeit almost entirely by the 65 and older crowd. I would be curious to see how their customer base holds up as their older customers pass away. I think a lot of 40s and younger adults outside rural areas just aren't as willing to eat at country cooking/buffet type places anymore.
 
CFordUNC said:
Since money was so tight for my family, the K&W in Fayetteville was one of only two places that we really ever got to eat out when I was a kid growing up, the other being Ryan's in Lumberton (the buffet place similar to Golden Corral), and the latter we would only ever eat on Monday night when kids could eat free with the purchase of an adult buffet. Kids could eat for 99 cents at K&W, I believe it was. Good times. Couldn't have told me we weren't eating better than the governor back then!
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Ryan's was my favorite of all the buffet steakhouses back in the day. Quincy's and Golden Corral seemed like they had the name recognition, but Ryan's was where it was at.

Coincidentally, I'm pretty sure all of the places I've mentioned here had an Independence Blvd. location in Charlotte. So did K&W, actually.
 
JD Heel said:
Ryan's was my favorite of all the buffet steakhouses back in the day. Quincy's and Golden Corral seemed like they had the name recognition, but Ryan's was where it was at.

Coincidentally, I'm pretty sure all of the places I've mentioned here had an Independence Blvd. location in Charlotte. So did K&W, actually.
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Ryan's was my jam. Went to the one in Cary almost every Sunday afternoon in the late 90s and early 2000s.
 
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