An extensive, Southern-style buffet has opened at the Auburn Mall.
The restaurant promises traditional Southern dishes, “just like your mama or grandma cooked back in the day.”
Located in the former JCPenney’s space, the restaurant is one of Ole Times Country Buffet’s 15 locations nationwide, and the first outside of Georgia or Florida.
Owner Pat O’Neal may not be new to the foodservice industry, with his 23 years of experience in the food industry, but his newest locale in Auburn has already made history for his chain, he said.
“We’re feeding somewhere between 2,000 to 3,000 people a day,” O’Neal said. “[Business] has been unreal, breaking all records. But the food’s good; we haven’t been dropping the ball in terms of how far the food goes.”
Among the buffet’s highlights are its various barbecued meats, mac and cheese and all-you-can-eat ice cream featured at the restaurant. O’Neal also takes pride in the restaurant’s effort to support local farmers by using their produce in its salads and as stand-alone entrees, which is available for purchase beside the buffet.
O’Neal got his start while managing produce alongside his mother and seven siblings, but he didn’t expect to continue handling food throughout his life.
“My five brothers and two sisters would always go home and cook after working at the produce department,” he said. “I thought I wanted to be a rocket scientist, but I turned out to be a chicken man.”
After becoming involved in operating restaurants, he planned to come to Auburn for some time, as his new buffet situated in the mall isn’t his first encounter with the town.
“I had a partial scholarship to come play football at Auburn, but I decided to get married instead. I don’t know which one would’ve been best; I could’ve had some tickets to the ball game if I had played,” O’Neal said.
O’Neal’s opportunity to bring his restaurant to Auburn came when Auburn Mall owner Jim Hull of Hull Property Group, pitched the idea to him. Hull wanted to attract more visitors to the shopping center.
Many of O’Neal’s buffets are converted Golden Corral and Ryan’s sites, but some are featured inside Hull’s other malls. With all the success O’Neal’s buffets have had in Hull’s other malls, the two men put a plan into motion to bring Ole Times to Auburn’s mall.
“We have a reputation of bringing a lot of foot traffic and people to malls, and as you can see it’s working,” O’Neal said.
Ole Times currently employs around 100 staff members, including some from one of O’Neal’s other restaurants in Valdosta, Georgia. He is always looking for more helping hands, including college students, O’Neal said.
“It’s hard to get students [interested] they’ve got their minds set on not working at a buffet they like serving drinks instead,” O’Neal said. “We would try to work around their schedules.”
The restaurant has enough seating for a capacity of 500 customers but could increase it if necessary. O’Neal hopes to expand into the catering market in Auburn, just as his other restaurants have.
Ole Times is open Monday through Saturday from 10:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Sunday from 10:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. The cost of lunch is $8.59, and dinner is $10.99 or $12.99 on seafood nights, which are Fridays and Saturdays.
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