North Austin Buffet Palace Burns

It is a sad day for the Austin buffet scene. A fire heavily damaged the Anderson Lane location of Buffet Palace early this morning around 12:30 a.m. I could hear the fire engines responding from my home, but I had no idea that one of the key establishments in the figurative buffet explosion of the mid-Nineties was literally going up in flames.

I used to eat at that Buffet Palace all the time. I even went there once or twice when it was the short-lived August Moon Chinese Buffet. When Buffet Palace opened, it was home to the only floating sushi bar in Texas. Diners there had the unique opportunity to retrieve their sushi orders from little boats that floated in a circular moat around the sushi bar.

The floating sushi bar was taken out years ago, and frankly, Buffet Palace’s presentation had become a bit too dog-eared in recent years. Nevertheless, I still enjoyed going there alone once every few months to stuff my face with abandon. I guess I’ll just have to start going to the sleek Westgate location to get my fix.