On a Thanksgiving like no other, here’s how Greenville restaurants adapt to COVID-19

Imagine: roasted turkey, a carving station with prime rib and ham, boiled shrimp on ice, all sorts of side dishes and so many desserts Martha Stewart would be impressed. And no cleanup.

It’s the traditional Thanksgiving meal for the buffet-minded.

And it’s not coming to a restaurant near you. At least not in Greenville.

Most of the major hotels that offer Thanksgiving buffets have said nope, not this year.

And restaurants known for buffets on Sundays and holidays are forgoing the tradition this year as well.

Soby’s in downtown Greenville packed up its popular Sunday buffet months ago when the coronavirus started to spread and likely won’t bring it back.

Carl Sobocinski, owner of Soby’s and its parent company Table 301, said he believes it is best practices in the restaurant business to not have diners serving themselves and sharing utensils.

“You have to have a staff member serving and plexiglass,” he said. “Self-serve is counterproductive to our safety measures.”

Instead, four Table 301 restaurants — Soby’s, Nosedive, Passerelle and Lazy Goat — will serve a traditional Thanksgiving meal with turkey, dressing, mashed potatoes and cranberry sauce on a plate and other sides on each table to give the feel of a buffet.

“People like buffets,” Sobocinski said. “It’s fast. You don’t have to place an order. You can eyeball it, and if you’re still hungry you can go back for seconds. Or thirds.”

Gone, too, is the weekend grits bar at Nosedive, which Sobocinski said will come back but will not be self-serve. Someone will serve the grits and add requested ingredients such as bacon and cheese. Nosedive also had a mac and cheese bar on Mondays, which may come back with a similar setup.

Area hotels such as Embassy Suites, a golf resort and convention center, and the Hilton are not staging a holiday buffet this year. In the past, they’ve served hundreds of diners on all major holidays at long, heavy-laden food tables with diners eating at tables spread throughout the first floor of the hotels.

Other downtown Greenville hotels and restaurants are planning traditional Thanksgiving meals with table service, such as the Westin Poinsett. The Westin will be able to serve a total of 100 people.

Other restaurant groups such as Rick Erwin’s, which owns West End Grille, Nantucket Seafood and Rick Erwin’s Eastside, are offering takeout meals.

Sobocinski said his Soby’s on the Side, which handles all catering services for his group, has seen take-home orders increase so far by 25% over last year.

Karen Valencia, a cashier at Golden Corral in Greenville, said they are offering take-out meals they’re calling the Golden Gobble. Also, their buffet is still available. They will be open on Thanksgiving Day. Among the safety measures they’ve taken are staff members provide the plates, and patrons must wear gloves when taking food.

For those who still want some semblance of an overwhelming number of food choices that only buffets can bring, there’s always the cafeteria. Greenville choices slimmed down some with the sudden closing of K&W Cafeteria in September. The Winston-Salem, North Carolina-based chain closed several of its stores due to COVID-19.

In South Carolina, two K&W locations remain, North Myrtle Beach and Myrtle Beach. There are 14 K&W restaurants in North Carolina including Concord and Pineville. Their restaurants are at 50% capacity, said Lacarter Black, an administrative assistant.

Kathy Hughes, assistant manager at S&S Cafeteria in Greenville, said they’ve made some changes such as condiments and silverware are provided only by staff.

Sobocinski said all the safety measures his restaurants imposed have paid off. No one on his staff of 300 has tested positive for COVID-19.

This story was originally published November 18, 2020 at 11:06 AM.