Golden Corral closes doors after 20 years
EL CENTRO — The Golden Corral Buffet & Grill restaurant located at 2018 N, Imperial Ave. served its last customers on Wednesday.
Golden Corral opened its doors locally in July 1999, enduring through thick and thin for just over 20 years before apparently succumbing to outside economic pressures — the latest addition to a 2019 shuttering spree that has already claimed Joann Fabrics, Lucky Grocery, Payless Shoesource and others.
The precise details of the restaurant’s closing were unavailable at press time, but restaurant staff indicated their understanding of the matter was that the primary driver was a rent dispute between owner/operator Ray Vasquez, and landlords Lee Kyung-hee and Kim Hyung-chul, with the latter parties proposing an increase to which Vasquez was unwilling to agree.
There was an air of quiet melancholy around the restaurant as it ran out the clock yesterday. Its lobby of bright yellow claw machines and gaudy front-window displays of red-white-and-blue stars touting the virtues of “tasty peel-and-eat shrimp” did little to paper over the end of an era.
The employees on hand went about their business with an understated professionalism, but there is no doubt there were some feelings going around, especially given the abruptness of the closing notice.
Blanca Saldaña a manager at the restaurant, had been working there for 19 years. It was “very hard” to see it close, she said.
Now she and, by her own estimate, 37 other employees will be forced to look for new work on short notice.
The announcement that the restaurant would be closing “was very unexpected,” Saldaña said. “We were just informed not very long ago. … We were still hoping that the landlord and the owner [could come together], but it’s just not happening.”
Golden Corral occupied a unique niche in the Valley, one of a small number of eateries offering buffet-style dining at relatively low prices. It had its fair share of regulars.
More than a few of Wednesday’s diners dropped in after hearing that the place was set to close, with the general consensus being that it “was a shame.”
Additionally, Saldaña reported, the restaurant had been receiving, “a lot of support calls from customers saying how much they regret that we’re closing.”
Despite that support, it appears there’s little to be done. “It’s sad,” Saldaña said, “It’s been a great place to work.”