Are they really profitable (including the customer)?

More than 8,000 reservations in four days. The managers of large Lyon buffets experienced a start of madness at the opening of their establishment, on May 15, 2025. “We were exceeded. We did not expect such a craze, ”confide the managers of the restaurant specializing in Lyonnaise cuisine at will, Complete until the end of August.

Always larger, more diverse and with attractive prices, the giant buffets at will adapt to customers, to the increasingly tight budget, while ensuring a certain profitability. What is the secret of their economic model? Are they also worth it on the customer side? actu.fr looked at the issue.

An explosion in ten years

According to Bernard Boutboul, president of Gira, consulting firm for all catering players, 4,000 unlimited buffets would have opened in France over the past ten years.

“It’s huge, it’s One opening per daypoints out the professional withactu.fr. Et The more they put up their prices, the more they have products, turnover and attendance. »»

They have fresh, homemade products, on demand woks … In recent years, a new generation of Asian buffets understood that to last in catering, it was necessary to question permanently.

Exit therefore the 100 % Asian buffets, direction infinite bins mixing sushi and cheeses, spring rolls and oysters, Chinese noodles and dishes in sauce. Some unlimited restaurants are even freed from Asian cuisine to offer New concepts.

Like Rodizio, in Nice, with its eight kinds of unlimited meat, the world tour restaurant, near Caen, with its 43 buffets for a trip around the globe, or even Pacific 78, in the Yvelines, which is also claiming “world cuisine” buffet.

“As a starter, I tasted the parsley snails. It is very rare in an unlimited buffet and they were very good, ”says Monique, with 78 actu. “Difficult to taste everything, There are a lot of choices!observe a couple. But we appreciate. »»

Rule number 1: a maximum of cutlery

However, giant buffets at will must respect a certain number of rules in order to ensure good profitability. First criterion: to have a lot of seats. “All customers arrive and leave at the same time and there is a very high demand,” says Bernard Boutboul.

In Saint-Chamond, in the Loire, a buffet de 450 places Thus opened last August, becoming the largest in the department. Near Perpignan, it is an Asian restaurant of 620 places that is about to settle in a commercial area, while in the Oise, the cruise can cruise receive 700 customers at a timein its liner -shaped decor, since early June 2025.

“We are one of the largest buffets in the greatest in the region, perhaps even Ile-de-France,” confirms the manager, Lifeng Hu, withOise news.

Added to this is a turn-over rapideto make as many cutlery as possible. “These are restaurateurs who are called cents. As they earn little on each meal, they must make volume to earn money, ” actu.fr Mark Watkins, founder of the Marketing and Economic Study Coach Omnium.

The unlimited buffets make points at 1,200 covers on Saturday. If they don’t do them, they are not profitable. During the week, it is rather 300 – 400 covers, but there are not many restaurants in France that make the same per day.

Bernard Boutboul also believes that he is indispensable For an unlimited buffet “to open seven days a week, noon and evening”, to ensure good profitability.

Rule number 2: large volumes of products

One could imagine that the gargantuan size of the buffets hits heavy fresh for these restaurants, but it turns out to be an asset. In 2022, Quentin Tourt, at the head of the China wall in Nancy, had agreed to reveal his secrets to our editorial staff Lorraine Actu.

« Plus we buy roughly, the lower the prices “, He had assured our local media, illustrating with one of his most used ingredients, the chicken, of which he bought 20 kilos each week at a price of 6.56 euros per kilo.

“The unlimited buffets buy huge volumes with very low prices, so they are winners on the cost of materials and have A real power of purchaseconfirms Bernard Boutboul. Even on noble products, when you buy 25,000 oysters, you do not have them at the same price as 300 or 400 for a classic restaurant. »»

To protect themselves from a possible waste, some places do not hesitate to Invoice the unfinished plateslike Meyly 168, in Lorient (Morbihan). “It’s pretty common, casually. It’s just that it’s written very small. We assume it. It is waste and more costs for the restaurant, ”says the establishment withMorbihan news.

In Le Havre, the horizon, giant world cuisine buffet, also invoices any unpleasant plate and recycles unsold. His manager explains to 76 actu : “We work with the dispositif Too Good To Go (Application to resell low -cost productsEditor’s note). We want to avoid wasting as much as possible. »»

“The law obliges supermarkets and restaurateurs to give products that should not be tightened the next day to associations,” says Mark Watkins.

The specialist also points out that the potential costs generated by large commands of goods are offset by Savings at the level of the service : “The staff are only there to rid and replenish the buffets over the service. The costs are therefore reduced and can invest more in the products. »»

And for the customer, is it worth it?

If restaurateurs meet there, what about customers? The Consulting Cabinet Gira studied the question. “We went to unlimited buffets, middays on weekdays and evenings on weekends. We quantified that customers were rising on average twice and a half for entryditto for the dish, and again twice for dessert, ”says Bernard Boutboul.

Customers of unlimited buffets eat 30 % to 40 % more than in a normal restaurant: the aspect at will encourages them to get up.

In Lyon, Vanessa Shi and Stéphane Dayot, who already have other Asian restaurants in the city, are preparing to open an establishment baptized Shiyo. The concept: high -end sushi, not at will but almost. “Customers will be able to use up to five times “Explains Vanessa Shi to Actu Lyon.

On the price side, the restaurant offers midday formulas around 30 euros for lunch and 40 euros in the evening. “If a customer goes to the end of the five services, We can actually exceed 200 euros valuable if the products were available on the menu, ”says the manager.

To the profitable side of the buffet is added The choice in dishes. “You have food at will, but also a large choice. We vary the pleasure in the same meal, ”underlines Mark Watkins, of the Coach Omnium cabinet.

A profitability at the expense of quality?

It remains to be seen whether the quantity is a guarantee of quality for the consumer. In Lyon, the enthusiasm at the opening of the large Lyon buffets quickly gave way to the Disappointment of many customers. News Lyon Echo the comments of disappointed Internet users: “Worse culinary experience of the year”, “an improved fluch”, “an experience not to be renewed”, “worthy of a motorway canteen”, “Buffet more than mediocre” …

Ditto on the side of Vitrolles (Bouches-du-Rhône), where the customers of the Grand Buffet, many to queue at the opening last February, had expressed their disappointment.

“Unlimited buffets still have quality products, cold meats, oysters, cheese … Yes, it’s not the best charcuterie in the world, but there is worse. Maybe that they derive quality from certain productsbut which restaurateur not? », Relativizes Bernard Boutboul.

“For the economic model of the buffet to be durable, it is necessary anyway that the value for money be good. If after an opening people are disappointed, word of mouth is bad and customers do not come back, “simply summarizes Mark Watkins.

In Mayenne, the O’Ciel at will has known an excellent startwhen it opened last December, relates the free publicator, Before closing a few months later, for hygiene problems, then opened again, last May.

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