May 6, 2020

Royal Fork Buffet will reopen Friday with a different way of operating.

“We will be cafeteria-style,” said Dana Lanz, managing partner of the restaurant on the south side of The Empire Mall campus. “Basically, you’ll get the same experience you got before, except we will be serving everything: entrees, salads, desserts and beverages.”

Customers and employees will be on opposite sides of the serving stations, which will offer most of the same choices as before.

“There will be a few changes as far as salads go. We’re going to pre-make a tossed salad and a Caesar. … Before, you had like 60 different toppings to put on top.”

Customers should follow social distancing guidelines while they’re getting food, and the spacing of tables and limits on group sizes will follow the city ordinance that’s expected to be passed Thursday and go into effect Friday. Some booths will be closed.

“The biggest thing is if you’re in small business, getting back open is a huge thing,” Lanz said. “We’re taking every step necessary to make the guests and the staff safe.”

The restaurant, which has been in Sioux Falls for 38 years, closed March 19 as efforts to slow the spread of COVID-19 grew.

“Most everybody is going to be back,” Lanz said of his almost 70 employees.

Customers can get a meal from the serving stations for takeout, and Royal Fork also offers fried chicken and other entrees and sides to go.

Hours are being finalized, but Lanz said they’ll likely be 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Sunday.

“There’s a long history,” Lanz said of Royal Fork, which started in Pocatello, Idaho, in 1967. Sioux Falls is the only site that remains. “It’s just about good food and good service, and we’re anxious to be getting back to providing the community with that.”