Key people Martin Howe, CEO Website Taybarns.com Defunct 2016 | Founded 2008 | |
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Taybarns was an English low-cost all-you-can-eat restaurant chain owned by Whitbread, modelled on the Golden Corral chain in the United States. Customers pay on arrival and can eat as much food as they like from a 34-metre-long food counter. As with most buffets, there is a lower price at lunchtime than evenings, and a slightly higher charge is levied at weekends and during bank holidays. Food choices consist of themed counters, including a salad bar, soup, "Best of British" (encapsulating the former "chip shop" and "carvery" counters), pizza, "The Spice Rack" (Tex-Mex), pasta, grill, and dessert, as well as free refills of soft drinks and a separate drinks menu for alcoholic drinks.
In March 2016 it was announced that following a strategic corporate review all Taybarns Restaurants would close and convert to Brewers Fayre pub restaurants in 2016. When the South Shields Taybarns closed on 13 September, the business became defunct.
Locations
The seven Taybarns restaurants were in Barnsley, Coventry, Newcastle-under-Lyme, Gateshead, South Shields, Swansea, and Wigan. In late 2009, the company made public its intention to expand rapidly, with some Brewers Fayre pubs to be converted to the Taybarns brand and up to 30 new restaurants to open the following year. However, the company was unable to open new restaurants due to the high costs of such extensive refurbishments and in 2016 it was announced that all seven sites would be returned to the Brewers Fayre brand.