A new buffet known for offering steak and seafood specials, as well as fried chicken, pork chops, wings, and other Southern comfort food classics, is the newest all-you-can-eat restaurant in Jacksonville.
B Mac's Buffet recently opened at 900 Dunn Ave., Unit 10, in the Publix-anchored Highland Square shopping center on the Northside. The Waycross, Ga.-based buffet took over the storefront formerly used by CiCi's Pizza, which closed there in 2019. "It's all made fresh," owner Johnathan McKinney told the Times-Union about the buffet's extensive offering of meats, veggies, salads and desserts. "We change our menu, so we have something different every day. So you could technically come here at 11 o'clock when we open then come back that afternoon and eat something totally different," McKinney told the Times-Union. The Dunn Avenue restaurant is B Mac's third, joining the original at 2456 Memorial Drive in Waycross, which opened in May 2019, and the second at 542225 U.S. 1 in Callahan, which opened in October 2023. "Once this one is up and running, there are other locations that are waiting," said McKinney, a 25-year restaurant business veteran. "I like to have a restaurant finished before I move on and open another one." McKinney said he plans to open at least two more buffets in Florida but declined to specify the locations "because I don't like to tip my hand too much." "In five years? I'd like to have 100 restaurants in Florida and beyond," he said.
Steak night, 'surf & turf' weekends and pork chop Tuesdays on the menu at B Mac's
If B Mac's Buffet had a motto it could be "If you can't find something to eat here, you're just not trying." McKinney said the restaurant's most popular offerings are "fried chicken, pork chops, shrimp and fish Friday and Saturday." Side dishes also are customer favorites, he said. "We make homemade mashed potatoes, homemade mac & cheese and we cook our vegetables with with love. You can really taste it," he said. McKinney noted that they hand-bread their shrimp, fish and chicken. In addition, they don't use pre-breaded frozen shrimp. B Mac's makes its salad dressings and cocktail sauce as well as specialty salads in-house. The buffet features specialties such as steak and seafood, including shrimp, crab legs (at an upcharge) and fish, as well as fried and grilled pork chops. Mainstays include fried and baked chicken, stewed beef/pot roast, chicken gizzards and livers, sausage, peppers and onions, wings, meatloaf, Salisbury steak and more. B Mac's makes its own banana pudding, cakes and chocolate delight desserts as well as cornbread. It does buy the pies it offers because it is less expensive than making pies in-house, he said. B Mac's has an open kitchen so guests can see their food being cooked, kitchen manager Waldo Hill told the Times-Union. The buffet's prices generally range from $14 for lunch including a drink and tax Monday through Thursday, and $16 Friday and Saturday for lunch. It goes up to $20 Friday and Saturday night for dinner because they add deviled crab, fried oysters, low country boil with peel-and-eat shrimp, steak and crawfish, he said. McKinney said the Sunday buffet is $18 but that is because they offer seven meats: fried chicken, baked chicken, chicken livers, chicken gizzards, grilled pork chops, grilled shrimp, baked ham and stewed beef. The 4,000-square-foot Dunn Avenue restaurant, which has 120 seats, is open from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday through Thursday, and 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday.
Buffets bounce back from COVID pandemic
B Mac's is the first among several unrelated buffets on the menu for Jacksonville as the all-you-can-eat restaurants rebound from the COVID-19 pandemic which took a toll on the concept locally and nationwide. The pandemic resulted in the closures of popular longtime local buffets
Arden’s Kountry Kafe after 19 years; and downtown Mediterranean lunch buffet
Zodiac Bar & Grill after 20 years. Both closed in January 2021. In addition, Golden Corral ultimately closed two of its Jacksonville restaurants — 4250 Southside Blvd. and 11470 San Jose Blvd. But two others remain open, at 1201 Memorial Park Road and 9070 Merrill Road. The Orange Park restaurant at 582 Blanding Blvd. also remains open. After more than 50 years, the last
Piccadilly Cafeteria in Jacksonville and Northeast Florida abruptly shut its doors in September 2023. Piccadilly corporate officials confirmed the closure but offered no explanation. Since then, buffets have gradually returned as local and national dining options. The resurgence of buffets is due to factors including inflation as consumers are more cost-conscious. The all-you-can-eat concept "offers more perceived bang for the buck than a traditional restaurant meal," the
Boston Globe reported Dec. 30. And value propositions such as buffets are projected to be a macro trend this year, according to the National Restaurant Association’s
2025 What’s Hot Culinary Forecast .
Goodbye Red Lobster, hello new Asian buffets
At least three unrelated all-you-can-eat Asian buffets are preparing to open in Jacksonville, according to state records and Duval County building permits. Some are new locations of established restaurants while others are newcomers. All are taking over Jacksonville's
former Red Lobster restaurants which closed abruptly last May after the chain filed for bankruptcy protection. No opening dates have been announced for the new buffets that offer fare such as sushi, noodle dishes, grilled entrees, Korean barbecue and more.
Teresa Stepzinski is the dining reporter for the Times-Union. Follow her on X, formerly known as Twitter, @TeresaStepz or reach her via email at [email protected]. If you're a subscriber, thank you. If not, become a subscriber to get the latest dining coverage .
