New owner plans to open hot pot BBQ restaurant at former Golden Corral property
DELTA TWP. — The owners of a building that was previously home to Golden Corral until it closed in the spring of 2020 plan to renovate the space and reopen it as a buffet-style hot pot barbecue restaurant.
Grand Ledge-based Dong Properties LLC bought the 10,323-square-foot former eatery, which sits on just over 2.5 acres near the Lansing Mall, in April 2023.
Andy Dong, one of the property's owners, said there's no timeline established yet for when IPot, the new eatery planned for the space, will open at 730 Elmwood Road. The meat and raw ingredients for dishes at hot pot restaurants are typically cooked in pots of simmering liquid, including stock.
"This project, it will take a long time," he said, but opening the restaurant in Delta Township is "an opportunity. We want to try it out."
Dong Properties LLC also owns World Buffet, a restaurant located nearby at 5002 W. Saginaw Hwy. There are no plans to close that restaurant, Dong said.
Dong applied for a permit to begin interior remodeling at the building in late November, said Delta Township Community & Economic Development Director Peter Menser. Township staff were still reviewing the application as of last week, he said.
The property has been home to a few restaurants that have closed over the years, including Fire Mountain, which closed in March 2016 after the chain's parent company, Buffet LLC, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
North Carolina-based chain Golden Corral opened a restaurant in the building in 2017. The location closed in March 2020 amid the COVID-19 pandemic and mandated restaurant dining-room closures statewide. It never reopened.
IPot is the second incoming hot pot restaurant expected to open in the township. Korean barbeque and hot pot restaurant chain KPOT Korean BBQ & Hot Pot, which operates over 50 locations in 21 states, is expected to open its first Lansing-area location in a 6,350-square-foot former Buddy's Pizza at 5924 W. Saginaw Highway. Detroit-based Buddy's Pizza opened in the space in 2020. The outlet was its first Lansing-area location. The company announced its closure in September 2022
Signage for the new eatery is up at the building but it's unclear when KPOT Korean BBQ & Hot Pot will open its doors. The Saginaw Highway address was listed as one of its "coming soon" locations on its website Tuesday.
Contact Reporter Rachel Greco at rgreco@lsj.com. Follow her on Twitter @GrecoatLSJ .
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This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: Hot pot BBQ restaurant planned at former Lansing area Golden Corral
