A popular Wilmington buffet restaurant falls just short in voting for nation's best

Owen Hassell, Wilmington StarNews
Updated ·2 min read
Popular local restaurant Casey's Buffet finished second in voting for the nation's best buffet in the USA TODAY 10Best Readers' Choice poll.
Popular local restaurant Casey's Buffet finished second in voting for the nation's best buffet in the USA TODAY 10Best Readers' Choice poll.

A popular Wilmington buffet restaurant nearly earned another top honor.

Casey's Buffet finished second in voting for the USA TODAY 10Best Readers' Choice for buffet restaurants in 2023.

The local restaurant was one of 20 finalists from across the country. Voting ended Friday.

Voting ended Friday with Der Dutchman of Sarasota, Florida taking first place. Casey's was the only North Carolina eatery among the finalists.

It's not the first time Casey's has been recognized.

In October 2019, Reader's Digest published an article listing the best buffet in every state, from Caesar's Palace in Nevada to hole-in-the-wall buffets in places like Montgomery, Alabama. Casey's Buffet was selected by the readers to be the best all-you-can-eat buffet in North Carolina.

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Casey's Buffet finished just short in voting for the nation's best buffet restaurant, according to a USA TODAY 10Best Readers' Choice poll.
Casey's Buffet finished just short in voting for the nation's best buffet restaurant, according to a USA TODAY 10Best Readers' Choice poll.

More: Casey's offers solid Southern fare

Vying for No. 1: Wilmington restaurant competing for nation's best buffet. Here's what to know.

The restaurant, which opened in 2005, is known for its authentic southern soul food. It offers all-you-can-eat BBQ pork, fried chicken, whiting, pig feet, sides, such as macaroni and cheese, collard greens, hushpuppies, and more. It also offers desserts such as banana pudding, bread pudding, fruit cobblers, cheesecake, and ice cream.

Even through COVID-19, the restaurant continued to stride, by adjusting to offering pints and quarts of country style dishes for takeout, which sales of those items had doubled.

Casey's did see a late spike in voting. Before the leaderboard was closed for public viewing in early May (to avoid any surprises once the winners are announced, according to the 10Best website), Casey's was ninth in voting.

This article originally appeared on Wilmington StarNews: Casey's Buffet in Wilmington finishes second in USA TODAY 10Best