Goodbye, Weng’s. Hello, Buffet City.



Lately I have heard several people – all in my family – mention a new Chinese food buffet in Benton, and this weekend I happened, sort of accidentally, to eat there. On Friday my friend Jennifer invited me to join her and two other friends for Chinese food in Bryant, so I decided to go along. As we were driving southwest on I-30, we went right through Bryant, at which time Jennifer casually mentioned that the buffet was actually in Benton. Like a lot of Little Rock folks, she probably thinks of Benton and Bryant as approximately the same place, which is understandable, but if you grew up in Benton like I did, you know the difference.

So here is what I had heard about this new Chinese place: It put Weng’s out of business. Weng’s was a very popular Chinese buffet that my grandfather Gena patronized at least weekly. Even though I had never eaten at Weng’s, I had stopped in on multiple occasions to purchase gift certificates for Gena. I appreciated that you could count on Weng’s to be open on Christmas day and that it was an easy stop off the Interstate. I also appreciated the somewhat bizarre nature of the building they were in. Originally -- back in the late 90s, I think -- the building was constructed for an Italian restaurant, Sergio’s, that was going in as part of the new theater-anchored shopping center. Sergio’s was oddly proportioned and decorated with false windows and obviously false stucco peeling away to reveal supposed brick. It was great kitsch “architecture” as Sergio’s, but once Sergio’s went out and Weng’s came in, the effect was even better. Weng’s didn’t appear to change anything on the exterior except the sign. And no one seemed to mind. Everyone stopped going to the previously favored Chinese food buffet (Sin-Sin? Or was that gone by then?) and started eating at Weng’s.

And then came Buffet City, which is where I ended up on Friday night...