Ever since the first Golden Corral Buffet opened in 1973, it has been pulling off the impossible: fitting three endless meals into each day. Its trick? Serving a bottomless buffet bursting with homestyle favorites, including pot roast cooked low and slow for a full 12 hours, made-from-scratch meatloaf, and made-to-order omelets.

Cooks bustle away throughout the day; in the morning, they stock the buffet with crispy bacon and pancakes so fluffy only the maple syrup stops them from floating up to the ceiling. At lunch and dinner, their proteins steal the show, especially grilled-to-order USDA sirloin steaks, aged and hand-cut by the house butchers. There's also seafood, mac 'n' cheese, and a salad bar that passing brontosauruses can gaze at wistfully through the window. To send diners off on a sweet note, pastry chefs churn out homemade cakes, pies, and sweets.