Take, the buffet brand launched by Korean food service company Our Home in May, opened its second branch on October 2 inside Lotte World Adventure in Seoul's Songpa district — a 773-square-meter, 240-seat venue on the third basement floor. The opening comes alongside a broader rebound in South Korea's buffet sector, where established names including E-Land Eats' Ashley Queens and CJ Foodville's VIPS are rebuilding store counts after pandemic-era contractions.

What is Our Home's rollout plan?

After five months of operation, Our Home plans to operate four TAKE locations across Seoul before year-end:

• The Jamsil branch opened October 2 (773 sq m, 240 seats)
• A third outlet at Y Square in Miasageori, Gangbuk district, opens in November (998 sq m, 290 seats)
• A fourth outlet at Hyundai Outlet in Dongdaemun, Jung district, opens in December (959 sq m, 290 seats)

If the schedule holds, Our Home will have secured locations in four major Seoul commercial districts within seven months of the brand launch. The flagship Jonggak Station location reached 100,000 cumulative visitors as of last month, up from 90,000 at the end of August, with peak lunch and dinner reservations filling early and walk-in queues forming, according to restaurant industry sources.

An Our Home official said the first outlet had been warmly received by customers and that the Jamsil opening would allow the company to reach more diners, adding that it would open third and fourth outlets this year and "accelerate expansion with TAKE's varied menus and content."

What is happening at the menu?

The Jamsil store is running a "BIG BITE, BIG TAKE" collaboration with Lotte Homeshopping character Belly Bear. Pink-themed doughnuts, grapefruit mojitos, brownies and chocolates run through the 26th of next month. The Jonggak branch rotates brand partners through a "pop-up table" program — a Samyang Foods Buldak collaboration ran in May, and a "TAKE BOOK CLUB" with Youngpoong Bookstore currently reinterprets foods from literary works as menu items.

The collaborations target a traffic driver different from the legacy chains. Food costs in South Korea have kept dining-out budgets under pressure, and the all-in-one sample format offers a perceived value play against rising à la carte prices.

How deep is the recovery at Ashley Queens?

E-Land Eats' Ashley Queens contracted from more than 140 stores pre-pandemic to roughly 50 outlets at the trough before resuming openings and returning to more than 120 locations nationwide. The unit economics capture the segment's revival:

• 2020 operating loss: 63.8 billion won (about $45 million)
• 2021 operating loss: 19.4 billion won
• 2022 operating profit: 6 billion won
• 2023 operating profit: 45 billion won

Ashley Queens renovated its NC Songpa location in July into the Grand NC Songpa outlet, expanding floor area 70% from roughly 661 square meters to 1,124 square meters. Dishes increased up to 30% versus the minimum lineup at standard Ashley Queens stores, and 13 stations were added or upgraded — live grill, open sandwiches, wine pairings, Korean food, sushi and desserts. New items included seared beef sushi, acai and yogurt bowls, gelato and a self-assembly open sandwich station.

Where do VIPS and other players stand?

CJ Foodville's VIPS shrank from more than 60 outlets to 25 by 2022, recovered to 35 last year and has held at a similar level this year. Lotte GRS opened the first outlet of Korean food buffet Bokjugeok at the Gwangbok Lotte Department Store in Busan in August 2025, then added a second location at Lotte Mall in Gwangmyeong, Gyeonggi Province, in April.

What does the next phase look like?

The buffet segment that contracted sharply during the pandemic is now absorbing the entry of a new operator in Our Home alongside legacy chain rebuilds. With food prices still elevated and demand recovering for restaurants where diners sample a wide range of dishes at a fixed price, the segment's expansion — and the contest for prime Seoul real estate — looks set to continue through year-end and into 2027.