What’s Going In On 24th In Billings? You Won’t Like The Answer.

Last week, we noticed a LOT of people being interested in the former Golden Corral location on 24th... and we've got news for you.

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A Once Booming Buffet... Before COVID

Golden Corral was known for giving families a chance to eat a LOT of food, at a decent price. Was the food the most amazing, well seasoned, food? No. But if you liked basic, home-cooked levels of food... it did the job well.

Below is what the location looked like in November of 2019. Decently busy, but not packed. Always the way I remembered it.

And Down Goes Golden Corral

Sometime in 2020, I remember driving by the location (in the midst of the pandemic whirring up in Montana) and saw this. This a sad example of a business that once stayed busy, and now, was just an empty shell. The following is from August 2021.

The former Golden Corral location has remained like this since around that time. Empty, rotting alone, with only the ghosts of patrons past wandering its walls... wanting more mashed potatoes and corn.

So... What's Next?

I reached out to my friend, and local human knowledgebase, Victoria Hill with the City of Billings. She's our Public Information Officer for Billings, and if she doesn't know what is happening... nobody does. (I joke about that)

So, in asking Victoria what the plan was for this location... here's what she told me:

It looks like the property owner is interested in building a car wash there, because they asked for zoning clarification. I followed up on this one to get clarification myself, because I'm not sure if they have the green light on it or not.

Well, there you have it. The owner of the land wants to slap another Car Wash on it.

However, I decided to call Victoria today to check in on it, and she said:

If they want to go forward with a Car Wash, they would need to get the approval of a special review. At this time, nothing new has been added.

So, they got pushback from some department within the City, and need approval of a special review council of some sort to do it. GREAT!

My Take

Dear Land Owner of Golden Corral:

DON'T PUT A STINKING CAR WASH THERE. WE HAVE ENOUGH OF THEM. FIND SOMETHING NEW AND FRESH. NOT ANOTHER SUBWAY EITHER. OR TACO BELL.

What Are Your Thoughts?

What would YOU want to see there? Let us know in App Chat or on Facebook.