For decades, self-serve salad bars and buffets have been ingrained in the American dining experience. But now, with the coronavirus threatening to contaminate buffet surfaces , the pandemic has upended salad bar chains, all-you-can-eat Indian and Chinese buffets, cruise ship and casino buffets, hotel breakfast bars and self-serve prepared food bars at grocery stores.

On May 7, the buffet industry had its first casualty when Souplantation or Sweet Tomatoes as the chain is known outside of Southern California permanently closed its 97 locations. Was this a harbinger of things to come?

Not exactly. As restaurants across the U.S. reopen for dine-in service, these food bars continue to exist but have morphed into different concepts.