Golden Corral is an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 family-style restaurant chain that features a large buffet

Buffet

A buffet is a system of serving meals in which food is placed in a public area where the diners generally serve themselves. Buffets are offered at various places including hotels and many social events...

 and grill

Grilling

Grilling is a form of cooking that involves dry heat applied to the surface of food, commonly from above or below.Grilling usually involves a significant amount of direct, radiant heat, and tends to be used for cooking meat quickly and meat that has already been cut into slices...

 offering numerous hot and cold items, a carving

Meat carving

Meat carving is the process and skill of cutting portions of meat, such as roast and poultry, to obtain a maximum or satisfactory number of meat portions, using a carving knife or meat-slicing machine. A meat carver disjoints the meat and slices in uniform portions...

 station and their Brass Bell Bakery. It is a privately held company

Privately held company

A privately held company or close corporation is a business company owned either by non-governmental organizations or by a relatively small number of shareholders or company members which does not offer or trade its company stock to the general public on the stock market exchanges, but rather the...

 headquartered

Headquarters

Headquarters denotes the location where most, if not all, of the important functions of an organization are coordinated. In the United States, the corporate headquarters represents the entity at the center or the top of a corporation taking full responsibility managing all business activities...

 in Raleigh, North Carolina

Raleigh, North Carolina

Raleigh is the capital and the second largest city in the state of North Carolina as well as the seat of Wake County. Raleigh is known as the "City of Oaks" for its many oak trees. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the city's 2010 population was 403,892, over an area of , making Raleigh...

, United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

, with locations in 40 states.

The restaurant, which serves breakfast, lunch and dinner, is famous for its three-year "Frying Pan Man" advertising campaign in which a person is hit on the head with a frying pan resulting in a craving to go to the restaurant.
In 1971, James Maynard

James Maynard

James H. Maynard is Chairman & CEO of the Investors Management Corporation, a holding company for food service and service industries, the largest of which is Golden Corral Corporation....

 and William F.