Buffets, Inc. and Old Country Buffet Honored with Platinum Choice in Chains Award.

Business Editors

EAGAN, Minn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 4, 2002

Old Country Buffet captured a Platinum Award in the buffet category of Restaurants and Institutions 2002 Choice in Chains Awards. The awards are divided into 13 categories by market segment and have long been known as the customer satisfaction awards as they are based on a national survey of thousands of restaurant consumers who rate the chains on the basis of seven attributes: food quality, menu variety, value, service, atmosphere, cleanliness and convenience.

In addition to achieving the top overall position in its category, Old Country Buffet's overall rating earned the restaurant 6th place among more than 100 regional and national chains across all 13 categories. The chain also received first place in the buffet category for 6 of the 7 rated attributes. Within its category, Old Country Buffet has received the first place rating for value in 9 of the last 10 years and first place for variety in 7 of the last 10 years.

Old Country Buffet operates 243 restaurants in 30 states, serving traditional home cooking through a scatter bar buffet system which provides easy access for guests to select a wide range of food choices. The chain is operated by parent company Buffets, Inc., which also operates 130 HomeTown Buffets, sister chain to Old Country Buffet, and 26 other restaurants, principally Original Roadhouse Grill and Tahoe Joe's Famous Steakhouses. Buffets, Inc. reached a milestone on December 27, 2000 when it achieved a sales volume of $1 billion, having served over 148 million guests.

President and CEO, Kerry Kramp, takes great pride in the people responsible for the chain's success. "It is indeed our pleasure to once again have taken the top honors in our category and a wonderful acknowledgement of the Buffets family members whom we depend upon each day to provide an exceptional dining experience to our guests," said Kramp. "Our sincere congratulations and appreciation go out to our talented and passionate employees in our restaurants as well as our corporate support team whose hard work every day allowed us the honor of winning the Platinum Award."

Restaurants and Institutions is published by Cahners Business information and is the leading publication in the food service industry, reaching more than 164,000 commercial and non-commercial foodservice operators in chain and independent restaurants, hotels, supermarkets, schools, colleges, healthcare, contract foodservice and B&I. It conducts the Choice in Chains survey every year in conjunction with NFO Research Inc., a Greenwich, Connecticut based market research firm. This year 2,767 consumers participated, making it one of the largest consumer surveys of its kind.