One of my favorite restaurant training videos over the years continues to be the original Old Country Buffet training video from the 90s. It’s 10 gloriously cringy minutes of what a meat carver named, “Fred,” needs to know to crush a typical night of work at the meat carving station. The training video covers training for all aspects of his job but the best part is the first part which instructs Fred on greeting and serving guests.
“Have you tried the lasagna? It’s my favorite!”
The first 4 minutes of the video is pure gold, but then it gets a little boring with details on how Old Country Buffet employees should maintain their carving station knife safety.
In case you haven’t seen it, here’s the full Old Country training video plus what Fred the meat carver is doing now and the parody from the Jimmy Kimmel Show featuring Bob Odenkirk:
Old Country Buffet: Training video | Carving guy | Bob Odenkirk parody
Old Country Buffet 90’s Training Video:
“Good evening, find enough to eat today?”
“Is it still hot out there?”
“Do you like hot fudge sundaes?”
“Have you ever been in a Turkish prison?”
“How’s that for you? Alllll right!”
The narrator of the training video also serves up some thought-provoking and helpful tips like, “Unfortunately, it doesn’t matter to the knife if it’s cutting through ham or your finger.”
Did you know Fred revealed that the training video was shot after midnight in Highland Park, MN. That was too late for kids, so that little girl featured in the video was added later. During that scene, Fred just talked to the floor.
Where Is the Old Country Buffet Carving Guy Now?
What Happened to the Old Country Buffet Guy? Fred, the Old Country Buffet guy lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It turns out that one of his friends worked on the “Dave Ryan in the Morning Show” at radio station KDWB in Minneapolis and he was recently invited to be on the show.
Here’s an Instagram video of Dave Ryan interviewing Fred the Old Country Buffet Guy in 2024:
It looks like Fred, the famous Old Country Buffet Guy seems to be doing well, and is in relatively good health, even though he had access to so much ham and beef during those years of carving.
“I had meat sweats all over my face from the meat and the heat lamps.”
Fred revealed that he only got, “normal pay plus a little incentive” to be featured in the training video, but it has been one of the highlights of his life.
When asked if he can still carve a ham, Fred replied, “Oh, yeah, dime-thickness! That’s why they wanted me in the production because I’m so good at carving.”
Old Country Buffet Video Parody With Bob Odenkirk
You might know Bob Odenkirk from Better Call Saul or Breaking Bad, but did you know he made a spoof of the Old Country Buffet Training video on the Jimmy Kimmel Show?
“What’s the story with your mom? Does she party?”
I can’t figure out if he actually has something wrong with his upper lip or if that’s just supposed to look like a nasty cold sore to be funny?
Will Fred Outlast the Old Country Buffet?
Fred is still riding the Old Country Buffet wave and is sometimes even asked to sign autographs and say his famous line, “Have you tried the lasagna? It’s my favorite.”
A fan once offered to fly Fred out to his wedding so that he could carve meat at the reception.
Seems like the world is Fred’s all-you-can-eat buffet and he’s carving up haters like dime-thick ham while savoring life’s metaphorical lasagna.
However, it looks like he’s faired better than his former employer as the Old Country Buffet has since filed for bankruptcy three times. While during their heyday they operated 600 locations, today only about 17 of those locations are still open in 2024. (source)
What happened to the Old Country Buffet? While some Old Country Buffets have been replaced by Golden Corrals or Hometown Buffets, most buildings have been bulldozed or fell into disrepair after Covid. In fact, the Old Country Buffet doesn’t even seem to have a website, which is odd.
How’s that for you!? Alllll right!
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