As of 2021, there were nearly 500 restaurants in 43 states covering most regions of the country aside from: Oregon (no locations), Hawaii (no locations), New England (only three restaurants- Springfield, Massachusetts, New Haven, Connecticut, and Manchester, New Hampshire), the New York City Metropolitan Areas (none aside from one in the Bronx) and the low population states of Nebraska, Delaware and Wyoming. In 2001, system-wide annual sales exceeded $1 billion for the first time. The location of these new restaurants, the majority of which were in Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico and North Carolina, was also a change for the company, moving away from small towns and into metropolitan areas. An expanded buffet, dubbed the Golden Choice Buffet, was also added, which had a new layout to showcase its items. There was the addition of the Brass Bell Bakery, named for the brass bell which rang every fifteen minutes to signal that fresh bread, rolls, and pastries were coming out of the oven. These new Golden Corral restaurants more than doubled the size of the old, which were typically 5,000 square feet (460 m 2) with a capacity of 175 people. They were 10,000 square feet (930 m 2) and seated between 400 and 450 customers. In 1991, the first seven 'Metro Market' concept restaurants opened. The company added salad bars to all of its locations, sacrificed seating in most and in others sacrificed part of the parking lot to make additions to the buildings.

Because of poor training, nationwide concerns about the consumption of red meat, and a shift in market shares to upscale restaurants, sales were falling. That year, they decided to begin franchising by licensing 55 distressed restaurants to their most successful general managers. The company had more than 500 restaurants by 1987. As of 2007, gross sales were over $1.53 billion. The company has since expanded to nearly 500 locations across the United States about 100 of them are company-owned. Golden Corral was incorporated in 1972 and the first Golden Corral Family Steak House opened on January 3, 1973, in Fayetteville, North Carolina.

Carl conceived the idea that became Golden Corral after several unsuccessful attempts to acquire a franchise with other companies. Golden Corral in Durham, North Carolina in 2008

Golden star buffet