Things were anything but "golden" at the Golden Corral restaurant in Bensalem, Pennsylvania this past Friday. A massive 40-person brawl broke out in the dining room of the popular all-you-can-eat buffet franchise.
CBS Philly reported on the unbelievable events in a video that has since been age restricted by YouTube due to the violence.
It is believed the altercation—which saw chairs and tables being thrown—was due to the eatery had running out of steak.
The Bensalem police believe an earlier argument began between only a handful of customers, but the fight grew to involve close to 40 people.
@Raw_News1st shared the complete, jaw dropping video to their Twitter account, which has since been viewed over 600 thousand times.
WARNING: NSFW language and disturbing content
#Video\nBig fight breaks out at Golden Corralpic.twitter.com/0pdNnbVzZs— RawNews1st\ud83c\udfa5\ud83d\udcf0 (@RawNews1st\ud83c\udfa5\ud83d\udcf0) 1643420733
At the beginning of the video, customers were corralling at the entrance to the buffet when a chair was seen being lifted, instantly turning the environment into chaos.
The restaurant's working staff were doing their best to quell the situation, even with the imminent threat of a chair or table being thrown directly at them. The restaurant fell into mayhem over the course of the just under two-minute video.
Amidst the screams and profanity from the enraged customers, one stunned diner could be heard uttering:
"All I wanted was some steak!"
Dylan Becker, a former employee at the Bensalem Golden Corral, told CBS Philly he had never witnessed anything close to this during his time working there. He said he was told by a current employee at the restaurant steak was indeed the catalyst for this unfortunate occurrence.
"I’ve never seen nothing like that in Golden Corral before."
"From what I heard it was over steak, apparently somebody cut in line."
Becker's friend, Gaven Lauletta, also heard a steak shortage and line disruption was what began this unexpectedly viral brawl, as he told CBS Philly:
"There was a shortage of steak and two parties were involved and one family cut in front of another family, they were taking their time and they ran out of steak and it got into a heated exchange at the tables."
Upon seeing the footage, Bensalem locals expressed their horror and disgust at the conduct of the customers in the video.
"Disgusted that people would even do that in a public place when there’s children around."
“Our community should be safe for families."
“No respect for anything. No respect for people or for people or property or anything."
Twitter user's were also quick to share their disbelief as the video gained more and more attention.
"When We Run Out of Steak, Run for Your Life"\n\n-- Golden Corral's new slogan! @RiffTraxhttps://twitter.com/CBSPhilly/status/1488290135871561734\u00a0\u2026— Bill Corbett (@Bill Corbett) 1643728244
"I'm not here to make friends," I say walking into Golden Corral.— Johnny 'Zero Phat' Frittata (@Johnny 'Zero Phat' Frittata) 1643664488
The Golden Corral brawl happening in front of the "Gather Round" sign is "When Dinosaurs Ruled The Earth" level filmmaking.pic.twitter.com/fRmKA1I3mS— Silas Kade (@Silas Kade) 1643753652
Who among us hasn\u2019t gotten into a brawl at Golden Corral when the buffet ran out of steak? I have. My Uncle Gary has. My youth football coaching staff and team have.https://twitter.com/cbsphilly/status/1488290135871561734\u00a0\u2026— Three Year Letterman (@Three Year Letterman) 1643723578
I love that place! They have endless projectile's! Golden corralhttps://twitter.com/Complex/status/1488588712371961856\u00a0\u2026— adam dalmation (@adam dalmation) 1643753646
While others couldn't believe anyone felt so passionately about the steak at Golden Corral they would actually resort to violence.
If you're angry about Golden Corral running out of steak, you should reexamine your life choices.— Rick Havoc (@Rick Havoc) 1643722756
As a former Golden Corral employee. Trust me. That steak is good. Not sure if it's "2 yrs Probation aggravated assault with a kids high chair" good. GC is a competitive mid-major no one respects because they're in a weak conference with Ryans, Old Country Buffet & Cracker Barrellpic.twitter.com/4GXshdBeB3— Roy Wood Jr- Ex Jedi (@Roy Wood Jr- Ex Jedi) 1643727132
Oh Golden Corral, so sad to see you ran out of steak. I\u2019m just not sure it\u2019s highchair throwing, fist flying, gonna get a record kinda good. \nPeople be crazy. No amount of Bless Americas can right this wrong.— Darcykins (@Darcykins) 1643753604
People are fighting over #GoldenCorral steaks as if they're servin' up wagyu or filet mignon. \ud83e\udee4\n\nAll I can do is pray for humanity at this point.— Elgin Charles (@Elgin Charles) 1643753562
Nothing at Golden Corral tastes good enough to justify a brawl. Good lord.pic.twitter.com/O7T0e0bIF5— Stephanie McCown \ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\ud83c\udf08 (@Stephanie McCown \ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\ud83c\udf08) 1643751286
While the Bensalem Golden Corral has yet to comment on the matter—or confirm what precisely started the fight—the franchise's owner JK Hospitality did release a statement.
"Thankfully, no serious injuries have been reported."
"The safety of our guests and co-workers is our top priority."
The Bensalem police are currently investigating who initiated the brawl, with the person or people responsible facing multiple charges including assault.