Buffets, Inc. Elects not to Pay Interest on Senior Notes

EAGAN, Minn.--(Business Wire)--Buffets, Inc. announced today that is has elected to take
advantage of the 30-day grace period with respect to the missed
interest payment due January 2, 2008 on its 12.5% Senior Notes due
November 1, 2014. The aggregate amount of this interest payment is
approximately $18.75 million. The company is taking advantage of the
grace period to pursue restructuring discussions with its creditors.
There can be no assurance that the company will reach an agreement on
any such restructuring.

Failure to make the interest payments by January 31, 2008 would
constitute an event of default under the indenture for the Senior
Notes that would permit the indenture trustee or holders of 25% or
more of the Senior Notes to accelerate the maturity of the Senior
Notes. In addition, failure to make the interest payment within the
grace period would constitute an event of default under Buffets $640
million credit facility that would permit the administrative agent or
lenders holding in excess of 50% of the indebtedness outstanding under
the credit facility to terminate any commitments to extend credit to
the company and accelerate the maturity of the indebtedness
outstanding.

About Buffets

Buffets, Inc., the nation's largest steak-buffet restaurant
company, currently operates 626 restaurants in 39 states, comprised of
615 steak-buffet restaurants and eleven Tahoe Joe's Famous
Steakhouse(R) restaurants, and franchises sixteen steak-buffet
restaurants in six states. The restaurants are principally operated
under the Old Country Buffet(R), HomeTown Buffet(R), Ryan's(R) and
Fire Mountain(R) brands. Buffets employs approximately 37,000 team
members and serves approximately 200 million customers annually. The
company is currently offering multiple unit area development
agreements to experienced restaurant operators across Florida and
several western states. For more information about the Company, please
visit www.Buffet.com and www.Ryansrg.com.

Safe Harbor Statement

The statements contained in this release that are not historical
facts are forward-looking. The risks and uncertainties involving
forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, changes in
general and economic conditions, consumer confidence, discretionary
spending patterns, the public's perception of buffets-style food
service, negative publicity, competition, seasonality, weather,
inflation, fuel and utility costs, the availability and cost of food
products and restaurant labor, minimum wage increases, regulations,
public health developments, interest rate fluctuations, political
environment (including terrorism and wars), the degree of success
integrating the Ryan's restaurants and capturing synergies, our
ability to satisfy lending covenants and meet our debt service
obligations. For a detailed discussion of risks and uncertainties,
refer to the "Risk Factors / Forward-Looking Statements" section in
Buffets Holdings' Form 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange
Commission on September 25, 2007 and in Buffets Holdings' Quarterly
report on Form 10-Q filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission
on November 5, 2007. The statements in this release reflect Buffets
Holdings' current beliefs based upon available information.
Developments subsequent to this release are likely to cause these
statements to become outdated, and no obligation is undertaken to
update the information.

Buffets Holdings, Inc.
A. Keith Wall, 651-994-8608
Chief Financial Officer

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