Four of the biggest buffet restaurant chains in the country tell TMZ they have no plans to close up shop amid what is now a global pandemic -- but they're not blind to the concerns about COVID-19. Meaning, they're taking new precautions.

For instance, Golden Corral says it's installed multiple new hand sanitizer stations in most, if not all, of its 500 locations -- and workers are now on a different kinda clock.

A rep tells us GC employees have been instructed to wash their hands a minimum of every 20 minutes, or between tasks. They're also wiping down all guest touchpoint areas every half hour.

The ever-familiar HomeTown, Old Country and Ryan's buffet chains are also following that spic-and-span approach. A rep for Ovation Brands -- which owns and operates all 3 -- says they're going hog wild on the cleaning and sanitizing as well.

Interestingly, Ovation says the reason it's not panicking just yet is because most of their customers are homegrown in the U.S., and not from overseas. That theory seems flawed, though, since there's no telling where those customers have traveled recently.

We're told if things change over the next few weeks -- and it seems obvious they will -- Ovation says it'll reevaluate.