Buffet restaurants - SC's without any manners

[greensinestro]

My main annoyance with buffets is with the greedy pigs who go up to the buffet and clean out all of one type of food so that no-one else can have some. Especially if they don't eat it all, but leave half of it. I once was at a buffet where this incredibly obese woman grabbed all the BBQ chicken legs; there must have been about ten there, and she hogged the lot. The staff did replace them, and if it wasn't for this brave man who stood in front of the woman to stop her queue jumping, she probably would have taken the lot of the new serving, too. -.-

This reminds me of something that happened when I was in high school. We were on a band trip and this one guy, C, who weighed close to 300 pounds then (at only 16 years old!), went up to the breakfast buffet and took the entire helping of scrambled eggs, ten pieces of bacon, and five biscuits. Now, the band was nearly 150 plus people, which meant many of us had to wait for more eggs to replace the ones this guy took. Lord knows how much this guy weighs now, twenty years later.

[Andara Bledin]

Lord knows how much this guy weighs now, twenty years later.

At that rate, he's probably long dead of heart failure.

^-.-^

[AccountingDrone]

My main annoyance with buffets is with the greedy pigs who go up to the buffet and clean out all of one type of food so that no-one else can have some.

I hate that ... the rare times we do buffets it is so we can do little tastes of lots of different stuff instead of entire entrees ... the Mohegan Sun has a couple buffet places that are great, and the portion size for meats is like 3 or 4 bites at the most, so if I feel like pigging out, I can have a portion of fish, and one of chicken and one of beef without ordering 3 plates of food =)

[EricKei]

This thread reminded me of an old Simpsons episode, where Homer took the 'all-you-can-eat' part literally.

That's actually a standing joke in the Dilbert comic and/or cartoon. The reason Dilbert's Dad is never in the comic (even tho his Mom is present) is because he once went to an AYCE Buffet and refused to leave until he had gotten "all he could eat". He has been there for the entire duration of the series

The "new plate every trip" is required by law here, too. Good luck enforcing it.

[Dreamstalker]

I hate that ... the rare times we do buffets it is so we can do little tastes of lots of different stuff instead of entire entrees ...

That's what my dad and I do at Buffalo Thunder (we also go there just to wander around the resort and gawk at the architecture, which is pretty cool).

[PepperElf]

clean plate policy is also health code law in some states

also... my boyfriend just happened to mention this to me - it's harder to keep track of how much you eat (or really consider how much you've had) when you switch to a clean plate each time.


but hey health code is the health code

[Ironclad Alibi]

... this one guy, C, who weighed close to 300 pounds then (at only 16 years old!), went up to the breakfast buffet and took the entire helping of scrambled eggs, ten pieces of bacon, and five biscuits.

C was just looking out for you. He took all the old food the previous partrons had handled, and had been sitting out for who knows how long, so the rest of you got fresh food, hot off the grill.

[tropicsgoddess]

Duuude I can't stand messy people at GC (golden corral)! Especially when they splatter the food contents everywhere onto other food.

I work in the salad section of GC so I normally pay attention to what happens in my neck of the woods.

And I will so join you with that JoiTheArtist

Oh blech...Golden Crapall. Me, SO and a friend went there and the food sucked! A good chunk of the food was canned slop I could get from Publix and make for way cheaper and to top that, the food was lukewarm like it was sitting under a heat lamp or stayed too long in the buffet. The worst part was that I paid 40 something dollars for that crap. Never again.

[McGoddess09]

I can't imagine eating all of that. When I go to the buffet (usually Old Country Buffet), I get a little bit of each thing I want. I figure, if I am still hungry, I can go back up. Usually, I end up eating a plate of salad, two plates of sample sized portions, and a small slice of cheesecake for dessert.

[Jay 2K Winger]

I eat at Cici's all the time. I love their Mac-n-Cheese pizza.

I haven't noticed any "clean plate policy" signs, but after reading some of the stories here, I'm going to be sure to adhere to that idea.

[Setsunaela]

our local Old Country Buffet is decent, as long as you don't go on a Sunday afternoon. Yeah the Sunday deals are great, but you get literally buses full of church-goers and their kids who cram into the place and it's nearly impossible to do anything without bumping into a child running amok.

Up in Fairfax at the mall there's a great all you can eat sushi place (Todai) that has a clean plate policy that's pretty well enforced given that there is a ton of waitstaff there giving you your free drink refills, and if they see you with one or two pieces left on your plate, they will WAIT for you to eat them, and then take your dirty plate away. They also have signs everywhere that it's an extra dollar if you don't eat the rice on the Nigiri style (the kind with a ball of rice, and a piece of fish on top)

[Andara Bledin]

We have lots of great buffets around here.

Several varied Chinese food places, Souplantation (our local one is great), Hometown Buffet (our local one is crappy), Hokkaido Seafood (I adore this one), etc, etc, etc.

^-.-^

[TexasT]

On top of that, this other woman came along with a pizza box and was scooping up slices of pizza to take home! When was that allowed?

I used to work at CiCi's about 6 years ago and back then you could get a "buffet to go" for the same price as all you can eat. We'd either get it for you or give you the box, depending on how busy it is and you were allowed 6 slices of pizza and a couple desserts.

[Dave1982]

I pretty much shun all "chain" buffets since they are almost always crap.

However, there is one chinese buffet local to me that is excellent. Far and away THE best Chinese food in the area, and they do a brisk carry-out business in addition to the buffet. Additionally, the drinks are very good and very cheap ($5 Mai Tais, anyone?). And the staff is friendly and the atmosphere is great. In fact, I just arranged to have a get-together there for a number of the staff at my store (no, Captain Jellico wasn't invited ) next week.

Oh, and the buffet is well tended to, so food doesn't rot there, nor do empty containers stay empty for long.

Unfortunately, it's not without its share of dingbats. Last time I was there, some woman cut in front of me then proceeded to take ALL of the Peking Ravioli, which is my very favorite appetizer (and is what I was heading for when she cut me off). And a while back, I was seated by a group of boisterous teenage boys who came within an inch of being thrown out. One of them even dared another to snort the contents of a Sweet N Low packet.

Hopefully it won't be like that when my co-workers and I go. They agreed to go solely on my recommendation and I don't want them to be let down.

[tropicsgoddess]

We have lots of great buffets around here.

Several varied Chinese food places, Souplantation (our local one is great), Hometown Buffet (our local one is crappy), Hokkaido Seafood (I adore this one), etc, etc, etc.

^-.-^

There's a Hometown Buffet by my house, it's pretty decent, but the Shoney's...oh man is it awesome!! About 10-15 minutes from house is this local Chinese-Japanese Buffet that is to die for! Sake, some delicious Sushi, Chinese and some American Food, awesome service and prices!