The Downfall Of Buffet Chains

[Cristiano]

I've personally never been a fan of buffets. The amount of choice is nice, but I end up paralyzed with choice and eat less than I would if I had just ordered a normal entree. Also, there is the ick factor of food sitting out for long periods of time and throngs of people touching it. I'm not surprised they are not really viable anymore.

When did America’s heart turn cold on buffet chains?

Potentially around the same time that the term “fried rice syndrome” entered the lexicon.

www.vox.com

 

[Clara D.]

Quit doing Chinese buffet because some people shouldn't be allowed to parent. I really don't want food that's had their screaming and completely amok kids' grubby mitts in, thanks.

 

[Katheryne Helendale]

We have a few mom-and-pop buffets in my area, Golden Corral is rumored to be opening here "soon", and we have a Hometown Buffet that seems to be doing okay, at least from the outside. I haven't eaten at Hometown in years, because every time I've eaten there, I always felt bloated and icky afterward - and it's not from overeating. I love salad bars, though, and our local Sizzler still has a pretty good one that I like to go to, even though salad bars are often vulnerable to the same issues that plague buffets - namely, they're a breeding ground of gastrointestinal diseases that get all over the serving utensils by sick people and people with bad handwashing habits. So far, I've been lucky. But then, I always make a habit of going to the bathroom to wash my hands once I get my plate to the table. All the same, I am still very cautious around buffets because there's really no way to judge a food's safety in that setting.

 

[Dakota Tebaldi]

I ate at a few buffets as a kid; but I never got how people said with a straight face that some given item you could find at a buffet was "amazing" compared to a regular restaurant's or even a diner's version of the same dish. The food wasn't bland or awful but it was never more than institutional.

 

[Arilynn]

I am friends with a family that loves buffets and went to two with them. One was a “Chinese” place, and the other was Hometown Buffet, I think. At Hometown Buffet, the first fork I got was dirty. As was the second. And the third. At that point, I wasn’t really hungry. The salmon was unrecognizable, the salad bar was sad looking, and soft serve ice cream machine was broken. I found something to eat - a broccoli dish, I think - and just ate that. I found out later that it closed. The Chinese place was an odd mix. There was giant pans of pudding, sushi, donuts, jello. It seemed clean, which was better than the other place. But there is something about having tray after tray of food sitting out for people to pick through that ironically kills my appetite. I guess I am not the ideal buffet customer.

 

[Rose Karuna]

Years and years ago I was at a Sizzler buffet and I saw this little kid running around to each bin in the salad buffet and spitting in it (he was just short enough to be above the counter but under the glass). I was horrified, and since then I've pretty successfully avoided buffets. I agree, even in the best of places (like the Aria in Las Vegas), the food is generally bland and over cooked and good grief, a lot of people and their little rug rats are just nasty.

 

[Veritable Quandry]

Only buffets I have been to recently are Indian or Amish.

 

[Kara Spengler]

Quit doing Chinese buffet because some people shouldn't be allowed to parent. I really don't want food that's had their screaming and completely amok kids' grubby mitts in, thanks.

Chinese buffets do well in the business areas of DC. They are nowhere to be found in the touristy areas though.

 

[Kara Spengler]

Only buffets I have been to recently are Indian or Amish.

Indian ones are always good. I find they range from 'acceptable' to 'wow' .... I have yet to encounter one I would not go to again. Even if the food was so-so the price matched that so it came out even.

Plus, if kids go to a buffet they will go to one with american food.

 

[Kalel]

Americans are slowly becoming more concerned about what they eat...

except kids.. they just go for the fries and tenders and pizza. >.>

 

[Argent Stonecutter]

There's these "upscale" buffet places that my wife really likes, you know the kind, with like a little stream running through the dining area and stuff. I am so unimpressed I couldn't pull up the name of one to save my life.

I like dim sum though.

 

[Jopsy Pendragon]

Came to this thread expecting it to be about Jimmy Buffet's "Margaritaville" eateries, having just seen some gossip-bit about him that I didn't bother to follow.

 

[Clara D.]

Indian ones are always good. I find they range from 'acceptable' to 'wow' .... I have yet to encounter one I would not go to again. Even if the food was so-so the price matched that so it came out even.

Plus, if kids go to a buffet they will go to one with american food.

Oh, they do the Chinese ones too. >_<

 

[Govi]

/me spoons a little slice of boiled schadenfreude on my fresh plate, drowns it in weltschmerz from the tureen, and gets a side of very warm gemütlichkeit from the chafing dish.*


___________________
*This would work in the Brexit thread, too.

 

[Free]

I'm more of a smorgasbord girl.

 

[EmpressOfCommunism]

There's a Buffet place in town that actually does it correct:

Everything is in its own separate bubble tray and a rather cranky-looking attendant keeps watch and grumps if people can't keep themselves or their children hygienic. People have been booted and asked not to return for eating directly from trays with their fingers, letting their kids eat things again with their fingers and then put the half eaten piece of food back, obviously having the flu and sneezing and coughing all over the food, etc.
I feel like the attendant loses years off of his life every single day he has to remind adults to take food out with utencils, and ask why they're going to the buffet if they have stomach flu.

 

[Lady Darnk Juniorette]

The amount of work to keep a large self serve buffet going while keeping in code is crazy if you're doing it completely by the book.

 

[Veritable Quandry]

Oh, they do the Chinese ones too. >_<

When we lived in a small city in Arkansas, the only Chinese was buffets. They generally had a salad bar and included fried foods and other American fare to the point where you could avoid all of the Chinese entrees and still have a full meal. They also tended to include all-you-can-eat crab legs.

At least in Columbus, we have "Chinese" restaurants. Most are generic Americanized stuff, but a few have recognizable regional options. I miss Portland, where there were a fair number of regional Chinese restaurants when we lived there.