Buffets

[Warden Callaway]

Many years ago we were more social. Went to several county fairs, local races, movie theaters, gun shows and often eat at buffet places. But one by one, we just got tired of the mass of humanity.  Many of these places I've not been to in 20 years. 

 

Yesterday we had a family lunch at China Garden.  Mary had recently had a lunch out there with her sisters and came back with a glowing review of all the great things they had. Well, I caved in and we met there. Nice place. Packed on Saturday noon. Lots of beautiful food. Great service.  But I still hated the crowd.  I hate competing for my food.  Too many people browsing and can't make up their minds.  Too many gluttonous peope. Kids running free and unattended.  Too much noise. I couldn't stand my hearing aids I'm so couldn't make conversion well. 

 

I zeroed in on a beautiful huge beef roast. They had a serrated butcher carving knife and fork there. I worked at cutting off a slice.  Then cut it up on my plate. It was very tough.  Found some egg rolls and some Crab Rangoon. Chicken chunks with goop. I asked one lady were do you suppose they keep the mash taters and gravy. She chuckled,  I don't think they have any here. I said,  that's the problem,  I like mash taters and gravy. The roast beef was like chewing rubber. I'd gotten a flake of fish that looked good but dried out to were I couldn't cut it with a steak knife.  Rest of the stuff went down ok.

 

Besides all that, I don't eat enough to make it cost justified.  I had one 9" plate reasonably covered. I didn't go back for seconds. No desserts.

 

But everyone else seemed to enjoy it. I just survived. 

[Linn Keller, SASS 27332, BOLD 103]

"I just survived" ... well put!

[Tell Sackett SASS 18436]

Sorry you got a bad buffet, but there are lots of great ones out there!!

You just have to find them!

[Cypress Sun]

Forty five years of doing electrical work locally.... I'll NEVER eat in 'Chinese' restaurant....EVER, FN EVER. 

[Warden Callaway]

There is one exception. By chance returning from a trip, we stopped at the Rebel Pig bar and restaurant in Palmyra,  Missouri. We've been back several times. They have a menu you can order off of and a buffet bar about 12' long. On Friday,  they have BBQ pulled pork and catfish. The other items are country comfort food. Ham and beans,  cornbread, fried potatoes,  salad and so on. The price of the buffet vs menu made the choice a no brainer. But it's still packed. Still benge eaters. But only one line to go down and wasn't much of a holdup.  Mostly men. Most looked like farmers or blue collar tradesmen.  You can keep your hat on and no body would notice. But still, one plate full was enough. 

[Warden Callaway]

 

[Sgt. C.J. Sabre, SASS #46770]

We go to Golden Corral every now and again. Foods decent, but it's gotten to the point that I just don't eat enough anymore to justify the cost. And when we do go, we try to time it so that it's not crowded. I hate crowds too.

[Dr. Zook]

In Phx, we had King's Table, Sir George's & Piccadilly's buffets in the 70's.  1st mega buffet I ever went to was in LV in early 90's - unless you want to count the mess hall @ RTC SanDiego in 1986 during ROTC.

[Subdeacon Joe]

I like a good breakfast/brunch buffet. There used to be a good one at a now closed restaurant and bar.  Chafing dishes of scrambled eggs, poached eggs, bacon, link sausage, corned beef hash with diced corned beef,  potatoes o'brian, French toast, a waffle station,  once a month a prime rib carving station.  A table with various breads, including bagels with all the fixings, and a pastry table.   It was $16 or $18 per person. 

 

 

Only other buffet that I car for is a good salad bar.

[Eyesa Horg]

Seems most buffets and salad bars disappeared after COVID around here.

[Dantankerous]

Back in college biology lab a student held a Petri dish over the salad bar in the college cafeteria collecting airborne bacteria samples for all of about five seconds. The nasty crap that grew out of that Petri dish was beyond disgusting.

 

I've had food poisoning twice in my life. Both times because I ate at a buffet somewhere. One was Chinese, the other one I do not remember. Never again.

Edited February 9 by Dantankerous

[Warden Callaway]

1 hour ago, Dantankerous said:

Back in college biology lab a student held a Petri dish over the salad bar in the college cafeteria collecting airborne bacteria samples for all of about five seconds. The nasty crap that grew out of that Petri dish was beyond disgusting.

 

I've had food poisoning twice in my life. Both times because I ate at a buffet somewhere. One was Chinese, the other one I do not remember. Never again.

My folks really loved the local buffet steakhouse.  They probably eat there once a week. Sometimes we'd join them.  I went to the bar the same time a lady was replenishing the macaroni and cheese. The pan dipped into the hot water under the pans. The water looked like dirty dish water. The pan picked up a good bit of the slop. She just stirred it in an went on.

[Sgt. C.J. Sabre, SASS #46770]

1 hour ago, Subdeacon Joe said:

I like a good breakfast/brunch buffet. There used to be a good one at a now closed restaurant and bar.  Chafing dishes of scrambled eggs, poached eggs, bacon, link sausage, corned beef hash with diced corned beef,  potatoes o'brian, French toast, a waffle station,  once a month a prime rib carving station.  A table with various breads, including bagels with all the fixings, and a pastry table.   It was $16 or $18 per person. .

Golden Corral has a "on Request" omelet station. They'll make whatever you want.

[bgavin]

I skip the rest of it, just back to the steak section, many times.

 

[Subdeacon Joe]

3 minutes ago, Sgt. C.J. Sabre, SASS #46770 said:

Golden Corral has a "on Request" omelet station. They'll make whatever you want.

 

I knew that I left something out!  When there wasn't the prime rib they had an omelet station. 

 

The nearest Golden Corral is an hour and a half away. 

[Warden Callaway]

We attended a convention in a fancy hotel between Dallas and Ft. Worth. In the lobby they had a breakfast bar attended by a guy in chefs outfit. The food was was displayed in a curved counter. It had all the usual breakfast items.  The chef would greet people and ask if there was anything they wanted.  Everyone just served themselves from what was in front of them. He asked me and I replied, "Can you make me a Denver omelet?".  "Sure". And he wiped one out. Other folks in line mouth's dropped open.  Each ordered a Dinver omelet.  

[Texas Maverick]

We used to eat at buffets back in the 80's and 90's until my wife followed this very large woman  who tended to sample all the items by using her hands before putting anything on her plate. My wife put her plate down and we left and have never eaten at another buffet since. This was at a nice restaurant and it was surprising nothing was said to her since the people working the buffet watched her do it. We don't see many around here anymore so I guess they kinda went away after Covid. As others have said I don't eat enough now to warrant one even if they did have one around.

 

TM

[Blackwater 53393]

The closest thing to a buffet that I have visited in MANY YEARS is the salad bar at Ruby Tuesday’s.  It’s a great salad bar and it’s maintained religiously!

 

After that, maybe the chow line at Comin’AtCha’ and Black Gold, but they’re more like pot luck than a buffet…

[Smokin Gator SASS #29736]

Years ago I'd occasionally eat at a buffet. Some were pretty good. Now with the combination of them being closed during the shutdowns and the worsening behavior of people I'd be pretty hesitant to go to one now. Some grocery stores have open sandwich/salad make your own stations. They seem even worse with the number of homeless nuts roaming the stores.

[Cypress Sun]

In the late 70's and early 80's there was a buffet in Clearwater, I don't remember the name now, that cost $11 and included drink/dessert. It had fairly decent food and was a great place to go with friends when you had the munchies.

 

A group of us went there once and there was a big guy, that wasn't with us, fill up 3 heaping plates with fried chicken. He ate those 3 plates, went back and got another 3 heaping plates of chicken before most of us were finished with the food we first got. When I went back for seconds, he came back for 3 more heaping plates of chicken. By now, he had probably ate at least 5 to 6 whole chickens. By the time I finished up my seconds, he was going back for more but we didn't stay to watch. My guess is that he ate at least 7 or 8 entire chickens. and was still going when we left.

 

The best local buffet I found was in 2004 - 05 in Holiday, Fl. It was named Barnhills and had great food with a wide variety. They only lasted a few years, probably because they didn't charge enough for the quality of the food. They also had an outstanding breakfast buffet.

 

The other best buffet was in Valdosta, Ga near I-75. We used to stop there on the to and from the S.E. Regional in Georgia. I don't remember the name but they had a bunch of pig/hog decorations and figurines all over the place. The bbq was pretty damn good as was the vegetables, potatoes and desserts. 

Edited February 9 by Cypress Sun

[Rip Snorter]

When I wrestled and played football in college, better at the former than the latter, our coach for both was a former Pro Football player.  He had played in the area and knew every good buffet, most all you can eat.  They hated us when the football team bus stopped, serious damage.  Wrestlers have to make weight but I had no problem since I was a light for my weight class and could chow down.  Got some hate from the guys who ran heavy.  Adult life, buffets a rare thing though now I am light for my age!

[Blackwater 53393]

Perhaps the finest buffet restaurant I ever visited was outside of Gulfport Mississippi, just north of I10. It was, now, almost thirty years ago!

 

It was called Montana’s and the place was fabulous. They had tons of fresh caught seafood, BBQ ribs and pulled pork, roasted and fried chicken and roasted turkey, prime rib and smoked brisket, a fantastic sideboard of fresh and steamed vegetables, potatoes in every form that you can imagine along with sweet potatoes and candied carrots, and finally gumbo, jambalaya, and shrimp and crawfish Etoufee!

 

My boss/racing partner and I were headed home from a major points meet and stopped there on our way out of town!

 

It was twenty bucks a head and worth every penny of it! We sat and ate and went back and sampled items for damn near two hours and the staff brought us a steady stream of beverages and desserts.  
 

There was NOTHING that I tried that wasn’t top shelf and the place was absolutely packed on a Sunday evening!!

 

I always wished that I could have gone back there for a meal!!

 

 

 

 

Edited February 9 by Blackwater 53393

[Waimea]

The best buffet we ever went to was in Oslo, Norway.

It was at the layover hotel we stayed in. It was breakfast and the food was unbelievable.

8 self serve stations plus cook to order chef.

[Big Gus, SASS# 66666]

I’m not a small man as my alias may attest but when I want to feel good about myself i go to a buffet or Walmart then I’m the skinniest guy in the place. 

Edited February 16 by Big Gus, SASS# 66666

[Yul Lose]

The last buffet I ate at was a Chinese buffet in San Marcos, Ca. I filled my plate and sat down and was waiting for my wife to join me and I saw something move across the napkin on my lap and closer inspection revealed a couple of large cock roaches. Not saying all buffets are like that but haven’t been to one since it happened, that buffet closed down not long after that.

[Smokin Gator SASS #29736]

I went to a cheap buffet for breakfast back when I was in school a long time ago. Nothing fancy, no big expectations.  I filled my plate and was eating a link sausage and as I was chewing got to a tough gristle part that grossed me out. Spit it out and sat there a minute letting my stomach settle down. Went to resume eating, broke open a biscuit and there was a dead fly in the middle of it. I just stood up, didn't bother complaining, and walked out never to return.

[Rye Miles #13621]

17 hours ago, Eyesa Horg said:

Seems most buffets and salad bars disappeared after COVID around here.

Same here! There was a few good ones here and they turned into carryout only.

[Dapper Dave]

Our Golden Corral closed down two years ago. There is a Chinese buffet, looked at it once, never went back. My wife and I love sampling all kinds of oddball eateries, but we learned, if you want to go to a buffet, get there at opening time for lunch. Anything after that is suspect. 

[Warden Callaway]

Well, I caved in and we met our son at China Garden again today. I staid away from the roast beef and grilled fish although they may have been perfectly fine this time. I doubled up on the crab Rangoon, egg rolls and got more chicken parts with goop.  A small bowl of egg drop soup.  No desserts. We got a table in a side room in a corner that wasn't so loud (no kids) so I faired better with my hearing aids.   Got home without running into rain. 

Edited February 15 by Warden Callaway

[Texas Maverick]

Back in the 70's in OKC there was a restaurant that served all you can eat frog legs on Friday nights. I went there 2 or 3 times a month. They hated seeing me come in. I could put down 20 to 25 pair of frog legs with no problem. They would bring out salads, fries and bread but I was mainly there for the legs. LOL

 

We used to live in Las Vegas and you talk about cheap buffets. Circus Circus was $3.99 for all you can eat. It wasn't bad back in the 80's. It was mainly to draw in customers for the casino. 

 

Another one now is the Brazilian Steak House where they bring the meat to your table and slice it off of skewers for you. The rest of the food is served buffet style but it is closely managed and good food. You get all the salad fixins and vegetables at the buffet tables. Kinda pricey but you don't leave hungry.

 

TM

[Warden Callaway]

Back in early 80s, in a different life, we had a computer systems designer from IBM. It had been customary to entertain guest in the evening.  The IBM guy and wife were both Kansas kids. But moved to L.A. and upper New York a long time ago. They got to talking and had a hankering for some real country food.  In town was a restaurant that excelled at country food. On top of that, they served 'family style" - that is, they brought out plates and such. All the food was brought out in bowls and you served yourself.  

[Forty Rod SASS 3935]

On 2/9/2025 at 10:33 AM, Sgt. C.J. Sabre, SASS #46770 said:

We go to Golden Corral every now and again. Foods decent, but it's gotten to the point that I just don't eat enough anymore to justify the cost. And when we do go, we try to time it so that it's not crowded. I hate crowds too.

Our Golden Corral was one of my favorite places...for several reasons.

 

It burned about two or three years ago and has never opened again.

[watab kid]

im with you on not likeing all the humanity anymore and i agree with you about how much i eat any,more and the cost affect ratio , when we go out i order what i want and i always have a second [sometimes a third] meal to take home and enjoy later , but i guess that makes it cost affective in the end , 

[Texas Maverick]

15 hours ago, Warden Callaway said:

Back in early 80s, in a different life, we had a computer systems designer from IBM. It had been customary to entertain guest in the evening.  The IBM guy and wife were both Kansas kids. But moved to L.A. and upper New York a long time ago. They got to talking and had a hankering for some real country food.  In town was a restaurant that excelled at country food. On top of that, they served 'family style" - that is, they brought out plates and such. All the food was brought out in bowls and you served yourself.  

I went to a restaurant that served family style once. They had long tables with benches. You picked a spot and they asked what you liked and they started bringing out bowls of food just like at home. It was a very good meal and experience. Haven't been to once since that time. Not sure if they even exist anymore. It was a good atmosphere and we all enjoyed the meal. Thanks for bringing back that memory.

 

TM

[Cowtown Scout, SASS #53540 L]

47 minutes ago, Texas Maverick said:

I went to a restaurant that served family style once. They had long tables with benches. You picked a spot and they asked what you liked and they started bringing out bowls of food just like at home. It was a very good meal and experience. Haven't been to once since that time. Not sure if they even exist anymore. It was a good atmosphere and we all enjoyed the meal. Thanks for bringing back that memory.

 

TM

Last year at Kansas State and the Classic Cowboy Showdown the Classics had our dinner one evening at a local resurant and it was served family style.  Some good eating.