# Buffet???WTF???



## The Gabba Goul (Feb 11, 2005)

Am I the only one who finds buffets to be disgusting???

Anybody who has ever heard of me knows how much I like Vegas...so alot of times in the real world, I'll get people comming up to me and asking questions or looking for tips on where to eat or whatever...almost always I'm asked to suggest a good buffet...to which I usually respond by telling the person that the buffet is just barely a step above eating garbage and if you're looking for cheap eats, hit up the Fatburger on Las Vegas Blvd...this usually turns into a debate about how good buffets are...

A female friend of mine wanted to go to a buffet for her birthday a few months ago...I went along with her, because I like to let people pick where they want to eat for their birthday and usually just pretend to enjoy it no matter how bad it is...but between the almost rotten shrimp, the watery veggies, the soups that make Campbells look like haute cuisine, I could barely keep from being rude...but it just further affirmed in my mind what a waste of money buffets are...So then I'm talking to somebody the other day and they're telling me about how great the buffet at Mandalay Bay is "because they change the stuff pretty qucik"...I almost hit the roof...I'm sorry...I just dont get it...why do otherwise normal people love to line up like swine at a trough to eat cheap pre-packaged junk??? What exactly is the appeal of the buffet???


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## eyedoc2180 (Nov 19, 2006)

WTF is right. The appeal of the buffet is that the artery cloggers can commune with each other in guilt free fashion with unlimited fuel for the stove. It just goes to the supersize mentality that is so pervasive here in the U.S. These are the same people who just have to eat while they are driving. What's up with that? Diabetes is rampant in my practice, with people who insist on the best drugs but won't lose any weight to control it. Eat 'em up! Bill


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## anglophile23 (Jan 25, 2007)

All you can eat is the key.
Bad food in large quantity for little cash.


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## Wayfarer (Mar 19, 2006)

Gabba:

Bring your friends to the closest local buffet and sit down and people watch. Look for things like someone picking at their nose then touching a piece of food and *putting it back in the bin*. Or someone sneezing on the food. Unattended children can usually be counted on for this too. It will cure anyone with some sensibility.


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## David V (Sep 19, 2005)

My wife hates all buffets and brunches. To her, they are the equivalent of a feeding trough.


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## StevenRocks (May 24, 2005)

Buffets are a bit tasteless, but it's a big business. There wouldn't be so many if there wasn't a demand.


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## maxnharry (Dec 3, 2004)

Many people have no idea what good food tastes like, so to them buffets are completely delightful. Salty, greasy, sweet stuff that seems to be almost free. For me it's never hot enough, fresh enough or tasty enough to be worth my while.


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## DukeGrad (Dec 28, 2003)

*Maxnharry*

Shipmate!

You enjoyed buffets all your life, out to sea. Had no choice!!!
LOL

Have nice day gentlemen


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## maxnharry (Dec 3, 2004)

DukeGrad said:


> Shipmate!
> 
> You enjoyed buffets all your life, out to sea. Had no choice!!!
> LOL
> ...


That's true too. If you were lucky you got to eat at the buffet otherwise it was MREs for you (maybe C-Rats, but I don't want to be insulting)


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## Andy V. (Jan 16, 2004)

Where I live, going to buffets is optional.


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## AlanC (Oct 28, 2003)

Pardon my interruption of the anti-buffet self-congratulation, but we have a couple of local Chinese buffets and a Mexican buffet (all run by immigrants) on our regular Sunday afternoon rotation. They're pretty good, and *gasp* I enjoy eating at them. I apologize for contributing to the degradation of American society.

Maybe I should go to classier places like Las Vegas.


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## jpeirpont (Mar 16, 2004)

I have never been to a proper buffet, but, around here most of the Jamaican restaurants and bakeries put their goods under a heating lamp for an hour or so, likely longer later in the day. The food is still pretty good. These are mainly sides and baked good though, not sure if a real meal could with stand it.


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## Wayfarer (Mar 19, 2006)

AlanC said:


> Pardon my interruption of the anti-buffet self-congratulation, but we have a couple of local Chinese buffets and a Mexican buffet (all run by immigrants) on our regular Sunday afternoon rotation. They're pretty good, and *gasp* I enjoy eating at them. I apologize for contributing to the degradation of American society.
> 
> Maybe I should go to classier places like Las Vegas.


Alan:

For me, it has nothing to do with class. I have eaten at buffets, had tasty food off buffets. But seriously, the application of body fluids by strangers, to the food that might find its way to my plate is just too much for me. That and other frequent health violations, like cross contamination, handles of serving utensils getting dropped in the bin (everyone has touched the handle, yuck), and holding temps under 141, is just too much for me.

The odds of you getting something worse than a two hour ride on the porcelin pony are slim, but in border areas such as this, Hep A and B are common enough to think about. Sorry, I am going to keep passing on the buffet.


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## AlanC (Oct 28, 2003)

Wayfarer said:


> ...Hep A and B are common enough to think about...


Ah, yes--but I've been vaccinated! :biggrin2:


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## Wayfarer (Mar 19, 2006)

AlanC said:


> Ah, yes--but I've been vaccinated! :biggrin2:


For Hep A? Hep B is a common thing to get the series for (three injection series over a few months, I have had that along with most health care workers) and I know there is a Hep A one, but I have never actually known someone vaccinated for it. Usually immune globulin is given in case of possible contact and that by the local health department, as it is that contagious. I have been involved in exposure incidents, it is a huge PITA.

However, my other points stand even if you are immune  Honestly, I have nothing against buffets per se and there is a local Chinese one I would eat at, if I just had not signed off buffets after witnessing one particularly gross act. Basically, I watched someone mine their nose for a big one, wipe it on a napkin, then touch several rolls before finding one that suited them. I have also seen kids (and adults but more often kids) sneeze and cough on food, people bring used plates up, serve themselves, decide it is too much and put some back, and other things. I just cannot do a buffet anymore.


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## AlanC (Oct 28, 2003)

Wayfarer said:


> For Hep A? Hep B is a common thing to get the series for (three injection series over a few months, I have had that along with most health care workers) and I know there is a Hep A one, but I have never actually known someone vaccinated for it.


Yeah, when I got the B series they just included the A as well, both in the same shot(s). I didn't know it was rare for that to be done.


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## The Gabba Goul (Feb 11, 2005)

AlanC said:


> Pardon my interruption of the anti-buffet self-congratulation, but we have a couple of local Chinese buffets and a Mexican buffet (all run by immigrants) on our regular Sunday afternoon rotation. They're pretty good, and *gasp* I enjoy eating at them. I apologize for contributing to the degradation of American society.
> 
> Maybe I should go to classier places like Las Vegas.


okay...so you're the classier speller and dresser (If you say so)...but I'm the classier eater...you like to pretend you live in 1930's london or something...I like to go to Las Vegas...I guess it's true...it takes all different types...aint this world a wonderful place???


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## The Gabba Goul (Feb 11, 2005)

jpeirpont said:


> I have never been to a proper buffet, but, around here most of the Jamaican restaurants and bakeries put their goods under a heating lamp for an hour or so, likely longer later in the day. The food is still pretty good. These are mainly sides and baked good though, not sure if a real meal could with stand it.


aaah yes...every now and again when I'm looking for a few of the flavors of my youth I'll trek out to this Jamaican spot in Oakland...the beef patties seem to get better as the day progresses and they sit under the heating lamp...I dunno what it is...i guess the pastry gets more dried out...but if there are any left at the end of the day I usually end up buying all of them...


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## eagle2250 (Mar 24, 2006)

...if we had a chance for an uncensored look behind the scenes of even the (so called) elite restraurants at the food storage and preparation practices, I wonder if any of us would ever eat out again? During my college years I worked in a couple of (decent) restraurants and the memories of the kitchen scenes are not pretty! I doubt the reality of today's buffet is much worse.


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## Wayfarer (Mar 19, 2006)

eagle2250 said:


> ...if we had a chance for an uncensored look behind the scenes of even the (so called) elite restraurants at the food storage and preparation practices, I wonder if any of us would ever eat out again? During my college years I worked in a couple of (decent) restraurants and the memories of the kitchen scenes are not pretty! I doubt the reality of today's buffet is much worse.


I agree, not everything that happens in any commercial kitchen is going to be appetizing. However, no need to add on another layer of gross. Also, at least at a good place things do not tend to sit there for extended periods of time below the critical cut point (140) or over it (41). Cross contamination issues, serving handles in the food, etc. are all minimized in a good kitchen. Also, you at least minimize the liklihood someone totally unfamiliar with safe food handling practices will touch your food (as I described above).

I believe in the robust nature of the human digestive tract, but we can do things to help it out!


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## Laxplayer (Apr 26, 2006)

Wayfarer said:


> I agree, not everything that happens in any commercial kitchen is going to be appetizing. However, no need to add on another layer of gross. Also, at least at a good place things do not tend to sit there for extended periods of time below the critical cut point (140) or over it (41). Cross contamination issues, serving handles in the food, etc. are all minimized in a good kitchen. Also, you at least minimize the liklihood someone totally unfamiliar with safe food handling practices will touch your food (as I described above).
> 
> I believe in the robust nature of the human digestive tract, but we can do things to help it out!


I know a guy that works as a slaughterhouse inspector for the State of Illinois. Some of the stories he has told me about the conditions in some of these places are just horrific, and I'm not talking about animal cruelty. I can't imagine a buffet being as bad as what he has described to me.


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## jbryanb (Oct 2, 2006)

I have been to a few buffets in the Caribbean and Brazil where the seafood was top notch, and was being grilled in front of us and placed on the buffet. 
They had numerous types of fresh grilled shellfish, including lobster, I felt as comfortable eating this food as I would any in a normal, al a carte restaurant.

Not all buffets are gross, low class, and unsanitary, and the same goes for those who frequent them.:icon_smile:


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## Will (Jun 15, 2004)

I lived in Chicago for a while and the only way to get Greek food was from the buffets in Greektown. Had too much to drink on a number of occasions but never suffered from the food.


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## Wayfarer (Mar 19, 2006)

Well, the important thing to know for you guys is, there will be more at the buffet for y'all because you can have my share :icon_smile_big: 

Sorry, small catered buffet is one thing, but big commercial ones where the families pull up in a minivan with 12 kids and let 'em run wild are just not getting my business.


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## eyedoc2180 (Nov 19, 2006)

He he......two more comments from this end. First , your worry with hepatitis is not the fact that it is a buffet as such. The problem is with the kitchen staff not washing their hands. (Anyone remember the "Poppy" episode on Seinfeld? Well, Poppy got a little sloppy.............) Second, I was at an Italian Easter buffet that was just great, partly because we were the first to partake! I had to laugh at the comments that I made above. However, I am unashamedly anti-buffet for my reasons listed. Bill


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## Wayfarer (Mar 19, 2006)

eyedoc2180 said:


> First , your worry with hepatitis is not the fact that it is a buffet as such. The problem is with the kitchen staff not washing their hands.


Not only kitchen staff. Hep A is of course transmitted through the oral-anal route of transmission. As I noted above, the handles of serving utensils often slip into the food bins. Do you think everyone that has touched those handles has properly washed their hands? Obviously many more people are going to touch those handles than there are food prep people in the kitchen. Also, as I noted above, people can be seen directly touching food and then not taking it. Direct transmission that time. As I mentioned above, I have been part of outbreaks before, within a healthcare setting. I am just glad the health department pays for the immune globbin shots and not me!

Again, I have nothing against buffets per se, and would probably eat off one that was well set up and with an upscale dinner crowd (not that these people are without fault!). However, a crowded commercial one with grubby children running wild touching food, people sneezing, coughing, etc....no thanks. I guess I am drawing a line that has to do with the group of people allowed access to the buffet line.


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## eyedoc2180 (Nov 19, 2006)

Wayfarer, well said. Hopefully, they use utensils that are too large to slip into the mix. Our Easter buffet had no sneeze guards, so I am REALLY glad we were first in line. ewwwwwwwww..............Bill


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## MrRogers (Dec 10, 2005)

I cant remember the last time I ate at a buffet but I agree its a bit crass and disgusting. As someone pointed out however, food prep in many places would make your stomach turn if you knew what went on behind the scenes. I used to work at a notable NYC resaurant in high school and one day there were a few trays of cooked, marinated chicken left out on a table ready for consumption. As a pipe burst overhead, a good deal of water (?) sprayed out onto the prepared dishes ready to go out. After a tip over the garbage to rid the entrees of the excess water, the plate was swapped out and they were on their way to table 8! 

The only thing more gross was working at a deli years prior during which time a 5 gallon bucket of cole slaw tipped over outside and spilled out onto the blacktop. Thanks to a quick thinking chef and a Time magazine, the slop was almost entirely scooped into the bucket and was on peoples plates in no time lol

MrR


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## somethingsilly (Feb 26, 2007)

The vast majority of buffets - in the United States - are the undisputed realm of tasteless, coarse hambeasts, and cater to their tastes appropriately. Living in the South, oh, I've seen my share of the Wal-Mart monsters - the spandex pants over the strained waist of which their sagbellies always are attempting to escape, as they - the women - ride around in their electric-scooters. Or the men with the clip-on suspenders and shirts the buttons of which cannot containt the pressure pushing them outward, splitting the shirt open along its front.

The idea of dining around those people is itself unappetizing enough to keep me far away from most buffets.

But in Europe and the more metropolitan US, well, that's a different story altogether. There's a lovely buffet in Philadelphia, I think it's called Oasis?, it's Japanese and $20 for your meal, with a sake bar upstairs. It's rather classy and you're certain to see at least a few tables of professional people there - at least when I last went, in 2004.

And in Spain, there are these quite fun restaurants where they've set out counter-tops stocked high with all kinds of meats -- and you cook them up yourself, on little grills. The one I went to must've been able to seat some 400 people - and, despite that, there was no serious crowding, no ill mannered hogs taking all of anything, it was pleasant -- like a great, communal cook-out.

So there's nothing wrong with them on the whole - but most are, well, bottom-feeder type restaurants, and they give the rest a bad reputation I suppose. All that deserves the bad reputation are bottomfeeder restaurants in general - McDonald's isn't a buffet, you know, but it's even worse than most buffets I've gone to.

Brunches seem a class apart and a category distinct, though, if they're catered well with chefs in the serving staff.


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## vwguy (Jul 23, 2004)

David V said:


> My wife hates all buffets and brunches. To her, they are the equivalent of a feeding trough.


Pigs at the trough is what I always say. There is one restaurant in my area that has a very good & well kept brunch and I don't mind eating there.

Brian


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## The Gabba Goul (Feb 11, 2005)

somethingsilly said:


> the spandex pants over the strained waist of which their sagbellies always are attempting to escape, as they - the women - ride around in their electric-scooters. Or the men with the clip-on suspenders and shirts the buttons of which cannot containt the pressure pushing them outward, splitting the shirt open along its front.
> 
> The idea of dining around those people is itself unappetizing enough to keep me far away from most buffets.


This lady friend of mine followed the stupid Ana Nicole court case pretty closely, and her and I would always make fun of Ana's mother (Virgie) so sence then we refer to these type of people as Virgies...and I aggree completely...just having to look at a bunch of Virgies stuffing themselves with all-you-can eat crab claws or egg rolls or whatver is enough to make me want to vomit...


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## johnquick (Apr 23, 2007)

some decent chinese restaurnts do a great buffet for £5 in my area great value


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## milansanremo (Mar 21, 2007)

In defense of the buffet, after a long day of cycling I love hitting a buffet. Sometimes quantity trumps quality.

When I lived in Santa Fe, I used to go trail running up Atalaya Mountain for a few hours. After a run I'd head over to the Furr's buffet and try to restore some sense of caloric balance. Being a poor college student that place was heaven. 

There's also a differentiation in buffets that has to be noted. There are the large-chain cattle-trough type places which don't cater to the Kiton wearing crowd. Then there are also small independent restaurants that can output something of quality. Could be Chinese or Mexican as one poster noted. I'm a fan of an Indian place that has a great lunch buffet.

So the idea of the buffet shouldn't be dismissed out of hand. Unfortunately the implementation of it has led to the perception of it as the "undisputed realm of tasteless, coarse hambeasts". (Excellent phrase somethingsilly, I'm still laughing.)


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