I'm crazy. Went to eat at an all-you-can-eat buffet and came home hungry.

[Maddy McCall]

I paid $12 to eat at the Golden Corral here (yes, terrible dump-outta-the-carton food, but I didn't feel like cooking), and I had a reasonably sized salad, a baked potato, and a slice of steak. Tonight's steak night.

My god. I made one trip to the buffet. I ate slowly--took me about 30 minutes to order, eat, and pay.

There were people who made five and six trips to the buffet while I was eating. And I mean plates piled six inches high, over and over.

And it dawned on me. The reason I had to pay $12 for a reasonable amount of shitty food (that would have cost maybe $6 in a non-buffet meal) is because there are people out there who see a buffet and just can't help but to engorge themselves, and I have to pay for their overeating.

When you eat at a buffet, do you pig out, or do you eat a normal meal? Granted, if it is good food at a seafood buffet, I'll eat my fair share of shrimp and crab claws, but this is macaroni and cheese dumped out of a carton.

Do you even eat at buffets? I think I have eaten at my last Golden Corral buffet.

[LynzM]

1. I rarely eat buffet....

For the reason you describe. I don't generally eat much in one sitting, and so a buffet is a terribly uneconomical way for me to eat. We do sometimes go to the Chinese buffet in town, and I'll have a little of each thing I like, but I'm starting to think it would still make more sense for me to just order one item and bring my leftovers home!

[Maddy McCall]

4. Plus, it's flu season...

and I wonder who's touched those tongs--with the flu.

:scared:

[LynzM]

6. Iiiew, yeah, that too

:scared:

Gross.

[snacker]

40. We never eat at buffets any more....

for us, it was just an experience in over-eating.

[Bunny]

2. Yes, when I go to a buffet, I go insane.

I eat way more than I need to, or that I would ever order from a menu. Don't know why I do that either. :shrug:

[Maddy McCall]

3. LOL.

I can kill some boiled shrimp at a seafood buffet...but Golden Corral is just crappy food and not worthy of eating so much--yet people still do.

:hi:

[Nikia]

13. In my college zoology class, we learned that is normal

Most mammals, humans included, will eat more food if they are eating more items than a single food. We instinctively believe that if we are eating just one food that it is more complete in nutrients. If we are eating several foods, our instincts tell us that they are less complete in nutrients, which is why we are eating a variety.
That's what our professor said anyway.

[supernova]

5. I don't anymore

for the same reasons. I just don't eat that much at a time anymore. Plus, I like being served. Since I live alone, part of the pleasure of going out for me is being waited on. So, I'd rather go to a restaurant where I can order, sit and talk leisurely, and take home the rest. Even with that, restaurant portions are out of control.

I do have kinda warm fuzzies about Golden Corral though. It was one of my Dad's favorites. :-) So every time somebody mentions it, I think of him.

[Maddy McCall]

11. I'm like you. Usually, I want to sit and visit with people...

when I eat out. Tonight, though, I was alone, and I just wanted to go in, eat, and get out. That's one good thing about buffets--you don't have to wait for the food to be prepared.

:hi:

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

7. Sounds just like an Old Country Buffet.

The food is bland, mass-produced stuff; the quality ranges from fair to terrible. And many of the customers are HUGH!!11! I won't go to an OCB unless somebody drags me there, for reasons you describe. Although the meals aren't especially expensive, I don't want to pay ANYTHING for sucky food -- if I'm going to load up on calories that I don't need, I want those calories to taste good. So no, I don't stuff myself, and I'm amazed at the people who do. If one is fat anyhow, why not get that way eating food that doesn't taste like wallpaper paste?

[Maddy McCall]

14. Yes, yes, and yes.

Yes, if I'm going to pack on weight, give me TASTY food. :D

[Thtwudbeme]

8. When I ate at the Buffet at the Grove Park Inn in Asheville

I went crazy. I think they were praying I would leave stuff for everyone else.

I didn't mean to, it was just so damned good!

Cute puppies by the way!

[Maddy McCall]

15. Hey!

I saw your PM, and when I went to get the link I saw you'd posted in the thread. :hi:

When we go to the casino buffet, which has delicious food, I can eat much more. I really don't know why I went to the GC tonight...I should have just ordered a pizza. :D

re the pups, Thanks!

[Thtwudbeme]

17. Yes, I found the thread!

I hope my remarks were what got it locked.

I have always wanted to go to a casino buffet---

[auntAgonist]

9. I can't 'do' buffets anymore

I am unable to eat enough to make it worthwhile. There was a time when I'd go back a few times to reload my plate. The only time I go now is if my son is visiting and I take him to the chinese buffet here in town. He get's my money's worth.

I worry about the germs too though.


:hi:

[Nikia]

10. I have only been to them a couple times since my ED

It is rather stressful for me, but a good exercise for me. My husband has to assure me that it is alright to just get a few things and only go up once, just like the college dining hall. I don't have to feel pressure to eat more than I am comfortable with. It still scares me though.
Back when I ran competitively, I ate a lot at buffets, especially in high school when I normally didn't eat enough for various reasons, most of them not my fault.
When I got to college with an all you can eat set up, I initially ate a lot, but then I settled into a more normal pattern. An all you could eat set up was no longer a big deal when it was available all the time.

[Droopy]

12. I used to, but don't anymore

I just found that the quality of the food made to order was much better. I will get a trip to the salad bar sometimes, but that's just something that accompanies a sandwich or something that I got made to order.

[Lady Effingbroke]

16. Rarely, because I usually cannot eat more than 1 plate of food.

I can't justify spending $12 (or whatever) on a single plate of food. When I do patronize an "all you can eat" type of restaurant, I go to Luby's - their veggies are pretty good and I'm a terrible cook, so I can usually eat more than 1 plate of food there!

The Golden Corral is nasty - a few years ago I was eating at the one in my neck o' th' woods and saw a kid pick up a spoon from the buffet line, taste the food (macaroni), and put the spoon back in the pan! :puke: This was, more than likely, not the first time the aforementioned taste-testing had occurred. The bathrooms there are always a horror, as well. double :puke: :puke:

[China_cat]

18. We go to Ryan's on steak and shrimp night.

$8.95/person and the food is good. I rarely have more than one plate of food.

[Rabrrrrrr]

19. When I'm the mood for variety I'll go; and most times, Chinese or Indian

I don't like going to "American food" buffets, because they tend be gross and, especially at Old Country Buffet, filled with the dregs of society: grotesquely obese, ill-mannered, boorish, shitty parents type of people (not necessarily all four, obviously). I usually leave an OCB depressed and sad.

But I love the Chinese and Indian buffets - gives me a chance to go for variety, instead of being stuck with one thing.

[Richard Steele]

20. The steak isn't worth it at Golden Corral. It's just not very good.

Here's a tip you may find helpful:
If you like meat, the POT ROAST is the best thing at Golden Corral.
I don't waste my time with anything from their grill anymore.

To answer your question:
I am one who "gets my money's worth"
at buffets; at least 3 trips for me when I'm at GC.

I already know I'm gonna pay 12 bucks there,
so I simply don't go unless I am prepared
to eat 12 bucks worth of their food...
and it takes a LOT of GC food to be worth 12 bucks to me.

[havocmom]

21. I avoid buffets, especially during flu season

;)

Actually, where we live, there is only a buffett when somebody dies and the ladies at the VFW put on a lunch. I'm reasonable sure the deceased and the lunch have nothing in common except timing, but I don't go just the same.

[WCGreen]

22. In college.....

The country club puts on a pretty good brunch and Sunday night Buffet.....

I like brunches....

A little of this, a little of that.... Breakfast and dinne....

Golden Corral... Not since College...

[In_The_Wind]

23. I eat at buffets. I like to sample small portions of different things.

I don't pig-out over it. I don't like feeling stuffed.

[ThomCat]

24. Buffets rarely have any decent vegetarian food

So I don't eat at them.

[RebelOne]

32. Agreed. I am a vegetarian, also.

I will occasionally go out at lunchtime with fellow co-workers to a Chinese buffet near the office. But there is rarely anything I can eat because every thing has meat in it. All the dishes have either pork, beef or chicken. The only dish I can eat is the egg fu yung (sp?). Well, at least, I pig out on the desserts.

[DanCa]

25. I dont like buffets that much too many kids.

I seen a kid stick his fingers in the mashed potatoes once at the old style buffet by me. I haven't gone back since. Now the exception is good old golden house buffet. Really strict rules on kids and they serve all you can eat crab legs.

[last_texas_dem]

26. It really depends

Back when I was a "growing boy" (middle school/ high school) I used to really pack it in at buffets. I have since forced myself to regulate, but I also just don't get quite as hungry or am just not able to eat quite as much as I used to. I think in general I tend to get my money's worth, though. Occasionally I'll overeat if I go into one feeling very hungry, but I'll usually regret it because of the "stuffed" feeling afterwards. Part of it is I honestly like "buffet" food as much as the stuff I could get at a fancier restaurant, for the most part. I guess I'm just not a very picky eater.

[riderinthestorm]

27. Inglenook Pantry, Geneva IL

Their buffet prices are about $6/person for entirely home-cooked food, from salad dressings to soup. They offer the most exquisite entrees and fresh salads, everything made fresh on the spot - from vegetarian to anybody who is a meat lover(I highly recommend their turkey tetrazzini).

They are using more and more organics as well. If you are ever in the Fox River Valley of Illinois, I highly recommend them.

The best ingredients and great staff in a charming old 1860s home converted into a charming restaurant that has recently been refurbished.

They cater all of my parties and I can't say enough about this local buffet style eatery. Stay away from the chains and go with the locals!

The owners are solid Dems too!

[Kali]

28. I have only tried Golden Corral once - it wasn't too bad,

better than Hometown Buffet, which I have tried exactly 3 times. (teenagers in the family - buffets=good idea)

Do eat at the Chinese buffets too often, usually over do it and hate myself after. But for some reason they draw you back in.

Might do some damage if I ever hit a seafood buffet! Sometimes some Chinese joints have peel your own shrimp, but crab legs? mmmmmmmm I would overdo that!

[Celeborn Skywalker]

29. I admit that I pig out

If I'm going to a buffet at night, I'll usually skip lunch and dinner so I'll have a good appetite for it. I usually get about two pretty good sized plates full of food. Of course, I'm in college so I view it as a good time to fill up on stuff other than ramen, rice, and beans.

[THUNDER HANDS]

30. to me, a buffet is really only good for breakfast

I can load up on silver dollar pancakes and bacon and toast and bagels for hours. Mmmmm.

[RebelOne]

36. Like Shoney's here in Georgia, the best breakfast buffet.

[musette_sf]

31. I used to enjoy going to Sweet Tomatoes

(in the SF Bay Area), and Souper Salad and Wok Bo (in Houston). But I try to avoid buffets any more due to the "other people touching my food" factor.

Wok Bo did rock the house, though, the best Chinese buffet food ever.

[Benfea]

33. At a buffet, you're not paying for food, you're paying for whim.

It's fun to walk up and down all the counters and know you can eat whatever you want at an instant's whim instead of being put on the spot and having to make a final choice while the waiter is still standing there.

[Rowdyboy]

34. I can't do justice to an "all you can eat" buffet anymore....even seafood

There is a local Chinese restaurant who's buffet we visit occasionally and I'll get a small taste of many dishes, but never overdo it.

The days of heaping plate buffets are over for me foreveer.

[swag]

35. I think Swanson TV Dinners are a much better choice.

[Taverner]

37. When I was dirt poor

I would hit buffetts and eat in bursts...the secret to long fulfilmment is to hit the meat and breat exclusively, with lots of salt

[Wcross]

38. I ate at one once- never again!

It was the Old country buffet. The food was marginal and I really can't eat a lot at one sitting as I found out. When I left there I felt like I was going to bust wide open and I only had two plates of food. I saw the "regulars" get three and four plates. I knew they were regulars as they were, for the most part, very large people.

[u4ic]

39. I can't eat too much at one meal

so I don't even go to them.

And yeah, the food is generally lousy at them, too.

[bigwillq]

41. I am a buffet lover!

I love buffets. I feel it's reasonably price and depending on which ones you go to, I feel the food is pretty decent.
I like the idea of a buffet. I can eat as much or as little that I want too depending on how I feel that day. Also, I can pick out the foods that I want, a little of this and a little of that.

Got to say that I love buffets! :hi: :)

[Radical Activist]

42. You're not getting your money's worth.

The whole point of a buffet is to go and eat as much as you can. If you aren't doing that then you should go to a regular restaurant. Whether or not you're getting overcharged is entirely up to you and how much you eat.