Do any of you guys enjoy going to buffets? To me they are pretty hit and miss. On one hand they are pretty cheap when you consider the amount of food you get. On the other hand the quality can be good or bad depending on the day. I do enjoy Golden Corral and chinese buffets, though. Not a big fan of Ryan's and other similar spots. How about you?
Yes!!! I love Buffets! I like the cheap ones and the high end ones. Probably the fanciest one I have ever been to is the one located in central Michigan. I haven't been there for years and it is not showing up on the search engines when I try to find it so it makes me think that it might not be there any longer. :-( It was some sort of Swedish buffet but not the Sweden House. It had smorgasbord on the sign if I remember correctly. Not only were the tables lined with linens and the ceilings lined with chandeliers, but the food was of a very good quality. You could get all kinds of meats, including beef that was sliced right in front of you onto your plate. Then you had your desserts, etc. Everything was separated onto different islands so the hot things were hot and the cold things were cold. But despite this, I still enjoy a good 'ol fashion Big Boy buffet!
I used to be a regular at the "Golden Corral" but the quality has gone down hill, even for an inexpensive place. Chinese buffets are so random anymore, even good ones can have bad days, and vice-versa. It just does not seem worth the food poisoning to take a risk anymore. Especially when you're overpaying for dried out crab legs. We have a revolving sushi buffet in town that serves small plates. They are 1-3 bucks per serving, and for 25.00 I've managed for feed a family of 3 there. The food is quality and the price you can't beat.
I enjoy going to Chinese buffets. There is one in a city nearby that I enjoy going to because they also serve southern style food. The main thing that I eat while I'm there is the sweat and sour chicken and Chinese noodles. My husband does not really like Chinese food so he always gets the southern food. It is a great buffet because it has almost everything there including sea food.
Buffets are good for parties or when you are on a limited budget. I'm vegetarian and most vegetarian places have good buffets. I like to have soup and salad buffets, and I usually go and browse before I decide to go. I've had some breakfast brunch buffets which can be great value with breakfast pastries and eggs in all forms and also salads and breads.
I am not a big fan of buffets, as I don't like to eat food that has been sitting around in the open for a period of time, and that other people have access to as well. I always wonder whether anyone has been sticking their fingers into the food, or whether flies have been landing on it. Since I picked up a nasty parasite two years ago, from vegetables that hadn't been washed properly, I am very careful when it comes to food, especially raw fruit and vegetables.
Yes and no. Golden Corral to me is yucky. I LOVE high end buffets such as the ones at the Paris or the Mirage in Las Vegas. The ones at the casinos on the coast, not so great. We have a pizza buffet in Austin that is to die for and a really good Chinese one too, but I have actually had Chinese ones that were so bad I could barely stand to eat anything. I love salad bars too but they are becoming very hard to find - I remember when Wendy's had one but no more.
I've gone to a lot of Chinese Buffets and they were pretty horrible. I did go a buffet place at a Casino that was really good, but expensive. They also have deals where if you go to the Casino and play for two hours you get a voucher for a free buffet. Not bad considering all the good stuff they serve and it's top quality. I nee to be more particular when it comes to buffets.
Growing up we went to buffets pretty often- my mom liked the variety for the price, and we'd go to all different kinds of buffets. Now I'm pretty hesitant though, like you said they can be hit and miss and on top of that they can have big hygiene concerns- Chinese buffets are actually statistically the worst for that kind of thing, but it applies to all kinds of buffets. Just a consequence of the style of dining and how it's often handled. I don't refuse to go altogether but it's very rare that I will these days.
I am not a big fan of buffets, I don't eat most of the food that is served at a buffet and I don' eat a lot so to me the cost is to high for the amount of food I am going to eat. Often I will go with family or a friend and just eat fruit and vegetables to avoid getting sick.
As a kid I enjoyed the amount of variety and getting to eat a little of everything because there were so many dishes I would never get to have at home. As an adult I am more health conscious and I have yet to see something I would consider healthy at a buffet that wasn't on the salad bar. I like to eat healthy even when I am out, but all the buffet restaurants I have been to in the last few years left me feeling heavy and exhausted, so I stay away. Who wants to pay that much for just salad?
I enjoy buffets very much. I love food. I can try many different dishes at once. It is so fantastic. I like hot soups, sushi, vegetables, hot dishes, salad, fruits, cakes and ice-creams. The desire to eat them all is not possible but buffets. The troubles are that I am getting weights and need to do more exercise to lose it! Honestly I am greedy and always feel that my stomach is not big enough to accommodate them all.
I used to like them when I was younger, but with all the recent health code violations Golden Corral has received, as well as things I have witnessed first hand at Chinese Buffets, it has really turned me off from them. Golden Corral was just busted not too long ago by an employee there who took pictures of all their food sitting out in the back parking lot behind the building, completely exposed to the open air, bugs, whatever. I'm assuming they were working on something inside and just threw all the food outside indefinitely. That is not safe at all. There are specific temperature ranges that if those food items fall within, bacteria and other nasty things will start growing rapidly. Then they have the nerve to serve that rotten food to people? One of the last times I stepped foot in a Chinese buffet, one of the employees brought their food prep out into the dining room, and was sitting at one of the dining room tables with a bunch of green beans, snap peas and other veggies she was prepping just dumped out on to the table, and buckets on the floor that she was trimming the scraps off into. All this while her kid was sitting across the table playing with a bunch of filthy toys. Another place was busted when someone filmed one of their cooks crushing a large bowl of garlic by stepping on them with his shoes.
I didn't know "high end buffets" were a thing. I thought buffets were mostly for the average, middle of the road middle class American. I take that back, I have been to a buffet at the Grove Park Inn in Asheville, which is pretty expensive. Other than that though, that's the only "high end" buffet I can really think of. Buffets are good when you are really hungry but you don't know what to eat, and don't want to spend a lot of money.
Buffet, best places to go out and eat a bunch of foods for a cheap price! It's not because you eat at a buffet that causes a one to become overweight, it's what you eat at a buffet that will account for one's weight gain. I have experienced so many people complain about their health and weight, but they're eating at a buffet with my skinny self, yet the difference is that I stay away from all the highly processed and greasy foods, while these unhealthy people eat like plates of these nasty foods. Also, it's the quantity that contributes to one's bad health, which is why I average about 2 and half plates at a buffet - I also drink only water or tea. A lot of buffet places are okay, but some are just nasty; Golden Corral is a unhealthy place to eat, in my opinion.
I definitely love buffets, although I need to set conditions before I try and jump in on one. I need to be relatively hungry so as to enjoy as much food as possible. Going to a buffet with your stomach full will just waste the money you paid to enjoy this seemingly limitless eating opportunity. I like Mediterranean and Asian fusion buffets in particular.
The best buffets I have ever been to were in Las Vegas. Luxor and Rio at one time were $20 per person (don't know what it is now), but were incredible. Rio had stations for every ethinic food from burgers and bbq, to mexican or sushi. They had lobster tails, prime rib, and even pasta bars where you select the pasta type, then had choice of sauces and sides. The dessert counter was like walking into a full size bakery. Ohhh, I miss those days. Have not been to Vegas in years!
Do Las Vegas buffets really count for the purposes of this conversation? I mean, the good ones, they are something different, something more, something special. I really love the buffet at Caesar's Palace. The food is quality, and fresh. It's amazing the stuff you can find at that place. I also love the RIO Seafood Fantasy buffet. Lots of options and not much processed stuff. No fries & pizza here.
Sushi buffets sound pretty amazing. Sushi is pretty expensive around these parts. If you get a lot it can cost you hundreds of bucks. They do have a small selection of sushi at the local Chinese buffet but it's not nearly as good as the type you get in sushi bars. Those buffets in Las Vegas sound amazing, Rhoda!
Yeah, they are definitely something else. As a general rule, I'm really not a fan of Las Vegas overall but they do have some impressive food in certain places. Love buffets with surprising options .
