Local restaurant just changed to buffet only

[RSherman]

A friend invited me to lunch yesterday. We went to Brooks BBQ in Oneonta, NY, which has been open since 1961. Brooks chicken and ribs are basically legendary. While I've had Brooks BBQ at various events, I've never eaten at the actual restaurant.

My friend lived in Oneonta and was a frequent flyer to this business. Well, when we arrived, she was quite flummoxed. The hostess explained that our choices were take out or buffet only. Linda really wanted to eat in, so we paid $29 each for the buffet. Customers choose which meat they want: chicken, ribs, brisket, pulled pork, or some combo thereof. We were given a token to present at the meat station. There were two other stations for sides: one with tossed salad fixings, mac and potato salads, rolls, etc. The other contained hot sides such as mashed potatoes, mac & cheese, etc.

"All you can eat" buffets are really a waste for me since I don't eat that much. There is no way I could eat $29 worth of food. And, there is no option to package up leftovers, so all uneaten food is thrown away.

I get that restaurants are experiencing staffing issues, so maybe this prompted the change?

I also understand that many people enjoy/prefer buffets.

I won't return again as this format does not work for me. Also, concerned about the food waste, I googled to get more info. and found many articles including this one:

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/impact-buffet-food-waste-environment-mercy-chepng-etich-lang-at/

Opinions?

[MOMFUDSKI]

1. Being diabetic keeps me away from all you

can eat places. Carry out could work in order to have leftovers.

[RSherman]

7. Might do take out in the summer

Take out wasn't a great choice for yesterday. We live about 60 miles away from the restaurant. We really wanted to sit, eat, and converse.

Now that we know the deal, we could return in the summer, bring our own sides, get the BBQ as takeout and find a nice park to have our picnic.

[Emile]

2. I hate smorgasbords or buffets. I find myself

over eating and if you don't use hand sanitizer after handling serving utensils everyone has touched, good chance you could get sick.

[North Shore Chicago]

3. My idea of dining out

is NOT getting pushed around by kids with parents who allow their disrespectful behavior. The very last time was at a Golden Corral with food all over the floor that you had to hop around.

A hard pass for me.

[RSherman]

5. So funny you say about the kids/parents!

My friend made that exact comment about rude parents/out of control kids at buffets she has visited.

I used to work at a farm produce stand. Many parents did not watch their children. The kids were just taking berries, etc., and eating them as they ran around. The parents would tell me little Johnny and Jane ate some stuff. Well, we charged by weight. So what was I supposed to do about that????

[dembotoz]

8. years ago when my wife was finishing some extensive chemo for leukemia

the oncologist and infectious disease specialist sat us down for a come to jesus talk about what life is like with an immune compromised spouse.

They REALLY did not like buffets or pot luck dinners
for much of that reason....sanitation

[sdfernando]

14. Weight the kids and charge on that.

Would be the last time the parents didn’t watch the kids.

Side note: My mother, with 5 kids kept us ALL in line at stores and restaurants.

[North Shore Chicago]

15. You need your halo polished.

I wouldn't put up with that for a minute. In the face of insolence, I am crabby.

[arkielib]

4. I haven't eaten at a buffet style restaurant since I saw

a child use a serving spoon to take a bite of food and then his mother put the spoon back in the serving dish.

[dembotoz]

6. was at an ihop yesterday

i do not go the restaurants much anymore.....

there was some sticker shock...we both ordered of the 55 plus menu which was better.
were beverages included? places have a strange opinion on the is reasonable for a cut of coffee

so not terribly out of line,,,,more than i would want to spend
but then again i eat mostly at home and shop the clearance at the grocery store...
I do not pay full retail often

[snowybirdie]

9. We stopped eating

at buffets when covid hit. We realized that lots of people breathing over and picking at everyone's food wasn't a great way to avoid disease. Good to see medical people agree. Too bad a favorite restaurant went this way.

[RSherman]

10. I'm relieved I wasn't way off in my thinking

I didn't want to offend anyone and wondered if restaurant owners might weigh in to explain/justify buffets.

I agree with other posters too--buffet is so bad for me because I also tend to overeat and most of the sides are carb loaded. When we left yesterday, I felt pretty gross. At the end of the day, I prefer to cook at home, then I can control sugar, salt, fat and portion size.

[getagrip_already]

11. my wife calls buffets "massive quantities of mediocre food"...

That about sums up most of the ones I have ever been to.

Occasionally an Indian or Asian buffet will have something that beats my expectations, but that is rare, and only because I don't know the cuisine well.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

12. Not only are all-you-can-eat buffets an encouragement

to overeat, the portions served in almost all restaurants are much larger than they should be.

[RSherman]

13. Agree!

Many of my friends say they would rather be served a "normal" portion at a moderate price. Usually, if the restaurant allows, we order one meal and maybe some apps and share.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

21. I likewise share when I can.

Or I bring home food I probably will not finish eating.

I realize that I have a very small appetite, smaller than a normal person my size (5'1.5", 126 pounds) but still.

Just go back and look at a high school yearbook from before 1970, and you won't see any obese kids (or very, very, very rarely) and not that many who are overweight. I wonder why?

[SWBTATTReg]

16. I realize that the Buffets do offer a lot of food, that many can't really eat all that much, but that's not the point,

the point I think of a buffet is to offer all sorts of choices for us to choose from, which we enjoy doing so. I don't freak out because there is too much to choose from, but instead, I rejoice in the wide variety of what I could eat. Some days I go in there, and all I'll have is salads. Other days, it will be soups. Other days it may be veggies and plus other meats, such as meatloaf, or whatever I feel like.

No pressure in deciding what to order. Just 1 flat price for whatever you want. If you're not that hungry, then don't go. Some days when we go, I may only have barely 1 plate and plus a little more on a 2nd plate. That's usually the way I eat now. Buffets always will win in our book, as the decision to decide what to get is already decided for you when you walk in. Now, there are some buffets, that do offer meals that you can order (good meals too, that the place specializes in), plus you can have the buffet too. Now that's what I call choices.

[LeonidPlanck]

17. Agreed.

Like you, I eat like a bird. I’ve hit a buffet once or twice in the last few decades, mostly for professional dinners (“professional”) and your observations are identical to mine. Why pay $30+ for a single plate of food taken from an open hot case that 159 people and their kids just picked through? I can make more at home for half the money, eat leftovers all week and don’t have to worry about enteritis.

- Leo

[RSherman]

18. ha ha, yup, exactly!

Well stated!

[Wonder Why]

19. If I unknowingly go into a buffet-only place, I get exititis and walk out.

[LeonidPlanck]

20. Many times

Have I really wanted to try that new (for example) Indian place’s Korma or Biryani and was only offered a lunch buffet. I’ll politely grab a stack of naan and a samosa to go instead.

And sometimes - okay always - I don’t really get the allure of a buffet to the consumer. The dx/dy approaches unity very rapidly.

- Leo