I don't like that it is frowned upon to take in containers and fill them up with food from the buffet. I mean it is not against the rules to do so - well, it may be in some restaurant establishments - but in most it is simply frowned upon. There are only a few people, such as myself, who will brazenly fill up containers to take food home for later.
I've absolutely no qualms in doing this myself. I'm pretty sly about it though, I'll do it discreetly, using the plastic box I'll have in my bag in preparation!
Lol. So what do you do - do you get in line with everyone, hold your bag over the pots and bowls of food, and scoop the food seemingly into your 'bag' when really it is going into your container? I don't know how the buffets where you live are set up. The ones where I live are very public, and very often there is someone waiting behind you to get their food, or just waiting for the line to move along. So there is no discreet or easy way to scoop food into a container. But you can put the food on your plate, and then scoop it into your bag, which is probably the way you are doing it. One restaurant has staff constantly circulating though. I think they do it just to make taking food home difficult.
I'll just pop a few extra spring rolls or whatever on my plate and quitely stick them in the box when I'm back at the table!
I don't think there is anything wrong with buffet. I like certain ones though. I visit the same ones and don't really like to change because so far I have done so twice and have been majorly let down. I like the restaurant I visit because they have the creole food native to where I live and then they also offer food inspired from other countries.
I haven't really seen that before but I think maybe restaurants are getting more sly about it. People have abused the "privilege" because I've seen that Golden Corral recently had a setup for a few rolls you can take home. I would imagine that the Chinese buffet doesn't like it either because they let you pick from the buffet if you're getting take out and they weigh what you have.
Well then they should weigh the food that you are allowed to take, but then again that is not really sticking to the terms of a buffet. A buffet is basically eating as much as you possibly can, for the money that you have paid. For someone such as myself who has stomach problems, and can only eat small portions of food at any one time, I feel like I should be able to take some of the buffet that I have paid a set sum of money for, home with me. I find that if you are confident about it, nobody else really has anything to say.
The thing is, if one person is allowed to do something then so should all the others. A buffet is what you can eat THERE during THAT time, not what a person can east during the whole day. If you have stomach problems and can only ear small portions of food at any one time, then truth it you should not be buying a buffet. I totally get if a person sat down with the intention of eating everything but filled their eyes up first and has food leftover on the plate they want to take home. Understandable because that food is going to be thrown away because you already served it, but taking food you intend on taking home "just because you paid for it"? It's unfair to the owners, to the other patrons, and honestly guys, taking food home from a buffet is just plain taking advantage of something. The only "reasonable" excuse I can think of someone doing something like this is that the restaurant is LITERALLY going to close for the night, is not accepting any more patrons and they have food left over in the buffet. That or you're homeless/have no food at home and/or no money to buy food with.
What anybody else does whilst they are at the buffet is nothing to do with me. If other people don't have the wherewithal to take food home with them, then that is also nothing to do with me. But generally speaking, I do know what you are getting at. Still, I disagree. The deal is that it is an all you can eat buffet. The technicality is that you have to eat it all at the restaurant.
It's not really good etiquette to take food home from a buffet but you have paid your money so if you can't eat any more at the time i don't see why not. Some people can eat way more than others so they are getting twice the food for the same amount. Taking food home is the way for the rest of us to make up the shortfall. I don't think we can be whiter than white all the time, living the moral high ground. Life would be pretty dull if we did, so maybe we are allowed a few indisgressions now and again.
I'm not a fan of buffet style restaurants because they are often expensive and the quality of food rarely matches the amount of money you are spending. For the high price of admission of a decent buffet restaurant, I think it's much more practical to just use that amount and order as much as you want at a regular restaurant, and I think this is especially true for when you are dining out with a lot of people.
My family and I will often go to buffet style restaurants on Sunday afternoons. On those occaisions it will usually be our only big meal that day. Not good for the waistline or the metabolism but that's how we roll! We will spend a good bit of time catching up on the week and visiting so it's a good place for that and we drag the meal out a bit and everyone gets to eat what they want. On a normal weekday or for an average meal, we wouldn't eat that much so it wouldn't be as good of a value in those cases but for a large family meal, they work well.
This is my point. I mean, I can easily see the situation from both the customers side and the restaurant establishment's side of things. But as a relatively small person, who cannot eat very fast - and we know that slow eating leads to feeling fuller faster too - and has a really small stomach, paying £13 for maybe a plate and a half of food just doesn't sit well with me. I like to take food home and get my money's worth. I don't feel like taking food away from buffets is immoral though lol.
Exactly. The technicality. And I agree, what others do have nothing to do with anyone else, until it does. I get the customer end (although I honestly still don't get why anyone would visit a buffet if their stomach can't hold much. In that case, like someone posted, use that amount of money for a regular restaurant). When I'm not feeling that hungry I won't go to a buffet because it's a waste of money. If, on the other hand, I am, then I will visit and eat there. Yeah. That's ME and MY issue not anyone else's, so why care what others do? because, at one point or another it probably MAY affect me. Here at Chuck E. Cheese's throwing a bday party is pretty expensive. They gave the option of a walk-in birthday party for those that couldn't reserve a regular birthday party there. Awesome, right? You don't have to pay over $100 to do a birthday party. All you do is simply go to the cashier (or call ahead) and tell them you'd like a walk-in party. They set you up with a table (or however many you need), reserve it for you without any fees. you order like a regular visit, you can order cake or bring your own, you can buy decorations there or bring your own, Chuck E. even comes out an sings for your kid. Awesome, right? The technicality? You're not supposed to stay at the tables two-three hours or worse, all day. The people that thought 'well hey, since I'm paying for food and time here anyway and I'm not taking time from their birthday dining area, I can stay as long as I want.' Guess what? They stopped doing the free walk-ins. Now, EVERYONE has to pay. Even people like us that would take do a walk-in for a NORMAL time at CEC have to pay now for something that was once free because of people that take advantage. And if a person wants to have their indiscretions, fine. But most of the time it's not that they go and "oops gottta run because of x or y reason. Let me take some food home." No. They go in with the intention of taking food home. Which again, whatever they want to do fine, but one does it. Two do it. Small people. Big people. It will eventually have an effect on people. So far, around here two buffets have closed down. I'm not saying people taking food was the reason, but who knows how much money those buffet places were losing. Again, if you want to take food at closing, fine. I don't know if they're gonna throw it out or donate it (it's not that big an issue to donate food to the homeless here), but when it's during regular working hours? It's just inconsiderate of others.
It's subjective but I mean buffets could save a lot of money in the long run because you get to put as much plates as you want without having to pay extra. I've been to a few conferences in hotels where we actually just pay for the stay and they have these buffets, you can eat as much as you want, there's so many choices.
We don't have Chuck E Cheese over here in the UK. Buffets are usually held by oriental restaurants over here. I have been known to smoke weed before going to a buffet just so that I can get my money's worth. Even if I am hungry, and I go to a buffet, I still can't eat as much as other people are eating when they sit down to eat. I don't know how it works anywhere else, but over here once you have paid at a buffet, you can keep going up to get more food for as long as you can stomach it, for as long as you can keep doing so. So technically, it is fine to eat up lots of the food as long as you stay in the establishment.
The thing that some people do that bothers me most at buffets is NOT the idea of taking food home, but WASTING it. I'd rather restaurants allow one take-out box for people to take the food remaining on their table home (not a special trip to fill container, but for food they couldn't finish.) I see people get GOBS of food on their plates, take a few bites and either don't like it or cannot finish it and it just gets wasted when there might be a later time they could eat it or they could box it and give it to someone else.
That wouldn't be unreasonable considering that it was just going to get thrown out anyway. However, they might not do that because then people would purposefully get food on their plate just so they can take it home but even so it can't hurt the restaurant too bad for them to get one box.
Right! One small take out box per customer (especially considering not ALL customers would end up using one) versus all the food going in the trash that they have to pay to have taken away... the cost would end up balancing out, I would think. I mean, unless they are being so disgusting as to putting the food back on the bar. You never know! I've heard some pretty scary and gross stories from people in the food industry!! LOL
OMG. Smoking weed before going to a buffet has been the best thing i've heard this week. LOLOLOLOL I was having such a sucky day. LOLOL Thank you!!! LOLOLOL I guess it depends on the place. In some places, if you have food ON the table that you took from the buffet you can take it home. The waiter/waitress comes with a foam box/tray thingie so you can take it home, but you can't take it to the buffet line. AND when she brings it she takes away the buffet plates. Something like that, i understand.
