"All you can EAT!" A regional/state thing?

[Lil' Hannah]

Originally Posted by Senusret I

...Sizzling Express...

<3<3<3

[ASTalumna06]

I grew up in New England, and there really aren't that many buffet-styled restaurants around there. And if there are, I never found them.

Between college, and now 2 years following that, I've lived in Pennsylvania for about 6 years, and buffet-styled restaurants are everywhere. Golden Corral, Ponderosa, Old Country Buffet, etc. As to whether or not people PREFER to eat there, I don't know.

I've also traveled up and down the east coast, from Maine to Florida, and a whole bunch of places in between, and I've never run across any of these restaurants that I've seen in PA.

Maybe it's a middle-of-the-country kind of thing

[SOPi_Jawbreaker]

Originally Posted by ASTalumna06

Maybe it's a middle-of-the-country kind of thing

Quite possibly. They closed the Ponderosa around here YEARS ago. It was right by the King of Prussia mall and they were trying to make that area more upscale. Now, the steakhouses in and around the mall are Morton's, Sullivan's, and Ruth's Chris.

Since I hadn't seen any Ponderosa's for several years, I thought they had gone out of business until I went up to Penn State and saw one there.


We also no longer have Denny's or Friendly's around here, but we do have tons and tons of TGIFriday's, Applebee's, Ruby Tuesday's, and Chili's.

[summer_gphib]

The last time I ate at a Golden Corral I got food poisioning so bad I could barely move for a week. (I must say I did lose 11 lbs. though.)

We don't go to all-you-can-eat places often, because here they are just okay. We usually go because I'm a salad fanatic, and there are precious few places around here that have salad bars. (Ruby Tuesdays is pretty good and Sonnys.) We usually save upscale places for special occasions.

[AnchorAlumna]

In my little city, we have Mama Blues (owned by the Barnhills, the folks who started the old Barnhill's AYCE chain), and Ryan's, briefly known as Fire Mountain, which used to be a steak place that turned itself into an AYCE place.

I call these places "troughs," because you go to the feeding trough to fill your plate. It's always fun to count the ENORMOUS people bellying up to the buffet. They're usually eating when we arrive and still eating when we leave.

Nevertheless, there are reasons to go to these places (which are NOT cheap!). First, you have kids, who are hungry and have to eat RIGHT NOW. Second, you have a large number of people who each want something different. Third, you're in a hurry and want to eat RIGHT NOW. Fourth, you're sick of fast food and want a salad and/or some veggies.

FWIW, our Applebee's used to be grim, but they have a new cook and the food has greatly improved.

[NutBrnHair]

Originally Posted by Dionysus

However, the people I know in real life, how much food you get on your plate is a restaurant's biggest selling point.

So typical of Americans.

I avoid the all-you-can-eat buffets. I much prefer a locally-owned restaurant with unique food and smaller portions -- and so do 90% of my friends.

[PeppyGPhiB]

Buffets usually aren't my thing. The only time I'll really eat at a buffet is breakfast/brunch...they don't make me nervous the way dinner buffets do. We have Old Country Buffet around here, but I've never been to one. Other than that, the only buffets I can think of around here are chinese food and sushi buffets, the sushi buffets being very popular. The one buffet that is AWESOME is weekend brunch at Salty's in Seattle, which is gourmet fancy shmancy (http://www.saltys.com/food_wine/best_brunch.asp)

[ComradesTrue]

As someone who has lived in 2 of the fattest states in the union (TN and TX) and someone who lived in the #2 fattest city in America (Dallas) I have certainly seen a buffet restaurant or two in my time.

Loved reading the stories about Pancho's. Haven't been there since I was a kid, but raising the flag was always a highlight.

I do avoid the Golden Corral type places, but have ventured into some of the "better" (relative term) Chinese buffets. This is not because I want some huge portion, but rather I enjoy a "sampler" platter. Just a few bites of many different menu offerings.

Because I have a toddler, we do find ourselves regularly in a Cici's. Keeps him happy and I have had worse. (the key here is to ask for a specific type of pizza, which they are happy to make special for you. Then no one else has sneezed on it, touched it, etc.)

Dallas had a decent all you can eat Sushi place, and they also had Fogo de Chao which is a nice Brazillian meat fest with locations in larger cities across the US. So I won't paint all buffets/all you can eats with the same brush.

What really makes me ill are watching the people in the all-U-can-eat lines on Cruises... they are a breed all their own and really do personify the "fat and lazy American." Observing those cows is far worse than anything that I have seen at the Chinese buffet or Cici's, and that is saying a LOT!

[Munchkin03]

Originally Posted by AnchorAlumna

I call these places "troughs," because you go to the feeding trough to fill your plate. It's always fun to count the ENORMOUS people bellying up to the buffet. They're usually eating when we arrive and still eating when we leave.

Nevertheless, there are reasons to go to these places (which are NOT cheap!). First, you have kids, who are hungry and have to eat RIGHT NOW. Second, you have a large number of people who each want something different. Third, you're in a hurry and want to eat RIGHT NOW. Fourth, you're sick of fast food and want a salad and/or some veggies.

I've been known to call Golden Corral "the hog trough" in my days, because that's EXACTLY what it is. The hometown fatties love it.

[MysticCat]

Originally Posted by NutBrnHair

So typical of Americans.

I avoid the all-you-can-eat buffets. I much prefer a locally-owned restaurant with unique food and smaller portions -- and so do 90% of my friends.

Unique food? I tend to avoid places that advertise "unique cuisine," as the prices at those places tend to be as inflated as the culinary egos and the snobbery. That, and the food is rarely if ever "unique."

I'll eat wherever my family and I are in the mood to eat. Sometimes that's a nice restaurant, sometimes it a place that's quick and easy. Sometimes it's a local hangout, sometimes it's a chain. Sometimes it's a place to get dressed up for, sometimes I'm peeling my own shrimp. Sometimes it's "American cuisine," sometimes it's not. Sometimes it's even a buffet (which can be a plus with kids) -- either the "trough" kind or the Sunday after-church very nice kind.

Every restuarant may not have good food, but good food can be found in any kind of restaurant -- even the troughs.

[EEKappa]

I'm getting all misty-eyed reading about Pancho's! Oh, those sour cream enchiladas, and the sopapillas. Mmm. When I lived in Atlanta there was a restaurant with a salad and dessert buffet that always had a mountain of chocolate mousse. We loved it for chapter functions.

I also live in New England, and the only buffets we see in my area are lunch buffets at Indian and Chinese restaurants. When we travel and eat at a really quality place, my husband always says that we need to open a good restaurant in town. I remind him that there wouldn't be a market for it with all the people lining up outside Olive Garden to wait an hour for unlimited soup and breadsticks.

[NutBrnHair]

I think the last time I went to a Ryan's/Golden Corral/Western Sizzler type place was 20 years ago in Milledgeville, GA. I went to lunch with two of my grad school professors. After witnessing one of my professors wiping her soup bowl clean so she could fill up the same bowl with dessert....I had had enough. Oh, but there was more. She asked me if I was going to eat any of the dinner rolls. I said, "no," and she proceeded to stuff the rolls in the plastic bag which had been wrapped around her silverware!

[NutBrnHair]

Originally Posted by MysticCat

Unique food? I tend to avoid places that advertise "unique cuisine," as the prices at those places tend to be as inflated as the culinary egos and the snobbery. That, and the food is rarely if ever "unique."

I really meant more -- well-prepared food or a place that gives a twist to a traditional dish.

Truly, I love the fine dining experience as much as a burger at a local hole-in-the-wall place.

[epchick]

Originally Posted by MysticCat

Unique food? I tend to avoid places that advertise "unique cuisine," as the prices at those places tend to be as inflated as the culinary egos and the snobbery. That, and the food is rarely if ever "unique."

I totally agree with you!! I try to stay away from places that say "unique cuisine" or "authentic _____ cuisine." The summer I turned 15, I was traveling to Dallas with my family. As we passed Midland, we decided to stop and grab some food. We found a restaurant that said "authentic Mexican food." Well we didn't think anything of it, so we went in to eat. It was THE WORST food i've ever had. And totally NOT Mexican at all. the flautas were eggrolls, the quesadilla my cousin ordered was just one large tortilla chip covered in Velvetta. I shudder just thinking about it.

I hate it when people claim to know how to cook certain foods (well mainly Mexican food) but it's totally wrong.

[pbear19]

I worked at a Ponderosa for three years in college, and trust me when I say that the overweight to healthy weight ratio was no different inside the restaurant than anywhere else I've seen in America - including at the gym! There are some very uninformed posts in this thread about buffet restaurants and overweight people. As a matter of fact, my customers who ate the most were athletic younger guys. Generally people who really piled food on their plates left most of it when they were done. I cannot tell you how much food gets thrown away at a buffet!

The only buffet restaurants I personally eat at are Sweet Tomatoes and a local Indian restaurant. But I'm not so much of a snob that I would say (or imply) that all people who frequent buffet restaurants like Ponderosa and Golden Corral are fat country folk. That's incredibly far from the truth as I've witnessed it.