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

[Dionysus]

I've been posting and lurking on internet discussion boards for over five years. I've read numerous threads about restaurants. Mostly about favorite ones and recommendations. I've noticed in these threads, that buffets or restaurants that have reputations for cheap large quantities of food are almost never mentioned. Restaurants are usually noted for its superior service, atmosphere, quality of food, and/or creative recipes.

However, the people I know in real life, how much food you get on your plate is a restaurant's biggest selling point. An example, I overheard some people in the mall deciding on where they wanted to go to dinner. The choice was between a fancy lounge with live perfomances and well-prepared food, and a couple of other restaurants in the same area. Well, they decided to go to PONDEROSA! They wanted to get full and not spend too much money. Going by their appearance, mannerisms, and things they purchased in the store...they were NOT poor, though. So that reason was ruled out.

I've interacted with all kinds of people within the last 10 years of my life...people who were financially well off, poor people from the inner city, country people from rural areas, Greeks, hipster kids, people of different races and ethnicities, you name it. They all have one thing in common, they all (well, in general) are fond of Applebee's, Culpepper's, fast food, Ponderosa, Old Country Buffet, Golden Corral...or any other place you get a lot of food for cheap. And most of these people are from Missouri or Illinois.

What I'm trying to say is that I notice there's a HUGE difference in restaurant preferences, between the people I see online (many who are from the east or west coast) and people I see in real life. I just wonder if this is a regional thing. I think so, but I don't really know, since I've never been on either coast.

[Senusret I]

Speaking as a Washingtonian, we have a lot of fast food and a lot of restaurants in the city. We have a TGIFriday's near GW. But I honestly can't think of any buffets or cafeteria style places with "All you can eat" for one price in the city.

In the suburbs, sure.

I don't think I am high fallutin. I know if given the choice between the inexpensive buffet 20-30 minutes away, and the pretty good sit-down restaurant with the jazz quartet that's only ten minutes away, I am gonna choose the latter. (Unless I am specifically in the mood for fast food)

HOWEVER, we do have places in DC that are cafeteria style but NOT all you can eat. You pay based on the weight of the meal. I'm sure those are everywhere. We have Sizzling Express and Epicurean & Co.

[Lil' Hannah]

Originally Posted by Senusret I

...Sizzling Express...

<3<3<3

[ree-Xi]

Originally Posted by Dionysus

I've interacted with all kinds of people within the last 10 years of my life...people who were financially well off, poor people from the inner city, country people from rural areas, Greeks, hipster kids, people of different races and ethnicities, you name it. They all have one thing in common, they all (well, in general) are fond of Applebee's, Culpepper's, fast food, Ponderosa, Old Country Buffet, Golden Corral...or any other place you get a lot of food for cheap. And most of these people are from Missouri or Illinois.

What I'm trying to say is that I notice there's a HUGE difference in restaurant preferences, between the people I see online (many who are from the east or west coast) and people I see in real life. I just wonder if this is a regional thing. I think so, but I don't really know, since I've never been on either coast.

I am in New England, and I have to say that there are few buffet style restaurants in my area. Chinese restaurants aside, I have only seen one Old Country Buffet, and maybe years ago, a Ponderosa. As far as eating at Crapplebees...ick.

I admit to an annual hankering for a Chili's fajita and Molten Chocolate Cake, but usually go the mom and pop places if we eat out. Of course, that's much less often than it used to be, thanks to the economy. If I am famished and at the mall, I usually get chicken teryaki with white rice from Sarku. If I am on the road, Subway or fast-food chicken sandwiches are my choices.

When I visit my inlaws in Arkansas, there are buffets everywhere. This one place I went to, Monteney (sp) Chicken, had what I think was all-you-can-eat. Although I love (LOVE) fried chicken, my health situation now dictates what I can eat, so my admission price was kind of wasted. When I was younger, I was always able to eat in large quantities, in fact due to my health, I HAD to eat a lot of food to keep me going. Nowadays, I can't even get through half my meal. Thank goodness doggy bags are acceptable!

[AGDee]

We used to go to Ponderosa and Old Country Buffet a lot because we could feed the kids cheap with their pricing structure. The kids only wanted the buffet. Now, they really like those two places because of a few favorite foods. We went to a few buffets on vacation because they were considerably cheaper than the sit down places. I especially like breakfast buffets because for breakfast I'd like ONE pancake or piece of french toast, plus eggs, plus some meat and maybe some hash browns, etc. I don't want a full serving of pancakes or one huge omelet.. just my breakfast preferences I guess. When I do eat at a buffet, I generally just eat a meat and a couple sides anyway, so it doesn't really matter anymore. What I found funny was that at the buffets where we went on vacation, they all had signs on them that said "Take all you want but please eat all you take"

[paulam]

Originally Posted by AGDee

We used to go to Ponderosa and Old Country Buffet a lot because we could feed the kids cheap with their pricing structure. The kids only wanted the buffet. Now, they really like those two places because of a few favorite foods. We went to a few buffets on vacation because they were considerably cheaper than the sit down places. I especially like breakfast buffets because for breakfast I'd like ONE pancake or piece of french toast, plus eggs, plus some meat and maybe some hash browns, etc. I don't want a full serving of pancakes or one huge omelet.. just my breakfast preferences I guess. When I do eat at a buffet, I generally just eat a meat and a couple sides anyway, so it doesn't really matter anymore. What I found funny was that at the buffets where we went on vacation, they all had signs on them that said "Take all you want but please eat all you take"

I worked with two rather large gentlemen, both way over 6 feet tall and each weighing way over 250 pounds. A new Chinese restaurant opened near our office offering an all-you can-eat lunch buffet. My two co-workers decided to try it. After they had almost eaten their fill, the hostess arrived at their table and announced in a voice everyone in the restaurant could hear, "You bigga boys. You eat too much. You go now!" When they told us about this, the entire office staff cracked up and of course, we avoided that place from that day on. They closed soon after due to their lack of customer service.

Whenever my family goes to an all-you-can-eat buffet, we always recite the mantra, "You bigga boys. You eat too much. You go now!" We always laugh before the meal and no one around us knows why!

Paula M.
Sigma Delta Tau
ΣΔT
Patriae Multi Spes Una One Hope of Many People

[epchick]

Originally Posted by paulam

I worked with two rather large gentlemen, both way over 6 feet tall and each weighing way over 250 pounds. A new Chinese restaurant opened near our office offering an all-you can-eat lunch buffet. My two co-workers decided to try it. After they had almost eaten their fill, the hostess arrived at their table and announced in a voice everyone in the restaurant could hear, "You bigga boys. You eat too much. You go now!" When they told us about this, the entire office staff cracked up and of course, we avoided that place from that day on. They closed soon after due to their lack of customer service.

Whenever my family goes to an all-you-can-eat buffet, we always recite the mantra, "You bigga boys. You eat too much. You go now!" We always laugh before the meal and no one around us knows why!

That kind of customer service must be popular in Chinese Restaurants. Something similar happened to my brother (i believe) years ago.

I'm not exactly sure how the story went but it culminated in the restaurant owner yelling at my brother "you been here 4 owahs (hours)"

My mom still cracks up at it, and she constantly jokes around when we are together as a family spending a lot of time in a restaurant! lol

[Lil' Hannah]

Originally Posted by epchick

That kind of customer service must be popular in Chinese Restaurants. Something similar happened to my brother (i believe) years ago.

I'm not exactly sure how the story went but it culminated in the restaurant owner yelling at my brother "you been here 4 owahs (hours)"

My mom still cracks up at it, and she constantly jokes around when we are together as a family spending a lot of time in a restaurant! lol

Funny, honeychile said it happened to her friend too.

I didn't realize John Pinette knew so many GCers!

[OneTimeSBX]

Originally Posted by paulam

I worked with two rather large gentlemen, both way over 6 feet tall and each weighing way over 250 pounds. A new Chinese restaurant opened near our office offering an all-you can-eat lunch buffet. My two co-workers decided to try it. After they had almost eaten their fill, the hostess arrived at their table and announced in a voice everyone in the restaurant could hear, "You bigga boys. You eat too much. You go now!" When they told us about this, the entire office staff cracked up and of course, we avoided that place from that day on. They closed soon after due to their lack of customer service.

Whenever my family goes to an all-you-can-eat buffet, we always recite the mantra, "You bigga boys. You eat too much. You go now!" We always laugh before the meal and no one around us knows why!

Paula M.
Sigma Delta Tau
ΣΔT
Patriae Multi Spes Una One Hope of Many People

ha ha! ive seen a few people that i know got more than their money's worth...

i used to work with inner city girls when i was coming out of high school. one day after a trip to DC i took them to Golden Corral.

after i got up to pay, WHY did one of the girls break out a tupperware container??? she said she wanted to take some chicken home for dinner, and all that did was start a wave of "oh hell yeah! give me some napkins" and every girl in there left with more food than they came with.

i didnt know what went down until we got outside to the van, and it was filled with the smell of brownies and chicken lol! i explained that even though i know a lot of them were in difficult (i.e. poor) circumstances at home, that it was wrong to do that. and i never took them to a buffet again...

[Tippiechick]

Originally Posted by paulam

I worked with two rather large gentlemen, both way over 6 feet tall and each weighing way over 250 pounds. A new Chinese restaurant opened near our office offering an all-you can-eat lunch buffet. My two co-workers decided to try it. After they had almost eaten their fill, the hostess arrived at their table and announced in a voice everyone in the restaurant could hear, "You bigga boys. You eat too much. You go now!" When they told us about this, the entire office staff cracked up and of course, we avoided that place from that day on. They closed soon after due to their lack of customer service.

LOL. When I was pregnant with Max, I was miserably sick with a condition called HG that made me seriously nauseated EVERY moment of the day. The ONLY place I could find relief was this certain Chinese buffet.

I went in there one day between lunch and dinner. It was 3:15. They started dinner at 3:30. I was there for the crab legs and expected to be charged a dinner price since it was 3:30 by the time I was seated and began eating the dinner foods.

Anyway, I had been there about 30 minutes and had one plate of crab legs. I had to eat them slowly to keep them down. I thought the waitress was going to ask me for a refill of my drink, but instead she took the plate that I was ACTUALLY STILL EATING OFF from OUT OF MY HAND. She threw me out saying I was trying to cheat the restaurant by eating dinner at a lunch price.

I tried to explain that I had expected the dinner price, as I was eating dinner foods. But, they said I had to go. I waddled out, but I still won't go to that place anymore.

[KSigkid]

Originally Posted by ree-Xi

I am in New England, and I have to say that there are few buffet style restaurants in my area. Chinese restaurants aside, I have only seen one Old Country Buffet, and maybe years ago, a Ponderosa. As far as eating at Crapplebees...ick.

I admit to an annual hankering for a Chili's fajita and Molten Chocolate Cake, but usually go the mom and pop places if we eat out. Of course, that's much less often than it used to be, thanks to the economy. If I am famished and at the mall, I usually get chicken teryaki with white rice from Sarku. If I am on the road, Subway or fast-food chicken sandwiches are my choices.

When I visit my inlaws in Arkansas, there are buffets everywhere. This one place I went to, Monteney (sp) Chicken, had what I think was all-you-can-eat. Although I love (LOVE) fried chicken, my health situation now dictates what I can eat, so my admission price was kind of wasted. When I was younger, I was always able to eat in large quantities, in fact due to my health, I HAD to eat a lot of food to keep me going. Nowadays, I can't even get through half my meal. Thank goodness doggy bags are acceptable!

This has been my experience as well. There are a few nicer restaurants that do lunch buffets (a couple of Indian restaurants, and a Brazilian place), but other than that, all-you-can-eats are rare. They were much rarer in the Boston area than in CT, where you see one in almost every town.

[SWTXBelle]

The rural area where I lived in Tenn. was BIG on buffets - as my father said, they liked good eatin', not fine dining. I found the food to be mediocre at best.
Here in Houston, there is Pancho's Mexican Buffet - you can raise a little Mexican flag at your table to get more food. My high school students used to love CiCi's pizza - blech. Luby's cafeteria is not all-you-can-eat - in fact, most of the old-timey Southern cafeterias (Luby's, Furr's, Morrison's, Picadilly) are NOT all you can eat. And in my experience, the food is good.
I hate all-you-can-eat because I can't eat much - that, and the quality is just not good.

[epchick]

Originally Posted by SWTXBelle

Here in Houston, there is Pancho's Mexican Buffet - you can raise a little Mexican flag at your table to get more food.
...the old-timey Southern cafeterias (Luby's, Furr's, Morrison's, Picadilly) are NOT all you can eat.

I miss Pancho's!! I used to love lifting the flag, and the song they used to play on your Birthday! lol.

Your Furr's is NOT all you can eat? We have at least 3 here, and they are all, "all-you-can-eat."

We have A LOT of all you can eat buffets. I would definitely NOT call Applebee's, Chili's etc. "all-you-can-eat."

The "all-you-can-eat" places we have are: a few Chinese buffets, Furr's, a few Mexican buffets, Golden Corral, Cici's Pizza. That's all i can think of at the moment.

[SWTXBelle]

It has been so long since I have been to Furr's - I noticed they still have one in San Marcos - that I may well be mistaken, and they are all-you-can-eat.

[catiebug]

When I was living in Missouri (back in the late 1980s), I came home to Dallas for a visit. My friends took me to Panchos (I love me some Panchos - it's nasty but in a good way) for lunch and asked the manager if they could have the flag. He said yes, and they gave it to me. It's been 20 years -- I still have the flag; I keep it in my guest bedroom.

Originally Posted by epchick

I miss Pancho's!! I used to love lifting the flag, and the song they used to play on your Birthday! lol.

While they have the usual Chinese buffet on every corner her in Connecticut, they don't have cafeterias -- like Furrs, Picadilly or Luby's -- up here. My mom came up from New Ulm (Texas) to visit and she was floored that we didn't have cafeterias. I guess it's a Southern thing.