# All You Can Eat **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 24, 2013, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-you-can-eat/667077 "2013-08-24T19:46:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2013, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-you-can-eat/667077/21 "2013-08-24T21:46:41Z")
Barbecue. I also have fond memories of a pricey but good seafood buffet place in Kentucky. I’ll never eat that many oysters in one sitting again. ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2013, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-you-can-eat/667077/22 "2013-08-24T21:49:36Z")
This question will no doubt make you look very ignorant. It’s the price I am willing to pay to get my question asked. What would go in a Mexican buffet? All the Mexican (Tex-Mex) foods that I’m familiar with: tacos, burritos, quesadillas, chimichangas, enchiladas, nachos, fajitas. All these items seem pretty similar to each other, IMHO. I’m not saying I wouldn’t find it all appetizing ( I most certainly would). But I go to buffets so that I can sample a diversity of foods. Mexican foods don’t seem that diverse to me (and I’m sure I’m wrong…so educate me!) ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2013, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-you-can-eat/667077/23 "2013-08-24T21:56:16Z")
> [@monstro](#): > > What would go in a Mexican buffet? All the Mexican (Tex-Mex) foods that I’m familiar with: tacos, burritos, quesadillas, chimichangas, enchiladas, nachos, fajitas. All these items seem pretty similar to each other, IMHO. An oldie but a goodie from The Onion [Taco Bell’s Five Ingredients Combined In Totally New Way](http://www.theonion.com/articles/taco-bells-five-ingredients-combined-in-totally-ne,3781/) ---
**Author:** ![Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a88e4f/32.png) [@Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Digital_is_the_new_Analog)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2013, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-you-can-eat/667077/24 "2013-08-24T22:07:10Z")
None, for the most part. Occasionally I’ll end up at a Chinese buffet. I just don’t eat enough to make it worth going to one of these places. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2013, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-you-can-eat/667077/25 "2013-08-24T22:32:24Z")
> [@monstro](#): > > This question will no doubt make you look very ignorant. It’s the price I am willing to pay to get my question asked. > > What would go in a Mexican buffet? All the Mexican (Tex-Mex) foods that I’m familiar with: tacos, burritos, quesadillas, chimichangas, enchiladas, nachos, fajitas. All these items seem pretty similar to each other, IMHO. > > I’m not saying I wouldn’t find it all appetizing ( I most certainly would). But I go to buffets so that I can sample a diversity of foods. Mexican foods don’t seem that diverse to me (and I’m sure I’m wrong…so educate me!) Hmmm, as I said, it’s been years since I went to Pancho’s, but they had those items, plus they had pork stew (with green chiles, pretty spicy), some other sort of stew, rice, beans, guacamole, churros, and sopapillas. Pancho’s is different in that you take a tray and go down the line, like a cafeteria, asking for various items, rather than serving yourself. There’s a garnish bar where you can get various items, like lemon slices and salsa. And if you want more, you don’t go back through the line, you raise a little flag on your table, and a server comes to find out what you want more of and brings it to you. Here’s a [takeout menu](http://www.panchosmexicanbuffetdfw.com/takeout.html), I think that just about everything on that list is available on the buffet. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2013, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-you-can-eat/667077/26 "2013-08-24T22:38:37Z")
Indian, at Mint Leaf, two blocks from my house. A plate full of vegetables followed by a plate full of meat, and I’m a happy guy. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2013, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-you-can-eat/667077/27 "2013-08-24T22:45:06Z")
I voted “Other” because I would have said “all of the above” ---
**Author:** ![pbbth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f9ae1b/32.png) [@pbbth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pbbth)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2013, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-you-can-eat/667077/28 "2013-08-24T23:45:40Z")
Oh my god, the basket of sopapillas was enough for me to fall eternally in love with Panchos. So what if the rest of the food wasn’t great? Bring me a gallon of honey and 50 sopapillas! ---
**Author:** ![CrimeThink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/90db22/32.png) [@CrimeThink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CrimeThink)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2013, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-you-can-eat/667077/29 "2013-08-24T23:46:06Z")
Definitely Indian. ---
**Author:** ![Uther\_Penguin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Uther\_Penguin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uther_Penguin)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2013, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-you-can-eat/667077/30 "2013-08-24T23:49:05Z")
Years ago, there was a Mexican restaurant near Bonn. No buffet in the straight sense, but a “pay once, order as many dishes as you can eat” system. The only rule was that you had to finish your (medium-sized) dish before you could order the next one; alternatively you could order a dish as small-sized. I guess they wanted to cut down the waste. A teppanyaki or Mongolian barbecue place does not count as Chinese, I guess? Unless a good Mexican buffet is available, I prefer the combined East Asian restaurants they have here: a Mongolian barbecue where you pick your ingredients from a buffet and have them prepared for you teppanyaki-style, plus a sushi buffet and a conventional Chinese buffet. Plus usually a cake-, icecream-, fruit- and dessert-buffet. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2013, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-you-can-eat/667077/31 "2013-08-24T23:50:58Z")
Yum! Any and all! I most often visit “Souplantation,” an AYCE soup-and-salad buffet, but I really, really love a good Chinese buffet. I used to work within walking distance of a nice Indian restaurant that had a vegetarian lunch buffet. I’d blow in, eat half a ton, and roll out. I always tipped well, given that I’d just eaten enough to feed Rajasthan. I was once at an “All You Can Eat” fish fry, where the cook started sending me fried dough instead of actual pieces of fish, as a pretty blatant sign that he wasn’t going to feed me any more. S.O.B.! ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2013, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-you-can-eat/667077/32 "2013-08-25T00:27:04Z")
Indian and by a wide margin. Plenty of decent Indian buffets ( and some mediocre ones ) in my area. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2013, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-you-can-eat/667077/33 "2013-08-25T00:35:24Z")
My town has an Indian place that I have to avoid or else I’d eat at their buffet five days a week. Give it to me over any other buffet I’ve ever eaten at in my life. ---
**Author:** ![GaryM](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garym/32/241_2.png) [@GaryM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GaryM)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2013, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-you-can-eat/667077/34 "2013-08-25T00:39:11Z")
I’d bet I could put away $200 worth of sushi. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2013, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-you-can-eat/667077/35 "2013-08-25T00:44:22Z")
An international buffet would be my ideal. Sometimes I’m in the mood for Chinese AND Mexican. Plus, it would give me a chance to get out of my comfort zone and try a type of cuisine I’m not familiar with. Alternatively, I’d like a soup-and-salad buffet. Especially if the bread is off the chain, and there are delicious desserts. ---
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2013, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-you-can-eat/667077/36 "2013-08-25T00:47:33Z")
> [@GaryM](#): > > I’d bet I could put away $200 worth of sushi. 😃 Hell yes. We used to go to a place called Todai. It’s a Japanese buffet. My wife would hesitate because it wasn’t cheap, but assured her we came out ahead on that deal every time. ---
**Author:** ![Hockey\_Monkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a183cd/32.png) [@Hockey\_Monkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hockey_Monkey)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2013, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-you-can-eat/667077/37 "2013-08-25T01:03:16Z")
We have an all you can eat, made to order sushi restaurant here in Raleigh and I go there a lot. A. Lot. All you can eat sushi, freshly prepared for $24.95. They have other items from the kitchen as well, like hibachi and edamame, etc. I spend $30 easily every time I eat sushi anyway and I usually have to hold back because of the cost. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2013, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-you-can-eat/667077/38 "2013-08-25T01:08:13Z")
> [@zoid](#): > > Hell yes. We used to go to a place called Todai. It’s a Japanese buffet. My wife would hesitate because it wasn’t cheap, but assured her we came out ahead on that deal every time. From experience I know that Todai is a great place to go…especially as someone else’s guest. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2013, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-you-can-eat/667077/39 "2013-08-25T01:13:47Z")
> [@Lynn\_Bodoni](#): > > And what’s wrong with Soup R Salad? That’s my favorite one. It went downhill since that flat top guy took over. > [@Uther\_Penguin](#): > > A teppanyaki or Mongolian barbecue place does not count as Chinese, I guess? AYCE teppanyaki? That boggles the mind. Those places are usually like $25-30 minimum to eat a fixed amount. I don’t know what AYCE would cost. Granted the portions are decent. If they will bring you more food, I’ve never asked. All you can eat sushi is the norm around here. Decent quality, and a good way to overstuff yourself. I am **not** a fan of mixed cuisine. Chinese restaurants that have sushi make me queasy. ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2013, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-you-can-eat/667077/40 "2013-08-25T01:38:28Z")
Sushi, followed closely by Indian. It would be a toss-up except that I eat Indian at home quite frequently so it’s less “special.” As noted above, the better all-you-can-eat sushi is made to order. It’s usually not an AYCE restaurant, but a menu option in a regular sushi restaurant. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-you-can-eat/667077.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-you-can-eat/667077.md?page=3)