Usually when I hear of people being banned from a buffet it’s because they eat too much. This is the first time I’ve heard of people being banned for wasting food.
I know that nobody likes to be scolded, but I think Dershem is missing the point. It’s not that it’s a ‘one-stop buffet’. It’s that she knows her children are picky and she seems to load up their plates anyway. See, that’s the thing about buffets. You can sample things and then go back and get more of what you like. I’ve seen many people who try to load about five pounds of food onto their plates in one trip. Why? You can always go back!
I rarely eat out, and even more rarely go to a buffet. But when I do I’ll get a little bit of salad. Then I’ll get a few things I want. Then I’ll try something else, or get more of something particularly tasty (for a buffet). By getting smaller portions I eat less, and there is no wastage.
I totally agree with the restaurant. Not only is it wasteful, it’s impolite.
Also, though this may be a stretch, with a name like “Huyen”, that person’s probably from Vietnam, or has parents who are. Or Huyen may actually be Hu Yen, which makes the person Chinese, so a similar story. Such waste must seem pretty immoral to someone who’s been faced with severe deprivation within living memory.
I love that the parents blame it on the kids. Who’s in charge in that family?
A lot of all-you-can-eat buffets have signs warning you that you will be charged extra or asked to leave for wasting food, and I support this completely. The restaurant loses money when people pull this shit. Plus, as jjim points out, it’s pretty impolite. How did this make the papers, btw? Doesn’t anything more important happen in Des Moines?
Has that actually happened? I’ve heard of two fictional scenarios, that Simpsons’ episode and that bit from comedian John Pinette (which I guess may be true, but I’d guess was a written bit).
Regarding the situation in the OP, I’m also firmly on the side of the buffet. I cannot stand to see food wasted.
Mandarin, the local Chinese buffet near my house, serves food of the* gods* (even if they do offer hamburgers and fries in the next breath). If anyone wasted food there…
I’m totally behind the restaurant on this one. The mother’s sense of entitlement is surpassed only by her lack of accountability. She was exploiting the business and abusing the purpose of the buffet. Even a modicum of responsible parenting sense should tell her to monitor how much food her kids are taking and not to allow them to take more than they are willing to eat. I don’t allow my kid to go back for seconds until she finishes what she got the first time.
The buffets here post similar signs, though I’ve never seen one being enforced. Of course, I’ve never witnessed a customer waste food on a scale of what the article describes.
Absolutely no sympathy for the family-that’s ridiculous. What the hell, taking FOUR egg rolls for the kids? Give him one, let him try it. If he doesn’t like it, well, then finish it yourself. Or don’t allow him to go and get more egg rolls. Get him a little bit of each to sample. Jesus.
I just went to a local Chinese buffet and had this conversation with my SO. When I paid the check, I noticed a sign by the register stating that leaving significant amounts of uneaten food on your plate would result in an extra charge of $3 per plate.
We discussed this, and, after having our normal argument in which we both promote the same point of view and don’t realize it, agreed that the business was right to do so.
The buffet in question was right to kick out this greedy and wasteful family.
I once went to an all-you-can-eat sushi restaurant in Broward County, Florida, that charges a fee for people who leave lots of sushi over, or only eat the fish and discard the rice. It’s not a buffet, but rather a situation where you check off how many rolls and pieces you want on a menu, and they bring you whatever you ask for. Sushi is expensive and time-consuming to prepare, and they don’t like the idea of people wasting their time or taking advantage of the fixed price. I don’t blame them for this policy at all, especially in South Florida, which is full of old folks and rude people who would otherwise take advantage of them.
I’m fresh off the plane from VN. My GF picks me up at Travis AFB and we head for SF. I tell her I could eat a truckload of good old am-ur-ee-kan, non military food. She spots this all ‘you can eat’ buffet place and we stop.
Fried chicken, pork chops, mashed potatoes, corn on the cob, fresh salad makin’s, it’s a dream come true. I’m on my fourth or fifth trip through when one of the employees makes some comment about my having had enough. I more or less ignore him and go back to the table and tell my GF about the comment, which I though was kind of funny. She goes ballistic, nails the manager and reads him the riot act about VN vets., patriotism, hippy protests, burning the flag, etc, etc., all in view and hearing of the other diners. When he can finally get a word in, he apologizes profusely, comps. our meals and assures anything we want for as long as we want to stay.
She done good!
When I was in Amsterdam last year, I ate at a Chinese buffet. On the wall, next to each table, was a sign that said (and I’m paraphrasing): “The buffet is 9.95 per person. If too much food is left on your plate, you will be charged an additional 9.95.” And I don’t blame them for having that policy.
Des Moines is in Iowa, which I can personally attest is the clean-your-plate-or-else capital of the free world. Whatever they think of food-wasters in Vietnam, I can promise you they don’t think much better of them in Des Moines. Whoever these Dersham folks are, they sorely need to get with the program, perhaps by attending a few church suppers or potlucks.
All the same, I read the header and thought it said Family kicked out of all-you-can-eat buffet for wanting food. And thought, What are we coming to?
Most of the comments are in favor of the restaurant. The woman, or someone claiming to be her, has visited and said she didn’t get the media involved and that (paraphrased) “OMIGOD, making children clean their plates promotes childhood obesity.” Clearly, no one in the history of the world has managed to raise kids who both thin and aware of how to conduct themselves politely at a buffet.