I’ve never been to a Golden Corral because they don’t have them around in my neighborhood. But they still advertise here. A lot. And they are really pushing this chocolate waterfall thing.
The chocolate waterfall is something that evolved out of wedding receptions. It’s a continuous running fountain of liquid chocolate that people are supposed to dip treats into, strawberries, cookies, marshmallows, whatever.
Now, this sort of thing at a wedding buffet doesn’t ping my ick meter. After all, there’s a limited number of guests, very few if any children, and the fountain’s only going to be running for a limited time.
But somehow, the thought of the crowd at a Golden Corral poking for hours at this chocolate goo that gets changed god only knows how often, maybe double dipping treats? And the thought of the unsupervised children that these places tend to swarm with, lathering their fingers with the stuff and licking it off only to go for a second or third swipe really makes me want to hurl.
Did Golden Corral really think this thing would make them more upscale or something? It makes me not want to set foot in the place.
There was just a commercial on for it, and all I could think of was some unsupervised child sticking their grubby finger in the stream. You and me both, apparently.
Yes I’m grossed out by it for two reasons. The first is the unsupervised child doing Og knows what with the waterfall. The second is that I seriously do not think a buffet needs another way for people to make themselves fatter.
You remind me of when we went out with my brother and sister in law and their kids. We were at a kid-friendly restaurant, and they brought over mozzeralla sticks and the marinara sauce. Great!..except before I could get any the kids were dipping their sticks in the sauce, eating it, and dipping again. And again. And then wiping their noses. And whatever else. Parents didn’t even notice.
I guess when you’re a parent you get used to it but I thought this was appallingly rude. Knowing what little germ factories kids are, now no one else can use the sauce.
I’d assume it’s supervised, and that you’re not dipping-and-eating but dipping-and-putting-on-a-plate.
I’ve been to Golden Corral once, pre-waterfall. They had plenty of staff around to eye you suspiciously. It was one of the saddest food experiences of my life. The food was all only slightly better than “glop.”
The place seemed to be teeming with folks very accustomed to wandering in, piling a bunch of brown and grey food slurry on their plates, and just horking it down as their children squirm and caterwaul about them.
It’s like a glimpse into a self-inflicted emotional black hole. Golden Corral is where taste and hope go to die and rot in the sun. The hygiene of the chocolate fountain is the least of their worries.
I hate that commercial! Actually, no commercial from Golden Corral has ever made me want to eat there. It looks like a bottom of the barrel, dirt cheap buffet, and I have no interest in paying money to eat food that’s been sitting under heat lamps for hours. Yuck.
Very much agreed! I should have said “some” parents. Let’s just say good manners, or an inside voice, are not exactly familiarities to this family. Seriously, every conversation has to be HELD LIKE THIS. Me and my SO are very quiet people; it drives us batty.
I have witnessed the fountain! My son’s basketball team had their end of season “banquet” there (don’t get me started on end of season celebrations for a 5 year old’s basketball team). I had been to Golden Corral years and years ago for an office Christmas party, and it was actually considerably nicer than it was back then. It was okay this time, but the food was outrageously salty. I couldn’t believe how crowded the place was on a rainy Sunday afternoon, but it was packed.
Anyway, the kids did the chocolate fountain. It was not supervised by anyone working there, but I supervised when my kids went over there. I didn’t see any kids putting fingers in or double dipping. There were no adults partaking, though. Probably a smart decision.
My kids know that in our house, when it’s just the 4 of us, double-dipping is acceptable. In ANY OTHER situation, you single dip and that’s it, period.
I thought of posting about it even but wasn’t sure if it was just a local thing or if they did them at all GCs. Even at wedding receptions and private parties they strike me as somehow ‘ewww’ but in a restaurant that has 4,920 ill watched kids traipsing through every hour they strike me as ‘Scene 1’ of the Mayan prophecy.
OK. 20-some years ago at my cousin’s insanely expensive wedding, the waiter came in with dessert. He plopped onto a dish, before our horrified eyes, a thin pastry bag, tied at one end, full of hot melted chocolate. When you pierced the bag with a fork, the chocolate *blobbed *out at you. It was appalling.
I asked the waiter, “*what *is this?” “It’s called a ‘chocolat sacque,’ madame,” he said. “That’s not what they call it in the kitchen,” my mother guessed.
And that, children, is the night my cousin served me a bag of warm shit.
I have been to Golden Corral since they put in a chocolate waterfall. It was supervised and you had very few choices of what you could stick in it. You had to use a long skewer to do it. I couldn’t do the fried chicken breast like I wanted. But it didn’t seem all that scary. It’s behind a sneeze glass. You have to maneuver your skewered item under the glass and into the stream. It looked neat, but you get the same taste effect squirting chocolate syrup on a macaroon.
You took a chip and dipped, took a bite out of it and dipped again. That’s like putting the whole dip in your mouth. Next time just take a dip and end it
In our house, when it’s just the 3 of us, double-dipping is still not acceptable. Although I have never been considered a germs phone or neat-freak, I can’t handle that. If y husband or daughter wants a part of my sandwich r whatever, I cut them a section, and the same if I want to taste theirs. My husband rolls his eyes, I think, but my daughter feels the same as I do.
