# Is Anyone Else Grossed Out by Golden Corral's Chocolate Waterfall? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 17, 2012, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-anyone-else-grossed-out-by-golden-corrals-chocolate-waterfall/613189 "2012-02-17T21:39:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Shawn1767](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Shawn1767](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shawn1767)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2012, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-anyone-else-grossed-out-by-golden-corrals-chocolate-waterfall/613189/41 "2012-02-18T16:42:22Z")
Mythbusters tackled double dipping. The results were a bit surprising… [![]( " - YouTube") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c8wmb_K5uGY) ---
**Author:** ![appleciders](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85f322/32.png) [@appleciders](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/appleciders)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2012, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-anyone-else-grossed-out-by-golden-corrals-chocolate-waterfall/613189/42 "2012-02-18T17:05:11Z")
> [@Slithy\_Tove](#): > > So I guess putting your penis in it is out of the question? Only if you leave a _really_ nice tip. > [@Anaamika](#): > > 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. Wait, so I want a ruling on this-- suppose I’m eating mozzarella sticks and dipping them in marinara, as you suggest, and I begin by dipping a stick and biting off the bottom half. Then I flip it over, hold it by the bitten end, and dip the unbitten end back in the marinara. At no point has a part of the cheese stick with my bite marks touched the marinara. Are my hands intrinsically germy enough that that merely dunking a part of the stick that I’ve handled is contaminating? Or is this an acceptable culinary practice (at least at my next party, if not a state dinner)? ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2012, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-anyone-else-grossed-out-by-golden-corrals-chocolate-waterfall/613189/43 "2012-02-18T17:17:09Z")
> [@appleciders](#): > > Only if you leave a _really_ nice tip. If you left a tip, the chocolate must have been too hot for people to eat anyway. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2012, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-anyone-else-grossed-out-by-golden-corrals-chocolate-waterfall/613189/44 "2012-02-18T17:17:35Z")
> [@Slithy\_Tove](#): > > So I guess putting your penis in it is out of the question? “If I had known it was going to be _that_ kind of party, I’d have stuck my dick in the mashed potatoes!” ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2012, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-anyone-else-grossed-out-by-golden-corrals-chocolate-waterfall/613189/45 "2012-02-18T17:32:27Z")
> [@appleciders](#): > > Wait, so I want a ruling on this-- suppose I’m eating mozzarella sticks and dipping them in marinara, as you suggest, and I begin by dipping a stick and biting off the bottom half. Then I flip it over, hold it by the bitten end, and dip the unbitten end back in the marinara. At no point has a part of the cheese stick with my bite marks touched the marinara. Are my hands intrinsically germy enough that that merely dunking a part of the stick that I’ve handled is contaminating? Or is this an acceptable culinary practice (at least at my next party, if not a state dinner)? I’d say that’s clearly in-bounds of proper dipping etiquette. If your hands are already intrinsically germy enough that merely handling it is contaminating, there shouldn’t be any shared dipping allowed period. ---
**Author:** ![C3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/c3/32/3108_2.png) [@C3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C3)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2012, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-anyone-else-grossed-out-by-golden-corrals-chocolate-waterfall/613189/46 "2012-02-18T17:38:20Z")
> [@appleciders](#): > > Wait, so I want a ruling on this-- suppose I’m eating mozzarella sticks and dipping them in marinara, as you suggest, and I begin by dipping a stick and biting off the bottom half. Then I flip it over, hold it by the bitten end, and dip the unbitten end back in the marinara. At no point has a part of the cheese stick with my bite marks touched the marinara. Are my hands intrinsically germy enough that that merely dunking a part of the stick that I’ve handled is contaminating? Or is this an acceptable culinary practice (at least at my next party, if not a state dinner)? I think this is fine among family or close friends, but not for a less intimate gathering (work party, first meeting with the in-laws, etc.). ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2012, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-anyone-else-grossed-out-by-golden-corrals-chocolate-waterfall/613189/47 "2012-02-18T17:41:02Z")
_lives a happy carefree life unencumbered by lysol-fueled fears of germ warfare_ You would think a perpetual chocolate fountain would gross me out. It’s at a great temp for incubating germs and the chocolate is basically one giant microbe food source but I find myself unmoved by images of kids with runny noses dipping their marshmallows in after each bite. Perhaps I will die someday slowly and painfully from a lingering brain-eating bacteria contracted from improperly sanitized chocolate fountains but I imagine I’ll get run over by a bus long before than. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2012, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-anyone-else-grossed-out-by-golden-corrals-chocolate-waterfall/613189/48 "2012-02-18T18:03:21Z")
Yeesh, when I first saw the commercial, I was left with the impression that they brought a small one to your table, like a fondue pot. My cousin had a chocolate fountain at his wedding, and that was nice, but at some budget restaurant? Uh…I think I’ll pass. ---
**Author:** ![Kenm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bc79bd/32.png) [@Kenm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kenm)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2012, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-anyone-else-grossed-out-by-golden-corrals-chocolate-waterfall/613189/49 "2012-02-18T18:09:11Z")
> [@Slithy\_Tove](#): > > So I guess putting your penis in it is out of the question? That might be [**the least of your worries**](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XsKzGj0jjgo) (YouTube). ---
**Author:** ![congodwarf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e36b37/32.png) [@congodwarf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/congodwarf)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2012, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-anyone-else-grossed-out-by-golden-corrals-chocolate-waterfall/613189/50 "2012-02-18T20:00:33Z")
This thread was my first introduction to the Golden Corral and it sounds nasty. I don’t like chocolate enough to be enticed by a chocolate fountain. I agree that places like Hometown Buffet and Family Buffet can be pretty damn disgusting with substandard food and cleanliness. I will admit to going to our local Chinese Buffet though. The food is really good. It’s really small and there are usually only 2 or 3 other tables occupied when we go there. The food is changed regularly. I miss York Steak House. It was in the Auburn Mall when I was growing up and my mom even worked there for a while. Again, it was small. I think small is the key with a buffet. ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2012, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-anyone-else-grossed-out-by-golden-corrals-chocolate-waterfall/613189/51 "2012-02-18T20:08:36Z")
I only like Chinese buffets that are busy. If it’s busy, then you know the food is getting replaced. And if it’s busy, that means the food probably isn’t that bad (on the tastebuds…health is a different matter). I’m also a bit prejudiced. If I see some Asian folks in there, that also makes me feel better. The place that I go to always has a lot of Asian diners. Maybe the restaurant owners hires some to bring in prejudiced people like me. ---
**Author:** ![congodwarf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e36b37/32.png) [@congodwarf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/congodwarf)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2012, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-anyone-else-grossed-out-by-golden-corrals-chocolate-waterfall/613189/52 "2012-02-18T20:14:16Z")
Huh. I never thought of that. I don’t think I’ve ever seen Asian diners in there. Hell, one of the waitresses is white!! Our place doesn’t put out large portions of food, I’m assuming because they know they’re not very busy. So, even at slow times, the food gets changed regularly. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2012, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-anyone-else-grossed-out-by-golden-corrals-chocolate-waterfall/613189/53 "2012-02-18T20:19:51Z")
Yechh. It’s primarily Chinese buffets I have been to (they’re everywhere around here), and IME they’re universally awful. I mean it’s edible, probably more so than a place like Golden Corral (to me at least, YMMV), but the quality of the food is still pretty low; low enough that I’m probably not going to eat enough to get $25 worth of food, $25 that would get me a very good meal at any number of other better-quality restaurants. And don’t be fooled if there are a large number of Asians in there; a lot of us tend toward the cheap side. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2012, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-anyone-else-grossed-out-by-golden-corrals-chocolate-waterfall/613189/54 "2012-02-18T20:35:02Z")
Yes the fountain sounds gross, but that commercial is so irritating. There’s this guy that says “I’ve loved chocolate since I was a kid.” Really, dude? You liked chocolate as a kid? That’s amazing. And you still like it now? Gosh, you must really like chocolate. It’s so rare these days to hear of someone loving chocolate as a kid AND still liking it well into their adulthood. It’s a good thing you found this flowing chocolate slurry at Golden Corral so you can partake in this lifelong passion of yours unencumbered and free. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2012, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-anyone-else-grossed-out-by-golden-corrals-chocolate-waterfall/613189/55 "2012-02-18T21:05:40Z")
I find the thought of it absolutely horrifying, going by the behavior I have observed at buffets. It is now to the point the only buffets I will go to are the ones in a casino, where there are no small kids, and the food is changed out frequently. Many casino buffets also have multiple food stations, so it isn’t just all tossed out onto untended tables, you get a server tending each station and they make sure people do not cross contaminate the foods. I love a well done fondue, _at home_ - whether a classic swiss cheese one, a chocolate one or a japanese shabu-shabu. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2012, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-anyone-else-grossed-out-by-golden-corrals-chocolate-waterfall/613189/56 "2012-02-18T21:50:28Z")
[QUOTE=DCnDC] And don’t be fooled if there are a large number of Asians in there; a lot of us tend toward the cheap side. 🙂 [/QUOTE] I live in Alabama where there are a lot more Chinese restaurants than you’d think, and other than the staff I don’t recall ever seeing Asians eating in them. You see lots of Mexicans eating in them, but then when you go to the Mexican places the only Mexicans you see are those working there and you don’t see any Asians. So I’m convinced Asians don’t eat except for when they work at restaurants, and this makes me sad because many are nice people. ---
**Author:** ![Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a9a28c/32.png) [@Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oslo_Ostragoth)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2012, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-anyone-else-grossed-out-by-golden-corrals-chocolate-waterfall/613189/57 "2012-02-19T03:18:50Z")
Glad to see I’m not the only one - the thought of grubby little paws in that thing nauseates and horrifies me. N.B. - it would come in handy in a [“cat” fight.](http://www.cbs.com/shows/the_bold_and_the_beautiful/video/2194469741/the-bold-and-the-beautiful-chocolate-meltdown) ---
**Author:** ![typoink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecb155/32.png) [@typoink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/typoink)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2012, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-anyone-else-grossed-out-by-golden-corrals-chocolate-waterfall/613189/58 "2012-02-20T22:30:32Z")
The only buffets I’ve ever not hated were Indian. Something about Indian food lends itself well to buffet (I’d assume it’s a combination of poorly descriptive menus and the fact that “buffet” Indian and “menu” Indian seem to usually be the same food). Chinese buffets are usually a sort of horrible, but it’s a horrible I’ll brave now and again because I have a deep emotional need for cheap, chewy peppercorn beef and comically greasy eggrolls about once every 6-12 months. ---
**Author:** ![WarmNPrickly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/d78d45/32.png) [@WarmNPrickly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WarmNPrickly)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2012, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-anyone-else-grossed-out-by-golden-corrals-chocolate-waterfall/613189/59 "2012-02-21T02:46:49Z")
I’m not a big fan of large child friendly buffets for this reason. Blegh! > [@Anamika](#): > > 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. Of course, good kids and good parents all have less than stellar moments. Sometimes they wear you down, and sometimes they are just worn down themselves. I’m just saying, dont assume from one encounter that it’s all bad news. ---
**Author:** ![Isamu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/7c8e57/32.png) [@Isamu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isamu)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2012, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-anyone-else-grossed-out-by-golden-corrals-chocolate-waterfall/613189/60 "2012-02-21T02:49:43Z")
If this squicks you out, I do not recommend Chocolate Corral’s Golden Waterfall. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-anyone-else-grossed-out-by-golden-corrals-chocolate-waterfall/613189.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-anyone-else-grossed-out-by-golden-corrals-chocolate-waterfall/613189.md?page=4)