# Should buffets automatically be considered "all you can eat" situations? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 24, 2004, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-buffets-automatically-be-considered-all-you-can-eat-situations/241809 "2004-04-24T15:47:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2004, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-buffets-automatically-be-considered-all-you-can-eat-situations/241809/1 "2004-04-24T15:47:37Z")
Per the linked story below. Do you normally consider buffets to be “all you can eat” situations? [No-carb eating couple booted from buffet for eating too much beef](http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/nation/2527142) ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2004, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-buffets-automatically-be-considered-all-you-can-eat-situations/241809/2 "2004-04-24T15:54:02Z")
I always consider them all-you-can-eat. Not to say I might have been wrong on occasion, but I’ve never had a problem. ---
**Author:** ![Kaitlyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/73ab20/32.png) [@Kaitlyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kaitlyn)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2004, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-buffets-automatically-be-considered-all-you-can-eat-situations/241809/3 "2004-04-24T16:08:55Z")
No, being a buffet doesn’t automatically make it all you can eat, unless this is explicitly stated. The mangers/owners of the restaurant can make the policy anything they’d like, be it one trip, all you can eat, or anything in between. Asking a couple to stop after a dozen trips to the roast beef station seems perfectly reasonable to me. It’s not clear whether they were told they could continue to eat other dishes, which I think would also be reasonable. I get the impression that they were asked to leave for causing a disturbance when prevented from getting more roast beef, though that isn’t explicitly stated. ---
**Author:** ![Abbie\_Carmichael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/49beb7/32.png) [@Abbie\_Carmichael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Abbie_Carmichael)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2004, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-buffets-automatically-be-considered-all-you-can-eat-situations/241809/4 "2004-04-24T16:20:21Z")
I think the restaurant is lying. I’ve _never_ seen a buffet that wasn’t AYCE. And if this place _ISNT_ AYCE, what steps have they taken to notify their patrons? Do they tell their customers how many trips they’re “allowed” to the buffet and what they can and can’t fill their plates with? Cheapskates! ---
**Author:** ![Brynda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e79b87/32.png) [@Brynda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brynda)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2004, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-buffets-automatically-be-considered-all-you-can-eat-situations/241809/5 "2004-04-24T16:26:36Z")
My take is the opposite of **Number Six’s**. In my experience, buffets are All You Can Eat unless it is explicitly stated that they are not. I have never seen one that isn’t AYCE, although I have seen some salad bars that specify “one trip only.” I have to agree with **Abbie Carmichael’s** “cheapskate” comment. The manager knew he was losing money on them and didn’t like it. Can’t blame him for not liking it, but if it didn’t state a limit, he was in the wrong to stop them. ---
**Author:** ![Garfield226](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Garfield226](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Garfield226)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2004, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-buffets-automatically-be-considered-all-you-can-eat-situations/241809/6 "2004-04-24T16:29:17Z")
Well, for $8.99 I’d expect it to be All You Can Eat. I know of a few salad bars around here that you can either buy “one-trip” or “all you can eat,” so it’s not completely unheard of, but I’d say without specific notification that it was NOT all you can eat, it would be safe to assume that it IS. ---
**Author:** ![Fionn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Fionn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fionn)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2004, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-buffets-automatically-be-considered-all-you-can-eat-situations/241809/7 "2004-04-24T16:37:20Z")
The only instances where I can think of restrictions on a buffet line were places that offered carryout as well as the buffet line and menu choices. One place explicitly stated that the takeout box must be able to close, and another that you couldn’t take more than a certain number of barbecue skewers to go. It seemed to me like the manager just asked the guy to back off the roast beef. It seems reasonable that the restaurant would have planned the buffet with the assumption that people would spread out their selections, and would intervene politely if one customer’s choices would create a lot of ticked-off people. [Simpsons] Sir, don’t take the steam tray! [/Simpsons] ---
**Author:** ![BiblioCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ed8c4c/32.png) [@BiblioCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BiblioCat)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2004, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-buffets-automatically-be-considered-all-you-can-eat-situations/241809/8 "2004-04-24T16:58:52Z")
With a name like Chuck-A-Rama, I’d certainly expect it to be an All-You-Can-Eat type of place. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2004, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-buffets-automatically-be-considered-all-you-can-eat-situations/241809/9 "2004-04-24T17:14:10Z")
> [@Brynda](#): > > I have to agree with **Abbie Carmichael’s** “cheapskate” comment. The manager knew he was losing money on them and didn’t like it. Can’t blame him for not liking it, but if it didn’t state a limit, he was in the wrong to stop them. I find it hard to believe the restaurant was losing money on them. I don’t eat meat so I’m not up on current cow prices, but how much would one have to eat before $9 became a losing proposition? ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2004, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-buffets-automatically-be-considered-all-you-can-eat-situations/241809/10 "2004-04-24T17:17:21Z")
These people sound like they were being pigs, though. Even if the restaurant wasn’t in the red from all that roast beef, I think the claim that they were preventing everybody else from having any is valid. Note that the article says it was _his_ twelfth slice, we don’t know how many the wife had. ---
**Author:** ![waterj2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/858c86/32.png) [@waterj2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/waterj2)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2004, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-buffets-automatically-be-considered-all-you-can-eat-situations/241809/11 "2004-04-24T17:24:45Z")
I’m just amused that the couple was on a low-carb diet. If you eat at a buffet twice a week, at a place called Chuck-A-Rama, and can toss back more roast beef than they’ll allow, maybe your problem isn’t the carbs. ---
**Author:** ![ParentalAdvisory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/53a042/32.png) [@ParentalAdvisory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParentalAdvisory)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2004, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-buffets-automatically-be-considered-all-you-can-eat-situations/241809/12 "2004-04-24T17:25:28Z")
If it’s known that it’s _not_ all you can eat, I think it’s reasonable to figure that it’s all you can fit on your plate. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Abbie\_Carmichael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/49beb7/32.png) [@Abbie\_Carmichael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Abbie_Carmichael)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2004, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-buffets-automatically-be-considered-all-you-can-eat-situations/241809/13 "2004-04-24T17:27:55Z")
How is eating 12 pieces of roast beef any more “piggish” than filling your plate 3 times with corn, mashed potatoes, green beans, cornbread, fried chicken, okra, and baked beans, and THEN helping yourself to the dessert section and taking a piece of chocolate cake, lemon pie, 2 sugar cookies and making a small ice cream sundae? ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2004, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-buffets-automatically-be-considered-all-you-can-eat-situations/241809/14 "2004-04-24T17:42:31Z")
It’s not. You rarely hear people who overeat like that say that they’re on a corn, mashed potatoes, green beans, cornbread, fried chicken, okra, baked beans, chocolate cake, lemon pie, sugar cookie and ice cream sundae diet, though. Making several trips to a buffet table isn’t reasonable for anyone who claims to be dieting. Doesn’t matter if you’re sticking to proteins or cramming down buckets of yoghurt, wheat germ, and watercress. Selective gluttony is still gluttony. ---
**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:** [April 24, 2004, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-buffets-automatically-be-considered-all-you-can-eat-situations/241809/15 "2004-04-24T17:51:47Z")
I’ve seen salad bars where you’re only allowed one or two trips, and I’ve seen buffets where they specifically ask you to take a variety of food rather than filling up on one item. Never seen a buffet that wasn’t AYCE, though. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2004, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-buffets-automatically-be-considered-all-you-can-eat-situations/241809/16 "2004-04-24T18:21:49Z")
**Abbie Carmichael** , I read your post as a response to **waterj2** , and rereading the thread I see you were more likely responding to **Marley23**. Sorry! Still, I think it’s pretty clear that if two patrons put enough of a dent in the roast beef that the buffet managers can’t get more to the table before other people are obliged to go without, that’s the very definition of piggery. _12 slices?_ Come on, that’s nuts. ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2004, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-buffets-automatically-be-considered-all-you-can-eat-situations/241809/17 "2004-04-24T18:55:04Z")
> [@Abbie Carmichael](#): > > How is eating 12 pieces of roast beef any more “piggish” than filling your plate 3 times with corn, mashed potatoes, green beans, cornbread, fried chicken, okra, and baked beans, and THEN helping yourself to the dessert section and taking a piece of chocolate cake, lemon pie, 2 sugar cookies and making a small ice cream sundae? I personally believe that both are piggish. But I don’t have a problem with being piggish when I go to all-you-can-eat places. I actually feel disappointed when I leave without going through at least two plates because it means I didn’t get my money’s worth. If you aren’t being slightly piggish, then what’s the damn point? It’s not the quality of the food that’s appealing at those places. It’s the quantity. It occurs to me that manager was just tired of serving this one guy. Maybe if the roast beef was self-serve, then the manager wouldn’t have really cared. ---
**Author:** ![Improbability](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/cc9497/32.png) [@Improbability](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Improbability)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2004, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-buffets-automatically-be-considered-all-you-can-eat-situations/241809/18 "2004-04-24T19:09:03Z")
> [@](#): > > I’m just amused that the couple was on a low-carb diet. If you eat at a buffet twice a week, at a place called Chuck-A-Rama, and can toss back more roast beef than they’ll allow, maybe your problem isn’t the carbs. HA! Good point there. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2004, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-buffets-automatically-be-considered-all-you-can-eat-situations/241809/19 "2004-04-24T19:09:45Z")
> [@Abbie Carmichael](#): > > I think the restaurant is lying. > > I’ve _never_ seen a buffet that wasn’t AYCE. And if this place _ISNT_ AYCE, what steps have they taken to notify their patrons? Do they tell their customers how many trips they’re “allowed” to the buffet and what they can and can’t fill their plates with? > > Cheapskates! It’s pretty easy to determine if your buffet is AYCE: if you pay for it before you get your food, it’s almost certain to be AYCE. If you pay for it after you get your food, with a cashier ringing up each item separately, it’s not. [Morrison Cafeteria](http://www.morrisonrestaurants.com/) and Picadilly Cafeteria are the two biggest cafeteria chains that I remember, though Morrison’s bought out Picadilly a few years ago. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2004, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-buffets-automatically-be-considered-all-you-can-eat-situations/241809/20 "2004-04-24T19:13:22Z")
Looking through the website, it seems that they’ve converted at least some of their restaurants to an AYCE format, though the last time I went (1998, 99, somewhere in Atlanta) it wasn’t that way. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-buffets-automatically-be-considered-all-you-can-eat-situations/241809.md?page=2)