Are You Willing to Brave a Buffet, or Do You Prefer a Sit-Down Restaurant?

Hey Everyone,

This thread was inspired by @Cameron143 in another discussion, so I want to credit him with the idea!

I'm not sure if it works differently in other countries, but here in the USA, we have buffet restaurants in which multiple pans of different pre-cooked foods are set out under heating lamps, and, after paying one set price, people can help themselves to whatever and however much they want.

In a regular "sit-down" restaurant, a waitstaff member takes your order, which is then cooked after the order is placed, and you pay for whatever food you ordered with no refills.

I like buffets for the freedom and variety, but I have friends and family who prefer a sit-down restaurant because: 1. they can't eat enough to justify the generally higher buffet price, 2. they don't like that the food is pre-cooked and just sitting there, and/or 3. they see buffets as being unhealthy and full of germs (so many people passing by, unsanitary handling of serving utensils, etc.)

How about all of you?

Do you prefer --


A. An All-You-Can-Eat-Buffet:









OR,

B. A Sit-Down, Food-Is-Cooked-After-You-Order It Restaurant?







Which places and types of cuisine are your favorites?

Difficult...there are so many places I like to eat
I'm the oddball (again) as I have my own favorite eateries (all, or mostly all, are mom & pop eateries).

It depends on where I am and what eateries there are in that location. In my current location there are 3 mom & pop eateries that I like. All sit-down eateries: cafe, a Mexican eatery, and a steakhouse. The steakhouse is well loved by the locals and has been open since well before I was born. My bestie and I meet there for lunch about once a month and just made plans last night to meet there next week.
I actually prefer the cafe a bit more though and I sometimes eat there by myself when I'm downtown doing errands.
However, the Mexican eatery probably gets more of my business and my favorite waitress is there. Also, they are the only one of these 3 that serve beer and sometimes I like an ice cold Modelo with my chori pollo after a hot afternoon of running errands.

I used to live near a Mongolian Grill. It was a buffet and I would eat there at least every other week, plus the times I'd meet up with a friend there. I miss that place.

If I'm in Tulsa, I'm definitely going to Ponchos Tex-Mex cafeteria style eatery. They are the only place I've ran into so far that actually knows how to make a sopapilla properly.

If I'm in Georgia in ATL, there are a few places I really like. El Agave, a sit-down Mexican eatery in McDonough. Hudson's, a sit-down bbq eatery in Douglasville (I love their fried green beans and junkyard dawg). BJ's, a buffet in Conyers. Marietta Fish Market, a sit-down eatery in Marietta. Speedi-Pig, a sit-down bbq eatery in Fayetteville. And more.

If I could be teleported at this moment to any place of my choosing that I've mentioned I'd probably choose Hudson's Hickory House BBQ in Georgia, which is a sit down eatery. However, I'll be going to a different eatery next time I'm in ATL. I currently have plans/a date for lunch at Monterey's in Douglasville, GA in a little over 3 weeks. It's a smashing sit-down Mexican eatery and I'm looking forward to being there! But, I like buffets also, Mongolian Grill in particular.

In the end, sit-down eateries edge a bit above buffets for me...as long as it's a mom & pop eatery.

Years ago, I preferred "all you can eat" buffets. I can't eat like that anymore just because...

I prefer a good sit down restaurant. I have a few favorites where my older kids live.
Mexican food, Sandwiches, Bison burgers, etc...

😀

I'm sure the buffets all breathed a collective sigh of relief when you decided to "retire" from them, because you could easily wipe them out in one sitting!

And yet, Mr. Rodney remains slim and trim.

Le sigh.

Life just isn't fair!!

Oh, I'm not slim and trim... lol...

Just well seasoned!

I love bison burgers. They are the best. I used to go to a local slaughterhouse and buy ground bison to use for bison burgers (I also like to make bison meatloaf).

Well, these days, I prefer a Sit-Down Restaurant: I expend less energy that way!!

Eh. Restaurants were closed. Some went out of business. But buffets and all else have returned in the meantime...

My new favourite place to grocery shop is Safeway for their self-serve hot bar.

It is pay by weight so best not to buy the really heavy stuff like mac 'n' cheese.

Otherwise, a fully prepared meal with veggies and everything you choose can be under $10.00.

A made to order sandwich is over $7.00, so a full-blown meal for between 8-10 is good in these days of crazy inflation.

I don't particularly like to prep and cook food so this works for me now while I can afford it working
and collecting my pension also, though I do still cook pasta and add my sauce mixes with broccoli...

@CarriePie : Thank you, sister!

Pre-COVID, I used to eat at lunch buffets very regularly. During COVID, I avoided those places until I started to go there again but use the take away option. Nowadays, the take away thing has just become a convenient habit, so more often than not, I still use it rather than eat in the lunch buffet restaurant. I've become quite an expert in really stacking food effectively into the take away box.

I love buffets. The secret to buffets, and cafeterias, is to order or eat food you don't regularly serve at home because they are hard to prepare, are expensive, or no one else likes.
When you have a big family, most dinners are buffets. Invariably, someone doesn't like this and someone else doesn't like that. Most meals at my house have multiple meats, and a host of sides. We simply choose a cuisine and make every dish we know.

I used to avoid Capers/WholeFoods because their hot bar was too delicious, and a small box of food from there
can be close to $20.00 for only one meal with a little bit left over! The hot bar I now frequent has many items to
choose from, my faves being cod squares or halibut fillets, various flavoured wings, chicken tenders, cooked carrots,
sometimes scalloped potatoes, or some type of pasta meat and cheese with veggies dish, and almost always slightly
spiced potato wedges. Yesterday I bought onion rings also but they often go soggy. I am going to heat them
up now with the chicken tenders I bought and leave them uncovered in the oven so they can crisp up a bit ..
Sometimes I will get a made-to-order sandwich on my way to work and that is good for two of my work brunches .
They used to be $5.99 but have gone up to $7.49, which is still a fairly economic lunch/brunch!

We lived on the staples... meat, potatoes, and vegetables .

Bread was on the table if you wanted more to eat, used to sop up any lingering gravy...

And there was always dessert, even though my mom was celiac and could not eat most of it.

We went through over twenty loaves of bread a week. My mother had to special order her rice flour from the pharmacy!

My favorite buffet is Golden Corral but unfortunately there isn't on in this small town that I am now living in. I enjoy both buffets and sit-down restaurants.

Is it just me, or is there a rather large percentage of sushi in those buffet pictures?

Is this thread aimed at somebody in particular? I can't imagine those would be the first results when you search for "buffet pictures."

This is a time when the forum could really use an "I Have No Idea What You're Talking About" reaction emoji.

But to be completely honest, no, when I typed in "buffet pictures" and expanded it to an images search, all those pictures I used were on the front page -- and near the top.

I miss Golden Corral. We used to have one here, but it left town. I hear the employees weren't even warned. Now we only have 1 buffet in town, it's a Chinese buffet with a massive chandelier. It's a good buffet, but if you go there alone (like I do) and you leave your booth for a wee bit too long, someone starts clearing your table for the next patron lol.

That's one thing I have learned. At a buffet always pee before you sit down and start eating.