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American buffets - We used to go to one about monthly or semi-monthly as a kid. Imagine tons of old people, my parents understating our age by a couple of years, and rows upon rows of little pieces of cake, salad vegetables, meats, and grains, with a guy in a hat like Chef Boyardee cutting your choice of prime rib or ham. They were my favorite dining out experience as a kid! Not to mention the pop machines...us kids used to have a delightful time mixing up soft drinks like they were cocktails!
I've been to many since then, (largely at a single casino, for free), and I have found them all pretty much underwhelming, to say the least.
Chinese buffets - Lots of good memories of these. My uncle would come up the hill every Sunday one fall, watch a Vikings game, play football out in the yard with us, and then ride to a small local faux-Chinese buffet. They had an attractive Muzak playing in the background (I once heard "Where Do You Go?" playing, the original version by La Bouche). I first tried tofu there, which I found surprisingly unrepulsive (remember, I was 12 at this time!), and it was a good gustatory experience for a lover of rice and "Chinese donuts".
Then we began going to one "across the bridge" in Superior, Wisconsin, which I found yuck.
Indian buffets - Now here's some miraculous buffet food! The standard dishes recognized as "Indian" food in the U.S. take very well to the steam table, kheer and burfi make such good desserts. I first had it with my uncle and father for my 18th birthday, and went like every week or two until my father died.
No one beats the one in Winnipeg I visited with my friend, though. It was the largest Indian buffet in Canada, or so they said, but they had ample proof of it....dozens of curries, sweets, pickles, everything. Unfortunately, their bread cost extra.
Pizza buffets - If you see this sign, run! At least in my experience do. While a pizza custom-ordered may be very palatable from one establishment, the pizza and pasta in the lunch buffet there is on par with a bad reheated pie or noodles. At least that was my one or two experiences with such joints.
Thai buffets - Underwhelming and generally Chinese American-like.
We have a huge Indian population in the Bay Area so we have an abundance of Indian food buffets that range in price from about $10-$15. Some of them are better than others with varying degrees of heat.
We have a huge Indian population in the Bay Area so we have an abundance of Indian food buffets that range in price from about $10-$15. Some of them are better than others with varying degrees of heat.
Same here and Asian buffets.
I've never been to a buffet though. I have to try it one day. I've been to a brunch on Sundays when my grandparents were alive. Those were tasty. Have to try a buffet one day!
Here in upstate SC.. We have a couple of MASSIVE chinese buffets.. They've taken over the old Ryan's that have closed down and they generally have 6 or 7 tables of food.. Everything from ribs to standard chinese fare, to pizza to having sushi and a hibachi.. Food is on the low end quality-wise.. But.. There's plenty of it!
Ryan's is also still in operation, but.. They're few and far between.. They are headquartered here.. In fact, I used to work for a subcontractor of theirs.. Person I work for now was over their POS department before Buffets, inc bought them. Then moved the HQ to Minnesota or somewhere like that.. Then moved it back here. I haven't been to Ryan's in years.. Quality really has degraded there.
You have a handful of the pizza buffets.. Most are fairly average.
I try to avoid AYCE.. I just can't contain myself at them and always overeat by alot.
Lots of Chinese buffets around here. Two of them are HUGE, and as the above poster mentioned, have rather mediocre (it's all decent, but none of it is "good") food that ranges from Chinese-American to American. There's one Chinese buffet that my husband and I love to go to...it's been here for years and is much smaller, but the food is way way better.
There is also a Southern buffet at this place called The Bread of Heaven. It's ran by a church and is sooo good. There's all kinds of soul food...fried chicken, BBQ chicken, meatloaf, baked mac and cheese, mashed potatoes, rice, meatballs in brown gravy, banana pudding, cobblers...oh my heavens, can you tell I love it there?
Oh.. One other place that deserves mention.. This is.. Really only a place that locals would know.. It's in a tiny little town (my hometown) in SC called Abbeville... Yoder's Dutch Kitchen..
Mennonites run the place.. Best buffet you'll ever eat.
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