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I have two in my neighborhood. I take out some chicken or make a salad very often and used them as a base for other meals. The cheaper one at 5.99/lb. is pretty good, but the 6.99/lb. one is excellent. Especially the mac and cheese. I spend about $10 a week on them.
sheesh, been buying prepared food by the pound forEVER at my local grocery store, they have a "cold" salad bar with over 30 items and 2 soups.... and then a hot food bar with six choices of meat or seafood meals, 6 or 7 side dishes.... doesn't most of America have grocery stores that offer this??? If not, talk to your local deli department in your supermarket and suggest it... FIRMLY!!!
sheesh, been buying prepared food by the pound forEVER at my local grocery store, they have a "cold" salad bar with over 30 items and 2 soups.... and then a hot food bar with six choices of meat or seafood meals, 6 or 7 side dishes.... doesn't most of America have grocery stores that offer this??? If not, talk to your local deli department in your supermarket and suggest it... FIRMLY!!!
If I've read the OP correctly, the point was that this isn't a grocery story, and you aren't buying the food to take home. It's a restaurant where you consume the food on premises like a regular restaurant, but you don't order off a menu, you select from a price per pound buffet/food bar as opposed to an all you can eat buffet.
So your answer don't negate the OP's question, it actually confirms it, which is that no, that type of model for a *restaurant* isn't a common thing in the US because a take out salad/food bar at a supermarket or deli isn't what she was asking about.
I've seen it as a takeout option at all you can eat buffets. I'm not a fan of the concept. I don't want to pay the same (or more) for a container of noodles than my companion pays for a container of shelled shrimp or beef.
I have not seen it here, although I do not go to buffets much. I would welcome it, because I don’t eat very much, but I still pay the same as the gluttons who bogart all the crab legs and shrimp.
You won't see them [all-you-can-eat buffets] in areas that are gentrifying. Rents rise and a Golden Corral will go out of business and you'll see 6 individual storefronts take its place, with much higher margins to support the extortionate rent in the growing area. <snip>
Golden Corral / Chinese buffets will flourish around burned-out old mill towns and truck stop exits that are practically giving away units for someone to keep them up.
Interesting observation; I see a lot of them in places like Myrtle Beach, where my parents used to live. I think they're popular with families, who probably make it their main meal of the day, and people who like crab legs (haven't encountered the term "bogart" since the 70s!)
I live near Overland Park, KS now, definitely not a burned-out old mill town, and one decent buffet (Cinzetti's) seems to be thriving, as well as some Chinese and Indian buffets. A couple of the Indian buffets are excellent.
If I've read the OP correctly, the point was that this isn't a grocery story, and you aren't buying the food to take home. It's a restaurant where you consume the food on premises like a regular restaurant, but you don't order off a menu, you select from a price per pound buffet/food bar as opposed to an all you can eat buffet.
The grocery stores around here all have areas to sit and eat. I see plenty of people eating at Whole Foods everytime I stop by, even if it's not at meal time. Since there are grocery stores conveniently located all over, where people can get "buffet food" by the pound, I don't see there being a huge market for even more places.
Of course in urban areas, where there isn't a large grocery store on every block... I can see these being more popular.
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