clarkef

Buffets have certain advantages, high quality is generally not one of them.

• Buffets can be very quick. One reason why so many airport hotels have buffets is because the time saved is appreciated when you have a plane to catch
• They're social. If you have a group of people, you can easily mix and mingle because others are going to and from the buffet. If you have a sit down meal, as a practical matter, you can only chat with the people seated immediately next to you. We used to host bible study at a buffet for that reason
• Variety (pt1). There is almost always something for everyone at a buffet. Perhaps not the best thing you've ever eaten, but everyone should be able to find something that they can eat.
• Variety (pt2) - I can try different things that I honestly might not be willing to try if it meant that was my entire meal. Much of the Indian food I eat, I first tried at a buffet. Then if it seemed good, I later tried it at a better venue,

soy

If the buffet goes it will not be replaced by freshly cooked meals. They will use the health and safety excuse to cut costs and the best you can hope for is a grab and go bag....the contents of which will also eventually be enhanced to low grade industrial pre-packed food

radonc1

The one thing that you left out is that buffets allow the restaurant to staff it with far fewer waiters and busboys, thereby controlling costs to the provider.

While many may not think that is important, if it is you that is footing the bill rather than your employer, paying 20-30% more for the same meal (or having it charged by the hotel that supplies it as part of the overnight charge) may be important to the personal traveler.

It never ceases to amaze me when I am booked by the consulting TA into a Courtyard where I will have to pay $15 for a bowel of cereal, banana, bread and juice (presumed safe by many above) while next door at the Fairfield, I can get the same thing as part of the room charge without a surcharge for the meal (and no difference in room price). However, we now presume that the Fairfield's offering is unsafe because I get to serve myself.

With that being said, I do think that buffets are on the endangered species list, but not for the reasons stated above. It has to do with liability. No hotel is going to risk a suit if someone comes down with Covid-19 and passes away from it. It is easy to show that you are washing down the place every hour, but hard to prove that you keep infected people out of the buffet line.

econ

Perhaps in the interim, but at some point presumably the demand for a semblance of decent food will return.

Like many other things, it may start with a few restaurants/lounges starting to offer them again, and the rest eventually realizing that not following will put them at a competitive disadvantage.

steveholt

I'm sorry, but the idea that a la carte orders produce more food waste than buffets is absurd on its face.

DELee

Well there are two food waste streams - raw ingredients that spoil/age out/not used vs. produced/cooked food not consumed.

Likely, for restaurant kitchens principally involved in la carte orders, food is ordered per planned menu but not all of it is produced/cooked depending on the clientele. If folks didn't order the sea bream and it spoils, it gets tossed.

For buffets, there's most likely a fixed rotation and fairly constant volume of raw material ordered and food produced/cooked. Here the waste is what didn't get eaten/consumed.

Either can get it wrong. If the buffet lines are overproducing, there's gonna be a lot of uneaten waste. If the a la carte menus are wrong, a lot of raw materials are gonna get tossed.

David

Offshore171

I worked in hospitality in my college days, and if you knew what happened in buffets, you'd definitely think twice. I've seen bandaids floating in buffet trays more than once, and I've also seen people taste soups and casseroles directly from the shared serving ladle before dropping it back in the pot (always senior citizens pulling this one).

I think buffets will either have to be totally revamped; and even removed entirely in high risk environments like cruise ships.

The shared utensils are a big part of the problem, as is the unsafe food handling practices from a large random audience.

In the kitchen, you have a much smaller pool of people, all of whom *should* be trained and accredited in safe food handling practices. If not already, this will become mandatory in future in many jurisdictions.

mtofell

The part of the argument about buffets being more/less sanitary in the current context is absurd. Aren't they all CLOSED because they are less sanitary??????

I worked food service for 15 years including many buffets and I'll offer the following opinions:

Food quality? Absolutely lower in the buffet for the same consumer dollars spent - made even worse as it sits for hours
Waste? Absolutely more with a buffet. "your eyes are bigger than your stomach", etc. Also, circling back to quality.... a lot of the food may look good but when tasted is terrible so it goes uneaten. Also, people are a lot more likely to try something new if it's essentially free.... often times they don't like it so in the garbage it goes. Also, buffets typically don't allow "doggie bags" so uneaten food just goes in the trash.
Cleanliness? See above - they are closed for a reason. People bringing used plates to "refill", people sampling, touching serving utensils.... throwing the handle of the serving spoon in the food! Yes, humans are gross.... take us out of the equation as much as possible.
Safety? Two words.... foodborne illness. Health departments HATE buffets and would be ecstatic is they went away.

And aside from all these reasons, as others have mentioned, buffets bring out the worst in us - our inability to control ourselves. Overeating and fueling obesity (and all the related problems) is never more apparent than at buffets. I spend a fair amount of time in Las Vegas for conferences and leisure every year (or, at least I used to) and am always drawn to the demographic of the people in the hours long lines to get into the buffets. Let's just say they are't the folks qualifying for the best rates on the life insurance chart. Is this cruel and am I "buffet shaming" - I suppose so. Why is it in society today if someone attaches the word "shaming" to anything it's supposed to be bad? Is my doctor "shaming" me when he tells me to stop going to buffets because I'm too fat?

YOUR_FAVORITE_AUDITOR

Which is a terrific time to the western world to be introduced to ekiben, or bento boxes specifically designed for travel. There's a great article about them here: BBC - Travel - Japan?s special take on a packed lunch


Photo Credit: BBC - Travel - Japan?s special take on a packed lunch


While I'm sure that low end hotels will do whatever they can to drive costs down, the term "grab and go bag" doesn't have to be the oxymoron that everyone treats it as. It's entirely possible to do delicious food while on the go. in the long run we may even see a general improvement in the quality of fast food in the US.

RustyC

In some places in Las Vegas you've always seen things like carving stations (as a way to ration) and dessert stations with single-portion servings, like a pie slice on a dish.

Certain practices may be endangered, but where there's a will I think there will be a way.

Common serving spoons may have to go. Chocolate fountains are a favorite with kids, who don't always follow the protocols, as you might expect (neither do adults, who might think things like "What if I chocolate coat this slice of carrot cake?). Those will probably have to go.

I can guarantee you, though, that a place like Golden Corral won't disappear without a fight.

RustyC

Or we'll get a vaccine, buffets will return slowly but use the safety concerns as cover to raise prices, and people will be back to old ways, largely, in 2-3 years.

For a great example of how that works, just look at cruise lines in general. The Covid ships were hardly the first cases of an outbreak spreading rapidly on a ship, and you've also had the poop-ships. But customers have had short memories, and that industry is counting on that again.

azepine00

I have never been to Golden corral but I had countless buffet breakfasts all over Asia and enjoyed most of them. SARS was far more deadly in the area than covid and yet buffets are as popular as ever.
Many posters seem to blame poor quality of food delivered at most US properties as well as questionable handling on buffets and that's a rather naive view.. places that serve awful buffets will serve equally awful alacarte items handled in unsanitary way... it is expected when you pay ppl minimum wage with no benefits and employees have to choose between showing to work sick and not earning paycheck..

clarkef

I have not found hotel breakfast buffets, especially at nicer hotels, to be noticeably cheaper than ordering off the breakfast menu, especially if the buffet does not include coffee, tea or juice.

geminidreams

I really do not understand your point. If someone coughs during an a la carte service do you think they will not fluoresce if they traced the droplets? When people are in close proximity there will be transfers, you just never gave it much thought. Unless you wear a hazmat suit everywhere just resign yourself to needing herd immunity.

swag

Covid-19 is a respiratory virus. There's no evidence that you can catch it from eating contaminated food.

The danger, if any, might come from the serving utensils, which would seem to have about the same risk as the door handle you touch when entering and leaving the lounge. We're already accustomed to using a new clean plate for each trip back to the buffet. It wouldn't be that big a leap to switch to new clean serving tongs/spoons. You take one from a container, serve yourself, and drop it into the used box.