tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-154006312012-02-01T16:41:28.461-05:00There is an art to eating at an all you can eat restaurant. There are Do's and Don'ts that you need to know to get the most out of this dining experience. The rules will be presented as we go along as well as review some of the good and not so good buffet restaurants around the US. Readers please comment and add your own opinions of restaurants discussed or those that you have dined at. Read this site from the start - go to the beginning and read forward for a complete experience.Writernoreply@blogger.comBlogger3601100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15400631.post-29333929590664954632012-01-27T22:30:00.007-05:002012-01-27T22:30:01.321-05:00

On Wednesday, January 18, 2012, Buffets, Inc. the parent corporation of Old Country Buffet, Ryans, Hometown Buffet, Fire Mountain,Grannie's Buffet, and Tahoe Joe's voluntarily filed for bankruptcy under Chapter 11 in the Federal Bankruptcy Court in Delaware. This is the second bankruptcy filed by this corporation in four years - the first in 2008. They stated that their intention was a

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A new Asian buffet has opened on Long Island, New York. It opened in mid-December with great anticipation. I watched for months the location be transformed from a large, empty storefront that years ago was once a chain drugstore to a new buffet restaurant. The location is actually directly across the way from the Old Country Buffet. Each time we passed we wondered when it would open. Just about

Writernoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15400631.post-25411673453629007622012-01-13T22:36:00.003-05:002012-01-13T22:36:00.452-05:00

I was not sure that I was going to write this article or not, but apparently, Best Buffet, a Chinese buffet in Huntington, New York has a lot of fans who read this site, there have been a lot of comments about Best Buffet on a recent article that has nothing to do with this restaurant. Last year in 2010, we went to Best Buffet for a special Christmas dinner. I wrote an article then about how good

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I have not been to a Ryan's Buffet since Buffets, Inc. took them over a few years ago. Buffets, Inc. is the parent corporation and owners of Old Country Buffet. Ryan's are not anywhere near my area and I only get to go to them when I am traveling - and traveling at a distance. While traveling in early December I had an opportunity to have dinner at a Ryan's in Virginia, and on the return trip,

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I have thought long and hard about the choice for the best buffet for 2011. I have been to several really good buffets for the first time this year. I always think when I walk into a new buffet, perhaps this will be the one to top them all. As those of you know who have been reading this site for several years, the choice of best buffet has gone year after year to Shady Maple Smorgasbord in East

Writernoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15400631.post-89835182255350272172011-12-23T22:29:00.001-05:002011-12-23T22:29:00.077-05:00

Believe it or not, I have been eating at Old Country Buffet a lot lately. No, I have not been going to what I and others have called the "worst OCB in the Country" which is the nearest location to me but we have been traveling the twenty or so miles out to their other location in our area - the one with the "good" manager. Actually, we have been going at least once a week and some weeks more. It

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We were near the Philadelphia area and decided to have dinner at the Golden Corral in Bensalem,Pennsylvania. It was a Wednesday night and it was at the beginning of November. When we arrived at the restaurant it was not overly crowded but there were a good number of people there for dinner.I have written about this particular Golden Corral in the past. It is a fair location - not the best Golden

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I have not been to the Hershey Farm Restaurant, another buffet in Lancaster County, in over three years. I wrote then about why I had not been there on that occasion since 1995, and the reason is has been the same since then - the price - and the price now is even higher than it had been then. I am not going to repeat what I had written before - though a great deal has changed, but if you would

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This is a buffet that is new to me. It has apparently been around for quite some time but because it is a bit outside of the usual Lancaster County area, and it does not advertise, I have not come across it before in my fifty years of visiting this county.Unique to the Pennsylvania seems to be restaurants located within, and associated with supermarkets. We have talked about several of these on

Writernoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15400631.post-75883936190601793862011-11-25T22:39:00.002-05:002011-11-25T22:39:00.093-05:00

IKEA is an international chain of home furniture stores. They are located across the United States. They are known for their "knock-down" furniture - furniture that you build yourself. Each store has a restaurant and while these restaurants are not buffets, they do have at different times of the year one night dinners that are All You Can Eat. One of those dinners will take place in two weeks and

Writernoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15400631.post-39273546814943978552011-11-18T22:35:00.003-05:002011-11-18T22:35:00.358-05:00

Thanksgiving dinner is a sumptuous feast and some of the most sumtuous feasts that I know of are at buffets. Not everyone wants to cook a large meal and not everyone has family enough to invite for a meal that consists of a groaning board loaded with the makings of a traditional Thanksgiving meal. Singles and those without family at all don't have to eat alone. Of course, there are many menu

Writernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15400631.post-55208011021302450062011-11-11T22:37:00.003-05:002011-11-11T22:37:00.083-05:00

Just when I thought that the made to order sauteed seafood at Golden Corral was one of the worst ideas that they could come up with, they follow this with a new dessert feature - Chocolate Wonderfall.The Chocolate Wonderfall is a chocolate dipping area complete with a tiered fountain that pours down melted chocolate. With this you dip fresh fruit wedges, cookies, pretzels, macaroons, ricekrispy

Writernoreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15400631.post-34624650190226315632011-11-04T22:35:00.001-04:002012-01-04T23:44:36.328-05:00

Since I just wrote about rules for those that work at buffets, it is time that we brought out our list of rules for those who dine at buffets. This list started with this site and has been added to over the years - here is the currently, complete list of Rules of the Buffet:RULES OF THE BUFFET1. All you can eat is not a challenge. It is an offer!2. There is no limit to the number of times that

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We have looked at buffets from the start of this site primarily from the view point of the people who dine at them. I want to turn that attention now toward the people who manage them and work at them. After a few collective not so great experiences, I feel that it is time for a set of rules for those who serve the public at a buffet. It seems odd to me that such a list is necessary, as these

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I wish that I was saving the best for the last of the restaurants that I recently dined at during my trip to Williamsburg, Virginia, but my trip to the Peking Restaurant - the Asian Buffet that this site named as the best in 2007 - was a bit disappointing. I have been there since that article was written, but there have been some changes - and sometimes change is not good.Let me tell you a little

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Wasabi Oriental Buffet was a pleasant find in Williamsburg, Virginia. Our trip to Williamsburg, Virginia included a buffet meal every night with the idea of bringing our readers some new buffets to visit in their travels. Three of those meals were at Asian buffets. We almost did not eat at this one. In fact, the first night that we went to eat there the parking lot to the right side of the

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In my last article I wrote about a very disappointing return to a seafood buffet. In this article I want to tell you about an excellent return to Captain George's Seafood Buffet. I can't believe that my last (and first) article on this buffet was in 2005, as I certainly have been there since, but it has been at least three years since my last visit. There has been a change to the decor, but the

Writernoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15400631.post-54341543794135331102011-09-30T17:30:00.006-04:002012-01-22T12:27:52.808-05:00

For many years until several years ago, the Williamsburg Lodge, a hotel owned and operated by Colonial Williamsburg in Williamsburg, Virginia served a spectacular seafood buffet in its restaurant on Friday and Saturday nights. I wrote about missing this buffet once it was gone way back in 2006. I was very excited to learn that this buffet was brought back to the Lodge this year on Friday nights.

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Last week I wrote the first part of this article about a dinner that we had in the Golden Corral located in Williamsburg, Virginia. This week this article continues Part 2 with the second night.We waited until Wednesday night to go back to the Golden Corral. It was still mid-August in the middle of tourist season and there were still thousands of tourists in the area. We just had to see if our

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On our trip in August we went to the Golden Corral in Williamsburg, Virginia. One of my readers commented that not all Golden Corral restaurants are the same - and that is very true. It is difficult to judge a large, national chain but one location or even a few. There is something different at each. Each takes on the personality of its management and its employees. Some things at chain

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I have been asked by readers over the years what buffet do the locals eat at in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. In this area, locals could mean just people who live in the area or the Amish and the Mennonites - the Pennsylvania Dutch that have made this area an attraction for people from all over the country to visit. I generally answer more in terms of where the Pennsylvania Dutch eat rather

Writernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15400631.post-75292340876786207792011-09-02T22:11:00.009-04:002011-09-07T19:16:02.497-04:00

Chinese buffets can be found almost everywhere. On a recent trip to Williamsburg, Virginia I had two buffets to try that I had never been to before. Both were Chinese/Asian buffets and I had found them on an internet search. While we were driving through the area we came upon a third - the Rainbow Buffet. This one had not come up on any of the advanced searches that I had made of the area. A sign

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I have liked the Virginia City Buffet in Bally's Wild, Wild West Casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey for a long time. The last several trips to Atlantic City I wanted to try other buffets and as I went along I have written about them on this site. I still like the Virginia City Buffet the best of all the casino buffets I have tried in Atlantic City. I has been almost three years since I have been

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It has been about two years since I last went to the Golden Buffet in the village of Centereach on Long Island in the state of New York. Chinese/Asian buffets on Long Island are becoming scarce. There are just a handful left. This one is a distance from me but we had nothing special to do on a Saturday night, had been shopping during the day near to this buffet and we decided to go back.When I

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I have written about many of the buffets in Lancaster, PA - perhaps, by now, just about all of them, but I have never written about Miller's Smorgasbord except a quick mention here or there. It is not that I have not been there or that I did like it. As a matter of fact, Millers Smorgasbord was the first buffet restaurant that I ever ate at and that was over fifty years ago. Yes, I said fifty. I

Writernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15400631.post-44726429600611929252011-08-05T18:17:00.007-04:002011-08-05T18:17:00.090-04:00

Continuing on our several days in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania we returned to a restaurant that we have not been to in several years. My last article was in 2006 but this 2005 restaurant review is much more on target with the whole experience. I have eaten here since then. One of the reasons that we have not eaten here more often was an increase in price that brought this buffet higher than

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It has been a couple of years since I was last at the Family Cupboard Restaurant in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. I have enjoyed this restaurant in the two locations that it has occupied and the food, the quality, and the service have remained consistent over many years. Looking back over my articles I find it hard to believe that I have not written about Family Cupboard since 2007. I know that I have

Writernoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15400631.post-42606655664165150282011-07-22T22:39:00.004-04:002011-07-22T22:39:00.641-04:00

Old Country Buffet rarely has featured menus any longer. They used to have them a lot but that stopped several years ago. They have just started a feature - "Shrimp - Five Ways!" Oh yes, I supposed to compete with Golden Corral's Pan Seared Seafood feature, OCB had brought back their worst feature selection - "shrimp, shrimp, shrimp".I like shrimp. I eat a lot of shrimp. But what is the big deal

Writernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15400631.post-80302248256118940622011-07-15T22:27:00.004-04:002011-07-15T22:27:00.271-04:00

I was near Philadelphia, PA on business and decided that I would go back to the Golden Corral in Bensalem, PA and look closely over the dessert selections so that I could tell the readers who were disappointed in my last Golden Corral article that I did not make a big deal about the dessert selections there all about what you will find at Golden Corral for dessert. I also was looking forward to

Writernoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15400631.post-1384413600850013902011-07-08T22:25:00.003-04:002011-07-08T22:25:00.269-04:00

I picked this up from the Old Country Buffet Facebook page and had experienced it myself. This took place the week leading up to Father's Day this year.I don't expect anything really special at OCB for holidays and they usually put out the usual Sunday menu which consists of turkey, ham, and roast beef carvings, two pasta dishes, and then all of the usual sides, desserts, etc. (if you don't know

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The Skylon Tower restaurant offers a buffet with probably one of the most magnificent views in the world. Let me tell you right now that I have not been to this buffet - I cannot review the quality or taste of the food. As I often do, I want to share with you an unusual buffet experience - even if I have not been able to dine there.I learned about this buffet from several people who have been to

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Old Country Buffet has a "fan" page on Facebook. This should not be a surprise as all of the buffet chains have Facebook pages and many independent buffets have Facebook pages. What is interesting about the Old Country Buffet page are the comments that get posted by those who are fans and those who are not such good fans.This is the only Facebook "fan" page that I have come across with a

Writernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15400631.post-90475873539309187842011-06-17T22:39:00.003-04:002011-06-17T22:39:00.449-04:00

Through observation I have found that many people at buffet restaurants do not leave a tip on their table when they leave. These are people that would not think twice about tipping the waitress at a menu restaurant, tipping a cab driver, or tipping the guy who wheels your suitcases up to your room at a hotel. For some reason they do not think that they should leave a tip at a buffet.Some buffets

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I have recently had readers ask me to be more descriptive of the dessert offerings at buffets. The problem is that desserts at many of the buffets are not much to write about. Now, that is not to say that there are some buffets with fabulous dessert offerings, but these are few and far between.I have been to many buffets and over the years I have written about a few buffets that offer a great

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Over the years I have been pretty hard on Old Country Buffet but the fact of the matter is that it is not the overall chain of Old Country Buffets that I have a problem with but just one location. Since this location is nearby to me, it is the one that I have visited the most and the one that I have come to call - "the worst Old Country Buffet in the country". It would take one extremely bad to

Writernoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15400631.post-53258820220803780292011-05-27T22:34:00.005-04:002011-05-27T22:34:00.235-04:00

I was recently in Pennsylvania. When I am there in the Lancaster area for the day, I find it hard to resist going back to Shady Maple - so that is where I usually wind up. But there is another great buffet nearby and this time, as I had been to Shady Maple on my last three trips, I decided that Yodors was due a visit. I have written about Yoders many times. Yoders is a restaurant/buffet located

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It has been a year and a half since I have been to Golden Corral. I love Golden Corral but there are none local. I recently had an opportunity to go to Golden Corral and to my good fortune I was able to try the new, limited time menu feature - Ribs. The Golden Corral that I visited is the location in Bensalem, Pennsylvania - the same Golden Corral that I had been to in September, 2010. At that

Writernoreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15400631.post-34601877697487354192011-05-13T22:29:00.000-04:002011-05-13T22:29:00.200-04:00

It was my birthday and I had to decide where I would have my "free" birthday buffet. There were several choices. I try when I am able to spend my birthday in Lancaster County, PA and of course, with that being the buffet capital there were some great buffets to choose from and a tough choice. I could have gone to The Family Cupboard, Yoders, or Shady Maple, to name a few. Each offers a free

Writernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15400631.post-53166385489602135532011-05-06T22:41:00.002-04:002011-05-06T22:41:00.311-04:00

This is one of the more bizarre things that I have observed at buffets and it has happened several times in the past few months at different buffets. People are taking the dishes out the door.I want to make a new buffet rule out of this but it is so absurd that it would be just to weird to include. People are actually taking plates of food with them when they leave in the plates. Now, this is

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In January I wrote about the Christmas Eve buffet at which I was a guest for dinner. I ended that review by saying that I could not recommend any buffet on any holiday at this restaurant. To recall, that article, the buffet dinners served at this menu restaurant on holidays in their catering building as special holiday dinners. This is not a buffet restaurant and the restaurant has been around

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I recently received this comment from a reader on an article that I wrote in 2008 about Ryan's buffets being closed by the parent company, Buffets, Inc. (Old Country Buffet). This is the recent comment in its entirety."They're at it again. On March 15 more stores are being closed Ryans in Gadsden, Al. and Ryans in Lancaster, SC were closed. Trying to find out if anymore were closed today. This is

Writernoreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15400631.post-41828279980159553802011-04-15T22:36:00.001-04:002011-04-15T22:36:00.940-04:00

Just when I thought that I might get a chance to try to the steak feature at Golden Corral, their feature menu has now changed to seafood. That is the way it is with featured menus - don't delay because a new one will be coming soon. But the important thing is that a new feature menu does come at Golden Corral. They are one of the last chains to vary their buffet with limited time features of

Writernoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15400631.post-38841408153343547112011-04-08T22:43:00.000-04:002011-04-08T22:43:00.537-04:00

We have the Rules of the Buffet on this site. All of the rules stem from common sense and just plain courtesy when dining out at a buffet. But - there are somethings that I have witnessed at buffet restaurants that just go beyond the rules - and to make a new rule would just make you wonder where did that come from.Lately, I saw some really over the top things at buffets - all having to do with

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It has not happened before that I have returned to a new to me buffet so soon after my first visit, but five days after I went to Southern Smokehouse in Linden New Jersey, I went back. After a long two part article about that first visit you may be tired of hearing about this buffet, but often a weeknight experience is very different than a weekend night at the restaurant and it is worth sticking

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I really should know better by now than to believe the emails that Old Country Buffet sends out. Tuesday before Ash Wednesday I received an email through the Old Country Buffet email "club" that this is now the "season for seafood" and that there would now be on Wednesdays and Fridays a seafood feature. The email showed a photograph of a platter of butterfly shrimp. These were large and really

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For the beginning of this article please see PART ONE that was featured last week.We finished our salads and headed up to the buffet servers for the main part of our meals. I walked around all of the servers to take in what was there. Now, remember that from the web site, what is featured at this buffet is southern barbecue and Chinese food. Interspersed with beans, black eyed peas and

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Our readers have directed me to many buffets over the years and one of our readers in New Jersey - Art - has sent me to several good ones. Recently Art emailed this site and told me about two buffets that he was about to try in New Jersey. He had not been to either yet but he had heard some good things. One of those is Southern Smokehouse in Linden, New Jersey. Art's timing could not be better

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Back in September I wrote at two part article on the Festival Buffet located at the Foxwoods Casino Resort in Mashantucket, Connecticut. Since then I have been thinking a lot about this buffet. I have been thinking when are we going back and looking for a reason to take the almost four hour drive just for dinner. The occasion recently presented itself - a museum exhibition in Connecticut that

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As many of you know, I have been to many, many buffets. I have come across some greats and some not so greats - and one of the most important things that I have told you is that the manager can make or break a restaurant - particularly a buffet. At a buffet the public interacts with the staff, the facility, and the manager more than in a sit down restaurant. In many restaurants, unless there is

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This is so odd that I felt that it should have its own article. I have written several times on this site about a salad buffet chain named "Souper! Salad!". I was doing a search for their website (sure, I should have just come to my site and clicked on the link at the side of the page) when my search engine came up with "Souper Salad - Boston". Hmm? Could it be that this chain has made its way

Writernoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15400631.post-47703624112946553772011-02-11T22:48:00.000-05:002011-02-11T22:48:00.220-05:00

The latest special menu feature to come to Golden Corral is the Beef Lover's Celebration. And, of course, what else would this entail but lots of wonderful beef dishes.Golden Corral still has special features to add to their buffet through out the year. Old Country Buffet and Ryan's no longer do. Golden Corral knows how to vary their buffet offerings and bring customers back who have not visited

Writernoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15400631.post-3239935226603247282011-02-04T22:25:00.004-05:002011-02-04T22:25:00.093-05:00

"Mommy, I want plain spaghetti!" That is something often heard from children at buffets and at most "American" food buffets that is certainly something that can be easily complied with - unless you go to Old Country Buffet.Several months ago, OCB changed much of its menu offerings. One of the items eliminated was the plain spaghetti that could always be found on the buffet along with a serving

Writernoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15400631.post-1025879410439205582011-01-28T22:20:00.000-05:002011-01-28T22:20:00.430-05:00

What - I went to a Chinese restaurant for Christmas dinner? What happened? Did the neighbors hated hounds come bursting into our kitchen and eat the turkey for our Christmas dinner? Well, maybe in the movies but we decided this year that we wanted something different - and I also have wanted to go back and try Best Buffet since they reopened several years ago and I was not happy. So this sounds

Writernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15400631.post-36343445127385125272011-01-21T22:30:00.008-05:002011-01-25T23:19:44.328-05:00

Every Christmas Eve my family gets together - my sister and her husband and little girl with my wife and me - and has dinner out. For a good many years the Milleridge Inn was a family tradition and a a number of years back, they began serving a buffet dinner. As time progressed, the special buffet dinner went down hill and a few years back we stopped going there. When it was time to find a

Writernoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15400631.post-25422316293123610262011-01-14T22:32:00.005-05:002011-01-14T22:32:00.205-05:00

It was time for our annual Office Christmas Party for Two once again and as we have for the past two years, the local Minado Japanese Seafood Buffet was at the top of the list. This year I was a little hesitant about going back - not because the restaurant is not wonderful - IT IS - but because with my recent diet restrictions I was not sure that I would enjoy this buffet as much if I could not

Writernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15400631.post-6550521346122955832011-01-07T22:24:00.010-05:002011-01-07T22:24:00.418-05:00

I have been struggling with this decision for most of this past year. I have examined the buffets that I have been to this year and in previous years very carefully. In making an important selection for BEST buffet of the year, I look at the quality of the food, the selection of food, the value of the price and what is received for the money, the cleanliness of the restaurant, the courtesy and

Writernoreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15400631.post-67852244505270517732010-12-31T22:26:00.004-05:002010-12-31T22:26:00.212-05:00

Reflecting back on 2010 in the world of buffet restaurants, I can say that there have been some great meals and some not so great meals. For awhile this year I was finding more not so great buffets than really good ones. I was beginning to think that all of you would start looking at me as the "buffet killer" with not such good things to say about the restaurants I was reporting on. I would go

Writernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15400631.post-32995365641563952502010-12-24T22:34:00.001-05:002012-01-04T23:46:13.610-05:00

Every so often we need to bring the Rules of The Buffet back into the forefront. Partly for those who may not have looked back on the site and partly for those who just seem to forget. I have often thought of putting these on a small enough card to carry around and when in a buffet and seeing some of the most blatant offenses plopping it down on the table and saying - "Here you really need to

Writernoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15400631.post-20021658552695034652010-12-17T22:32:00.004-05:002010-12-17T22:32:00.279-05:00

For a number of years I dined regularly at the Asian Buffet in Hicksville, New York. The buffet while I was going there had a change in owners and the price gradually increased to a point that it was simply not worth going there any longer. The last time that I wrote about Asian Buffet was in February, 2008. And it is possible that was the last time I was there as we had seen an ad that the price

Writernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15400631.post-48744327851076454512010-12-10T22:31:00.003-05:002010-12-10T22:31:00.210-05:00

This past June I published an article on this site about the Sunburst Buffet at the Mohegan Sun Casino in Connecticut. What has made Mohegan Sun stand apart from most non-Las Vegas casinos is that it has had two buffet restaurants - Sunburst Buffet and Seasons Buffet. Before I go further let me say that since my visit this past summer, the Sunburst Buffet has closed. There is now only one buffet

Writernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15400631.post-14296713969497701192010-12-03T22:31:00.000-05:002010-12-03T22:31:00.337-05:00

It has been almost a year since I have written about D.J.'s International Buffet in Garden City, New York. I have been there several times since my last article but I thought that I would come back now and let you know how things are.The rebirth of this buffet had a bumpy start several years ago when it closed for renovations and reopened sometime later as much less of its former self. It had

Writernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15400631.post-82641374384438298392010-11-26T22:31:00.004-05:002010-11-26T22:31:00.154-05:00

A couple of weeks ago I wrote an article about having your Thanksgiving meal at a buffet restaurant. Well, this year, we did exactly that. We have been looking through the newspaper advertisements for several weeks, going through the internet for local restaurants serving buffet, and considering the suggestions made by readers of the article. By the way, thank you all who made suggestions! What

Writernoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15400631.post-89020089412422113352010-11-19T22:17:00.004-05:002010-11-19T22:17:00.287-05:00

Several weeks ago I wrote an article about some changes at Shady Maple and in that article I commented on two problems that we observed while we were there. As I said, then problems at Shady Maple are highly unusual.It was my wife's birthday recently and we headed down to Lancaster County for the day as we do for both of our birthdays. Dinner was to be Shady Maple and my wife would get her free

Writernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15400631.post-12992771085284762672010-11-12T22:31:00.002-05:002010-11-12T22:31:00.057-05:00

There are a lot of people without a large family 0r with no family at all who would like to dine on a holiday like Thanksgiving with people around. One way to do this is to go to a buffet. This is different from a menu restaurant because - buffet dining tends to be more social. Go to a menu restaurant and you sit at your table and have no interaction with the people at the tables around you. At

Writernoreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15400631.post-36737173758485722852010-11-05T22:31:00.006-04:002010-11-05T22:31:00.474-04:00

I recently received coupons from Old Country Buffet by email. They were to introduce me to their new feature - seasoned steaks and steak classics. The email title very specifically stated "Come enjoy our new steak classics tonight" and the coupon was good to November fourth. I said to myself, hmm - OCB has not had steak on most nights in a long time. This new steak feature is something to try

Writernoreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15400631.post-2822449319155764162010-10-29T22:35:00.008-04:002010-10-29T22:35:00.899-04:00

This is a tale of two managers of two different Old Country Buffets. Each OCB is located about twenty miles from the other. The manager I see most at one of these OCB's I have been calling - to myself - Mr. Grumpy. The other at this other OCB I have been calling - again to myself - Mr. Jolly. These two managers are as different as night and day and so are the two restaurants. Guess which one is

Writernoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15400631.post-11129688026382954162010-10-22T22:32:00.000-04:002010-10-22T22:32:00.650-04:00

Wow! I did not realize that it has been five years since I wrote about this buffet. China Grand Buffet is located in Farmingdale, New York. For a long time I was a weekly regular at this buffet. We would go just about every Friday night. We stopped going about two years ago when the prices went up higher than what this buffet was offering. It was hitting almost $16 an adult on the weekend for

Writernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15400631.post-1124661572692595952010-10-15T22:35:00.000-04:002010-10-15T22:35:00.617-04:00

There is one thing that I consistently have seen at buffets since I started going to them many years ago. It seems to be universal and makes no real sense at all. Someone please explain why people have a need at a buffet to take one plate and pile an entire meal on it. Each food spooned on in quantity, one on top of the other.I have seen the oddest things piled high on top of each other on plates

Writernoreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15400631.post-11010776700005549542010-10-08T21:52:00.005-04:002010-10-08T21:52:00.159-04:00

It is not often that something changes at Shady Maple Smorgasbord in East Earl, Lancaster County, PA. There are specials from time to time but recently there is a new, and seemingly permanent addition to the offerings at this great buffet. Shady Maple has added an Asian Food Station. On a recent trip I had the opportunity to check this out. This new grill station takes up the "rear" grill area.

Writernoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15400631.post-14669616991829492762010-10-01T22:34:00.002-04:002010-10-01T22:34:00.448-04:00

PART 2 (SEE LAST WEEK FOR PART 1)Ready for entrees I decided to walk around the entire buffet counter to see what was being offered and since there was so much out, to choose wisely. The buffet is divided into sections - dessert, seafood, International, Italian, Chinese, and Barbecue. The Barbecue section is easy to miss though there is a large sign over the entrance way to one of the patio

Writernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15400631.post-75919480358163040652010-09-24T22:30:00.018-04:002010-09-24T22:30:00.274-04:00

I have been hoping to eat at a buffet that I can really rave about, and finally I did! The Foxwoods Resort and Casino in Mashantucket, CT is a large complex of four casinos, two hotels, and what amounts to an amusement park for adults. This is a casino that is owned and operated by a Native American tribe. There is a Native American museum as part of the complex. The entire complex has many,

Writernoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15400631.post-41762522060007011342010-09-17T22:46:00.002-04:002010-09-17T22:46:00.402-04:00

Last week I told you about the buffet that I did go to on a recent trip to Pennsylvania. This week I am going to tell you about a buffet that I "almost" went to. Well, I actually went there but I did not eat there. I need to say right up front that there was nothing wrong with it - it just was not the night to try this buffet.Anyway, I heard about Sadie's Buffet two years ago. I have been

Writernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15400631.post-17767619886897103002010-09-10T22:29:00.008-04:002010-09-10T22:29:00.237-04:00

It has been a while since I have been to a Golden Corral. With Ryans now fast becoming an OCB clone, I consider Golden Corral to be the best of the major chain buffet restaurants. We were in an area of Pennsylvania that was far enough off from Lancaster - world of buffets - that we could not get to one of the usuals in time for dinner. There were two possiblilities that were not close but not

Writernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15400631.post-67500557591684645622010-09-03T22:30:00.001-04:002010-09-03T22:30:00.597-04:00

Part 2As I had said in Part 1, the entrees and side dishes were scattered all along the various stations and mixed into each other without much regard for type of cuisine. I went for the crab legs next. These were located, not with the seafood but at the far end of the buffet next to the fried chicken. Ok. There was a large tray of crab legs and these were full clusters. I took two large

Writernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15400631.post-76564083530008070142010-08-27T22:38:00.024-04:002010-08-27T22:38:00.197-04:00

When I started writing this I had intended it to be one single article, but it grew to be so long that I have split it into two parts -Part 1For two years I have been told that the best casino buffet in Atlantic City, New Jersey is at the Showboat Casino. When the casino first opened many years ago, I went to the Showboat's buffet a number of times. They were known THEN for their all you can eat

Writernoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15400631.post-49173371903462059752010-08-20T22:38:00.003-04:002010-08-20T22:38:00.549-04:00

This is a bit different than my usual articles and perhaps it is aimed at specific readers, but I want to share something important. To do so and make this understandable to all, I am going to explain Diabetes in the simplest of terms. This is a disease in which the body either does not produce insulin or is resistant to the insulin that it produces on its own. Insulin is important for survival

Writernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15400631.post-52089829947676337282010-08-13T22:39:00.000-04:002010-08-13T22:39:00.467-04:00

I have written several times about Yoders Restauant - the buffet located in a supermarket in New Holland, Pennsylvania in Lancaster County. On a recent visit there were a few pleasant surprises - a few new additions. Before I tell you about these, I will give you a brief rundown on this buffet - my "second" most favorite buffet to go to.As I say, Yoders is located in a supermarket building. It

Writernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15400631.post-79921865358618580172010-08-06T22:19:00.005-04:002010-08-06T22:19:00.356-04:00

They are called many things. In some parts of the southern US they are known as "bugs". In some regions they are "crawdads". Most technically they are crayfish. Crayfish look like tiny lobsters. In some respects because of their size and shape they do look like bugs.There is a legend about crayfish - it goes that when the French settlers were forced out of Nova Scotia in the 18th Century and

Writernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15400631.post-1178105017248746342010-07-30T22:29:00.005-04:002010-07-30T22:29:00.412-04:00

When I am in southeastern/central Pennsylvania I make a point to get to Shady Maple Smorgasbord for dinner. I have written about this restaurant many times and it has been selected as Best Buffet - anywhere - for several years running by this site. I was recently there again and started wondering what would it take to top this? What would it take for another buffet to be the best?I have been to

Writernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15400631.post-27148212585724301632010-07-23T22:39:00.001-04:002010-07-23T22:39:00.147-04:00

On June 4, 2010 I wrote an article here announcing that the wonderful buffet restaurant, Buffet Europa was sold to new owners. I have just been informed by one of our readers that there is now a sign on the front of the restaurant that says: "Coming Soon: Mediterranean and Turkish Restaurant". What was and had been Buffet Europa is now gone.While this would not usually be deserving of its own

Writernoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15400631.post-75331258125386591342010-07-16T22:36:00.016-04:002010-07-16T22:36:00.608-04:00

I love finding small, non-chain buffets that are not Asian. There are many oriental independent buffets and in areas like Pennsylvania it is also not unusual to find one, but in New York it is very rare. I came across the Ivy Buffet on a trip many months ago. We had planned to dine there on our next trip to that area - and I must say going to this area is very rare for us - but in the past year

Writernoreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15400631.post-62643699062797759722010-07-09T22:35:00.003-04:002010-07-09T22:35:00.217-04:00

As in any business, the manager - the man in charge at any particular moment - is a very important factor in the success or failure of a buffet restaurant. Through the years I have observed many good managers and a number of not so good managers. While it is the line staff that the public sees the most. It is the manager who oversees and directs that staff and that manager has to be visible for

Writernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15400631.post-15606801396729082482010-07-02T22:26:00.004-04:002010-07-02T22:26:00.616-04:00

Two years ago I wrote an article called The Mystery of the Golden Corral. It was about a Golden Corral Restaurant in Lebanon, Pennsylvania that seems to come and go. One day there it is and then suddenly, poof. Since writing that article - POOF! It was gone! In the area a few times since I would drive by and there would be the empty building - restaurant sign gone. Closed.Now, a reader just

Writernoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15400631.post-54259190054398917592010-06-25T22:30:00.008-04:002010-06-25T22:30:00.373-04:00

The Mohegan Sun Casino Resort in Uncasville, Connecticut is an entertainment destination. Not only are there four or five full gambling casinos within the complex, there is an upscale, shopping mall, and a number of restaurants including two complete buffets. I have eaten at both (prior to starting to write about buffets) and the Sunburst Buffet - what is considered the "upscale" buffet here has

Writernoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15400631.post-72235291825733780062010-06-18T22:15:00.007-04:002010-06-18T22:15:00.141-04:00

There are now two major buffet chains - Golden Corral and Buffets, Inc, which operates Old Country Buffet and what is left of Ryans. There was a time that all of the chains would have special menu features - and make a big deal about these. Only Golden Corral does this any longer. And they do it very well.There is a new feature currently at the Golden Corral buffet restaurants across the US. The

Writernoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15400631.post-6097061659959229052010-06-11T22:33:00.003-04:002010-06-11T22:33:00.426-04:00

I had an opportunity to have dinner at a different Old Country Buffet and though I eat at OCB often, I decided to see what happens at another location. I went on Memorial Day night to see this OCB on a night when the day would have been busier than normal. As it happened there was a carnival going on in the parking lot that day and night right outside the restaurant so business that day was

Writernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15400631.post-15189352859308677252010-06-04T22:38:00.005-04:002010-06-04T22:38:00.748-04:00

I have been informed by one of our readers that on a very recent visit to Buffet Europa, he discovered the restaurant was sold. The restaurant remains in business but the original owners are gone, and apparently have moved to Jersey City, New Jersey.This reader reports that they went into the restaurant, immediately learned that there were new owners and then they looked around at the buffet to

Writernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15400631.post-52375446564248495892010-05-28T22:28:00.005-04:002010-05-28T22:28:00.717-04:00

I decided to write this article after reading some of what was said by an employee at OCB who commented on the article that I wrote two weeks ago. Aside from the reaction to my criticism of the restaurant that he/she works at, there was a lot that he/she said about being abused and mistreated by customers who come to the restaurant. This is something that I have seen for myself - at a number of

Writernoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15400631.post-4557430888130441742010-05-21T22:35:00.002-04:002010-05-21T22:35:00.390-04:00

A few weeks ago we found a barbecue restaurant in New York City that has an "all you can eat" feature. One of our readers has shared with us another barbecue restaurant in New Jersey that also offers all you can eat barbecue.The restaurant is Big Ed's BBQ and it is located in Old Bridge, New Jersey. Understand that this is not a buffet restaurant, but a menu service restaurant. They do have All

Writernoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15400631.post-90214130968187048222010-05-14T22:30:00.004-04:002010-05-14T22:30:00.740-04:00

We had not been to the local OCB in a few weeks and when we went in there were signs at the entrance - one about lunch and one about dinner. These large bold signs said "New Price $10.99 for Dinner" and then at the bottom in much smaller writing it said "Beverage Bar NOT included". There was a similar sign for lunch at $7.99. As we went in and a long the line we came to another sign - order the

Writernoreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15400631.post-50285182444833555742010-05-07T22:35:00.003-04:002010-05-07T22:35:00.792-04:00

I am often asked about buffets in areas that I have not gotten to or cannot get to. I am always looking for buffets located all over the world to share with you. I have happened across a chain that has locations all over Georgia and two in Florida called Ole Times Country Buffet. Now, as always, when I have not been there I tell you right up front - so here it is - I have not been to any of the

Writernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15400631.post-75764071083777638772010-04-30T22:30:00.001-04:002010-04-30T22:30:00.635-04:00

At a number of buffet restaurants when you go up to the fried chicken on the hot buffet server, there is a sign above that says BROASTED CHICKEN. Shady Maple is a buffet that serves "Broasted Chicken". It looks like fried chicken but it is "broasted", what the heck? I always wondered. In fact, I wondered about this for a lot longer than when I started go to eat at buffets. When I was a kid a take

Writernoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15400631.post-65183725331592682242010-04-23T22:32:00.000-04:002010-04-23T22:32:00.829-04:00

New York City - Manhattan to be exact - is one of the last places that you might expect to find two things - good barbecue and all you can eat at a reasonable price. On Monday nights you can find both at Hill Country Barbecue Market. This is a restaurant in downtown Manhattan that serves Texas Barbecue and Country Music all week from the menu, but on Mondays they offer something special.The Hill

Writernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15400631.post-79989290295531255482010-04-16T22:35:00.001-04:002010-04-16T22:35:00.671-04:00

It was St. Patrick's Day and I decided I wanted corned beef. I enjoy good corned beef. Lately I have been on a kick to have a decent corned beef sandwich. Now, there are places that I could drag my wife for what I know is going to be a good sandwich, but she does not appreciate it as much as I so I have been trying to make do with one in the local restaurants that we go to - when we are not

Writernoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15400631.post-61146113546249016532010-04-09T22:31:00.000-04:002010-04-09T22:31:00.413-04:00

One of my favorite "local" buffets is a Chinese buffet in Commack, NY - about twenty miles each way from my home. I wrote about this buffet first in 2006 and since I have been there a number of times since that first happy discovery, I keep thinking that I have updated the review. I have mentioned the buffet in several articles, but I have not actually gone through a re-visit review. Since gas

Writernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15400631.post-34840030995428018702010-04-02T22:18:00.002-04:002010-04-02T22:18:00.558-04:00

I get a lot of comments and emails telling me how those of you near Buffet Europa have enjoyed this buffet. I just received an email from one of our readers who is passionate about keeping this restaurant going and had some ideas to share. Since this is my forum arena for such as that I want to share with you what this reader wrote. Now, please understand, that there is NO indication what so ever

Writernoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15400631.post-16128990744021921512010-03-26T22:40:00.000-04:002010-03-26T22:40:00.073-04:00

We had a trip planned to mid-New Jersey - basically the area west and a bit north of New York City. There are two buffets in this area that I enjoy very much - Buffet Europa and Makkoli Japanese. I had just recently been to Buffet Europa and despite the strong temptation to go again, I felt that it would be good to find a new buffet to try and share with everyone. On my previous trip - when I

Writernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15400631.post-34799896377646874612010-03-19T22:08:00.005-04:002010-03-19T22:08:00.482-04:00

Our pick for Best Small Buffet for 2009 was Buffet Europa, located in North Brunswick, NJ. (See article) As I have said many times before, this is a buffet experience unlike most others. The food! The Food! THE FOOD! I had an opportunity to be there again recently. I was very surprised to see that they are in need of customers and support. The restaurant is still wonderful. The food is still

Writernoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15400631.post-50996459631556761322010-03-12T22:25:00.001-05:002010-03-12T22:25:00.251-05:00

Two weeks ago I wrote about Shady Maple Smorgasbord in Pennsylvania announcing festivities in celebration of their 25 years in business. The celebrations end tomorrow, March 13, 2010. I had the great pleasure to be there this past Wednesday night.I made the trip to Pennsylvania - four hours drive each way - over 300 miles in all with about $30 in tolls and a full tank of gas just to go to dinner

Writernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15400631.post-35365745723470667302010-03-05T22:23:00.003-05:002010-03-05T22:23:00.231-05:00

Several years back I found a restaurant in the Shenandoah Mountain/Blue Ridge Mountains called Mrs. Rowe's. I had been searching for places to eat on a trip that was taking through the Shenandoah heading south and came upon a book that talked all about Road Food - places to stop when you are "on the road". There was a site from the two authors that highlighted some of their favorites and there

Writernoreply@blogger.com2