Can you get kicked out of an all-you-can-eat-restaurant for eating too much? —Bill G., St. Louis
The simple answer is no: All-you-can-eat should mean just that, right? Yes, but things are never simple.
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Owners of buffet restaurants know that they could encounter opposition (face to face, via social media, and possibly legal) if they encourage a particular diner to move along. So they don’t. The potential fallout isn’t worth the benefit. Plus, they’ve built the cost of the aggressive eater into their business model and buffet pricing. They might not enjoy witnessing such gluttony, but at least they’ve planned for it. Deep down they know that buffets succeed by a making a profit on the average diner, not on every diner.
There are, however, certain situations when a buffet diner may either get the side eye or be asked to leave:
1. Staying beyond the specified meal period: Most buffet restaurants have a time buffer between meal periods. For instance, the buffet at Joy Luck Buffet in Brentwood closes for lunch at 3:30 p.m. and reopens at 4 p.m. for dinner. Manager Danny Lin says that customers may eat all they want at lunch, but if they stay beyond that, into dinner service, they would be charged for that time period as well. Abuse of the system is rare, though, Lin adds.
2. Staying beyond the specified time limit: Some buffets set a maximum table time (usually a generous two hours). Should someone overstay, they might be asked to leave. (Really, though, if you’re hunkered down at a buffet that long, management is doing you a favor by asking you to hit the bricks.)
3. Pilfering food: Part of the reason that buffets are successful is that people eat what they want—and anything they want—but only at the table. If they take an item, they are expected to eat it—all of it. There are no bagged leftovers, no buffet food to-go. And no sneaking food to someone who has not paid. If customers abuse the rules, they suffer the consequences.
So how does a place like Joy Luck, which offers a wide array of buffet items (including mountains of cold peel-and-eat shrimp), still make money while charging $7.99 per person at lunch? The cost of most buffet items is low (with multiple soups, dark chicken meat, inexpensive desserts), and people tend to fill up on carbs rather than more costly proteins (such as skewered chicken and the aforementioned shrimp). Joy Luck also offers a la carte service and a secret menu, which also helps at the bottom line.
“For many diners, having variety and choice is more important than eating to excess, especially now, when everyone is at least trying to eat healthier,” says Roxann Kinkade, director of public relations for Pinnacle Entertainment, owner of Ameristar and River City Casino. “Buffets appeal because they can offer a wide array of items to a diverse group of people.”
But one item clearly tops the charts: snow crab legs. River City’s $34.95 Unlimited Crab Leg Dinner Buffet is perennially busy, Kinkade says, averaging 2,000 patrons on a typical Saturday night.
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