At the buffet

You just get what you want.

We are NOT at a buffet!

....at the buffet

Maybe you can call me a buffet snob, maybe I avoid restaurants with the word buffet in its title because I lack self control, maybe I like sitting and having someone serve me for a change, or maybe I enjoy life's surprises even when it involves ordering something from a regular restaurant that sounded good on the menu but once it entered my mouth my taste buds said no way!

Possibly you are one of the millions that hit the buffet lines, especially after a church service, and you love the benefits of multi-choice entrees and veggies all laid out before you at reasonable prices. There is nothing wrong with a buffet lover unless you are going there for quantity of food and your seat belt is not fastening as it is. Then you are a like the drunk stopping at the local bar and you both have a problem. Just say no to the buffet!

Senior adults love buffets. 

Granny at Harbor View, Long Beach MS

Sometimes that is all they will go out to eat and they will completely avoid menu driven restaurants. Granny, my mother-in-law who still gets her silver hair teased every Saturday morning by her young seventy-plus hair dresser, always grumbles when we try to stretch her horizons and take her out to one of our restaurants.

Her favorite quote is "Why go there when at the buffet you can get what you want?" If she doesn't like what she gets, she can go back for another plate.

When family members plan gatherings at Outback, Chili's, or Applebee's she goes into a full blown anxiety attack.

"What will I order? What do they have? Why can't we go to a buffet where I can get what I want?"

Very rarely do we get her into a regular restaurant, and when we do manage it -- if anyone's food isn't right or it's served too cold, its Granny's. This reinforces her phobia of the menu restaurant and makes it even more difficult for future trips. Should we give up? 

What's my problem with buffets? 

First, too many of them lack quality while concentrating on quantity. They opt for a cheaper version with no taste. But not all buffet restaurants are created equal, thankfully I have found a few that know how to put flavor in their home cookin' recipes.

Another reason I am anti-buffet? As a mother of twins I end up working harder at a buffet feeding my family than I do at home. 

At least the stove is a few steps away at home, at the buffet I have to maneuver and swerve, wait for the person who doesn't know which way the line is supposed to go, traffic control my son as he follows me to the pans of food as he ponders the decisions of fried chicken or fried fish, and then as I finally settle down to eat my plate of food, it's time for the other twin to peruse the food line. 

My husband thinks he is helpful, but kids love to ask momma and I am trained to jump up. Daddy's can't hear children's cries.

Think about it, how many trips does it take to eat a buffet?

Conner loves salad!

If both kids, myself eat salad, then entrees, with multiple trips, topped off with a dessert, at a minimum, I have sat down and got up nine trips! I need to leave myself a tip!

Lately Cade has begun observing the unfairness of the situation of being a mom, so he made it his project to train his father to get up during the family meal by scolding him. He demands it saying that mom has to do all the work at dinner. It's so rewarding having my son defend me and that he actually noticed that I am hopping up continuously like most mothers across America. 

My hands are full!

Maybe things they are a changin' at the Tracy's buffet and home cookin' restaurant! 

Can we blame the popularity of buffets contributing to America's obesity problem? Or, is the popularity of buffets a result of our obesity problem? Either way, the road to fat is paved with multiple plate excursions at the local buffet.

Buffets encourage our high caloric intake by allowing us to not only fill up one plate of food, but two or three. We think we need a little of this, and a little of that and before we know it, we have ingested three meat servings, several vegetables and most definitely something fried. Plus, readily available desserts follow every meal. When most of us deny ourselves the sweet ending at a menu restaurant, we find ourselves grabbing the little saucier and filling it up with a little of this and a little of that at the buffet.

Unfortunately, there will be too much of this and too much of that in all of our pants if we keep that pace up for too long.

Buffets are great for family gatherings where no one has to cook and

1981 Family gathering for pot luck

clean and we can all meet up and get what we like because deciding on a menu restaurant limits selections on the types of food available.

Church congregations continue their fellowship after their worship session by gathering at their local buffet.

So, maybe the buffet mentality takes us back to pot luck suppers at our churches and family reunions where we gather to fill our plates multiple times and visit with cherished loved ones while enjoying life's abundant blessings.

Maybe buffet eating is comfort eating and that isn't so bad. At least there is a sneeze guard at the buffet, because at home, church and reunions it's germ roulette!