Some good news on buffet

[bound4wdw]

Just an update. We are back at WDW this week and on our last trip we went to a restaurant with a Buffett at Boston lobster that had plates on the backside of the counter and made the plate for you hand then hands them back after you got everything you wanted.
last night we went to Black Fire Brazilian Steakhouse and their buffet was completely normal. Grap your plate, get what you want on your own. And go back to your table. They did have sanitizers by the plates. Definitely a sign of getting back to normal. Hopefully Disney will at least get drink stations back to normal soon. Nobody wants a refillable mug if the only place to get a refill is their sad empty restaurant at SSR.
hope this shines a little light on your next trip.

 

[TamaraQT]

My family prefers buffets for selection. I always thought "cafeteria style" would be the best way for buffet restaurants to begin opening again. To me it makes sense to take your plate down the line and have staff members serving you from behind the counter. I never understood why no one considered this. In Orlando, we like the Golden Corral buffets. Each station has enough room for staff to stand behind 2 or 3 items and serve as people come down the line. I was wondering if we would ever see buffets again. I am happy to hear things are opening back up. Thanks for the update.

 

[disneysteve]

Black Fire Brazilian Steakhouse and their buffet was completely normal

Note to self: stay far away from Black Fire Brazilian Steakhouse.

 

[Lilsia]

Places really should go to cafeteria style. It works well.

 

[TamaraQT]

Note to self: stay far away from Black Fire Brazilian Steakhouse.

I agree it is way to soon for any buffets operating as normal. I really don't see how it will ever really be considered "safe" unless the staff are the only ones touching the utensils.

Places really should go to cafeteria style. It works well.

I agree that cafeteria style will be a reasonable option for the buffets to be successful once again.

 

[CT Yankee]

I love buffets but even before the pandemic I always got a little skeeved out by having to handle the same serving utensil that everyone before me touched. I would typically use hand sanitizer when I got back to my table. I welcome the switch to cafeteria style. It will probably reduce some of the waste with buffets since the servers can control how much is given out with each serving.

 

[disneysteve]

The one downside to cafeteria style is it requires a lot more staff, which means higher prices, but I'll take that for a safer experience any day. The way many people, kids and adults, behaved at buffets before was disgusting anyway.

 

[disneysteve]

Case in point:

 

[TamaraQT]

I agree cafeteria style will be best even if a little more expensive. I like buffets for the variety of not being limited to only one entrée or side. You can have steak cooked to order with a baked potato for pennies on the dollar. Of course it isn't a T-Bone or Filet Mignon but a good hearty steak cooked on an open fire for less than $20 and you can get as much as you'd like. I sure hope they consider cafeteria style for the Golden Corrals in Florida. It's funny how some GC across other areas of Florida have re-opened but the ones in Orlando area have not.

 

[Grumpy by Birth]

Case in point:

 

[karen4546]

Case in point:

That is probably an employee. i did not watch the video, but he has a bag of what looks like rolls.

 

[Lilsia]

That is probably an employee. i did not watch the video, but he has a bag of what looks like rolls.

That is not an employee. It is a customer who went and got a bag of rolls at the bakery and tried the soup. I guess he wanted to see if he likes it enough to buy it. I have worked in food for decades and people are really this disgusting. Customers would reach up and over our bakery counter and take cookies and other baked goods and then claim that they though that they were samples when confronted. People don't give a poop anymore because what are you going to do about it? If you call the cops, they will just be gone by the time they get there and all of that is just a misdemeanor and cops won't do anything. Public shaming has no effect on people anymore, which has led to a society of those who do whatever they want.

 

[disneysteve]

That is not an employee. It is a customer who went and got a bag of rolls at the bakery and tried the soup. I guess he wanted to see if he likes it enough to buy it. I have worked in food for decades and people are really this disgusting. Customers would reach up and over our bakery counter and take cookies and other baked goods and then claim that they though that they were samples when confronted. People don't give a poop anymore because what are you going to do about it? If you call the cops, they will just be gone by the time they get there and all of that is just a misdemeanor and cops won't do anything. Public shaming has no effect on people anymore, which has led to a society of those who do whatever they want.

Although I sort of miss the self-serve things in the supermarket like the bulk section, I also realize that people are disgusting and constantly reach their bare hands into the bins to get things rather than using the scoops or gloves provided. I can't tell you how many times I've seen people take "samples" to eat. It's disturbing how many people don't think twice about doing that. I know someone who works there who has told me that you really shouldn't ever buy anything from those bins because they're disgusting. You just can't see it. Salad bars and buffets are no better.

 

[loves to dive]

I was sort of hoping they don't reopen at WDW. I'm not a fan of buffets and we don't eat at them. Partly because I don't eat enough to make the amount they charge worth it and partly because it has always been off putting to me the way everything is out there in the open. Another part for me is that if I'm paying to go out to eat, I want someone to serve me and not have to serve myself. We had a great family style restaurant in the town I live in for years and years then they went to buffet. They went out of business about a year after they went to buffet, not sure if the two were related but this is a college town and students are pretty bad.

 

[samsteele]

Case in point:

Reminds me of university cafeteria as an undergrad. Saw 2 pals share the ladle from the soup pot and was put off the common soup of the day forever. Shame because was good homemade soup. But not so good after 'being sampled' and ladle dumped back into the pot. Will we never learn some basic, common sense manners. And now slurping the soup is scarier than ever. Think much truth in the observation that those who buck COVID safety protocol are narcissists or worse. Can't fix stupid and selfish.

 

[mkb3]

I only eat buffets on vacation and its typically breakfast only unless I'm in Vegas. If we can at least have family style like Ohana, Garden Grill, etc I will be thrilled.

 

[cosmicdare]

I'm hoping they could do the family style thing for Boma (my favorite buffet at Disney), but I guess it wouldn't be feasible considering how large the selection is.

 

[WorldOfPooh]

Embassy suites has the best breakfast buffets. Only reason I stay there. I hear now they are doing cafeteria style but the line takes about 45 minutes.

 

[Lilsia]

I'm hoping they could do the family style thing for Boma (my favorite buffet at Disney), but I guess it wouldn't be feasible considering how large the selection is.

Yes! Boma is my go to place. They could even make it cafeteria style and limit how many people are going through the line at one time. Honestly, they could make a food booth of just their soups and people would buy it. I love their oxtail stew over rice. So yummy!

 

[DaisyDuck001]

I'm hoping they could do the family style thing for Boma (my favorite buffet at Disney), but I guess it wouldn't be feasible considering how large the selection is.

If they were to make it family style, I think they would drastically reduce the selection of items. I had been hoping they would make it cafeteria style.