tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-154006312024-03-19T06:19:18.210-04:00The Art of the Buffet OR All You Can Eat is Not a ChallengeThere 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.Writerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06664259206096691320noreply@blogger.comBlogger587125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15400631.post-68074605010231945662023-12-09T19:27:00.007-05:002023-12-09T19:27:37.251-05:00IKEA JULBORD RETURNS! The annual Julbord - Christmas smorgasbord - at IKEA has been gone since the start of Covid. This year it has returned and we were there last night! There are, two seatings - 4:00 pm to 6:00 pm and 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm. We were at the second seating at the IKEA in Hicksville on Long Island in New York. The price has gone up considerably - but so have the restaurant prices at the Writerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06664259206096691320noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15400631.post-418162159233747162023-08-04T02:37:00.000-04:002023-08-04T02:38:52.408-04:00SHADY MAPLE SMORGASBORD - 2023 It has been awhile that we have been able to travel to Pennsylvania and have a chance to go to one of the Pennsylvania Dutch buffet restaurants. We choose Shady Maple for two reasons - one that it is the latest open buffet of any of the buffet restaurants in Lancaster County and two because it has been one of the leading buffets in this area that we have visited many, many, many times over Writerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06664259206096691320noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15400631.post-75667015162256998152023-03-27T01:34:00.002-04:002023-03-27T01:34:51.361-04:00BUFFETS IN 2023 Covid took its toll on buffet restaurants. Many did not survive the pandemic. I will start with Golden Corral. Golden Corral has closed a number of its locations. Some were the result of Corporate's decsions. Others were the result of franchise holders who decided to close and never re-open their Golden Corral buffets. This is not to say that all Golden Corrals have closed. ThereWriterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06664259206096691320noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15400631.post-9260314498802567282021-07-25T02:36:00.003-04:002021-07-26T18:44:42.435-04:00SHADY MAPLE SMORGASBORD, EAST EARL, LANCASTER, PA IN A NOT QUITE POST COVID TIMEWhat I thought of most in terms of restaurants and buffets during the past over a year and a half remaining at home during Covid-19 were the buffets in Lancaster, PA. A number of the Lancaster buffets had reopened in a modified basis mid-2020 and I published an article on this site at the time about what they were doing to keep their customers and employees safe. At the current time Writerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06664259206096691320noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15400631.post-32535427575333582762021-06-25T02:11:00.097-04:002021-07-10T00:44:22.456-04:00FLAMING GRILL BUFFET IN BALDWIN, NY IN THE NOT QUITE POST COVID NEW NORMALIt has been one year since I wrote my previous post on this site. It has been almost two years since I ate last at a buffet. This all changed earlier tonight. We went to the Flaming Grill Buffet in Baldwin, New York, the last buffet we ate at when Covid was just starting and cautions had to increase. We are both fully vaccinated but we have been very cautious. We have slowly Writerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06664259206096691320noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15400631.post-14097313144144281832020-07-21T02:13:00.000-04:002020-07-21T18:48:20.736-04:00LANCASTER, PA BUFFETS REOPENINGIn Pennsylvania the Covid-19 reopening is coded by color and Lancaster County went Green at the end of June. The buffet restaurants that have been written about on this site started to reopen for inside dining - but not all of them as buffets (for the time being). I have not been to any of these for their reopening (yet) but I will share what I have learned about each one. I am not Writerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06664259206096691320noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15400631.post-16713646780394137452020-05-09T01:07:00.000-04:002020-05-09T01:07:49.595-04:00The Future of Buffets - After Covid-19The last time I was at a buffet was mid-March, 2020. It was a usual Friday night at Flaming Grill Buffet in Baldwin, New York. We had been going with some concerns - carrying hand sanitizer in our pockets to clean our hands after going up to the buffet tables, using napkins to touch serving pieces and disposing of the napkins when we got back to the table. At that point there had not been Writerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06664259206096691320noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15400631.post-67731651476450274852020-03-13T17:51:00.001-04:002020-03-25T16:34:50.027-04:00Buffets and the Coronavirus (COVID-19)I never figured that my next article to appear on this site after so long would be this article. The Coronavirus is a reality around the world and here in the US many specific protection instructions have been issued by the Federal, State, and Local governments with the C.D.C. guidelines as a basis in an attempt to both keep as many as possible safe - and to try to control further outbreaks. I amWriterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06664259206096691320noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15400631.post-66991971084366377942019-08-16T22:15:00.000-04:002019-08-16T22:15:00.279-04:00THE RULES OF THE BUFFETIt has been a very long time since we have brought out the Rules of the Buffet - rules to be followed by any one eating a buffet - and WOW are they needed now. What I see at buffets is just beyond manors and often just disgusting - and this goes for adults, kids, and even supervised kids.
RULES OF THE BUFFET
1. All you can eat is not a challenge. It is an offer!
2. Writerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06664259206096691320noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15400631.post-90718395709762909092019-07-30T18:50:00.001-04:002019-07-30T18:50:25.574-04:00Golden Corral, Freehold, NJ - A Hit and Miss Golden CorralYes, it has been a long time since the last article. I have not wanted to keep writing about the same places and there are so few buffets to write about any longer - in fact, even the old standbys seem to be closing.
I am often asked about the Golden Corral in Freehold, New Jersey. We have been there many times in the past and the one thing that holds true is that one visit can be great and Writerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06664259206096691320noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15400631.post-25283216778930469402018-11-30T23:37:00.001-05:002018-11-30T23:37:38.706-05:00Chen's Buffet, Levittown NY - Back to See After a Long TimeAsian buffets in our area are getting fewer and fewer. A favorite out in Suffolk County recently closed. We have been going to two on a semi-regular basis - both of which are OK but I was curious to see what Chen's is now like after not going for quite a long time and also how it is attempting to compete with it's directly across the street competition, Global Buffet.
Chen's no longer has a Writerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06664259206096691320noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15400631.post-70710365848778052252018-07-06T22:36:00.000-04:002018-07-06T22:36:06.329-04:00IKEA Summer Smorgasbord - All IKEA storesWe regularly go to the four time a year IKEA Smorgasbord special dinners. These take place four times a year. There is a pre-Christmas dinner, a pre-Easter dinner, a Mid-Summer dinner (in June) and a dinner in September that features Crayfish. These are all all you care to eat dinners laid out on Smorgasbord tables and they have seatings twice on a Friday - one 4:00 pm to 6:00 pm and one 7:00 pm Writerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06664259206096691320noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15400631.post-41871928763191210182018-06-22T22:32:00.000-04:002018-06-22T22:32:07.159-04:00Foxwoods Casino Festival Buffet - ConnecticutI had not realized that we had not been to Foxwoods Casino Festival Buffet since 2013. That last visit was a disappointment and the year before that it has been as well. This had been a regular birthday dinner trip until then. I guess following that I took my own advice and we headed for Lancaster for my birthday buffet dinner. We have been trying to plan trips around rather poor weather reports Writerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06664259206096691320noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15400631.post-57424403248239675522018-06-06T00:05:00.000-04:002018-06-06T00:05:55.653-04:00Where Have We Been?!?We have gotten some kind emails from some of our readers asking where have we been. There has not been an article for some time now. Well, the problem is not where we have been - it is that we have not been anywhere.
This past winter was a tough one and this Spring is not much better. The weather has kept us local and we were only able to get to a buffet out of this area four times from DecemberWriterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06664259206096691320noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15400631.post-6779878845804793392018-02-23T22:34:00.000-05:002018-02-23T22:34:06.604-05:00Dinner at DJ's International Buffet, Garden City, NYWith a holiday week that was not feeling very special - not that it should - I had thoughts of going off somewhere to have a better than our usual buffet. I thought about the casinos in Connecticut, a drive to New Jersey to Golden Corral, or even all the way to Lancaster, PA for a day. None of that seemed worth the tolls and gas. My wife suggested that we go to a buffet locally that we might onlyWriterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06664259206096691320noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15400631.post-38981736090207896642018-01-20T01:14:00.000-05:002018-01-20T17:11:16.916-05:00Island Buffet, Baldwin, New YorkIn 2014 we went to an Asian buffet in Baldwin, NY and walked out before we were seated. I wrote about that then in an article. Last week looking through an advertising mailer we saw an ad and coupon for a "Grand Opening" and it turned out to be the Island Buffet in Baldwin. We wondered if it was that same buffet and saw right away from the little map in the ad that it was. But "Grand Writerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06664259206096691320noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15400631.post-47928905174297280622017-12-08T22:26:00.000-05:002017-12-08T22:26:20.246-05:00Back again to Global Buffet, Levittown, NYThis is a follow up to the several other articles that I have written about this buffet and since it is local, it is only fair to keep this up to date, especailly when things are positive. We went back to Global. We have been back a couple of times since the last article and this last visit was the most positive.
This was a Sunday night. The meal was pleasant. I focused on this as an AsianWriterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06664259206096691320noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15400631.post-14494849273739557282017-11-24T22:36:00.000-05:002017-11-24T22:36:08.286-05:00Three Times Prime RibWe were in Lancaster, PA for a Fall trip and, of course, every night was a buffet - actually every night was at one of the top buffets for the past year. It just so happened that the nights we went to Yoder's, Shady Maple, and Dutch-Way/Gap Prime Rib was the feature for that night. Prime Rib can vary a lot at buffet restaurants and at these three there were differences. There are times that I Writerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06664259206096691320noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15400631.post-55850390733971009272017-11-10T22:31:00.000-05:002017-11-10T22:31:07.867-05:00Golden Corral, Middletown, NY We are rarely in Upstate New York - this for those who are not familiar with New York is considered anything north or west of Manhattan by those who live in the Metro NY area. We were going to spend the day up along the Hudson for an event we wanted to attend and I started looking for where we might find a buffet - and I was in particular looking for a Golden Corral. With the conversion to Writerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06664259206096691320noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15400631.post-43872293053120771902017-10-24T01:04:00.003-04:002017-10-24T01:04:42.573-04:00An Urge for Golden CorralTo start we will go back to August and I had a really big desire to go to Golden Corral for dinner. The nearest Golden Corral is about 70 miles away and requires taking two expensive toll bridges. I figured that between the tolls and the gas, I could just pick a restaurant that I cannot afford and just go there to have dinner, but the urge was specifically for Golden Corral and my wife knew this.Writerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06664259206096691320noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15400631.post-91524909339389348882017-09-15T23:10:00.001-04:002017-09-25T01:43:41.923-04:00GLOBAL BUFFET X3, Levittown, NYWhat happened?!?
I had not intended to write an article but just make a comment on the last article about our third visit to Global Buffet but it just seemed that it needed to be set apart. We had not intended to dine at Global Buffet on this night but we were heading to another restaurant (we don't just eat at buffets) and realized as we got there that they were closed to host a special event, Writerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06664259206096691320noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15400631.post-66191584117729554802017-09-09T00:42:00.001-04:002017-09-25T01:46:36.925-04:00Global Buffet, Levittown, NY - SECOND VISITWe went back to Global Buffet. (See our first article about this buffet.) They have made some positive changes in the past two weeks since they opened.
Either they read our article or someone there was told or realized that their steam tables were set at too low a temperature, but now the temperature of the food is correct. Nothing was cold or just warm. Everything that needs to be hot was Writerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06664259206096691320noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15400631.post-24258500809206831872017-08-28T09:02:00.000-04:002017-08-28T09:02:01.522-04:00Global Buffet, Levittown, New YorkWe went for dinner to the just opened Global Buffet which is located in the space that Old Country Buffet last occupied. You enter through the entrance that you entered when this was OCB and going through a second set of doors (as you did before) you come into an area that will become a bar or wine bar. There is a long bar counter along the wall to the left, and a lot of glass shelves on the Writerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06664259206096691320noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15400631.post-19789265354914556842017-08-08T17:32:00.002-04:002017-08-08T17:35:43.072-04:00GLOBAL BUFFET AND GRILL, Levittown, NY - UPDATE!Global Buffet and Grill has not yet opened. The sign is still on the building saying it is "Coming Soon". From outside it is clear that work is continually being done - so we sent scouts out to go there and tell us what could be seen inside.
It is very obvious from what could be seen - it it that was considerable - that this is going to be an Asian buffet - or perhaps a combination Asian and Writerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06664259206096691320noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15400631.post-33155342357400726242017-06-16T22:20:00.000-04:002017-06-16T22:20:07.072-04:00Top Buffet of 2016 - Shady Maple Smorgasbord, East Earl, PACONGRATULATIONS TO SHADY MAPLE SMORGASBORD, EAST EARL, Pa. AS A TOP BUFFET FOR 2016!
The one buffet that has been consistently named as a Top Buffet or Best Buffet is Shady Maple! Whenever we are asked by someone who has never been there or who is going to Lancaster County for the first time and wants to know what buffet they should go to, this is the one that we tell them. The reason is that Writerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06664259206096691320noreply@blogger.com0