Friendly reminder about buffets.

[Lilsia]

So we just got back from out trip and we had lunch at Biergarten. I was in the buffet line next to a woman and her son(looked to be about 8ish). The mom was dishing the food onto his plate and gave him some green beans. Well the kid grabbed it off of his plate and threw it back into the serving dish. Now, kids do stupid things like this, that is not the issue. My issue was that the Mom did not do anything to fix it. She told the kid "don't do that", but never told the cast member to take the beans off of the line. That is not right. If I had not seen it and said something, someone would have got that kid's tossed green bean. Please go over the rules with your kids before you get to the buffet line. Thank you.

 

[a1tinkfans]

Gross… imagine how they act at home? I avoid buffets like the plague.

 

[NYCgrrl]

Thank you for reminding me why I bypass buffet restaurants in general.

 

[Marthasor]

Years ago, before they installed the new utensil dispensers at the QS restaurants, I was in line at Capt. Cook's to order some food. While in line, I noticed a young child walk up to the utensil display. He proceeded to pick up all of the spoons, lick them and then put them back in the bin. I notified a CM and then told the woman who was with him (assumed it was his grandmother - she wasn't paying attention at all) what had happened. The CM took the spoons out, but I didn't notice if she disinfected the area. Another woman, I assume it was the mom, asked grandma angrily why I had spoken to her - grandma filled her in and they all slinked out of the restaurant. Grateful for the new dispensers, but, until they were installed, I never, ever took a utensil that was sitting out in a tray again. I always dispensed a new one from inside the machine. You've just reminded me why I never want to eat at a buffet again.

 

[VFL]

Years ago, before they installed the new utensil dispensers at the QS restaurants, I was in line at Capt. Cook's to order some food. While in line, I noticed a young child walk up to the utensil display. He proceeded to pick up all of the spoons, lick them and then put them back in the bin. I notified a CM and then told the woman who was with him (assumed it was his grandmother - she wasn't paying attention at all) what had happened. The CM took the spoons out, but I didn't notice if she disinfected the area. Another woman, I assume it was the mom, asked grandma angrily why I had spoken to her - grandma filled her in and they all slinked out of the restaurant. Grateful for the new dispensers, but, until they were installed, I never, ever took a utensil that was sitting out in a tray again. I always dispensed a new one from inside the machine. You've just reminded me why I never want to eat at a buffet again.

Reminds me of being in a pizza place (not Disney) and seeing a kid pick up the Parmesan cheese shaker from his table and lick the top. To this day I will not use one of those shakers

 

[starousse]

Gross!! I witnessed something similar a few months ago at a resort in PA.....kid was at breakfast buffet playing with a pair of serving tongs, putting them in his mouth, scratching his butt with them, and the mom just grabbed them and put them back into the eggs. I couldn't believe it. One of the workers saw this, got livid and said something to the mother and she got mad at the guy. I'm sorry but given the times we're in, I think people should use common sense and leave the young kids back at the table and get them a plate. I was turned off to buffets before this incident....now I'm done.

 

[Betty Rohrer]

Gross!! I witnessed something similar a few months ago at a resort in PA.....kid was at breakfast buffet playing with a pair of serving tongs, putting them in his mouth, scratching his butt with them, and the mom just grabbed them and put them back into the eggs. I couldn't believe it. One of the workers saw this, got livid and said something to the mother and she got mad at the guy. I'm sorry but given the times we're in, I think people should use common sense and leave the young kids back at the table and get them a plate. I was turned off to buffets before this incident....now I'm done.

what would you have the mother do if it was just her and the child so you would be leaving said child at table by self no common sense with that either

 

[loves to dive]

what would you have the mother do if it was just her and the child so you would be leaving said child at table by self no common sense with that either

Not leave him at the table but hand the tongs to the server and tell them what had happened, apologize and take said child to the bathroom and have a discussion. Then take said child home and feed them PB&J. I was a single mom and buffets were hard, which is one of the many reasons we didn't go to them. My son would never have dared to do that but it is hard to pay attention to the kid, get the food, hold the plates, etc. One thing if we did go to buffets, my son was always in front of me and I dished out his food, he touched nothing.

 

[Lilsia]

what would you have the mother do if it was just her and the child so you would be leaving said child at table by self no common sense with that either

I traveled with my 2 kids alone all the time. They are 13 months apart and I started traveling with them solo when they were 2&3 years old. Plus I went places in town with them starting at a young age. I taught them from a very young age how to act in places. We need to stop letting bad parenting off the hook with lazy excuses. It's not that hard to keep your kids right by your side and make sure they are not doing things that they are not supposed to be doing. Plus, if your kid does do something like that, then YOU do the right thing and tell the employee and "gasp" apologize for their behavior.

 

[starousse]

what would you have the mother do if it was just her and the child so you would be leaving said child at table by self no common sense with that either

Well obviously, if I was traveling with my young child, I would not leave them alone at the table, however, I'd be overly cautious in making sure my kid wasn't breathing on, leaning on or touching anything near the food. Again, these are different times now. In my opinion, buffets shouldn't even be operating now, but since they are, those with small kids should be extra mindful and considerate of others.

 

[lorimay]

Yeah, I am not ready for buffet restaurants anytime soon.........

 

[Dakota731]

I don’t like buffets anyway - food always seems cold to me. Though if you’ve ever worked if a restaurant you’ve seen a lot worse than that from the cooks in the kitchen lol. In my college years, I saw cooks sneeze in food, drop utensils and put them back in the soup, sample food and use the same spoon to stir the pot, and don’t even get me started on men never washing their hands after going to the bathroom. I just try not to think about it! If you want to eat out you will never know what’s going on behind the scenes.

 

[ItsOnlyMoney]

Reminds me of being in a pizza place (not Disney) and seeing a kid pick up the Parmesan cheese shaker from his table and lick the top. To this day I will not use one of those shakers

yep I've seen this also.

 

[Simba's Mom]

So we just got back from out trip and we had lunch at Biergarten. I was in the buffet line next to a woman and her son(looked to be about 8ish). The mom was dishing the food onto his plate and gave him some green beans. Well the kid grabbed it off of his plate and threw it back into the serving dish. Now, kids do stupid things like this, that is not the issue. My issue was that the Mom did not do anything to fix it. She told the kid "don't do that", but never told the cast member to take the beans off of the line. That is not right. If I had not seen it and said something, someone would have got that kid's tossed green bean. Please go over the rules with your kids before you get to the buffet line. Thank you.

I used to love buffets, but lately I've heard lots of stories like this, so I'm definitely rethinking. Starting to lose my appetite for buffets.

 

[fly girl]

I liked the idea with the buffets in which they served you. That felt appropriate for the current times we are in. I was a little surprised when they switched it back to the self serve option.

However, seeing that I am not a buffet goer to begin with (only really utilize them occasionally on a cruise) I am not the clientele they are going for anyway.

 

[Betty Rohrer]

Well obviously, if I was traveling with my young child, I would not leave them alone at the table, however, I'd be overly cautious in making sure my kid wasn't breathing on, leaning on or touching anything near the food. Again, these are different times now. In my opinion, buffets shouldn't even be operating now, but since they are, those with small kids should be extra mindful and considerate of others.

I do buffets in our area with young grandchild and yes I watch but things still can happen. worse yet I have lost my balance walking dropping plate which went into food and floor as I fell. yes I told someone as they were trying to get me back up but nothing was done about food in serving dish until they got me back up. which is main reason I ask for different gloves that ones provided for guests as I can not hold my cane right with the guest ones. so it is not always small children that cause the problem

 

[Betty Rohrer]

I liked the idea with the buffets in which they served you. That felt appropriate for the current times we are in. I was a little surprised when they switched it back to the self serve option.

However, seeing that I am not a buffet goer to begin with (only really utilize them occasionally on a cruise) I am not the clientele they are going for anyway.

read my story just up from this where I fell granted it was self serve but even if server had been serving my food would still have gone in serving dish as I fell. so server serving is not always the answer

 

[Betty Rohrer]

I traveled with my 2 kids alone all the time. They are 13 months apart and I started traveling with them solo when they were 2&3 years old. Plus I went places in town with them starting at a young age. I taught them from a very young age how to act in places. We need to stop letting bad parenting off the hook with lazy excuses. It's not that hard to keep your kids right by your side and make sure they are not doing things that they are not supposed to be doing. Plus, if your kid does do something like that, then YOU do the right thing and tell the employee and "gasp" apologize for their behavior.

I have done same thing with 2 grandkids at about same age but they could not be right beside me as I walk with a cane. have had people complain because they were beside me but I still had to use my cane which meant we took up some space and moved slow. as I have said in story in this post I fell with my plate of food going on floor and also into a serving dish. I did tell staff but nothing was done about it until they got me taken care of which was not fast. so weird things do happen

 

[fly girl]

read my story just up from this where I fell granted it was self serve but even if server had been serving my food would still have gone in serving dish as I fell. so server serving is not always the answer

Nothing is ever perfect, but a lot less hands touch the utensils and mishaps are less likely to occur being served. Just my opinion.

I never liked buffets because all I think about is the guy in front of me touching the salad scooper may have just went to the bathroom and not washed. That has always skeeved me out because now I am touching it.

 

[DSLRuser]

So we just got back from out trip and we had lunch at Biergarten. I was in the buffet line next to a woman and her son(looked to be about 8ish). The mom was dishing the food onto his plate and gave him some green beans. Well the kid grabbed it off of his plate and threw it back into the serving dish. Now, kids do stupid things like this, that is not the issue. My issue was that the Mom did not do anything to fix it. She told the kid "don't do that", but never told the cast member to take the beans off of the line. That is not right. If I had not seen it and said something, someone would have got that kid's tossed green bean. Please go over the rules with your kids before you get to the buffet line. Thank you.

Meh.....if you didn't see it, you wouldn't have worried about it. Yes it was wrong, but preaching to random people here won't fix it. Part of eating at a Buffett. you never know what flavor enhancement you are going to get.