Reasonable to fine diners for taking too much food at a buffet or not?

[Jingthing]

I've never heard of a buffet where you are allowed to take leftover food home. Nor would I ever expect that. It's unreasonable and really a non-issue.

[Jingthing]

49 minutes ago, jobwolf said:

It is the Customers responsibility to use his Brains and common sense.  Etiquette has nothing to do with upbringing  and proper manners. Most people on this forum seem to have no manners and even less brains and all that counts for them is excuses so they can keep going on with their narrow minded way of live. If you can not afford to go to a proper quality Buffet and need to take food home act accordingly and behave nicely.

You're aware of how "most people" on this forum behave at buffets?

Wow. Impressive.

Anyway, as I've said in real life the kind of outrageous waste abuse that might be seen on a viral video is not all that common. 

Customers should take food within reason and if they have reasonable reasons not to clean their plates (I've offered SEVERAL of those good reasons here) then reasonable restaurant owners will accept that as a cost of doing business and realize actually enforcing penalties is really bad PR. 

[Alwyn]

23 hours ago, Jingthing said:

That's ridiculous and it promotes obesity. So you put something on your plate that looks good and you start eating it and you realize it doesn't taste as good as it looks or you can now tell it's a really unhealthy food, and based on your "morality" preaching you're still supposed to clean your plate?

You know a sleazy tactic a lot of buffets use is to offer those kinds of very high fat and high sugar foods that will fill you up really fast and hope you eat those foods and not the more expensive often healthier items. 

Of course if you've been to the same place multiple times you have a better idea of what the food is probably going to be like but when it's a new buffet or new foods on the same buffet, really, you can't always tell just by looking at it whether you're really going to want to finish it.

Of course I'm not saying it's reasonable or right to empty out a tray of food and then barely touch it. 

Such extremes are rare. The OP was not about that kind of extreme. People who do that should be told please don't come back. 

More like my example of the precut lasagna portion where it's socially awkward to cut it at the buffet and then you don't want to finish it. 

"The OP was not about that kind of people"? It is exactly about those kind of people. I don't get how you or anybody can be supportive of people wasting food? There again, there's a lot I don't understand about people

[Jingthing]

OK, if you're talking about gross abusers, of course that is not OK.

But not eating everything you bring to the table for numerous very good reasons which I've already detailed, is also quite OK. 

A restaurant can do what they want about gross abusers. Fine them if warned, tell them not to come back, etc.

I've heard rare cases of restaurants asking big eaters that DO eat all the food to stay away too ... is that fair when they advertise all you can eat?

Sure customers should use common sense and so should restaurants. In my experience, that is the actual environment out there ... both are mostly using common sense. 

 

In case you need a reminder of a good reason, suppose you see a cut of meat that LOOKS good, you take it to the table and you find it is badly over SALTED. I say, just leave it. There is no point in complaining as there would be if you ordered it from a regular menu. There are many other foods to choose that are not disgusting. The idea that you must EAT that food, that is disgusting, that is harmful to your health, just to be seen as a "good and morally upright customer" at the buffet is basically INSANE. 

Edited August 3, 2016 by Jingthing

[JHolmesJr]

How about introduce smaller plates for buffet and/or limit only one plate per diner…..

 

Dont stack the fresh plates at the buffet table…hand them over to the diners as they walk in.

[fabrizio garbo]

1 hour ago, Jingthing said:

OK, if you're talking about gross abusers, of course that is not OK.

But not eating everything you bring to the table for numerous very good reasons which I've already detailed, is also quite OK. 

A restaurant can do what they want about gross abusers. Fine them if warned, tell them not to come back, etc.

I've heard rare cases of restaurants asking big eaters that DO eat all the food to stay away too ... is that fair when they advertise all you can eat?

Sure customers should use common sense and so should restaurants. In my experience, that is the actual environment out there ... both are mostly using common sense. 

 

In case you need a reminder of a good reason, suppose you see a cut of meat that LOOKS good, you take it to the table and you find it is badly over SALTED. I say, just leave it. There is no point in complaining as there would be if you ordered it from a regular menu. There are many other foods to choose that are not disgusting. The idea that you must EAT that food, that is disgusting, that is harmful to your health, just to be seen as a "good and morally upright customer" at the buffet is basically INSANE. 

   What several time from U mentioned, sorryti say but for me is not The case. What in The pic. shown is clearly sort of barbeque buffet, and what left, are usually various plates of pork, chicken and so on, (I like pork grilled...uhm so as it is all I Can eat I take 3 plates, as I don't care)  "narrowminded thoughts"!!!! Obviously not customer fault if food not good and nobody could be oblied to eat disgusting food, even for free.

[Jingthing]

1 hour ago, JHolmesJr said:

How about introduce smaller plates for buffet and/or limit only one plate per diner…..

 

Dont stack the fresh plates at the buffet table…hand them over to the diners as they walk in.

You probably already know that many buffet restaurants already employ such behavior control measures. They're businesses. Food is a cost. There is nothing wrong with that.

 

HOWEVER, that said, I've been to a few buffet places where the control measures are so HEAVY HANDED and RUDE as to make the experience not so much fun.

 

People go out to eat not only to eat but to have fun and enjoy themselves.

 

Places that go overboard with overbearing control measures risk losing some customers that are just turned off by the feeling of that.

 

It's their choice and also the customer's choice to return, or not. 

[Jingthing]

10 minutes ago, fabrizio garbo said:

   What several time from U mentioned, sorryti say but for me is not The case. What in The pic. shown is clearly sort of barbeque buffet, and what left, are usually various plates of pork, chicken and so on, (I like pork grilled...uhm so as it is all I Can eat I take 3 plates, as I don't care)  "narrowminded thoughts"!!!! Obviously not customer fault if food not good and nobody could be oblied to eat disgusting food, even for free.

Fine but perhaps you noticed this is a WIDER discussion about buffets than just what is in the picture.

Yes, the picture shows a lot of waste, but the bill was 5000 baht.

That's a big bill in Thailand.

The restaurant made a lot of money on that group, don't kid yourself.

By being petty and charging them a fine, they are within their rights (as the warning was posted) but in my view extremely IDIOTIC from a public relations POV.

The reality is if the same group came in daily and spent the same money, wasting the same food, the restaurant would be thrilled to making so much money from them daily. 

So turn them off with a petty fine? JUST STUPID business practice. 

[richard_smith237]

Firstly - Generally speaking a Buffet is not Fine Dining !!...  now thats out of the way........ 

 

Many Buffet's of similar nature to the OP charge for wasted food and have notices up which clearly identify this practice. 

Having observed the behaviour of some people at buffets I see this as a necessary evil. I have seen middle aged women pushing each other out of the way at get to the prawns first at an Oishi Buffet in Bangkok. 

 

It seems that when a 'buffet environment' is busy, people forget their humanity and start fearing that they may loose out, a holding mentality kicks in and people load up their plates..... "Got to get your money's worth !!" 

 

So, I understand the practice of charging for wasted food at many mid and low range buffets, but feel it is unnecessary at Sunday Brunches (Oriental, Marriott etc)...  

 

The owner was certainly taking a chance by upsetting 20 customers over a 100 baht 'additional wastage charge'...  and its certainly not worth the negative publicity - perhaps there is something more to the story or the owner was having a particularly bad day and forgot her customer service hat.

[Jingthing]

My opinion is that the warning signs are mostly for show and do help persuade most people to keep within reasonable limits. Actually of course most people don't even need the signs for that but the fear factor I'm sure is helpful.

 

 I am pretty confident that most buffet restaurants don't actually enforce the fines except in exceptionally abusive cases.  

 

Again about the OP picture, if the restaurant didn't really like that group, they would have been better off  charging them a MASSIVE fine. They've lost their business anyway, in my view, they deserve to lose their business with their rude pettiness. May as well  make a one off fee from them. 

 

Edited August 3, 2016 by Jingthing

[happy Joe]

Unbelievable. We will soon promote selfish gluttony here.

 

A Pattaya in the heyday of Pullman buffets 1000b per person all inclusive I went every Friday with compatriots.

 

The show to see some hustle other to be the first to choose ashamed me more than once. One of them especially who could not finish his plate. Well we asked him to sit far away from us to another table. I hope the lesson will have benefited.

 

Anyway here, there are some with which I will not venture into this kind of evening.

[Jingthing]

I am not promoting gluttony. The OPPOSITE actually. There is a reality of human nature that the eye is often bigger than the stomach. If you do make a mistake and take or order too much food, it's wrong to feel you need to eat all of that food once you are satisfied. 

[happy Joe]

I understand what you say. You refer to an overweight person discipline comprising stop eating whenever the mood fades.

 

But is it precisely more nice to start by learning filling plate with moderation and without haste ?

[jobwolf]

Do you realise that Eye and Brain are actually connected??    

 

[Jingthing]

1 hour ago, jobwolf said:

Do you realise that Eye and Brain are actually connected??    

 

We are influenced by every part of our body including the stomach. 
Portion control is an issue for any style of eating.

When people are served large portions in regular restaurants, some people feel they need to clean the plate, regardless of too large a portion.

Also messages of satiety are delayed and modern people are often not connected to hunger and satiety anyway ... eating is based on external social norms, such as it's dinner time, you must eat now.

I was just reading that the cliche we all know "the eyes are bigger than the stomach" has a version in most cultures of the world ... so it's part of the human experience.

It particularly comes into play in buffets where there are lots of tempting foods. Smaller plates and some kind of a plate control policy is probably a good idea for both business and customer, but like I said before if a business projects an environment of joyless strict control at a supposedly "all you can eat" offer, it may damage the fun of the experience.

Even when cooking at home I think there are studies showing if you use smaller plates, that can help with portion control. If your plates are huge and the portion looks tiny compared to the plate, people may feel they're not getting a large enough portion. 

Back to buffets, I really don't think a large percentage of people are INTENTIONALLY taking too much food with the purpose of not eating it. But it's true lots of people do take more food than they end up eating ... but not usually in scandalous amounts. 

 

 

Edited August 3, 2016 by Jingthing

[Jingthing]

1 hour ago, happy Joe said:

I understand what you say. You refer to an overweight person discipline comprising stop eating whenever the mood fades.

 

But is it precisely more nice to start by learning filling plate with moderation and without haste ?

No, you don't understand.

I was not referring to overweight people in that context at all.

I have seen many fit people eating massive amounts of food at a buffet and obese people eating moderately as well.

The reference I made before was more general. That social conditioning, whether guilt trips from parents or businesses shaming people that accidentally take too much food in a buffet, to CLEAN YOUR PLATES contributes to people developing obesity in the first place. I think I posted a link before providing evidence of that.

[fiddlehead]

 

 

[Jingthing]

1 hour ago, fiddlehead said:

 

 

Rude of them to order people to go home.

Perhaps they prefer to go to the park bench or a night at the opera?

You just know they offer "gourmet" "Chinese" food there ... 

[aquario33]

On 8/2/2016 at 1:46 PM, Jingthing said:

Yes.

Maybe you don't go to buffets.

People who do have had the experience where they put a portion of something on their plate and then don't find it appealing enough to eat all of it.

Yes, that can be dealt with by taking smaller portions, but sometimes food look better than they are.

Or you get them back and they are too rich, too salty, too sweet, and you realize if you finish it you won't want to eat other foods on the buffet that you'd rather eat.

This is more of a problem when the portions are set and you need to take a whole portion instead of a small amount.

An Italian buffet I go to sometimes has lasagna. The portions are precut. If you cut that up at the buffet people will look at you in a rude manner, so the polite thing is to take the entire portion. But this is very rich creamy lasagna and I'd never want to eat that much of that one thing in a buffet that has ten other things.

Get it now?

Real enough for you?

Or are you just into insulting people? 

Makes sense. Especially for newbies in Asian Countries ,they want to try new food at Buffets  etc.

But, once again, Common Sense is the Keyword...

[aquario33]

On 8/2/2016 at 3:00 PM, tuanku said:

Its "all you can eat" They obviously couldn't eat it. It is not an "all you can take" buffet. Perhaps what she should have done is bagged the left over food and charged for it but let them take it away?. Many restaurants are willing to do this if you accidentally over-order.

Maybe they left over what wasnt delicious to them? Should they claim that , in front of other guests...? Probably whorst scenario , make the owner loose face .

[aquario33]

On 8/2/2016 at 9:48 PM, DipStick said:

 

Excuse me but I am not a Dude nor am I a redneck, if you have issues with a restaurant, can I suggest the obvious way is to resolve the issue with the management. I am beginning to realise why the Trump issue is becoming more and more boring, I also get the feeling that you are competing with the chines food wise ! Well done resident of the year ! 

People usually go to Restaurants, Buffets etc. not because of they want COMPLAIN but enjoy and maybe try out new food. Would you really like to start discussions with servants about their food quality? Dont you think they would feel ashamed, telling it to the kitchen staff or owner....

[puukao]

i usually just sneeze and fart all over the food on my way out...

[jaltsc]

"...whether it is reasonable to fine diners who take too much food at 'all you can eat' BBQ restaurants. "

 

They solved that problem  in the states. The sign above the buffet states:"Eat all you want. However, you will be charged menu price for any food left over on your table. It is advised that you make a number of visits to the buffet and bring back small portions. Again, there is no limit to the number of visits you can make to the buffet".

 

Easy to understand, and doesn't limit the amount one can eat. Only how much one can waste.

[jobin]

'Take what you want, eat what you take'.   Saw that sign in a friday night buffet in rural Illinois years ago.  Seems a good idea.

[drbill]

I'd say the owner and her guests are lucky to have lost them as patron's. They sound like uncultured trash.

[Rorri]

It does say "all you can EAT" clearly, going by the photo, they did not eat it, so yes, with so much waste there should be a fine. These premises work on slim margins, these idiots make it hard to cover costs.

[NativeSon360]

If the food is 90% consumed, 10% waste then they should not be fined.However, if those percentage figures are reversed, then by all means, fine the hell out of those arrogant, jerk-headed, food-wasting customers.

[Gillyflower]

Some years back in the soi (the CM saloon is on one corner and the UN pub the other) just behind the CM saloon there was a buffet all you can eat place.  There you paid for any piece of meat taken and not eaten.  Clearly marked.  It was a great place and was full of farangs.  As far as I know, no problem with the ruling.  Oh, at the time it was 90-100 baht.

Edited August 25, 2016 by Gillyflower

[baansgr]

On ‎8‎/‎2‎/‎2016 at 4:10 AM, Jingthing said:

Wow. Very short sighted of an owner to be so petty on such a large check.

From my POV, when eating at a buffet sometimes the eye is bigger than the stomach.

To force people to finish their plate promotes obesity.

Sometimes I'll take a portion of something that looks good but it turns out it's awful tasting, so don't eat it.

Sure there are limits such as if someone hogs a whole tray of seafood and then doesn't touch it but I doubt that happens that often. 

Cost of doing business.

5,000 Baht for 20 patrons is hardly a large cheque. 250 per person and that would include drinks. There seems to be a considerable amount of food wasted so 100 is very reasonable. Most of these BBQ places clearly state that a surcharge will be made for food not consumed and rarely enforce this unless a considerable amount is left as is in this instance

[piewarmer]

A cheap Thai buffet will have all sorts of delicious looking meats, ribs, chicken... even duck. but back at the table I find its all fat, bones and gristle.

I have gone home hungry more than a few times.