My husband and I are used to eating in a buffet particularly breakfast when we are booked in a hotel especially during our trips abroad. But we are light eaters and a second helping is more than enough. My sister has this knack of getting most from the buffet table. Her first lesson is to test the soup and the salad. Just a small plate of salad and half a cup of soup. When done, talk with your companion for 5 minutes before standing up to get the entree. Since there are lots of dishes to choose from, she would have 2 or 3 to sample. After finishing the first set of entrees, talk again for 5 minutes before getting the second set. That 5-minute interval, according to her, is the key to be able to eat that much. And another tip is... do not drink soda because it will make your stomach full. Sorry but I am on a diet, hahahaaa.
When I lived in Texas, I liked going to Luby's, where you choose the individual dishes that you want, each adding to the cost, and although it was very good, the cost was always far more than I intended to spend.
We have a Ryan's Buffet here, and they always have great food, and if you get there in time for the senior lunch special, then the drink (soda, tea, or coffee) comes with the lunch. They also have a breakfast buffet; but we are hardly ever out to eat any time but lunch now and then. There is a new Golden Corral restaurant here, and it is the most awesome place that you can imagine ! There is no way that a person could begin to try even a fraction of the delightful foods that they serve at that buffet. When @Ina I. Wonder came to visit us, she took @Joyce Mcgregor and I out to lunch there, and we are still talking about how wonderful an experience that it was. Maybe Bobby and I can go out for dinner (well, probably lunch) on our anniversary, and if we do that; then Golden Corral would be my first choice.
I used to eat at a Luby's in Texas, one in Wichita Falls and one in Lubbock. However, my all time favorite, in Texas, was Underwoods. Used to be a bunch of them scattered over the state. I guess the one in Brownwood is the only one left. I've also tried a number of the Golden Carols. I liked the one in Lubbock. I haven't tried the one here.
We had Golden Corral when I lived out in Washington State, and they had great food; but they were just more like a regular buffet like Ryan's or Shoney's. The new one here in Huntsville has special buffet tables for different kinds of foods, such as Mexican, or seafood, plus the salad bar and dessert bar and (of course) the regular buffet items like fried chicken and mashed or sweet potatoes. Oh, yes, it also had a special bar for loaded baked potatoes. It was proabably the largest buffet that I have ever seen. NO one could ever go home hungry from that place ! !
On my birthday next month, the kids are already requesting at this early. They want me to treat them to Buffet 101, the most popular buffet restaurant here with more than 30 main dishes that excludes soups of 3 kinds, a variety of salads and a long table of dessert. Although it is quite expensive at $20 per person, the variety of food is worth the cost. Funny, we are like gluttons whenever we would eat there because we normally arrive by 11 am and leave at 2 pm. Clearly that's 3 hours of eating time, huh. My sister and her family are gourmands, they eat almost anything particularly classy food like lobsters, crabs and shrimps, steak and roasted pig. So I have to continue with my diet since next month we will have another feast.