Anyone else miss all the salad bars and buffets that restaurants used to have?

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JinxyMagee@reddit

Beefsteak Charlie’s popped into my mind. Then I felt old.

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MustBeNargles@reddit

I miss Abdow’s Big Boy. They had the best French dressing.

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Post COVID, nope. I’m way more aware of germs and more importantly, other folks’ lack of being sanitary. But I do remember my childhood and LOVING to hit up the Sizzler salad bar with my family lol. Also the Chinese buffets when they became popular

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kalitarios@reddit

All I know is the Golden Corral near Chestefield, MI has a police officer station inside the restaurant. It’s like people running for their gutload of food from the trough while some teenager dips half a wedge of low-quality steak into the chocolate fountain and someone always knocks over the stack of dishes at the end of the table rows

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Lanky-Owl6622@reddit

A police station inside the Golden Corral. That's so American I can't even wrap my head around it.

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salchichasconpapas@reddit

I wouldn't go to a Golden Corral without a police station

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kalitarios@reddit

There’s station for a police officer to be posted during dinner hour, not an actual police station itself. Should have clarified that

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Aggressive-Pilot6781@reddit

Perhaps if you had said “a police officer stationed” it would have made more sense.

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ElectricTomatoMan@reddit

Stationed is the word you were looking for.

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thejadsel@reddit

To be fair, I have seen restaurants that always seemed to have at least a cop or two in there drinking coffee or eating something, likely on the house. But, I have yet to see any food establishment with any officers actually posted in there on the regular.

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Tex_Watson@reddit

Now I'm picturing a Golden Corral with jail cells in it.

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Vprbite@reddit

You're under arrest for suspicion of sharing the buffet while only paying for one. You have the right to remain silent. Any potato or blue cheese burps made can and will be used against you in a golden corral court of law. You have the right to take a giant, sticky, buffet dump. If you can not afford a bidet, some cheap one ply toilet paper that rips and sticks to your ass will be appointed to you and provided free of charge. Do you understand your golden corral rights as they have been explained to you?

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Lanky-Owl6622@reddit

There is very little difference, my friend 😆

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jondes99@reddit

Either way it’s an armed guard.

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Lanky-Owl6622@reddit

For the GOLDEN CORRAL! YEE HAW!

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daisymae25@reddit

There's a GC near me, and I'm happy to say I've been simply because I'll end up hating people more than I already do.

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TheJokersChild@reddit

Closest Corral to me makes you ask your server for plates. Apparently they’ve had theft problems.

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dethb0y@reddit

Golden Corral is fuckin' beautiful and I love it.

I think all foreign leaders visiting the US should have to go to a golden corral.

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JasonMaggini@reddit

I've gotten food poisoning from two different Golden Corrals. They are on my permanent no-go list.

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PumpkinSpiceFreak@reddit

💯

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NoFox1446@reddit

Saw this outside of DC once! My son and I still laugh about it.

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bigotis@reddit

I was at a Golden Corral in NC, went to the dessert area for a piece of cake and a boy about 8 years old came up and stuck his index finger up the soft serve ice cream dispenser tube. He the licked the ice cream off and stuck it back up for a second taste.

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Kershiser22@reddit

The Golden Corral near me removed the chocolate fountain due to covid and never brought it back.

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moneyman74@reddit

I never see the word 'smorgasborg' anymore. Kids today may have no idea what this word is, but it was pretty common in the Midwest in the 80s.

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THEREALSTRINEY@reddit

There are a few in Lancaster PA! The Shady Maple is probably the most famous of them all. PA Dutch cooking for breakfast, lunch and dinner! You even get a free meal on your birthday! I’m pretty sure it’s Mennonite owed, so they are closed on Sunday.

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salchichasconpapas@reddit

There was one in Lancaster I remember back in the day I think it was Seven Seasoning or Seven Spices or some such thing it was fantastic

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happyginny44@reddit

I live in Lancaster

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THEREALSTRINEY@reddit

Very cool! I live in York. I like Lancaster better!

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spiralizerizer@reddit

Also one in Mennonite country in Newton, Kansas.

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mintBRYcrunch26@reddit

Whoa! Hello Central PA friend!

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THEREALSTRINEY@reddit

Hello! I’m in York, where are you?

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quarterlybreakdown@reddit

I ❤️ the Shady

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Novagurl@reddit

Sir George’s Smorgasbord was the bomb! San Diego CA.

I still remember how I would load up on chocolate mousse and sugar hush puppies and my mom DIDN’T EVEN CARE!!! What a time

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Organgrindersmonkey@reddit

Yes! That's the one! I still dream about it fifty years later...

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katzeye007@reddit

Here in South cakalakey there's still a S&s cafeteria. I ate there once... It was an experience

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LessIsMore74@reddit

We had some fantastic ones in Chicago. I don't think any of them were chains. Just people from the old Europe bringing their culinary and bakery delights for our enjoyment. I have such fond memories of all of it, yet I can't tell you a single name of anything I ate.

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MatthewSlaughter@reddit

Obligatory Borgasmord

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okaygecko@reddit

A veritable smorgasboard!

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AerynBevo@reddit

Oh, thank you for that! I love Templeton and his fair.

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LilRedditWagon@reddit

I always think of Templeton when I hear/see Smorgasbord!

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Pittypatkittycat@reddit

We had frogs legs at ours.

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habu-sr71@reddit

Yeah...nothing I love more than a piping hot Smorga!

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BrokenPinkyPromise@reddit

The salad bar was like blank canvas of debauchery for little me. Whatever culinary nonsense my mind could come up with, it was going on the plate.

Healthy options? Nah. Let’s do some iceberg lettuce, 12 pounds of croutons, every olive in the restaurant, acres of those baby corn cobs, a gallon of blue cheese, and about 26 scoops of pistachio dream on the side. Wash that crap down with free refills of coke.

Hell. Yeah.

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Barbarella_ella@reddit

LOLOL! How did all that not make you sick? Or did it and you didn't care?

Thanks for the laugh. I needed it. :-)

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deltarefund@reddit

Have you met a kid? They never actually finish those plates.

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Barbarella_ella@reddit

True. Seems to take until they hit 13 or 14 for them to not leave half the plate behind.

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deltarefund@reddit

I think it’s the novelty of being in charge of your own plate/dinner.

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forgotwhatisaid2you@reddit

If you didn't leave sick. You weren't even trying.

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deltarefund@reddit

Don’t forget peach slices and jello cubes!

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MurkyLow1168@reddit

Oh gods, yes! Old County Buffet in the big mall in my neck of the woods in Minnesota.

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tommyjohnpauljones@reddit

You down with OCB?

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MurkyLow1168@reddit

Old Country Barffet in my neck of the woods.

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Cranky_Uncle@reddit

Yeah, you know me!

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madcatter10007@reddit

💀💀💀 but I think i love you

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LessIsMore74@reddit

So many of us behaved like this, and yet, we are dumbfounded as to why they no longer have these salad bars and buffets. 😆

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fullmetaldreamboat@reddit

This is tea.

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pcapdata@reddit

During COVID I saw a well-dressed gentleman at Whole Foods drink soup directly from the pot.

He just slurped it out of the ladle and then put the ladle back.

So, I gotta say, no, I don’t miss eating in buffet situations where every other customer is messing with the food.

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deltarefund@reddit

Saw a guy just reach into the buffet and start munching on fried shrimp or something while waiting for the carving station. Dude, at least put it on your plate first!

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katzeye007@reddit

Psst, we're still in a pandemic

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my-coffee-needs-me@reddit

I saw somebody do that pre-Covid. I immediately told the store staff so they could remove the soup.

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daisymae25@reddit

WTF? Yikes.

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ElectricTomatoMan@reddit

He was a genitalman. What a dick.

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GenericRedditor1937@reddit

Haha, gross. I just wrote about the man I saw picking at his butt while waiting in line for the Pizza Hut salad bar. A nope for me as well. These aren't even children who should be more disgusting, but adults!

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deltarefund@reddit

I miss salad bars so much!!!!

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Acrobatic-Mud-6293@reddit

I deeply miss the Wendy’s salad bar

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katmcflame@reddit

I miss Fresh Choice. The nearest Sizzler is about 50 miles away, but we go several times per year.

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equal_poop@reddit

I miss Ruby Tuesdays, until I went there I had never considered soft fresh croutons existed. Beautiful tasty dark rye croutons that I devoured along with that awesome salad bar really made me happy. Then COVID hit and the only one in town just closed up, never to recover.

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Jimmybuffett4life@reddit

I used to eat just those covered in blue cheese

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DonkeyKong694NE1@reddit

Vehicles to convey Blue cheese dressing to your mouth was the whole purpose of salad bars imo

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Jimmybuffett4life@reddit

Damn st8

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Magerimoje@reddit

Same, but ranch

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Vprbite@reddit

Oh that sounds money

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Acceptable-Book4400@reddit

The intense craving I get for those croutons and, just, absolutely everything on the salad bar…!

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herefortheguffaws@reddit

In all the years I had known my husband, he had never vomited UNTIL we ate from the salad bar at Ruby Tuesdays. We were both sick pretty quickly after eating there.

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Temporary_Shirt_6236@reddit

So when bread goes stale it gets hard, but when croutons go stale they get soft. So are stale croutons just bread? And stale bread just croutons? No! Stale bread and stale croutons are gross and I just don't believe in anything anymore.

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LessIsMore74@reddit

I feel like I should offer a toll-free number here for mental health support.

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Temporary_Shirt_6236@reddit

It's been hard go this past week

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LessIsMore74@reddit

Absolutely.

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Temporary_Shirt_6236@reddit

I'm not even American, but rather a Canadian currently visiting a swing state to help clear out my elderly FIL's house. The sheer amount of Republican fundraising mail he's gotten and piled up...it's both shocking and depressing to see how low information voters succumbed to the massive lie-and-grift machine that is today's GOP.

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chickamonga@reddit

I don't like croutons - except for Ruby Tuesday's. Those were awesome.

I found this recipe a while back, but I haven't made them, myself. https://www.justapinch.com/recipes/snack/crackers/the-best-ever-croutons.html

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Adventurous_Drama_56@reddit

They were deep fried. I worked at a RT. When I found this out, I quit eating them.

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camcaine2575@reddit

I worked for Ruby Tuesdays in the 90s. Those croutons were very good. But what a lot of people didn't know is they are deep fried for a few minutes in the same fryer as the chicken and other meats. We had a lady who ate often off the salad bar regularly. She worked in the mall that the restaurant was located. One day, she was praising the croutons and their flavor. Well, when she was told the secret "recipe," she suddenly had a medical emergency and had her lunch partner call 911. Our manager who was not someone who "suffered fools" plus he hated the "mall ladies". So he made it known that she was there every day and ate those same croutons each time.

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DrEnter@reddit

Soft fresh croutons? Isn’t that just pieces of bread?

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HildredGhastaigne@reddit

When you bake croutons fresh, they're a mix of soft and crispy very distinct from the super-dry type you get in bags. I started making them for my wife years back, and totally spoiled her for storebought croutons.

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LessIsMore74@reddit

Absolutely. I make a version of this by dicing bread, then tossing it in a mixing bowl with olive oil, Italian seasoning, salt and pepper. I throw that into the air fryer for a few minutes, shaking it every now and then. My wife loves it. If you're gluten-free like she is, it's so much cheaper to just get a gluten-free bread then to buy gluten free croutons. And of course, it works with gluten bread, which is one of my favorite things.

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HildredGhastaigne@reddit

I make chicken Caesar salad by cutting the bread in half lengthwise and lining the bottom of a roasting pan with it, roasting the seasoned chicken on top of the bread, and then cutting up the bread and baking it until done. The seasoned fat that runs out of the chicken has the same effect as tossing in seasoned oil, and people go nuts for it. I once plated up the salad forgetting the croutons, and almost had a riot on my hands!

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babygotbooksandback@reddit

You are definitely a keeper!

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ericzku@reddit

Cubed and seasoned pieces of bread

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MundaneMeringue71@reddit

Their croutons are the best. The one in my area was also a Covid casualty but got to go to one while traveling recently and it is still pretty good. Menu isn’t what it used to be but the salad bar was mostly unchanged from what I remember.

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mysisterhasherpes@reddit

Sometimes I make my own croutons- never thought about rye bread! Thanks!

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donstermu@reddit

We still have a ruby Tuesdays, but we went for the first time since probably before Covid (we had a gift card we forgot about). Still had a salad bar but it was NOT the epic bar it was before. Just a typical salad bar. Was disappointed. Not worth the $5.98 to add to the entree

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daisymae25@reddit

Yes, they had the best salad bar!

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fullmetaldreamboat@reddit

As a vegetarian and sometimes vegan, a Ruby T’s by the highway was a beacon of light on a roadtrip.

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BeginningNobody4812@reddit (OP)

I also miss their 1 pound (or was 2 pound) baked potatoes.

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SadCranberry8838@reddit

I'm good with not having all-you-can-eat buffets as readily available as they once were, zero desire to gorge myself on Sysco food.

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Dull_Conversation669@reddit

The Wendy's bar was FIRE.

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habu-sr71@reddit

Out here California way they used to have this chain called Fresh Choice. It was a huge salad bar but also pasta bar, dessert bar, pizza bar....everything but a real bar.

I really had a hard time moving after nights out at Fresh Choice.

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darkest_irish_lass@reddit

Funny story - just out of high school, I worked at a restaurant with a salad bar and a little old lady would come in and steal the muffins to take home. My manager would wage war by taking the muffin basket and walking aimlessly around with it to protect them.

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Fun_Independent_7529@reddit

Awwww. Was she stealing that many? I'd think one or two for an old lady wouldn't hurt, if she'd paid for lunch already or whatnot.

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darkest_irish_lass@reddit

I agree but I wasn't the boss🤷. I think it was more a friendly contest than anything mean spirited.

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Lanky-Owl6622@reddit

Ours was called Souper Salad. Soup bar and salad bar but also had potatoes and pasta. I miss that place and it's been decades!

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lgoodat@reddit

that warm gingerbread!

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soaringrabbit@reddit

SouperSalad was incredible! Really good fettuccine salad, and vegetable beef soup.

Also, I loved Kids Incorporated!

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Clean_Ad_1556@reddit

I'm in lubbock, tx, and we have a souper salad!

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Lanky-Owl6622@reddit

You still have it down there! I'm in Wichita and they've all closed up here,!

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ArturosDad@reddit

I adored that place, but always went home feeling like I had a compost heap percplating in my guts. Worth it!!

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Lanky-Owl6622@reddit

I had my salad perfected.

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MTheadedRaccoon@reddit

I do miss me some Fresh Choice. I worked at the one in Milpitas in the late 80's. LOVED LOVED LOVED eating there! I also worked at the one in Cupertino Vallco Mall early 90's.

Probably the best "hindsight is 20-20" story... 1984/1985-ish. My dad ran his own concrete business. Guy hired him to do a big job at his nice, fancy house. Guy offers my dad an opportunity to invest in this new concept for a restaurant; an all-you-can-eat soup and salad bar. My dad thought he was crazy, that it would never catch on, and declined. It was originally called California Fresh but when they wanted to expand to other states, it was renamed Fresh Choice.

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krissym99@reddit

I used to love their tuna tarragon pasta salad.

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Springrollheaven@reddit

They had something similar in WA called Zoopa's. My mouth is watering just thinking about it.

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Fun_Independent_7529@reddit

OMG the Zoopa's! Tukwila, even at Bellevue Square for awhile.
Dang did they ever charge a fortune but I loved that place.

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MethodInternal489@reddit

I remember Tukwila Zoopas!

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PumpkinSpiceFreak@reddit

Daily City! 🥲

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ThreeToedMartian@reddit

San Leandro at Bayfair for us. The mention of Daly City has me craving Filipino food now.

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Pooks23@reddit

I was just talking about Fresh Choice a couple of days ago. We went to the one at Stanford Shopping Center in Palo Alto. So. Much. Food.

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Extension_Case3722@reddit

Fresh Choice was a regular staple in my life. I miss it!

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Extension_Case3722@reddit

Way back when there were North’s Chuck Wagon- my memory is that it was better than Golden Corral but I was a kid so who knows.

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Just-Ice3916@reddit

First time I nearly puked from eating too much at a buffet was at a Fresh Choice! Ah, the memories.

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Poke-a-dotted@reddit

I did love some Fresh Choice.

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BeginningNobody4812@reddit (OP)

That sounds cool. I probably would have had a lot of those nights too if I lived in CA

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countess-petofi@reddit

After I learned during the pandemic how few people wash their hands regularly, I never want to eat at a buffet again.

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silasgoldeanII@reddit

All that food out in the open all that time. Yuck.

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RolandOfGilead@reddit

The Wendy's SuperBar was my obsession for the first 6-12 months it existed. I begged to go every chance I got. The quality and freshness really started to suffer and I got over it, but for a moment there it was the best thing ever. It's probably why I was so into BD's Mongolian BBQ when an ex introduced me to it. I live near what is probably the only one left in Michigan and I don't go quite as often as I probably should.

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Fellowshipofthebowl@reddit

My first job at pizza inn in 1983. I was the salad bar/buffet guy.

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JJQuantum@reddit

I miss a salad bar.

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Passthesea@reddit

We have them in Japan at most steak house type restaurants including Sizzler. In fact just ate at one yesterday.

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tellul8er@reddit

Shoneys breakfast bar-that's what it was all about.

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supershinythings@reddit

Other people pick fights in bars. My Dad picked a fight at a salad bar.

Some old lady Karen in front of him was picking out all the artichoke hearts from the salad. He got annoyed because he LOVES artichoke hearts.

He rumbled loudly to her in his violence-tinged growl homed to perfection by 30 years in the Army, “You gonna leave any for the rest of us?”

As she was yelling her response at him about how she’s entitled to take all she wants blah blah blah her husband hobbled over quickly on his 3-footed cane to give my Dad what-for.

Suddenly the manager appeared with a freshly opened jar of artichoke hearts. Everyone stood down, and disaster was averted.

I can’t even imagine what the police report would have read.

Dad would have easily pasted the guy with the cane, but likely thrown out his back doing so. The old lady would have had a heart attack, and the manager would have been on his phone to his lawyer and insurance agent immediately.

And artichoke hearts would be all over the floor. The real victims are innocent but their hearts are eaten anyway.

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ProfessionalDuck7461@reddit

Your narrative reminds me of A Christmas Story.. lol

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Glad_Discussion_3608@reddit

God I loved me a Sizzler salad bar! 😍😍😍

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GlobbityGlook@reddit

AFAIK Round Table Pizza still has a salad bar.

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Flat-Product-119@reddit

Still a Ponderosa in Butler, PA. Other than that’s where Trump got shot, it’s the biggest thing about that town.

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Sea_Summer272@reddit

Souplantation

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cajunjoel@reddit

They closed during the pandemic and shut down entirely. But someone bought the name and opened a single store in Tucson.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Souplantation_and_Sweet_Tomatoes

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HyperboleHelper@reddit

That doesn't surprise me. I went to high school in Tucson and my parents still live there. When I would visit, that definitely was a place where we'd have to visit each time. It seemed beyond a chain there.

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TotallyNotABot_Shhhh@reddit

There’s also a dupe in riverside area. We drove 1 1/2 hours to try it.. some they got spot on but a lot just did not taste the same. I was so sad. I may actually drive to the AZ one someday. Loved Souplantatiom so much.

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ElectricTomatoMan@reddit

You drove three hours round trip for a shitty salad and soup buffet? That's wild.

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TotallyNotABot_Shhhh@reddit

Yeah lol.. we like going on road trips sometimes. Wasn’t our only stop but it was the main reason.

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Vprbite@reddit

People are treating it like the second coming of christ

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merrique863@reddit

Our version was Sweet Tomatoes. The soup selection hit the spot.

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JasonMaggini@reddit

Same restaurant. The Souplantation name was only used in southern California.

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RandomHuman5432@reddit

I still make a copycat of their Big Chunk Chicken Noodle. I make my own noodles and use a rotisserie chicken from Costco.

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merrique863@reddit

That sounds delicious! Please share your recipe 🙏🏽

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LetsHaveFun1973@reddit

RIP

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South_of_Reality@reddit

Rax and Ponderosa my jam!

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UnfairNight7786@reddit

Prob regional, but Sweet Tomatoes and Fresh Choice. I went to Sizzler after Covid and got food poisoning from the chowder. Never again.

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Dependent_Top_4425@reddit

I used to like Wendy's salad bar....and I loved their pita sandwiches too. As a kid, we always went to Ponderosa. It was awesome to pick whatever you wanted but the best part was the sundae bar afterward! As a young adult I started feeling disgusted by the act of standing in line with a plate in my hand. As a full grown adult, I am disgusted by the food safety and the food itself to be honest.

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Bear_Salary6976@reddit

As a kid, I loved buffets. As I've aged, I saw just how low quality their food is. Yeah, it was really nice loading up on low quality carby foods when my body could handle it. Now, it's just indigestion, gas, and if I'm really lucky, a nasty sinus headache the entire next day. Hangovers feel better than my sinus headaches. To me, the food didn't really taste good anymore.

I used to love the Wendy's Superbar, then I worked at Wendy's in high school and saw how much of that food was literally dehydrated powder with water added. It was a far cry from the burgers that were constantly being made fresh.

Although I do miss salad bars. There are still a few.

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jooes@reddit

That's what I'm thinking.

Do you actually miss the buffets, or do you miss being a kid and having this magical wonderland of different options laid out in front of you?

The food was trash, and people are disgusting, but you don't really notice those kinds of things when you're like 5.

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potsofjam@reddit

I don’t miss the buffet of my childhood, but I do sometimes still wish I was in Vegas so I could go to the buffet and eat snow crab for two hours .

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Bear_Salary6976@reddit

The kid in me certainly misses buffets. If one if the old buffets reopened, I might visit for nostalgic purposes.

There was this one buffet that we went to (Ma Brown's I think was the name) that had arcade games. Every kid got 4 tokens. Playing Joust and Mario Brothers after having a soft serve sundae made my day. I also really liked their New England clam chowder. This was in Cincinnati, so there was nothing fresh about it. But 8 year old me liked it and I still remember it.

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Fun_Independent_7529@reddit

Totally. My parents were very health conscious at home. Carob, Honey, homemade whole wheat bread, the works.
We used to have one in WA when I was a kid called The Royal Fork. Fried chicken! Mashed potatoes & gravy! Salad bar with yummy dressings (that probably had sugar in them!) All the soft drinks and soft-serve ice cream with toppings we could stuff down!

Cheap crap for food but a HUGE treat for us after church.

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No_Zebra2692@reddit

I miss carob! I can't find carob chips anywhere anymore, I loved to put them in vanilla yogurt

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Science_Teecha@reddit

Carob! I can still taste it. Omg. Carob and church? I know exactly what your homemade clothes looked like in the 70s. 😉

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Fun_Independent_7529@reddit

gif

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brickfrenzy@reddit

No, I miss buffets. It's one of the many reasons I like cruising - buffets are still alive and well at sea.

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tommyjohnpauljones@reddit

Yeah thinking back on what was ACTUALLY on the Superbar:

Mexican - greasy ground beef, cheese sauce, shredded lettuce, taco sauce, taco shells

Italian - two kinds of overcooked pasta, runny sauce, garlic bread

American - a middling salad bar

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Bear_Salary6976@reddit

The cheese sauce, refried beans, and pasta sauces all started out as a powder that came out of a plastic bag. It was mixed with hot water from the coffee machine.

The pasta was heated up in water from the coffee machine. I always thought it was weird how it cooked so fast without being boiled.

The taco meat was the overcooked chili meat then mixed with seasoning. Then again, chili and taco beef is normally cooked by cooking or most of the fat then adding season

All of the hot food would dehydrate, so we just added more hot water as the day progressed. I remember that the managers and even the franchise owner was very particular about throwing out fries that were more than 5 minutes old. I remember the owner once told me during a rather slow lunch rush to throw out some fries because they were 5 minutes old. He really was committed to high quality there. But the Super Bar was a different story.

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NapoleonDonutHeart@reddit

I think a lot of the food was actually better quality then. It was more real ingredients and less frankenfood. Not to say there wasn't some fuckery going on but a lot of it just hadn't been invented yet.

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Bear_Salary6976@reddit

There was plenty of frankenfood in the 70s and 80s. In fact, I think there was more of it then than now. Many people had the attitude that since a scientist invented it, that it must be better. People really thought that baby formula was better for a baby than mother's milk because a group of smart scientists could do better than nature. The phrase "Just Add Water" was a big selling point on a lot of foods sold at the grocery store.

I think the reason there were a lot more buffets back in the 80s was because frankenfood was so plentiful that it could keep food costs low.

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desrevermi@reddit

Yup

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HIMcDonagh@reddit

Once ate so much salad bar crap that I puked on the way home

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Main-Indication-6481@reddit

I miss "Sweet Tomatoes"

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AllSugaredUp@reddit

I will literally never stop missing it!!

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Free_Solid9833@reddit

I miss sweet tomatoes. Salad and soup and soft serve? Hell yes.

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schlomo31@reddit

Yes! My brother and I loved pizza hut buffet

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SoberDWTX@reddit

I worked at Steak and Ale Restaurant for like 6 years. It cost me a $1.60 a day for salad bar/bread/potato. If we wanted to buy individual fresh locked meals like the stuffed flounder? $1.60 a piece. Love that salad bar.

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Fight_Tyrnny@reddit

To be honest, NO... only because as a 50 year old now, I cant eat like that. Once you hit 50, you gotta start eating better.

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elliottbtx@reddit

Not missing. Buffets and salad bars kind of grossed me out.

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TexGirl8@reddit

We didn’t go out to eat very much and I remember one friend’s family took me to Steak and Ale. So fancy in my eyes and had the most amazing salad bar. I was so amazed at all the choices. Made a huge chef salad and went for seconds. I think i forgot a steak was coming…..

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sixtyfoursqrs@reddit

Golden Corral Bonanza Ryan’s

All the steak chains pretty much

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Abject_Tomatillo_358@reddit

Yes!

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Money_Jelly5424@reddit

I miss the Wendy’s super bar . All you can eat my ass . Are so many bean tacos they threw me out . But yeah I miss that one

[-]

cholaw@reddit

YES!

I local grocery store has a salad bar. I go there frequently.

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Just-Ice3916@reddit

Roy Rogers' Fixins Bar and Ponderosa. Nuff said.

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katzeye007@reddit

Latent memory unlocked!

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SpiritAdorable7307@reddit

I legit miss the Wendy's Superbar, it fed me through college poverty. The folks at my local W were super cool and would give me two to-go containers so I could pile up at least 3-4 days worth of food with careful stacking. And there were a bunch of vegetables and a pretty nice variety of filling food for something so cheap. I still miss the bread, it was the soft kaiser buns chopped, buttered, and toasted. Good shit, man!!

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katzeye007@reddit

The $1 baked potatoes got me through some lean times

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International-Okra79@reddit

Horn and Horn Smorgasboard was a magical place when I was young.

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Lucky-Sorbet-1363@reddit

I really miss the salad bars and buffets. Whenever I think on those the kid that sneezes in the chocolate fountain pops in my mind. I believe they a thing of the past at least for me.

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nekkid_farts@reddit

Ponderosa had the best salad bar

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Lumpy_Tomorrow8462@reddit

We going Sizzler, we going sizzler

[-]

ybreddit@reddit

We still go when my mom craves it. And it's garbage. And I look forward to and enjoy it. LOL I just wish they still had those creamy fried corn fritter thingies they used to have in the 90s.

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Lumpy_Tomorrow8462@reddit

It still exists? I have not seen one in 25 years.

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No_Zebra2692@reddit

there are a ton in Puerto Rico!

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SirWarm6963@reddit

There's one in Mt. Pleasant MI.

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RandomHuman5432@reddit

I literally went today. They have a free lunch for veterans and I have been taking my dad for years. I also bring my adult kids and their wives/girlfriends, so Sizzler gets some good business. It’s not great, but it’s a decent value and the nostalgia value is high.

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ybreddit@reddit

Oh yeah. I guess it depends on where you live. The one closest to me closed about 5 or 6 years ago, but there's still one in my county that my mom likes to go to once In awhile. But I live in Utah now, I assume the further away you get from major cities the more likely you are to find them. I don't think any of the ones I knew of back home in LA exist anymore.

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GueroBear@reddit

Sizzler. Meatball taco with sour cream and nacho cheese sauce.

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gravitydefiant@reddit

I thought it was so fancy!

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Neyvash@reddit

Yeah, we had to dress up to eat at Sizzler. Someone got a promotion, go to the Sizzler. Grandparents came to visit, go to the Sizzler once during their visit.

But for As on a report card, it was Pizza Hut!

[-]

JackedJaw251@reddit

Sizzler and Shoneys were our fancy eating out places when I was a kid. Shoneys had THE best salad bar and 1000 islands dressing

[-]

NocturnalPermission@reddit

ha! I loved Sizzler as a kid. Remember those little plastic things they put in the steak to indicate rare, medium or well done?

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Privileged_Interface@reddit

We had them on the east coast many years ago. It was a toss-up between Sizzler and Ground Round for my birthday. But, I had a love affair with Sizzler's toasted bread. Also, their default Sizzler steak was very good. My whole family was so impressed by their salad bar too.

[-]

MackeyTP@reddit

Sizzler had a soup bar with clam chowder that rivaled red lobster. That was my families go to for years.

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wyldstrawberry@reddit

I miss Sizzler! That was top tier dining when I was growing up. I always ate so much at the salad bar (including the soup which I remember being so delicious - maybe broccoli cheese?) and could barely eat my entree, which was usually a burger, or Malibu chicken.

They always asked “baked potato, fries, or rice?” And the answer was always fries.

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silkywhitemarble@reddit

Sizzler was our favorite birthday dinner destination! Malibu chicken and a salad bar, please! When I turned 21, it's where I bought my first drink.

[-]

mommagawn123@reddit

Yessss...the garlic toast

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PumpkinSpiceFreak@reddit

Yep yep! 🙌🏽

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Vprbite@reddit

The mothers are out! What time you wanna come by and pick the bitch up?

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OmChi123456@reddit

Yes! I loved it 😍

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jmg733mpls@reddit

Y E S! So much. I mean, I probs went to one or two a year but I still miss them.

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brookish@reddit

Anyone else remember how common Hofbraus were in the 70s and 80s? Why on earth was that a whole phenomenon?!

[-]

BobGnarly_@reddit

Oh boy do I miss those. Pizza had a pretty good one in my hometown. It was like 5 bucks and you load it up.

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Ok_Caterpillar8888@reddit

No! I always hated them, almost as much as office potlucks lol. My in-laws were big buffet fans so I'd go along with it but have anxiety the whole time. They were a waste of money for me, the only person not overeating ha!

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PlaxicoCN@reddit

Hearing about all the bacteria and germs at buffets and salad bars kind of ruined them for me. Had some good times at buffets at different casinos as well as Golden Corral. OP, if you ever want to treat yourself to a platinum experience go to Fogo De Chao.

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JG_in_TX@reddit

Steak and Ale had a great salad bar in a room to Itself at the one we ate at…you walked down a hallway to get to it. Plates were ice cold too.

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East_Reading_3164@reddit

Same at my Steak and Ale. At that place was dark as hell.

[-]

JG_in_TX@reddit

Yeah, I remember small lights around the tables and lighting up the walls.

[-]

StrawberryKiss2559@reddit

Oh my god yes. Great salad bar. Fancy as hell for me in the 80s. Escargot and brown bread?? Mind blowing.

[-]

peicatsASkicker@reddit

Yes!!!I miss Steak and Ale. It used to be called The Jolly Ox. It was the first place I played a video game. It was Pong on a table top!

[-]

jagger129@reddit

I stumbled upon a KFC that has an all you can eat and thought I’d died and gone to heaven. Apparently they are still around, just in certain locations

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Reed_Stump@reddit

Sizzler

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Ill_Quantity_5634@reddit

There was a chain here in DFW called Souper Salad and it was wonderful. Every salad item, topper, and dressing you could think of accompanied by a fresh-baked bread bar that included gingerbread, 4 soups of the day, cheese/pepperoni pizzas, and ice cream/cookies/cakes. Cost about $10-20. You could easily walk away from the bar with 5 lbs on your plate.

[-]

RagingLeonard@reddit

Down here in Texas, we have Jason's Deli. They've got a good salad bar with tiny cornbread muffins that rock.

[-]

chapaj@reddit

Probably the best salad bar around.

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hotmeows@reddit

I love Jason’s! They closed down in my town after Covid.

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HOUS2000IAN@reddit

Jason’s serves huge potatoes too… solid place indeed

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Gold-You-376@reddit

I really miss Souplantation.

[-]

jackalopeswild@reddit

Also just straight all you can eat salad shops.

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Princess_Magdelina@reddit

I can't do buffet or salad bar after covid.

[-]

Rainbow_in_the_sky@reddit

God, I miss Ponderosa as an adult!

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brandondash@reddit

Our McDonalds had an all-you-can-eat breakfast bar on Saturday mornings. That lasted all of 3 months before they realized they were going to go out of business lol.

Nothing much better than a stack of hotcakes, 8 hashbrowns, and 4 cheese danishes.

[-]

emmsmum@reddit

Absolutely. I love love love a salad bar.

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Sgt-Bilko1975@reddit

I do a meal I call "salad bar" where I get all the good things I remember like cottage cheese, baby corns, beets, thousand Island, sprouts, croutons and whatever else you can think of. It's a hit!

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WritingRidingRunner@reddit

There was a fabulous steak restaurant called What’s Your Beef-very dark, book-lined, with a pub atmosphere-where you’d go to the counter, order your choice of steak (I always got prime rib) by the ounce, then have unlimited access to a wonderful salad bar. I still remember the tri-color rotini pasta salad. And, of course, French Catalina dressing.

For dessert there was a make-your-own parfait bar. As a kid, I was in heaven.

So many memories unlocked in this thread! Thanks for starting it!

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da_impaler@reddit

The Blue Oyster had the best salad in town!

gif

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Slr_Pnls50@reddit

I miss salad bars, but now that I'm aware of of how gross people are, I probably couldn't enjoy them like I used to lol. Ruby Tuesday's was amazing

[-]

TR3BPilot@reddit

Yes and no. Sure I used to like to occasionally make a pig of myself at a buffet. But since Covid, I and most people I know have gotten a lot more sensitive to cleanliness and contamination, and these days is seems like a horrendous disease smorgasbord.

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notyourmama827@reddit

We have 1buffet in Reno. You have to make reservations and it's a bit expensive. But I miss the hell out of buffets.

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L_i_S_A123@reddit

Absolutely! Marie Callender's used to have an amazing salad bar. Let's bring them back.

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brickbaterang@reddit

I do miss a good salad bar. Got too expensive to run one tho and we're all just too aware of sanitation, and some peoples lack of, now

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jaredsparks@reddit

No, they were nasty.

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gobux1972@reddit

I miss Max & Erma’s hamburgers.

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hadriangates@reddit

Sizzler, Bonanza, Bob’s Big Boy, Pizza Hut, Ruby Tuesdays, Ponderosa, Mother’s Day buffets…..so sad to be gone. We need to bring them back!

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EastHuckleberry5191@reddit

My first job was at a Ponderosa. I managed the salad/hot foot bar on the weekends. Loved it.

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Outrageous_Appeal292@reddit

Oh it was our college go to. So good.

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Invasive-farmer@reddit

The chocolate pudding.

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Sea_Baseball_7410@reddit

Wendy’s had one of the best ones.

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Outrageous_Appeal292@reddit

I can't believe I forgot about the Wendy's bar!

We loved Ponderosa. The 4.99 chop steak sit there for hours in college.

Also KFC for 4.99. Damn.

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TheJokersChild@reddit

Superbar! It’s the reason you can still get baked potatoes there.

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Tanyaschmidt@reddit

My husband sure misses the salad bars. He mentions it frequently.

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Reader47b@reddit

I do not recall the Wendy's superbar but that sounds fantastic.

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xTiredSoulx@reddit

Omg the chocolate pudding ….

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Money-Bear7166@reddit

It was great....besides a nice stocked salad bar, you also had Italian and Mexican food options too

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ElectricTomatoMan@reddit

Italian and Mexican flavored food options.

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jondes99@reddit

I don’t remember much, but it was a big salad bar, chili, pasta, and maybe baked potato fixings. Hopefully someone can elaborate.

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Kershiser22@reddit

Also tacos.

I think the Super Bar only lasted a year or two in the late 80's.

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BreakfastOk4991@reddit

It was amazing for the price.

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Pitiful-bastard@reddit

As long as they station a employee by the bar to monitor the guest. We were at a buffet a saw a kid fill his bowl with chocolate pudding then lick the spoon and put it back in the buffets bowl of pudding. That was the last time we ate eat at a buffet.

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JackedJaw251@reddit

Shoneys or bust

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maidofwords@reddit

I can’t believe I had to scroll this far to find a reference to Shoney’s. In college we called in Stoney’s because we’d get high af and stuff our faces. Wake and bake breakfast bar FTW!

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Late-Temporary863@reddit

Not really. I really don’t like buffets either. I’m a germaphobe

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invisiblebyday@reddit

They were good for building up our immune systems. All those communal handles that fell into the food trays.

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hardleft121@reddit

Cici's holding strong

[-]

BeginningNobody4812@reddit (OP)

I wish there were one near me. I live in Massachusetts.

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fadeanddecayed@reddit

Did you hear that Ground Round is coming back?

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Sufficient-Lab-5769@reddit

You serious??

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fadeanddecayed@reddit

Serious!

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siamesecat1935@reddit

NJ here and we had Charley Brown’s. Amazing salad bar!

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mintBRYcrunch26@reddit

I used to love Hoss’s. It’s Hosspitality!

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kmurrda@reddit

I blame Covid for ruining buffets.

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Athrynne@reddit

There's a Brazilian steakhouse chain that does a high end salad bar plus rotating meats delivered to your table. It's the grown up version of the thing my kid self always wanted.

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TheJokersChild@reddit

Fogo De Chao? I need to try that some time now that i’m near some.

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Athrynne@reddit

Yeah, it's excellent! We have a local version in my city (Terra Gaucha) that is our special occasion restaurant.

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Agreeable-Can-7841@reddit

What I would give for one more walk through the line at Piccadilly. I don't know about anyone else's family, but my uncle Olen seemed to delight in hanging around occupying a table long after the meal was eaten. I was too young to understand what an utter asshole move that was.

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lefty1117@reddit

You guys remember Ponderosa?

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honeybee7997@reddit

There’s still a Ponderosa. You can look it up on YouTube. A lot of people go visit there and film it for the nostalgia.

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TheJokersChild@reddit

Ponderosa merged with Bonanza. They’re hard to find now.

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honeybee7997@reddit

There’s one in my hometown.

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MundaneMeringue71@reddit

Make your own sundae bar!

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brickfrenzy@reddit

The salad bar was great. The quality of the steaks? Not so much.

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DruidMaster@reddit

I miss how the steak would come with that red circle of….dyed pineapple? Real apple? Not sure, but I loved it.

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schroobster@reddit

Yes! A fancy treat.

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deFleury@reddit

It was my first salad bar! A real novelty in the 1970s.

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MakesMyHeadHurt@reddit

Yes, and I miss their chicken wings.

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BlondeDaze12@reddit

Yes! I loved salad bars.

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jonomm@reddit

Not really. I worked at Ruby Tuesdays in high school, and I remember how much of a pain it was.

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Scrumpilump2000@reddit

I miss all-you-can-eat Chinese buffets. 😩

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TheJokersChild@reddit

I’m next to a town that has two almost right across from each other. And a little further out is one that’s got hotpot and ramen.

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luckeegurrrl5683@reddit

I have one near me in Mesa, CA, and it is really good! China City.

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Scrumpilump2000@reddit

Oh, you’re lucky and I’m jealous. Bon appetite! I just noticed your username….very apropos.

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Bam-2nd-encore@reddit

Even Rocky Rococo's had a salad bar!

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Virgogirl71@reddit

I miss Sweet Tomatoes. Not sure if they’re still around but I don’t see any in Minnesota.

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LessIsMore74@reddit

I remember in the very early 90s, my family and I would go almost weekly to the Wendy's down the street. They had a huge buffet, and very non-Wendy's stuff like tacos and I think pizza. It had to be really affordable for my family to want to make the trip every week. Now that I'm a parent, I totally get having a day like that to look forward to that you don't have to be in the kitchen.

Anyway, I heard rumors that somebody, possibly Wendy's, was bringing it back. Sounds cool, except I trust people's common decency much less these days when it comes to respecting the sneeze guard zone, and I expect the pricing to be much more than back then. They'll have to price it so that it's still cheaper than going out to a chain restaurant with a server.

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Dr_Overundereducated@reddit

😂 Luby’s

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BMisterGenX@reddit

I don't understand how these places stayed in business. There used to be so many all you can eat options and they were all pretty reasonable.

Or if not all you could eat, at least places where an entree came with unlimited salad bar and soup bar.

I don't think I've encountered it in this country, but in Europe I experienced restaurants at which the entree was fairly small and of average quality, but there was a buffet of endless appetizers.

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wubrotherno1@reddit

No. The food was always nasty, and the salad bar was a good place to get sick.

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likeminipee@reddit

Yes! I also miss the cafeteria chains with names like J&S Cafeteria.

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dougfucnutz@reddit

Yeah nothing like a huge helping of nutrition-free iceberg lettuce with a side of morbid obesity

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jeon2595@reddit

I do miss the Pizza Hut lunch pizza and salad bar buffet. Was my once a month work lunch for years.

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Fury161Houston@reddit

I had classes in food sanitation and safety. I never ate at buffets. Too much room for mistakes and contamination from guests. No thanks. But I do get the appeal.

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Hand-Of-Vecna@reddit

After realizing these are all petri-dishes for bacteria, I don't miss them.

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WhoCalledthePoPo@reddit

Yes! Who here has eaten at a Chart House? High end steakhouse chain, mostly out of business now. There's still one in Annapolis, MD, that had their famous and very elaborate salad bar going as late as 2018 IIRC. That thing had all sorts of apps, soups, cheeses, in addition to the salad stuff. So awesome and of course extinct because we can't have nice things.

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Next_Piano8385@reddit

Yes! I'd also mention the Rax - anyone remember that place?! I loved Ruby Tuesday's salad bar too. Aren't they still around?

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Ineffable7980x@reddit

Actually, no. I loved them back in the day, but my eating habits and desires have changed. I avoid all you can eat anything. It just encouraged me to overeat, and my 59yo body does not like that.

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Mugwumps_has_spoken@reddit

I miss the idea of them. Being able to build up my own sald with all my favorite ingredients. Someone else did all the prep work. Nothing goes to waste (in my home). I love a monster chef salad that is a mega meal in itself. No need for anything else.

But the reality of the germs. Eww

[-]

SilanceDoGood@reddit

Noooooooooo! I DO NOT miss them! I didn’t like them then, and I don’t like them now. Am I the odd man out - AGAIN??? Do I even belong in Gen X? I always seem to be the odd ball. And not in a good or cool sort of way!

You see…We have a tradition in our family (as do most families) that the Birthday Beauty gets to decide the menu for their own special day. On my daughter’s 9th birthday, her request was to enjoy dinner at a popular (meaning, among her little friends) buffet. We tended to avoid such places because they weren’t our ‘thing’. But, of course, we gladly acquiesced to our Birthday Beauty’s request.

I remember that day so fondly! My little girl was ‘becoming’ her own autonomous self-right before our eyes! It’s one of those indescribable joys of motherhood!

This was the first time she actually wanted to serve herself, independent of our assistance. I was so proud! (Of course, I watched over her…but without looking like I was watching over her…hey, I’m a mom!)

It was on that day that I witnessed an event that practically sealed the nail in the “buffet” coffin for all time. Minding my own business, I just happened to observed a member of the kitchen staff come out to inspect the buffet… everything looked very clean and sanitary…everything except one little spot where my daughter had spilled a little bit of food …you know…in the gap area between the hot dish pans. Something very easy to clean without contaminating the other items. Well, this staff person, using the serving utensil, flicked the bulk of the spill back into the serving dish, wiped the remaining spot and then went on about her work as though this was SOP! I’m sickened by the thought of it, even now! But, none of us ended up sick following this experience.

I don’t know the SOP, or the rules, or the health code. This could be considered perfectly normal and sanitary in the restaurant business. Again, on that point, I’m ignorant. It just didn’t sit well with me.

We broke our rule only once more…and this time my daughter got violently ill. It was a weirdly busy year for us in the weeks leading up to Thanksgiving. So busy, that we wouldn’t have the time to spend with family on that day. We decided to enjoy our meal during the second seating at our CC. Our daughter was going through her very short stint as a vegan at that same time, so I thought it was perfect, because the club always offered vegan options.

Apparently, the serving staff had decided not to change out the vegan dishes from the first seating because they were barely touched. Bad, BAD choice! That one seemingly small decision lead to her spending the rest of her vacation on her sick bed!

So - No, I don’t miss them.

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OldSailor742@reddit

I know right? I was just thinking about how I kiss fresh choice the other day. Now we’re stuck with mountain mikes shitty salad bar.

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tk42967@reddit

I still miss salad bars. More for the salad than anything else.

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pinktinroof@reddit

Red Barn salad bar was so good and their fish sandwich was huge!

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Low_Wall_7828@reddit

I loved Soup & Salads. They had this thing called Tuna Skoodle that I really miss.

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xczechr@reddit

All you can eat pizza buffets were my jam. Thanks, COVID.

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Positive-Baby4061@reddit

What about beefsteak Charlies and of course Chesapeake Bay Seafood House. It was all you could eat but you could gwt whatever you ordered from the price you ordered down. So if you ordered something for $10 you couldnget anything refilled for under $10. Crab legs galore then you could switch to a Shrimp or whatever.

[-]

Fickle_Assumption_80@reddit

I miss Pizza Hut lunch buffet.

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WanderingArtist_77@reddit

Not since covid. It all just looks like a giant petri dish.

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Retinoid634@reddit

I loved the pre-Covid spread at Whole Foods. I know it’s back but it was better before. I’m in MYC and Korean Delis in the 90s used to have fantastic self serve food bars with loads of fresh fruit and Asian noodles, various kinds of chicken and veggies and salads. Mostly gone now since Covid.

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sa123xxx@reddit

I used to love those Asian deli salad bars. You could get noodles, dumplings and tuna salad in one box! Among other things.

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Retinoid634@reddit

Yes!!! I loved the noodles and tofu triangles

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PaduWanKenobi@reddit

Nope. Too much cooties in those bacteria-laden troughs.

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HTLM22@reddit

Even Wendy's.

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dreadpirate_metalart@reddit

No

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Affectionate-Map2583@reddit

On a whim yesterday, I bought a bag of fake bacon bits. I told my son, "I got fake bacon bits." He scoffed, thinking I got some sort of newfangled meat alternative, but I said "no, the fake ones from old school salad bars" and he immediately perked up.

[-]

Unplannedroute@reddit

No. They were disgusting on every level. Should have just made a trough for the pigs to scarf down from. Gluttony.

[-]

Upbeat-Reflection171@reddit

Yes, especially Izzy's pizza buffet with the cinnamon rolls!

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ZebraBorgata@reddit

No not at all.

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sageguitar70@reddit

Absolutely not

[-]

robbadobba@reddit

Especially the bacteria!

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No-Analysis2815@reddit

Yes. Theres an old Old Country Buffet, the one Id go to with my Grandparents, still sitting vacant. You can drive by and look into its old glory and dream about the days you’d skip real food and run, not walk, to the dessert bar.

[-]

denisenj@reddit

Not really a buffet fan, but I loved salad bars at restaurants. I especially remember the salad bar at Steak ‘N Ale in the 90s

[-]

laughter_corgis@reddit

I miss Shakey's buffet. My Dad always wanted to go there for his birthday.

[-]

park2023mcca@reddit

My second job was a busboy at Ruby Tuesday. Setting up the salad bar was my responsibility. So many containers of salad dressings, pasta salads, toppings, etc.. Laying out ice everywhere and then covering the ice with endive for aesthetics.

[-]

RCA2CE@reddit

I like a fresh salad bar - I sort of turn my nose up at a buffet but not because they’re not delicious

[-]

USAF_Retired2017@reddit

Noooo. So unsanitary and gross. I don’t do buffets or salad bars at all. Ha ha.

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stinkstankstunkiii@reddit

Super spreaders for germs. The general population is a cesspool , most ppl don’t practice safe hygiene. Even the person preparing the food in the back !

[-]

Magnus-Lupus@reddit

I worked at Wendy’s during this time.. love the Bar… there are still some all you can eats around my area, but none like the ones mentioned..

[-]

THEREALSTRINEY@reddit

When we went out to eat with my grandparents, we ONLY ate restaurants that were all you can eat or had salad/food bars. It’s would be an hours long event, resting and letting the food “settle” so they could eat more and get their “money’s worth”! LOL.

[-]

Honeybee71@reddit

Yes! Esp the Chinese buffets

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Zealousideal_Key8823@reddit

There's a Middle Eastern place near me that has a buffet every Saturday. $7.95 for AYCE (beverages not included). Between them an the Chinese buffet, I'm still pretty happy. But I miss the fuck out of Old Country Buffet. I ate myself sick there so many times when I was younger.

[-]

mangoserpent@reddit

Yes I loved a good buffet and loved salad bars.

[-]

Horror_Purple1867@reddit

I was born in 1980, and yes, I totally miss the salad bars. I wish, this probably won’t happen anytime soon, maybe after I’m gone - maybe. But yeah, I was the all you can eat kid. I would go up for fourths or fifths at the salad bars. OMG, when they closed up for the night, give me a doggy bag full of extras to take home with me.

[-]

peat_phreak@reddit

No, I don't miss gluttony at all

[-]

MannyMoSTL@reddit

Sweet Tomatoes!

[-]

Winterqueen-129@reddit

I’ll take it, since I no longer have to submit to being felt up when I go to concerts!

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AreYouDoneNow@reddit

Pizza Hutt dine in restaurants were just incredible.

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losthalo7@reddit

I miss good grocery store salad bars.

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Evening_Ad_1099@reddit

The only thing I miss about salad bars are the hard boiled eggs and shredded cheddar cheese..

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ElectricTomatoMan@reddit

Who goes to a restaurant for... hard boiled eggs?

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Forever_Nya@reddit

I miss Sizzler

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wonder-bunny-193@reddit

PONDEROSA!! Not just the buffet - the sundae bar! It was glorious! Our family motto was “eat slowly and make lots of trips.” 😁

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hideNseekKatt@reddit

For me, it was Sizzler as a kid and Souplantation as a teen.

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suzyturnovers@reddit

We still have buffets around where I live.

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it_rubs_the_lotion@reddit

My hometown used to have one called Rax. It was always my requested choice because they had spaghettios on the buffet and my parents wouldn’t buy them, that was my opportunity to gorge myself on delicious sugar ketchup pasta.

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ArmadilloDays@reddit

I loved Rax with the atriums.

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MethodInternal489@reddit

The Kings Table and North’s Chuck Wagon where I grew up, Salem OR

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akajondoe@reddit

Jason's Deli still has an amazing salad bar. Yeah, I miss salad bars at resturants though.

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thefartyparty@reddit

I would die for some Old Country Buffet! If I was a millionaire, I'd open an assisted living facility in a liminal 80's mall with a giant George Rhodes ball machine and an Old Country Buffet attached so I could live out my sunset years wandering around

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Lunachik@reddit

Dude, you just broke my heart. I hadn't realized they closed. Loved that place!

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red286@reddit

I miss western-style Chinese buffet restaurants.

When I was a kid they were all over the place. Every hotel had one it seemed.

Now there's nothing but authentic Chinese food, which honestly, I don't enjoy much. Yes yes, it's all very nice and authentic but I want sow Chow Mein and Sweet & Sour Chicken Balls, not some steamed fish heads and rice porridge, thanks.

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theantnest@reddit

They still exist in hotels.

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moonbeam127@reddit

i loved sweet tomatoes - my kids loved it, and it was freaking affordable.

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redbanner1@reddit

Duff's and Ponderosa. Two of my favorite places to eat as a kid.

I ate at Ponderosa for lunch about 3 times a week during high school. Everyone thought it would take too long, but nobody went so it was great. Meanwhile Taco Bell and Burger King lines were so long we had to eat on the way back to school. It was great having open lunch and being across the street from about 10 restaurants.

Duff's had that magic merry-go-round of food. It was so awesome to me as a kid, but our local one was razed when I was still pretty young.

I remember the Wendy's salad bar, but I never actually had it. I always thought we were having a fancy dinner if we went some places with a salad bar, proving the old adage that kids are fucking stupid.

Oh, and on the many trips I've made between the north and south, Shoney's breakfast bar was always a stop.

Hometown? Are they out of business now? I liked them for a while. And we had some Ryan's that were OK when they opened, but went downhill fairly quickly. Golden Corral is garbage. Most of the people working in them have zero pride.

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Wabi-Sabi_Umami@reddit

Not at all. People are filthy animals.

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staticfortune@reddit

This past weekend, I saw a Sizzler. Open and operating. Immediate fond flashbacks to jr. high and high school.

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peicatsASkicker@reddit

all the time

There was a steak house where they would bring the hunk of meat to the table and cut your steak in front of you to your desired thickness. I can't remember the name. The Peddler? They had smoked oysters on their salad bar!

When I go to my nursing home in the mall, I really hope they have a cafeteria so I can get a meat n three, and a joint with a salad bar!

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friedguy@reddit

Once in a while, yes. Especially when I'm craving soup.

But then I quickly remember how those places also tend to attract some of the worst behaved humans you could ever think of and I quickly get over it.

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libbuge@reddit

Eeeew no

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credible_expendable@reddit

I wasn’t a big fan of salad bar to begin with. Then it became my job to clean it when I was 13-14. It was worth the $20, but that’s when I learned how nasty people are. And I never ate salad bar again lol

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Chilindrina22@reddit

I use to love the flower seeds from the Pizza Hut salad bar!

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LunaPolaris@reddit

I miss all of the salad bars, especially in grocery stores. Being able to do the two week grocery run at the end of the pay period and put together the ultimate diy salad before checking out and not having to cook that night after putting everything away was the best!

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thejadsel@reddit

Luckily, where I'm living now does have a lot of restaurants running buffets still, mainly aimed at the lunch break crowd. None of them may be old familiar ones, and the majority are only doing smallish buffets spreads for lunch. But, I do enjoy being able to pick out my own food and in whatever combinations I feel like.

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beetlebum74@reddit

I was a college student in the early to mid 90’s and I worked at Ruby Tuesdays as a server. That salad bar was legit. The potato salad and the soft rye croutons were the bomb. They also had a pretty damn tasty veggie burger too!

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natedogjulian@reddit

Ya no thanks.

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beetlebum74@reddit

I miss Ponderosa, it was such a hang after school on 1/2 days.

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Successful_Comfort34@reddit

Pizza Hut lunchtime buffet was the b*mb. Variety enough to make it interesting. Sizzler used to be good in its Hay. But the pandemic took my most favorite: Sweet Tomatoes.

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Doozer1970@reddit

The Pizza Hut lunch buffet was amazing! I wish it was still a thing. I always wondered how it was profitable for them. Maybe it wasn't, and that's why they don't do it anymore.

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ZombieJoesBasement@reddit

I miss the salad bars at Pizza Inn, and their jukeboxes.

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glxym31@reddit

The buffet and cafeteria style restaurants were amazing. I miss them so much.

Every kid should experience walking through a maze of tables with a bowl of wobbly green jello sliding around on a tray. It aids in the growing process.

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Wraisted@reddit

No

People are effing gross. Never eat at a buffet. People pick their noses, touch their butts, and some don't wash their hands after taking massive dumps. Then they grab the utensils everyone else touches, then you touch them.

Bon appetit

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IceCreamMan1977@reddit

Wait staff and cooks may do the same thing. Never eat out?

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purplenurplen@reddit

Shakey’s buncha lunch

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Sea-Membership-9643@reddit

In college, my friend and I would go to Shakey's buffet with empty backpacks and ziplocks, gorge on their buffet, and fill our packs with chicken and whatever else would work in the bags. Food for days!

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analogpursuits@reddit

Quality over quantity. Buffets are for overconsumption of low quality food in massive quantities. And people wonder why they suffer health problems eating like that.

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PrisonNurseNC@reddit

I miss the baked potato bar we had in college.

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RedCorundum@reddit

Yes! Because I'm tired of ordering off the Panera menu just to do 6 customizations (they usually fuck up at least one) to make the salad even sorta my way. Then pay like $35 with tip for it even if I snatch it from the cubby hole myself, and staff don't even have to hand it to me.

Bring back Souplantation, please!

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GenericRedditor1937@reddit

So, there I was eating in a Pizza Hut a few years before Covid. As I sat in my booth eating my delicious pan pizza, I looked over at the salad bar and a man picking at the crack of his ass through his shorts while he was waiting to grab his food.

No, I do not miss buffets and salad bars. The fewer people who come in contact with my food, the better.

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Money-Bear7166@reddit

Wendy's superbar, Ponderosa and Rax Roast Beef restaurants all had the best

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New-Anacansintta@reddit

I remember the Rax bar! Amazing for what seemed to be a fast food place.

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writergeek@reddit

I liked buffets until I saw a smallish child put his fat fist into the bucket of ranch dressing, then toddle off licking himself like a lollipop. Nobody saw except me and I had to flag a server to pull it from the salad bar. And that was long before Covid which sealed the deal for me 99.99% of the time.

I do live in a vacation state, very tropical. Now and again, I splurge on a brunch buffet at a high-end resort. The restaurant is open air with ocean views and the buffet has everything, all the breakfast meats and a fresh omelette station, prime rib, sushi and crab legs, and great desserts. I’ve learned not to gorge myself, but have a small bite of everything. Minimal starch and no cheap filler. Seconds on my favorites, leave room for a treat.

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New-Anacansintta@reddit

They popped up all at once one day in the 90s. Salad bars with hot pasta and ice cream machines. Even fast food places like Wendy’s had a great salad bar. Then came the restaurant that WAS the AYCE salad bar. You’d order an entree and just keep going back to the huge salad bar over and over.

What a time.

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sysaphiswaits@reddit

No. Post Covid they seem pretty gross.

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CustomerOk3838@reddit

They were always gross

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sysaphiswaits@reddit

True.

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Objective_Problem_90@reddit

Covid killed alot of the buffets. Still it was a real treat going to an all you can eat buffet as a kid in 80s/90s. I know why Templeton the rat in Charlotte's web was so happy. I had a similar feeling every time I'd walk in. Now it seems like it's mostly Chinese. I love Chinese, don't get me wrong. But it just isn't the same.

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invisible-dave@reddit

I love buffets! I miss them.

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TinyNJHulk@reddit

Wendy's had a special price for the Super Bar on Sundays and the way my ex would excitedly go on about it, you would think it was his birthday and Xmas all rolled into one. Every week.

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Severe_Sky8700@reddit

After paper routes, my first "real" job was at Ponderosa. I miss smothering the wings with cheese sauce along with other sides and finishing it off at the ice cream machine. The biggest tip I ever got was $5.00... thanks Brian

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dicemonkey@reddit

Wings with cheese sauce sounds so terrible it’s probably really good …I must avoid that otherwise it’ll become a bad habit ….much like when I started tempura frying chicken skin …just a basket of fried chicken skin .

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ZebulonUkiah@reddit

Similarly, I miss cafeterias. Luby's and Furr's. Once you made it past the weird carrot and raisin salad, it was all glorious.

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DJErikD@reddit

No.

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Suitable_Shallot4183@reddit

Bonanza!

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bridge-burning69@reddit

My husband & I met while working at Bonanza!

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terrafreaky@reddit

This is the one I was searching for here!!

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MIreader@reddit

Yes! I LOVED Soup Plantation.

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Svelted@reddit

pizza hut salad bar was the only time i'd eat salad

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Appropriate_Weekend9@reddit

Bonanza.

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polyester_bride@reddit

I think about the Pizza Hut salad bar once a week.

Also, Souper Salad was a weekly ritual when I was in college.

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Doe79prvtToska@reddit

I actually want that now that I’m older…sad

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windowschick@reddit

The Ponderosa $4.99 buffet was a big deal when I was growing up.

Plus, I hated chicken wings as a kid, so after I finished my salad and went to go get something else, everyone piled their chicken bones on my empty plate.

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Digitalispurpurea2@reddit

Oh, I forgot about Ponderosa. We used to sneak out food for the dog in mom's purse then it would smell like chicken for the next week.

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Kershiser22@reddit

I miss Souplantation so much.

They must have been a struggling business, because it seems like they decided to permanently close most (all?) of them just a few days after the pandemic began.

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