Gross buffet behaviour

That woman is pretty twisted !!.
Can't say I've seen much bad behavior at buffetts, but this one time I was working a hot dog sale, and this lady's hot dog squirted out of the bun, after she had fixed it up, and hit the bricks, well she picked it up, threw it in the trash and then proceeded to lick her fingers, we had no problem giving her a new hot dog, it was after all for charity.

We were at a Chinese restaurant with a buffet that got a lot of afternoon sun in the front windows where it was set up, and saw an old man stick his finger into his beak and then flick a small object off it, and it sailed, very well backlit, into the buffet. My wife had had a bone marrow transplant and was told not to go near buffets for a year, and I guess that's part of the reason.

I pass Sweet Tomatoes everyday on US 19. We have eaten there once. It's hard to settle for salad, soup and pasta while the all-you-can-eat Chinese buffets are doling out hot food for a fixed price.

The ST down by mom in Ft. Laud was much better than the one here in Central FL.

Seeing something like that would have turned me off to buffets - I'm glad I didn't witness it.

One gross thing I did witness...At a street fair in Brooklyn. It was an Italian fair on 18th Avenue. A young boy was hard at work stirring this huge vat of zeppole dough. This was not the bad part - he was sweating directly into it.

Haven't touched 'em since.

This one happened at the table, not the buffet. We were serving Sunday Brunch, when Grandma (who wasn't feeling so well) threw up at her table. Did the family help clean-up? Did they stop eating to see if Grandma was all right? Were they sickened by the sight and smell of vomit as everyone around them was? No, they kept on eating, as servers first attempted to clean up the mess, then moved them to another table. Sorry, I may have a weak stomach, but that would have turned me off to my breakfast.

Samples at a well KNOWN national Health food store (chicken sausage) stone cold on an unheated surface.....
Or double dipping in the sample cup....or dirty kids fingys in communial food....PUKE....

Not likely!

When asked if I want to go to places like this my standard reply is, "I don't do buffet". I think this thread only confirms my personal prejudices! (And the food is often poor as well).

I`ve seen some pretty deplorable behaviour at buffets!
One i worked at,was something similar to meal-time at the Simpson household(Homer,Marge et al).Anyone who is unfamiliar with these characters,should think of sharks on a feeding frenzy!!
Leo.

Such stuff keeps your immune system strong. :D

If it doesn't kill you first....Darwinism at it's finest....who the heack needs the Health Dept anyway....
I still wonder how delis get away with slicing meats and cheeses all day long on the same slicer, there is just something WRONG there.

I'm with you there. I go into the local Hannaford's that's got a halfway decent deli counter and they just keep slicing everything, one after the other, with no thought about what's piling up on the blade, behind it, underneath it. I wonder how long some of that stuff sits there at around 70F. But, they're all wearing the surgical gloves, so we know it's safe. :rolleyes:

The grossest thing I ever saw at a buffet was when we attended one of those all-you-can-eat Chinese buffets in Yonkers, NY. It was Sunday afternoon and we'd been hiking in the Catskills all day. Very hungry and thinking we could get a quick and hearty meal, we stopped in to find this buffet includedlobster and king crab legs.
At the table next to us were two couples who obviously came only to eat the crab. Whenever a new pan of crab legs came to the buffet they rushed over (with uneaten crab on thier plates), filled their plates with the things, then proceeded to eat with abandon! They didn't even wait until they were back to their table! I saw one of the women walking back with a crab leg sticking out the side of her mouth. You'd have thought they'd been stranded at sea for six months! They dropped shells on the floor and all over their table. They had crabmeat stuck to their cheeks and in their hair. There was even a considerable accumulation of crabmeat on one woman's formidable chest-shelf!
I've never seen a more disgusting spectacle and never hope to again.

Norwalk Virus

Chuck-a-rama is a local buffet chain. The one in this story is the one closest to me, just a few blocks away. I last ate there about three weeks ago because my "graduating" scouts wanted to eat there as their final event.

http://www.sltrib.com/11212002/business/3817.htm

I'm sick to my stomach after reading this thread! I don't think I'll ever eat out again! Yuck!!!!!:eek:

I remember one night I was running the buffet for a very large hotel and casino here in Reno when some guy on about his 5th trip back to the dessert station suddenly runs to the employee only door into the service hallway which was lined with food warmers to back up the buffets hot food . I quickly followed the guy and when I got there he was opening the door to the first warmer which contained 8 top rounds for the carving station and before I could say excuse me or what this guy ralphs all over my top rounds . I called security and the stewards department and if I remember right this guy was arrested for tresspassing , vandalism , and drunk in public . It is true there is one born every minute , beware of buffets . :eek: :crazy:

I help out sometimes to serve brunch where I work.. last week some elderly woman started to taste the cakes with here fingers and taking large chunks of the cakes she wanted with here bare hands and throwing the extra on the buffet table. When I offered to help here she pushed me away and smacked my hand and started screaming bloody murder..She ripped my name tag off and "ran" out of the building..:confused: was the highlight of my day

pat

OMG! There's an exciting work day.:eek:

That's a beautiful....sniff..:cry:.story!

These things are sent to try us and some things are VERY trying!!:D Leo.

I was working the omelet station at the brunch at the country club on my last regular day of work, and I had a bowl of shredded orange and white cheese of unknown origin. Probably cheddar and swiss. some woman wanted only the white cheese, and I tried picking it out with the stupid little tongs. I should have thrown up my hands ala George Costanza, said my work here is done, and left on a high note.

Chuck-a-Rama update

The Salt Lake Valley Health Department has cleared Chuck-A-Rama to reopen a restaurant that was closed after a highly contagious virus sickened 150 people.

However, the Salt Lake City-based buffet chain has decided to be doubly sure there will be no recurrence of the virus, postponing the reopening of the restaurant at 2960 S. Highland Drive so it can take additional precautions, including replacing the carpet.

"They've done the right thing. They have been upfront and have not tried to conceal information," said Salt Lake County Environmental Health Director Royal DeLegge.


However, health officials still don't know -- and may never know -- how the virus got into the restaurant.

Since the outbreak and closure of the restaurant, the family-owned chain has sent letters to as many of those affected as it could find to update them on the investigation, said Moss.

He also noted that Chuck-A-Rama's employee double-hand-wash policy will continue to be "monitored and recorded by cameras set up at wash stations just outside of each restroom."

As required by health officials, the restaurant has cleaned all surfaces and equipment inside the facility and then sanitized them with a 10 percent chlorine bleach solution.

Moss said the restaurant will be voluntarily cleaned and sanitized at least once more before the renovated facility reopens.

"We are doing everything we can, more than we're required to do," he said.

The chain's response to the outbreak is a textbook example of how a restaurant should react in a crisis situation, said Chris Krese, a Washington-based crisis communications consultant specializing in food marketing and hospitality.

"All of their above-and-beyond measures are highly commendable," said Krese, a senior vice president with Xenophon Strategies. "It shows a knowledge of what it takes to survive a crisis situation and is a window into the soul of the company."

Complete article at :

http://www.sltrib.com/2002/Dec/12072...iness/9030.asp