So I'm headed south soon for vacation.

My kids love...I mean LOVE buffet restaurants.

My dad is a big seafood fan.

Guess what abounds in Myrtle Beach? SEAFOOD BUFFET restaurants!

So I'm checking out the places in advance, looking for coupons, directions, and REVIEWS.

Just about every joint has terrible reviews (expensive & crappy food).

Is there such a thing as a GOOD buffet restaurant? (Or is that an oxymoron?)

Anyone have good experiences?

I understand why children love buffets and I remember as a child going to Florida for vacation and I couldn't WAIT to go to the all you could eat seafood buffet's because I used to LOVE shrimp! And I seemed to have a damn tapeworm as a child (not really_) but I could eat anyone under the table- but now as an adult, I just can't do it. The idea of the food sitting out under those lamps and all the people grazing over my food- ugh! Plus, now I just can't eat that much!! But it should be okay and it's fun for kids because they can eat anything and everything they want- but I couldn't recommend any good ones.

The breakfast tables in hotels are usually full of good stuff.

I worked on a tour this summer and always enjoyed the breakfasts in the hotels more than the meals in the restaurants.

I believe "good buffet restaurant" is actually an oxymoron.

I seriously doubt this would help you cause I only know of one and it's nowhere near where you're going, but there might be others, so...

There’s a salad bar/buffet here that is me and the boyfriend’s go-to spot. It’s about $11-ish per person so it’s cheap (for dinner-dining out).

The fresh veggies are awesome. The salad bar part is always well-stocked and fresh.

They have decent baked goods and they always have a vegetarian soup (and their soups are yummy).

They have a small hot bar that’s admittedly average but I almost never eat from it. It usually has stuff for tacos, baked potato bar, pasta and sauces and some sort of meat and hot veggie offering.

They have freshly baked cookies, fruit and a soft serve ice cream machine with a bar of various toppings for dessert. I usually make a small hot fudge sundae.

I’m normally not much for buffets, but for some reason we just love this place.

decent buffet restaurants offer, well, decent food, targeted for families with little kids, and perhaps the grandparents as well; I can picture two young parents with two or three 4-8 years old kids and the grandparents, eating well having a good time for less than 40 bucks...or truck drivers who wanna eat something decent in a hurry...

the myths about semi-rotten vegetables, ready-made frozen dinner, not so tasty meat, messy italian pasta and seafood which tastes "funny" are only real if we are talking about very crappy/cheap/creepy buffets of the lowest caliber...

It's encouraging to read positive experiences.

The restaurants in Myrtle Beach (tourist trap of course) seem to be "pricey" (around $30 per person)...which I wouldn't mind paying FOR GOOD FOOD...but to spend that kind of cash on mediocre or crappy food would make me wanna smash something.

I'll expand my search outside of the main hotel area.

I just ate here:

http://www.tokyojapanesebuffet.com/

for the first time Saturday and I must say, I really enjoyed the whole experience. The food was fantastatic, the ambiance is beautiful and there was a very diverse mix of patrons.

I'm just mad that I live less than 20 minutes away and had never gone there before but I will certainly be going again.

HatrinaHaterwitz said:

I just ate here:

http://www.tokyojapanesebuffet.com/

for the first time Saturday and I must say, I really enjoyed the whole experience. The food was fantastatic, the ambiance is beautiful and there was a very diverse mix of patrons.

I'm just mad that I live less than 20 minutes away and had never gone there before but I will certainly be going again.

Asian buffets seem to be all the rage, especially around these parts.

One in particular (also Japanese I think) has a good reputation...but it's pricey so I haven't gone.

No, but in my opinion it isn't because the food is bad. It's because who knows HOW many sick people have handled your food before you got to it.

I do not eat at buffets. No exceptions.

RodeoSchro said:

No, but in my opinion it isn't because the food is bad. It's because who knows HOW many sick people have handled your food before you got to it.

I do not eat at buffets. No exceptions.

Yeah..that's a big consideration.

But in general, most buffets where I've been monitor the stations for little kids (biggest offenders).

I would say the food is not great, but there are lots of choices at least. So I typically enjoy my meal.

RodeoSchro said:

No, but in my opinion it isn't because the food is bad. It's because who knows HOW many sick people have handled your food before you got to it.

?

are you talking about other customers? people generally take the "exposed" food using a big spoon or something...

I don't enjoy this kinda buffet meal as they are rarely freshly cooked meals. If you prefer salads, that's a different thing. Besides, we don't have that many here as far as I know.

JoeTyler said:

RodeoSchro said:

No, but in my opinion it isn't because the food is bad. It's because who knows HOW many sick people have handled your food before you got to it.

?

are you talking about other customers? people generally take the "exposed" food using a big spoon or something...

That's not allowed anyway, so Rodeao must have hallucinations.

Buffet maybe not.. BUT ALL YOU CAN EAT

Yes yes

member that shawty

Gunsnhalen said:

Buffet maybe not.. BUT ALL YOU CAN EAT

Yes yes

member that shawty

Isn't it exactly the same? I think the definiton varies by demographics

OzlemUcucu said:

Gunsnhalen said:

Buffet maybe not.. BUT ALL YOU CAN EAT

Yes yes

member that shawty

Isn't it exactly the same? I think the definiton varies by demographics

Idk, for me all u can eat is like......

This thai place i frequent here in Thai Town L.A

It is 9.99 all you can eat, they bring you as many different bowels as you want. Where as.... idk buffet usually are more money and sometimes they don't always have what u want. At the thai place for example they cook ANYTHING you want on the spot

Gunsnhalen said:

OzlemUcucu said:

Isn't it exactly the same? I think the definiton varies by demographics

Idk, for me all u can eat is like......

This thai place i frequent here in Thai Town L.A

It is 9.99 all you can eat, they bring you as many different bowels as you want. Where as.... idk buffet usually are more money and sometimes they don't always have what u want. At the thai place for example they cook ANYTHING you want on the spot

I think buffet is about same price except you can't have all you can eat, you just fill your plate once with anything as much as you want..

but I don't know exactly the difference ...

OzlemUcucu said:

JoeTyler said:

?

are you talking about other customers? people generally take the "exposed" food using a big spoon or something...

That's not allowed anyway, so Rodeao must have hallucinations.

You're thinking of a cafeteria, not a buffet.

At a cafeteria, your food is served by an employee. But a buffet, you the customer serve your own food. There's no telling who coughs on the serving utensils, or sprays spittle on them while talking to their wife about how much food they're spooning onto their plate.

I'm fine with cafeterias. I won't eat at buffets.

Buffets are so rarely found here (except to occasional Pan-Asian lunch buffet) that I've actually grown intrigued by them since not seeing one for at least 12 years . I reckon if I actually visited one at home I'd likely tear right into it because it would be a new thing to me all over again . Germs be damned, it would be my way of living on the edge

RodeoSchro said:

OzlemUcucu said:

That's not allowed anyway, so Rodeao must have hallucinations.

You're thinking of a cafeteria, not a buffet.

At a cafeteria, your food is served by an employee. But a buffet, you the customer serve your own food. There's no telling who coughs on the serving utensils, or sprays spittle on them while talking to their wife about how much food they're spooning onto their plate.

I'm fine with cafeterias. I won't eat at buffets.

sorry, but I immediately thought of this lol

[Edited 7/16/12 14:27pm]

Remember when they use to be called smorgasbords? I guess that's when we were trying to make it sound classy.

JoeTyler said:

RodeoSchro said:

You're thinking of a cafeteria, not a buffet.

At a cafeteria, your food is served by an employee. But a buffet, you the customer serve your own food. There's no telling who coughs on the serving utensils, or sprays spittle on them while talking to their wife about how much food they're spooning onto their plate.

I'm fine with cafeterias. I won't eat at buffets.

sorry, but I immediately thought of this lol

[Edited 7/16/12 14:27pm]

Not this?!?

[img:$uid]http://daddyplayshardball.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/food-fight-animal-house.jpg[/img:$uid]

So nobody knows the difference between this two type of eateries? And you all count yourselves as educated?

OzlemUcucu said:

So nobody knows the difference between this two type of eateries? And you all count yourselves as educated?

Buffets tend to be all you can eat, but I don't think they actually mean the same thing. You could have a sit down dinner that served you all you can eat, or a buffet that only allows you to get a single plate.

NDRU said:

OzlemUcucu said:

So nobody knows the difference between this two type of eateries? And you all count yourselves as educated?

Buffets tend to be all you can eat, but I don't think they actually mean the same thing. You could have a sit down dinner that served you all you can eat, or a buffet that only allows you to get a single plate.

Around here, a "buffet" typically means you grab a plate, fill it with as much stuff as you can, then repeat as often as you can.

"All you can eat" is typically a sit-down and the server brings you additional servings. Portuguese/Brazilian "Churrasquerias" are famous for that around here...they come around putting meat on your plate as long as you have a flag or something on your table indicating that you want more.

NDRU said:

OzlemUcucu said:

So nobody knows the difference between this two type of eateries? And you all count yourselves as educated?

Buffets tend to be all you can eat, but I don't think they actually mean the same thing. You could have a sit down dinner that served you all you can eat, or a buffet that only allows you to get a single plate.

So you are saying both are buffets which I initially thought they were, there is no difference but people make it look as if they are not.

Pizza Hut have buffets and so does lotta asian cheap eateries... but i have not seen sushi buffets anywhere.

RodeoSchro said:

OzlemUcucu said:

That's not allowed anyway, so Rodeao must have hallucinations.

You're thinking of a cafeteria, not a buffet.

At a cafeteria, your food is served by an employee. But a buffet, you the customer serve your own food. There's no telling who coughs on the serving utensils, or sprays spittle on them while talking to their wife about how much food they're spooning onto their plate.

I'm fine with cafeterias. I won't eat at buffets.

Cafeteria is a totally different thing here on this part of the planet.