If you’re the kind of person who stares at menus for way too long trying to decide what to eat, an all-you-can-eat buffet probably sounds like pure heaven. You get a little bit of everything without the pressure of making the “right” choice. And for foodies or adventurous eaters, it’s like a playground of flavors.
But of course, with great buffet power comes great buffet responsibility, and unfortunately, not everyone gets that memo. Some people treat these magical food havens like a personal challenge to commit every possible dining offense.
Today, we’ve gathered stories from buffet workers and diners about the wildest, most shameless culinary crimes they’ve ever witnessed. Keep scrolling to uncover the wildest, weirdest, and downright grossest things people have witnessed at all-you-can-eat buffets.
#1
I was a cook/sous chef for 17 years.
My last job was a popular austrian area in the alps.
We had a lunch buffet every afternoon. More like an afternoon snack.
3 different mains, 3 different sides and a collection of salads and veggies and some cake.
Once a week it had a theme and, usualy I, would have to stand at the buffet and make either fresh waffles or fresh (austrian) pancakes.
I had a huge set up with tons of toppings and ice cream at one end. I was in the middle and at the other end was the stuff I needed to make waffles/pancakes. Like a container with the batter.
Everything had a description. Everything. Even my batter. You'd wonder why I put a sign to let the people know, that it was the batter.
People would watch me, pour the batter in the pan/machine and then they would grab the ladle and poured some of the batter over their food.
I was completely baffled the first times. I couldn't understand.
I even told the people that it was the batter and they would not stop.
I even put lids on everything and other stuff. I would grab the ladle out of their hands.
IT DID NOT STOP THEM.
They all told me, that I have no idea what I was talking about and that this was vanilla sauce. I kept pointing them to the vanilla sauce at the other end. They did not care.
The weirdest thing is, all of them did not have desert on their plates. It was a main dish like casserole, ham, salads, paella, lasagna and whatever was on the buffet and they poured, what they thought was vanilla sauce over it.
To make it more weird. ALL of them ATE IT. Their plates were all empty.
I had to notify the director, as the batter not only had raw flour but also raw eggs in them. I did not want to be responsible. And my director did not believe me. So one afternoon, he sat behind the bar and watched it all happen and was confused too.
We had to stop doing fresh waffles and pancakes.
We had signs in 3 languages (german, english, italian) that told the people what it was and to not touch it.
It was out of reach. Really far out of reach.
My last job was a popular austrian area in the alps.
We had a lunch buffet every afternoon. More like an afternoon snack.
3 different mains, 3 different sides and a collection of salads and veggies and some cake.
Once a week it had a theme and, usualy I, would have to stand at the buffet and make either fresh waffles or fresh (austrian) pancakes.
I had a huge set up with tons of toppings and ice cream at one end. I was in the middle and at the other end was the stuff I needed to make waffles/pancakes. Like a container with the batter.
Everything had a description. Everything. Even my batter. You'd wonder why I put a sign to let the people know, that it was the batter.
People would watch me, pour the batter in the pan/machine and then they would grab the ladle and poured some of the batter over their food.
I was completely baffled the first times. I couldn't understand.
I even told the people that it was the batter and they would not stop.
I even put lids on everything and other stuff. I would grab the ladle out of their hands.
IT DID NOT STOP THEM.
They all told me, that I have no idea what I was talking about and that this was vanilla sauce. I kept pointing them to the vanilla sauce at the other end. They did not care.
The weirdest thing is, all of them did not have desert on their plates. It was a main dish like casserole, ham, salads, paella, lasagna and whatever was on the buffet and they poured, what they thought was vanilla sauce over it.
To make it more weird. ALL of them ATE IT. Their plates were all empty.
I had to notify the director, as the batter not only had raw flour but also raw eggs in them. I did not want to be responsible. And my director did not believe me. So one afternoon, he sat behind the bar and watched it all happen and was confused too.
We had to stop doing fresh waffles and pancakes.
We had signs in 3 languages (german, english, italian) that told the people what it was and to not touch it.
It was out of reach. Really far out of reach.
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33points
#2
I saw a man use his hand instead of the spoon to get ranch dressing on his plate. He then proceeded to lick his hand clean, and then go for a second scoop. Golden Corral behavior (it was a Golden Corral).
27points
#3
It’s the waste that offends me. I’m not judging you for indulging, I’m at the next table; I’m judging you for leaving an entire uneaten meal on the table you destroyed.
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26points
IGlobally, the restaurant industry is booming. In 2023 alone, the U.S. full-service restaurant industry raked in over 78 billion dollars. That’s a whole lot of dining out. From fast food to fine dining, there’s something for everyone. But there’s one kind of place that attracts all types of diners and drama: the "all-you-can-eat" buffet. It’s where hunger meets hustle and sometimes, chaos.
To dig into this buffet bonanza, we spoke with Mi Lau, a manager at one of Munich’s most popular buffet restaurants. With years of experience under his apron, Mi has seen it all: both heartwarming and horrifying. “It’s exciting,” he says. “We get regulars who skip breakfast just to make room for dinner.” Fair enough, right? But that’s just where the fun begins.
#4
I used to work at my school’s all-you-can-eat cafeteria. One day, a visiting football team from a rival school came in for lunch. One of the players, a big guy, walked over to the fruit table and loaded up his plate with watermelon. Then he headed to the condiments and slathered the whole thing in mayonnaise. I watched, half amazed and half horrified, as he ate what looked like half a watermelon and half a jar of mayo in one sitting. It was honestly one of the most bizarre and impressive things I’ve ever seen.
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25points
#5
My dad told me about a friend of his who is Tongan (I'm pretty sure) & when he & his 5 brothers came to visit America for the first time in the early '80s, they went to an all-you-can-eat buffet. Well, according to my dad's friend, chicken is a scarce commodity where they're from, so they went a little overboard. My dad's friend said he & his 5 brothers were tiptoeing out of the door when they were done because they felt as though they would be in trouble for eating so much chicken. Apparently, the owners thought it was great & caught up with them in the parking lot to give them more chicken to take home. The guys were sweating when the owner came running out after them 🤣🤣🤣.
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24points
#6
I worked on a cruise ship. One midnight buffet was chocolate themed, everything was chocolate. A passenger took a tray and filled it, including a whole 8 inch chocolate cake. He then placed upturned glasses at each corner of his tray and added a second tray. Then a third. He eventually sat with three full trays of food. I saw him pick up whole cakes as if they were sandwiches. I returned an hour or so later and he was in the line for another run, his table had the detritus of his previous binge.
23points
“They want their money’s worth,” Mi laughs. “And believe me, some come in with strategies.” Think game plans, plate-stacking tactics, and even partner coordination. While most diners keep it classy, there’s always someone who crosses into chaos territory. And that’s where the buffet becomes less about food and more about survival.
#7
This is going to get lost, but we once went to a Chinese buffet and were in line to pay when a woman vomited at the cash register, then argued with the person working about whether or not she should have to pay for the food she just threw up.
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21points
#8
At a Sizzler back in the 1980s, a woman changed her baby's diapers at a table right next to the all-you-can-eat salad bar...and left the dirty diaper there.
20points
#9
Ive been doing this for awhile and I don’t eat from buffets anymore…
Leaning under the glass and sneezing on the salad bar, sipping from the soup ladle, picking up something with fingers, tasting it, and putting it back on the line, visibly scratching under their skirt, sniffing, and then using the same fingers to flip through a stack of cookies like a rolodex, dropping stuff onto the floor and then putting it back in to the pan, picking up an entire tray of 40 cheeseburgers and walking off with it… the list goes on and on
My favorite memory tho was when my old chef had had enough, saw someone stick their fingers into the food, marched ip to this customer and said “Excuse me, do you mind if I put my fingers in your mouth? Just grab your tongue and waggle around a bit? No? THEN KEEP YOUR F*****G HANDS OUT OF THE FOOD!”
He wasn’t around for much longer.
Leaning under the glass and sneezing on the salad bar, sipping from the soup ladle, picking up something with fingers, tasting it, and putting it back on the line, visibly scratching under their skirt, sniffing, and then using the same fingers to flip through a stack of cookies like a rolodex, dropping stuff onto the floor and then putting it back in to the pan, picking up an entire tray of 40 cheeseburgers and walking off with it… the list goes on and on
My favorite memory tho was when my old chef had had enough, saw someone stick their fingers into the food, marched ip to this customer and said “Excuse me, do you mind if I put my fingers in your mouth? Just grab your tongue and waggle around a bit? No? THEN KEEP YOUR F*****G HANDS OUT OF THE FOOD!”
He wasn’t around for much longer.
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20points
“One time, I saw a guest filling up bottles with soda straight from the drink station,” Mi recalls. “Not just one, but multiple bottles from home.” And it doesn’t stop there. “Some even swipe ketchup packets and entire sauce containers. I mean, really?” It’s not a grocery store, folks, it’s dinner.
#10
My grandma owned a small little buffet kinda in the middle of nowhere (in the South), aimed at providing a place for farmers to eat.
There was this one guy that came in weekly, dude looked like a participant on My 600lb Life.
He and his wife the first few times got a lot of food but nothing too extreme, then they started getting a *lot* more. To the point we charged them double because we basically had to.
Then the last two times they came in and cleared the entire buffet. As soon as we added more food they'd clear it. I watched them like mix everything together to eat it. The guy mixed blackberry cobbler and f*****g gravy. It was so nasty.
Not only did they eat way too d**n much, they'd leave a huge mess behind thar my poor teenage self had to clean.
After the second time my grandma banned them.
There was this one guy that came in weekly, dude looked like a participant on My 600lb Life.
He and his wife the first few times got a lot of food but nothing too extreme, then they started getting a *lot* more. To the point we charged them double because we basically had to.
Then the last two times they came in and cleared the entire buffet. As soon as we added more food they'd clear it. I watched them like mix everything together to eat it. The guy mixed blackberry cobbler and f*****g gravy. It was so nasty.
Not only did they eat way too d**n much, they'd leave a huge mess behind thar my poor teenage self had to clean.
After the second time my grandma banned them.
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19points
#11
Not an employee, but my husband was though. One night he came home and told me the story of how he was just standing around after waiting for the next batch of food to be put out. He went up to the front to check to see what needed restock, and just casually watched a small child, small enough to be under the plastic guards, proceed to just have a full on attack and sneeze all over the food he was standing in front of. Picked up a few pieces and put them on his plate and walked away.
He told his front line, and they just shrugged and said they don’t have enough to replace the food just yet. He quit the next day… and that’s why I refuse to go to buffets ever since 🤷♀️.
He told his front line, and they just shrugged and said they don’t have enough to replace the food just yet. He quit the next day… and that’s why I refuse to go to buffets ever since 🤷♀️.
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19points
#12
In high school worked at a buffet and this old man would come and wait patiently for us to refill the fried chicken he would then take EVERY single piece. Usually 12-15 pieces at a time. Eat every bit to a bare bone and repeat. He would generally eat 2-3 plate fulls of fried chicken, nothing else, when he'd come in about 1-2x per week. If I remember correctly hia record was 52 pieces of chicken. We'd start making double batches, 1 for him and 1 for the buffet. I got to where I knew him and I'd catch his eye and get a thumbs up or down if he was done.
Had another dude that used to come and take several pieces of chocolate cake from the bar, place them in a single plate, do soft serve over the top and and cover it in ketchup as if it was chocolate sauce.
Had another dude that used to come and take several pieces of chocolate cake from the bar, place them in a single plate, do soft serve over the top and and cover it in ketchup as if it was chocolate sauce.
18points
And then there was the purse incident. “This one lady casually stuffed her purse full of chicken wings. No shame at all,” Mi says. “She just zipped it up and carried on like it was no big deal.” The staff was left to clean up the grease.
#13
Golden Corral customer here. Watched a 70+ year old dip his fried chicken in the chocolate fountain. He caught my look of astonishment and said “you’ve never tried it? You’re missing out.” Years later and I am still missing out.
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18points
#14
I once saw a fat man in a mumu try and take an entire steam tray to his table. He ate so much that two employees had to physically drag him away from the buffet and eject him from the restaurant. The man eventually sued, saying he did not get all he could eat.
18points
#15
Obligatory, customer not employee.
I went to a Golden Corral once. And never again. While there I watched a kid pick his nose, stick his finger in the chocolate fountain, and then in his mouth. Repeatedly. Half his family was right there and did nothing.
This was before COVID, but I noticed a lot of customers coughing and sneezing around the food. So it did not surprise me to come down with the flu within 48 hours. Golden Corral must be the Florida Wally World parking lot of buffet restaurants.
So yeah.... chocolate covered booger.
I went to a Golden Corral once. And never again. While there I watched a kid pick his nose, stick his finger in the chocolate fountain, and then in his mouth. Repeatedly. Half his family was right there and did nothing.
This was before COVID, but I noticed a lot of customers coughing and sneezing around the food. So it did not surprise me to come down with the flu within 48 hours. Golden Corral must be the Florida Wally World parking lot of buffet restaurants.
So yeah.... chocolate covered booger.
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18points
Mi says it gets worse. “Some people will literally cut in line to grab something hot the second it comes out.” You can almost hear the kitchen doors swing open and the herd stampede in. “And sometimes, they’ll just take the whole tray,” he sighs. “Like, what about the 15 people behind you?”
#16
The buffet limited each guest to one plate at a time…but you could return to the buffet table to get a new plate and more food. A guest apparently didn’t understand the process, stacked the plate high with an entire meal (appetizers, mains, salads) and, on the precarious pile, added cake, soft serve ice cream and poured chocolate syrup onto the whole pile! The staff watched in amazement as she gingerly walked back to her table, not spilling anything, and sat down with her friends. The friends apparently explained the one plate at a time deal but, to her credit, she shrugged her shoulders and ate all the food without complaining (and even went back for a second serving of cake and ice cream).
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16points
#17
We had a regular customer at our Asian all you can eat, who binged on sushi and stir-fry, for the whole evening, and repeatedly threw up (self induced) between a few meals to, as he said, "make more room to enjoy the food, and not have all the calories ". So sad.
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16points
#18
Worked at a buffet in high school. This one fine Saturday a truly massive woman had a heart attack right at her table. Was the meat carver that day and I will never unsee it. I came out of the kitchen to the sight of paramedics shocking her to try and restart her heart - feverishly doing CPR after cutting open her shirt.
While the lights and sirens were on, and this poor woman was laying there dead, some other massive person was getting mad at me for not dispensing the roast beef more quickly. This lady was dead 15 feet from me in direct eye-shot and everyone there knew it. This guy didn't care. That was luckily the only time I've had to see someone die so far in my life. As a 16 year old kid I was a little bit traumatized.
While the lights and sirens were on, and this poor woman was laying there dead, some other massive person was getting mad at me for not dispensing the roast beef more quickly. This lady was dead 15 feet from me in direct eye-shot and everyone there knew it. This guy didn't care. That was luckily the only time I've had to see someone die so far in my life. As a 16 year old kid I was a little bit traumatized.
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16points
Others take things to criminal levels. “We’ve seen guests smuggle out food using baby strollers,” Mi admits. “Piled high under blankets, as if no one will notice the buffet’s missing three trays of spring rolls.” It would be hilarious if it weren’t so maddening and unsanitary.
#19
Not a buffet worker, but at Old Country Buffet(RIP) once saw a family get plate after plate of fried chicken and only eat the skin. Literally piles of chicken at their table with no skin. Pretty sure workers werent taking the plates away in hopes the family would eat the chicken.
Similarly went to a Pizza Buffet and saw a dude just eating cheese and toppings and leaving the bread. Must've had 6 pizzas worth of bread at his table when he left.
Similarly went to a Pizza Buffet and saw a dude just eating cheese and toppings and leaving the bread. Must've had 6 pizzas worth of bread at his table when he left.
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15points
#20
Worked at my college dining hall and had a guy several times a week get a soup bowl and filled as high as he could with black olives and then cover every square centimeter of it with ranch. I’ll never look at black olives the same way again.
15points