The idea is simple – offer many different foods for one fixed price.
For several students, the simple concept of buffets is more enticing than the actual food.
“I’m all about buffets,” said Andy Orahoske, a junior in computer and information science. “I can eat a ton, so I think buffets are a good value for all of the food that you get.”
Not only do buffets offer a lot of food, they offer a variety that is difficult to get for the same price.
At Donatos Pizza, a medium pepperoni pizza is $9.79 while the lunch buffet that offers different kinds of pizza for $8.
“It’s definitely subpar food, but there’s so much of it that you can’t get mad at them,” said Greg Haer, a junior in history who is a self-proclaimed “buffet connoisseur.” Haer has been to at least 15 different buffets, with Golden Corral reigning as his favorite.
For some students, compromising quality for quantity and variety is not a decision they like to make.
“I feel like the food is not the best quality, and that it’s cold a lot,” said Katie Holcomb, a junior in actuarial science, who does not like eating at buffets.
Students who have to squeeze meals between activities might find buffets too time consuming. For some students, however, it is simply easier to grab food to go.
With sit-down eating comes another downfall: waiting. While some restaurants base their business concept around buffets, others only offer them at specific times.
A wait at these restaurants is likely. To avoid waiting it is best to arrive as soon as the buffet opens, or about a half an hour before it closes. However, arriving after they stop bringing out fresh food will limit the diner’s options.
The campus area offers buffet styles of a variety of cuisines for students to choose from for a filling meal.
The Taj II on the corner of North High Street and Oakland Avenue offers a lunch buffet featuring authentic Indian cuisine Tuesday through Sunday from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. for $7.99. The buffet has six main dishes, three of which are vegetarian. Salad, pan, rice and two desserts are also available.
Tim Johnson, a senior in English, said the buffet seemed small to him, but the service and the food were very good.
To fulfill that pizza craving, Donatos Pizza on the corner of North High Street and Frambes Avenue offers a lunch buffet Monday through Friday from 11a.m. to 2 p.m. and a dinner buffet Wednesday through Friday from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Both buffets are $8 per person and offer pizza, salad and mini breadsticks.
“For being a pizza buffet, it’s way too expensive,” Haer said.
Also, Haer said they are not as fast as putting out the pizzas, though the pizzas are better quality than some other places. It was not usually busy so when the pizzas are out it is easy to grab as much as possible, Haer said.
China Buffet, a short COTA ride up North High Street, is an all-you-can-eat buffet that features a $7.80 buffet from 4 p.m. through 10:30 p.m. They offer typical Americanized Chinese dishes such as chicken and broccoli, honey chicken and beef dishes. They also serve seafood such as crab legs and coconut shrimp.
“It was kind of seedy at first,” said Amy Oleksiak, a junior in linguistics. “I remember having the General Tso’s chicken. It was good, nothing special, but it was good.”
Both Haer and Orahoske said going to a buffet is more about the experience than the food.
“The worse the quality of food, the better the experience,” Orahoske said.
Haer said when it comes to eating with friends, buffets are his first choice.
“I love going with a bunch of guys. There’s always something crazy that happens, and the people are all outgoing at buffets,” he said.
Erin can be reached at [email protected].
