Safety Tip: Buffet Etiquette
Buffets are everywhere these days — Sunday brunch, wedding receptions or the local chain restaurant. I just got back from a trip to Israel, and our hotel even offered breakfast and dinner buffets. Now, I’ve seen some clean and well-managed buffets before, but this place’s spread was definitely not one of them. Of course, it’s not all the restaurant’s fault. We diners can be beastly.
Big (and Little) Warning Signs
It sounds simple, but hot food should be hot and cold food should be cold. You shouldn’t sit down to eat your plate of food only to find everything lukewarm. Check that steam tables are used properly. Food trays should sit securely in a warming pocket, not stacked one on top of the other. Same goes with the cold stuff. Refrigerated foods like milk, butter, cheese, cold cuts should all be on ice and kept chilled. If you find they aren’t, skip them.
Another pet peeve is serving utensils. It always seems like someone made off with the mashed potato ladle. Buffets should have long-handled serving spoons for each item — no mixing, no sharing, period. (Just imagine if you have a food allergy and someone cross-contaminates!) Size matters, too. At one buffet, I saw diners dishing out ketchup with a teaspoon. I went without once I thought about how many hands had been in that ketchup. Gross.
Proper Etiquette
Buffets inspire bad habits — overeating and generally making a mess. To keep everyone’s meal bacteria-free and healthy, keep these tips in mind:
- Grab a new plate. You may not want to waste plates, but get a fresh one for every food trip. You’ve dipped your fork back and forth on that plate and spread around your saliva (and germs!). That saliva can then get on the serving spoon when you dish out some more green beans. There’s a reason your empty plates disappear so fast. The restaurant wants you to use newly washed plates so no one gets sick.
- Go up with your kids. I love kids (I have 3), but they can get into everything. Whether at the supermarket hot bar or an all-you-can-eat seafood place, kids will pick something up, taste it, dislike it and put it back.
- Ask if you don’t know. Not sure which is the low-fat dressing? Don’t taste test; ask the server. Of course, a smart restaurant will label their foods. If you’re not sure you’ll like it, dip a little on your plate to sample. (I once saw a diner taste food right off the serving spoon!)
TELL US: What’s your best or worst buffet experience?
I never do buffets because of the above. Once I saw two little girls chatting by a salad bar and one of the girls was running her hand through the sunflower seeds. Ugh! Not to mention the caughing, sneezing, & greed that goes with them. I never touch them!
Hi Kathy,
Thanks for sharing your experience! I can go on and on about buffets for hours. I have seen a few good ones though that really followed all the rules and were nice and clean (but I wish I saw them more often).
I can't eat at salad bars anymore because of the disgusting things people do. I've seen people do all kinds of things, but the most common is snacking from their own plate while in line. This is merely rude if they eat the food with their fork. But, most of the time, people snack on things off their plate with their fingers. Then, they lick their fingers and grab the tongs with their saliva covered hands! Ick!!!
be careful cuz we've/they have just handled money to pay for their meal then people go and grab those serving spoons without washing their hands. i'd also like to point out that even when we don't do the Buffet we still handle bottled ketchup and salt n pepper shakers that other's have touched etc. also menu's that other's have put their nasty's on.
I am sickened by buffets. Imagine the people just coming out of the restroom without washing their hands. They handle every ladle, spoon and fork on the serving line. I've read that 80% of the people, adults and children, wash their hands before leaving the restroom. YUCK. What about the other 20%? Steer clear of buffets! Also, I don't like to see restaurant service personnel using the handicapped toilet. If I don't see if and how they wash their hands, I won't eat in that restaurant again. Watch your local websites for info about restaurants in your area and see how many are cited by the health department and for what they're cited. They'll all have items from time to time but pick those that have the least and correct their problems immediately.
this article, and all the comments so far smack of paranoia. How about we all go around in public with surgical gloves and masks!
Never mind the germs, buffets make me feel oblicated to overeat. Can't I just order off the menu and the kitchen prepares it hot and fresh/____I've had waiters at buffet restaruants bring "clean" plates to the table for the buffet after they've rested them against their chests and played bongos on them. Uh, no thanks.
when I was a little girl, my mother taught me to wash my hands before EVERY meal……..I always do this and NEVER see anyone go to the restroom to wash their hands when I am in a restaurant.buffett or not. It's not paranoia but there are more germs today then ever because people are just slobs. BTW I NEVER ever touch a 7-11 door!
Oh good grief. Just wash your hands before you eat. I wash my hands before I get in line, and then I always have a small container of hand sanitizer and we all swish it on before we touch our food or utensils. Problem solved. You probably have more germs in your own kitchen sink. Where do you think produce comes from? The dirty ground!! And where do you think those farm workers relieve themselves when they are getting paid by quota?? I'm guessing they don't always take the time to walk somewhere special….
That's exactly why we have contaminated vegetables in our markets!!!
Yes you have some people who are not so clean but you take that risk every where! you eat out
just because you order off the menu you don't know what goes on in the kitchen or if they washed
their hands after a bathroom visit or any other break for that matter. You take your chances anytime
you eat out. If the place looks clean and there bathrooms are kept clean the place should be up to
code.They cannot control what some inconsiderate people do but over all I just watch what others
do or if any kids are playing in the food then I just avoid that food if you avoid the buffet because
of some servers these same people are handling your food in the kitchen.
and as far as the contaminated veggies the salmonella and ecoli comes from chicken and cow
manure and byproducts they use for fertilizer and it was'nt handled properly.
All of these are the the reasons I eat at Sweet Tomatoes. We wash our hands before we get in line and make sure that we wash them again before we eat. Sweet Tomatoes does a lot of neat things like labeling and portion control and they change the utensils frequently.No I do not work there but I eat there twice a week. Besides its healthy mostly vegetables and if you over eat there you are basically grazing.
Another thing to keep in mind when you wash your hands before eating at a restaurant, if you turn off the faucets and open the door to leave with out using a paper towel, you are re-contaminating your hands. The bacterial counts on those two are always very high when tested. Its easy to become paranoid. We need to realize that we cant keep ourselves totally safe anywhere. I just do the best I can without giving up on doing normal things ( and eating normal food )
I HAVE SEEN SOME CHILDREN ACTUALLY PLAYING IN THE MASHED POTATOES AT THE BUFFET. NO PARENT SUPERVISION THAT WAS MY LAST TIME AT A BUFFET.
You're right. That's why I don't eat fresh uncooked lettuce today.
All of your comments have merit but for me the main two reasons I don't do the buffets (much) anymore are the fact that people let their children be big people at the buffet lines and most of time the food does not warrant the ridiculous overeating that I do, not to mention all the waste. In regards to the children I just get upset when I notice children going to through the line without parent supervision. Believe me that is a kid about to play in some food on that line. That part really gets to me because other guests have to suffer because some parent does not want to do their job. I don't know about everyone else but the buffets I have gone to do not have that great of food on them and I end up wasting many of "new" plates mentioned at the beginning. I always overeat. I have just told myself it is better to just go to a restaurant and order the one meal I'm wanting and get pretty full off the huge portions restaurants still serve here in good ole Texas
I was an assistant manager in a restaurant & I had to take a food & safety sanitation class after that I will never eat at a Buffett again & neither would you if you took the class.!!!! That was 15 years ago.
I am a student at a culinary college and had to take the food safety and management certification. It is really up to management to oversee how their operation is run and put effective measures in place to ensure guests safety. Personally I like Buffets. If I go into a buffet restaraunt and I observe methods etcetera that I don't like, then I just leave. If you are worried and don't know how to spot problems or inadequate safety measures then I suggest you try a Full Service Deluxe Buffet.
But you can't trust that everyone is doing the same as you. It's just disgusting what people do at buffets.
Hi Lisa and Bill,
That's great that you had to take the food safety certification exam. I am actually a certified ServSafe instructor and have taught the course to hundreds of culinary students since 1999.
Saw a buffet worker tasting a tray of mac & cheese with the serving spoon!! Complained, manager almost apologized, then thought better of it and implied I was lying. Last time at that buffet, needless to say. And I tell everyone I can about it.
you're right becky…
I have a question, I've traveled all over the world, but I've only eve seen big, all you can eat buffets in the US. (unless I'm at a tourist destination like Mexico that caters to Americans.) Are there any other countries that culturally have these huge buffets?
Pretty much the reason we are the most overweight country in the world-serving sizes are out of control. (I say this as a person who has just fought to drop some weight). I love buffets (especially Indian food…mmmm!), and cleanliness notwithstanding–it does compel one to overeat to get their money's worth!
I have seen some horrofic things at buffets throughout the country – everything from employees putting food back in the trays that had spilled off of people's plates onto the serving counter to patrons rubbing their hands through their hair, "cleaning" their nose, etc. and then grabbing food with those same hands off of buffet plates or trays.
Yes you need to be careful of were you eat, not only the germs but I found a crate staple in my food in one buffet place. You can only imagine what else is in this stuff.
BY Far our worst buffet experience was the other day. we went to Hometown Buffet on a Friday around lunch time. There was the shrimp scampi with the mushy shrimp, the baked "mystery" fish (there was no identification of the fish, could be cat fish, could be cod), the frozen Banquet mac and cheese, the under steamed broccoli, the cheese sause that tasted like it had been strained through an old sock, or the fried chicken that was "gamey". The list goes on and on. Basically almost anything in the place that was cooked was terrible. the only exception was that the baked sweet potatoes, not sweet potato casserole, just sweet potatoes cut in half and baked with a little seasoning.
The only GOOD things we had were our salads ( how hard is it to screw up raw vegetables) and the deserts. The desserts were still buffet style desserts but they were yummy and sweet.
In addition to all of that. the "waitress" was often around us to clear other tables of their used plates, and offer to bring them coffee or drink refills, and she only came to out table once to clear our plates, and despite the 3 almost empty glasses on the table, she did not offer to refill our drinks.
They do not have cups with lids in the restaurant so my daughter was drinking out of a regular cup, (fortunately she is really good with cups, so there were no accidents)
the food was terrible, if I just wanted a salad I could have (and should have) gone to the Soup Plantation down the road.
This was a waste of time and money. if you are in Chula VIsta ,California and want a decent meal at a good price… GO ANYWHERE ELSE….
When we were in Ireland, buffet style was very common. More cafeteria than buffet, but many choices of meat, and sides, pay one price get several plates..
Always keep your cell phone ready.
Hand sanitizers work well.
I work in a restraunt that has a buffet. So I really do not know where to start for experiances. All I can say is people can really be pigs!!!!!!!
I agree 100%. It seems in the past few years we've really become obsessed with germs.
One thing that gets me at buffets are when people pile the "popular item" on their plate. Im sure y'all have seen it. One person has a stack of crab legs, oysters, or chicken wings on his plate. I was at a buffet the other day and the hot item was craw fish. I passed by tables where people had a stack of craw fish on a plate and while eating food from other plate. I go to where the craw fish are in the buffet and surprise surprise, it's all gone. Later I saw those same people get new piles of craw fish, and I go back to see it all gone again. That drives me nuts.
"Paranoia"? All they're saying is to wash your hands and you'll be fine. Just be aware of what's going on around you. It's no good burying your head in the sand. Don't be scared to face reality.