But that's not an option because I have no cash, and I've managed to lose my debit card for the third time in four months. All I have in my pockets is a set of keys, a pen lid, and a receipt from last night's Nando's. I ordered: one extra hot wrap, corn on the cob, and a bottomless drink. I drank: one glass of Diet Coke. One glass! That's not bottomless, that's no refills. They're making a killing off of hapless optimists like me.
In a moment of madness, possessed by desperation and dehydration, I stand up like I'm ready for a tank on Tiananmen Square.
I take an empty bottle into the Nando's on Stockwell Road and walk straight up to the machine to get my fill. I stop nervously to take a sip of out of my two liter bottle. No cold hand on the shoulder, no rushing manager, not even a glance: Nobody gives a shit. So I carry on for a few minutes, sipping and filling until eventually leaving absolutely gobsmacked literally, my teeth are aching.
It is one of the most liberating experiences of my life. Could I come back in a week, a few months, or a year and sip on a Fanta? Who knows, but I am chalking this one down as a win. I'll never go thirsty again. The next day, I show up in Camberwell with a new plan: to spend the whole day eating all of my meals at a Chinese all you can eat, working on my laptop in between.
I've never actually been in the place, and whenever I look through its windows, it seems to have that sordid, saddened air of a DMV. But inside, it's actually buzzing. Regulars are giggling and fist-bumping the guy behind the counter.
It's like Cheers , but everybody is Norman. I plan to eat sensibly, but with the locals lining up, piling their plates high, I guess I succumb to peer pressure.
Breakfast is an arid mountain of noodles, rice, fries, and seaweed. I go back for seconds and then thirds. After half an hour, I'm as good as done. Contracts happen between people — not in the vacuum of space. Meals are broken up into breakfast, lunch, dinner and most people go to a restaurant for one and only one of those meals. So, in my opinion a Court would read into the implied contract a term limiting the buffet meal to one meal. There actually was a lawsuit on this very issue out of … guess where?
While the buffet might lose money on a small number of meat gluttons, it handily makes it back on those who under -consume or only eat the cheaper foods. Every buffet owner we talked to had a few war stories about dealing with policy abusers. Other proprietors have taken more extreme measures. Over the years, buffets have made headlines for kicking out guests who eat too much :.
In the past 20 years, more than 1. Ovation Brands, the conglomerate that owns these chains, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy 3 times since Industry experts attribute this decline, in part, to the spread of food delivery apps. For 30 years, she has served guests a Polish-themed spread that includes kielbasa, schnitzel, and pierogi. Her secret? Sticking to the roots of what first made buffets popular in the s: excess and variety.
Privacy policy. Generic filters Hidden label. Hidden label. The economics of all-you-can-eat buffets Is it possible to out-eat the price you pay for a buffet? How do these places make money? We looked at the dollars and cents behind the meat and potatoes. By: Zachary Crockett zzcrockett. Few things epitomize America more than the all-you-can-eat buffet. Enjoying this article? Thank you for subscribing.
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