Scraped Plates
We can’t really control other people’s actions and manners the way we can control ours. The worst kind of people are those with disgusting eating manners. What would you do if the person next to you ate so disgustingly and carelessly at the same time? These unbelievably unappetizing stories would make you mindful for your next buffet meal, so beware.
Years ago, I worked at an all-you-can-eat country buffet in South Carolina. I was a busboy. One day, I went to a table. It was a mess, as per usual. It looked to be a large group of families of around 12 people or so. The thing that stuck in my memory was that whenever they had finished with what they were going to eat, they would scrape their plate and use it again. Scrape their plates... onto the floor next to their chairs. So next to each chair was a 6inch to an 18-inch pile of chicken bones, crab legs, mashed potatoes, remnants of backed potatoes, etc. Just disgusting. which_spartacus
Piles of Crab Legs
I bus at a slightly nicer restaurant. On Fridays and Sundays, we offer a prime rib and crab leg buffet, among a salad bar, hot and cold entrées, and a dessert bar. It's really nice, and our buffet runner keeps anyone from doing ungodly things to the buffet. But the one incident that always stands out to me was when this family of five came in. From the moment they came to the moment they left, they ate as many crab legs as possible. Their server and I were clearing plates off as fast as we could. But every time we returned, it seemed like another mountain of crab leg shells would appear in front of each family member. I know not how they ate so much, and I honestly can't recall if they were anything besides the crab. Piles upon piles of shells were left on the table after they left. It was truly a sight to behold. What's more, after I wiped down the table and came back with settings, I had to get another rag to wipe down the table again because something in the crab leg juice combined with our sanitizer left a nice milky residue upon the table. Delicious. When I leave this job, I'll never be able to look at crab legs the same way. ASuitofT51PowerArmor
Eating Buddies
Probably the big couple I had. The dude was 600lbs, his wife was 450+ and only able to walk via using the wheelchair she was pushing him in. He held the plates while she scooped and then pushed him. Back at the table, she was almost having a breathing problem while eating. Both were spilling food on themselves while eating. The table next to them asks to be moved as they are disgusted by watching them commit slow suicide. buffetserver
Son as a Bait
A woman came in with two of her kids and had a pretty regular meal. You pay when you leave at our place, and she decided to sneak out with her younger daughter before paying, leaving her underage son alone at the table. We caught on pretty quickly and sent someone after her, who found her in her car in the parking garage, waiting for her son to come. She refused to come back in and pay, so we had to keep her son 'hostage' until the police came to handle the situation. What some people will do to their kids, I swear. We also learned from her son that she stole one of the managers' keycards, and they would regularly come into the hotel and use the card for swimming in the top-floor pool. Smart, I'll give her that, but still. Valkrine10
Disgusting Leftovers
My first job was as a dishwasher in an all-you-can-eat fried catfish buffet. People are animals. Especially the ones that get far more food off the buffet than they can eat. Then they take the leftovers and pile them on a plate or tray, cover them in ketchup and tartar sauce, then pour their iced tea over top of all that. A lot of people did that got at least two plates like that a night. sixpackshaker
Contaminated Fountain
I went as a customer to a golden corral. I'm walking to the chocolate fountain, and 3 little girls step in front of me, and all 3 of them just go hands deep into the fountain. The family was at the first table by the fountain, and all they did was laugh about how cute it was… Employees turned it off immediately. Lovelyyrose1993
Buffet Every day, Every day Ok
I picked up some fish and chips recently. I saw they had “all you can eat” on Wednesdays. So I asked, “What is the most that someone....” She held up a huge platter and said, “18 pieces of fish and 3 plates of fries. Every single Wednesday.” “So he eats that exact order every week?” “Yes, and he goes to a different eat-all-you-can every day of the week. He got banned from the Chinese place down the road.” Odogogod
For the Money’s Worth
I worked at a pizza parlor that offered a lunch buffet of endless pizza. The lunch ran from 11 am - 3 pm. This gentleman comes in (I think he was homeless), serves up a sky-high plate of pizza, and just goes to town. He stayed from the beginning to the end to ensure he got his money's worth. Well, his body didn't appreciate being stuffed like a pinata of pizza. He got up and waddled fast to the bathroom, and the next thing I know, I'm being told he had liquid trailing behind him to the bathroom and inside the bathroom. My boss informed me about the incident, I told him I was just heading out for a break. I was not about to clean that up. [deleted]
Greedy Partners
My parents owned an all-you-can-eat buffet, and I was there every day of my life from 4-14. My favorite horror story is when a couple came in to eat (obviously). They loved the crab legs, and every time my mom put some out, they took it ALL. Also, just a reminder, crab legs are expensive! Forget the other customers; they just took it and ate it all. So they’re there for maybe 2 hours now, and it’s getting dark. They’ve eaten through at least a week’s stock of crab legs, and my mom finally decides it’s enough. She stops putting it out in the buffet and brings individual plates to the customers who wanted them but couldn’t get any due to this couple. Understandably, the couple gets angry. They literally flipped the chairs at their table, flipped their plates, bowls, cups, etc., and completely trashed their area. Food was all over the floor, table, and chairs. Sticky soda was dripping into the carpet. They left in a hurry, but someone caught their license plate. We called the cops, and I think they said they charged them with something? I can’t remember the aftermath details clearly, because I was probably 8 or 9 years old (20 now). I just remember looking at the mess and feeling really angry that my sister and I had to clean it up with our mom. It was a family-run business, so we didn’t have much help. Blooberries1
Cookie Monster
I work at a quick-serve restaurant, and we have cookies and chips by the register. Well, some lady came in with her uncontrollable 5-year-old son that was grabbing everything in his path. When they were paying, I noticed the little boy grab a cookie off the counter and bite it through the saran wrap. The mother took it from him and tried to put it back on the stack. I told her, "he just had that in his mouth; you're gonna have to pay for it," and at that exact moment, the nasty kid grabbed the whole pile of cookies and slung them on the floor. I tried to find the cookie he bit out of a stack of 5 or so, and his mom got really pissed and refused to admit that he did that saying things like, "I would be able to see a child's teeth marks. He didn't bite any of them!" So I ended up throwing away 5 cookies and saying, "of course, he didn't bite any of them. I'm an idiot!" And she angrily paid and left. CMDRAaron
The Bulimic Couple
I worked at a Ruby Tuesday in center city Philly (first floor of the Liberty Place building). I had a couple that would come in about twice a week that requested me. They would gorge themselves at the salad bar for about an hour, ask for large glasses of water with no ice, then both would take the water into the bathroom. They would come out a few minutes later with empty glasses, ask for the check, and leave. I finally put it together. They were bulimic after I walked into the women's bathroom, and it smelled like vomit. jessperk
Cheese Freak
I was once at an Old Country Buffet, waiting patiently to get some Mac & Cheese. The kid in front of me piled his plate high and then started tapping the serving spoon to get all of the cheesy goodness free from the confines of the spoon. Once he was satisfied with his handiwork, he licked the spoon clean. I didn't have any Mac & Cheese and haven't been back since. allhailkircules
Rejected Assistance
I didn't work at an all-you-can-eat, but my sister did. The buffet itself was on the first floor, so you had to take either the stairs or the elevator to your seat. Once there was a lady who was carrying a tray with a whole lot of stuff on it down to her seat. Glasses, plates, and a whole lot more junk. My sister asked the lady if she needed any assistance, to which the lady replied, “You assume because I'm fat, I need help?” My sister didn't react. A few seconds later, the lady fell down the stairs. There was blood and food everywhere. InfiniteLap
Crumpled Napkin’s Mystery
The family was gone, and I saw their dirty plates with napkins crumpled on top, so of course, I cleaned them up and bus the plates. 15 mins later, they came back, and the mom started yelling at me in Spanish, so I got my co-worker to translate. It turns out her daughter's retainers were in the napkins, and I already threw them away. She kept complaining about how they were $250+. So I literally had to dig through a huge trashcan full of sludge of food and drinks for 15 minutes. Fortunately, I found them, and the daughter thanked me. She seemed embarrassed that her mom made me dig through the trash. m2toofly
Where're Your Manners?
My wife and I went to Sweet Tomatoes for a lunch date; unlimited salad and soup were always good. One time, I saw a man over by the soups take the serving ladle for one of the weekly specials and take a big slurp from it. Then apparently, he didn't like it and spat it back out into the ladle and put the ladle back in the soup. Like, seriously? I got up immediately and told the nearest staff what I'd seen, and they got right on getting that nearly full pot of soup out of there. I didn't have any more soup during that visit, the what-ifs were too strong– which is a shame, because I love their chunky chicken noodles. Saberus_Terras
Eating the Bad Stuff
I was at a Chinese buffet with a Hot Pot option that you had to pay extra for. There was a separate section with the stuff for that which was raw. This guy loaded up his plate with all this raw stuff and was eating it, including dangerous raw stuff like shrimp. I think he may have been slightly intellectually disabled. The Chinese staff had to come over and inform him that he was eating the wrong things and try to explain it to him. He got really embarrassed and said that he did not understand how it worked. Between the Chinese staff with their limited English and this poor guy who was not capable of really understanding what he had done wrong, it was one of those awkward moments in life that you cannot forget no matter how much you try. imk
The Enchilada & the Chaotic Family
I managed a buffet in a casino in Reno for a few months. Had this family come in — mom, dad, two little kids. I got called over to the table because the mom had thrown up on her plate/table and wanted us to take it away and clean it up. I asked if she was ok, and she said she always throws up when she eats cheese. She had gotten herself an enchilada (it was Mexican theme night). Obviously, enchiladas pretty much always have cheese. I told her I would have to call the Janitorial because none of my staff was trained to handle biohazards. She "didn't understand why I couldn't just take it." Janitorial came in and couldn't clean up because she refused to move from the table. So the janitorial left. She calls me back over and starts yelling at me, dad starts yelling too. Apparently, she wanted to keep eating after throwing up, which I thought was really gross. I had them sit at another table so they could all keep eating. Janitorial came back and cleaned the other table. Finally, they get up to leave and decide to make a huge scene in front of the whole restaurant and demand their money back. I refuse. Dad gets in my face and starts shouting that I'm just a racist white witch and his wife makes loads more money than I do. I call security, and they storm out, pulling pictures off the wall and shattering them on the floor. The dad also picked up a vase and broke it. The two kids are running around and banging on the walls. The security finally showed up after they ran off, I had to do a report, and they were put on the 86 list. I hate people. release_the_hound
Never Again
I was standing behind a woman at Hometown Buffet. She was getting some lasagna or something. It’s basically a really cheesy pasta that when you lift the serving utensil, a lot of cheese hangs on. I witnessed her lift her pasta, twirl all the excess cheese that was connected around her index finger (and there was a lot), clip it off with her thumbnail, and then fling it back into the pasta. I knew I shouldn't have been at Hometown Buffet in the first place, but this solidified my stance to never go back. TACObracommander
Mountain of Chicken Nuggets
I was just a witness, but I saw how a woman came in with about 5 kids and made them all sit at a table while she got food, even if they seemed old enough to get it themselves. She just grabbed two trays, placed three plates on both of them, and literally poured all the chicken nuggets on one plate, so it was a huge mountain. She did the same to five other dishes and left 5 pans that were full or almost full before she came empty. Needless to say, people were pissed. Especially when she did it multiple times again with other dishes and would often glare at people if she saw them taking food from dishes she probably wanted. roxan1930
A Kid’s Instinct, Maybe?
My daughter stopped at an old country buffet while on a school trip. She said she had been craving mac and cheese all day. Surprisingly, when she got there, she just didn't want it. Even though she said it looked delicious, she didn't get any. She resisted even as all of her classmates grabbed huge plates of it and talked about how good it was. It just wasn't what she wanted at the moment. They all got on the bus for the remaining 200-mile drive home, and every single person that ate that mac and cheese got food poisoning. Imagine, if you will, a bus full of teenage kids and their chaperones vomiting themselves for 200 miles. lily2187