Buffet must have items?

quote:

Originally posted by susanll

A good breakfast buffet that is only open in the mornings and early afternoon.

I've known two restaurant operators who tried the breakfast buffet route and failed. People don't load up their plates with the low cost items. They load up on bacon, sausage, and ham. You're pretty limited to what you can charge for a breakfast buffet, and by the time you look at your actual net margin, it's pretty much a loser.

Lukefish of course!

i live a mile or so from the best buffet i have ever encountered(amish). actually its a smorgasborg. it seats 2500ppl. and stays crowded(the shady maple). they have two long hot tables with veggies, starches and seafood, hearty meals like ham balls, meatloaf, spagetti, casseroles, baked corn, mac and cheese, (way to much to remember)and such. they have 4 different grilling stations with various steaks, chops, sausages, grilled salmon, tuna, and such. they have a bread station with tons of varieties of homemade breads and rolls. 4 different drink stations, two different dessert stations with tons of pies, cakes, cobblers, puddings, ice creams, its just ridiculous.
but for all its delicious fares, there are a couple that stand out to me. the beef roast, and mashed potatoes. now i dont know how they do it, or what they put in there, but each bite of the roast melts in your mouth, and i can only imagine this is what a crack-head feels after each puff from the ole pipe. or maybe the heroin addict. i cant stop eating it. its smazing!
ALL THAT ASIDE, they charge real close to tweenty dollars a head, including 'service charge'

but back to the question... to properly answer, would require clarification. do you want our opinions based on what we want to eat, or what we would put on OUR buffet, as a good wholesome profitable food?
now for profitability, you must include tons of starches and veggies.
but dont cheap out, no one will spread the word, about cheap crap.
make them memorable. like for mashed potatoes, make sure you use whole milk, real butter, and sour cream. the three main ingredients.
seasonings are the important.

as for meats, dont over do it. too many meats will make it impossible to keep affordable.
once you figure you are done, price out each item, and see how bad you can be hurt, by heavy eaters. then set your price not quite that high. use small plates, and small utensils. i see alot of places use huge spoons and ladles. thats a big nono.

something unique is always a great draw. check out the other 5 buffets in you area... do they have mexican, do they have italian, do they have bbq, what is missing from all of them.
another thing is to have different themes each night. steak night, seafood night, pasta night, low country boil night, dogs and burgers night, taco night, bbq night(mmmm) , e.t.c.

ok, coffee cup empty....
peace out
mike

quote:

Originally posted by jman

quote:

Originally posted by susanll
A good breakfast buffet that is only open in the mornings and early afternoon.

People... load up on bacon, sausage, and ham.

jman,
There's an easy way to remedy that! Don't serve those items; serve LIVERMUSH instead!! Oh, they'll come back howling for more every time.
Pass The Tanning Butter (They Need Something To Obliterate The Taste), Ort. Carlton in Useful Athens, Georgia.

I get around alot. Doing what I do, you have too.

I have seen the best buffets in the country. I have been to every casino, name brand and many Ma and pops.

The Casions have the valume and house edge. The name brand places like Country Buffet and Golden Coral. They have the name and volume.

The best Mom and Pop buffet I know of. Is in southern Gorgia. They have been around since the early 70's.

I have only been going in for the last 8 years or so. They have changed locations 3 times in that time. They move to a better location each time.

They have a simple line up. Only like 20-26 items counting salad bar. Home cooking. You never know what will be on there. There will be the slow country fried chicken.

They have a limited beverage selection. Like 5 types of soda a pitcher of water or a pitcher of sweet tea. Its fountain and serve your self soda. Desert is hand scooped ice cream, thats it.

They have very limited service. You pay when you walk in. The same person cleans your table and gets your ice cream (some times they have 2-3 folks lending a hand.

Now, they have some dang good home cooked food. Their main cook is a 300+ pound black woman that is about 60+ years of age and her son. These two can cook the best dang NORMAL food I have ate. Momma, needs to take some lessons from the cook.

In all, the wife and I can both eat a good meal. Get out the door with tip for under 15 bucks. They did just raise their price by a buck.

A food glove dispenser for patrons.

Non-latex.

They're so cheap, there's no reason not to have them ($1.13 for a box of 400!). I have a box in the car just in case.

Too risky these days to touch those handles.

Potato salad! Must have potato salad . . . Homemade . . .I'll give you my recipe. Also, at least one homemade salad dressing.

quote:

Originally posted by bassrocker4u2

i live a mile or so from the best buffet i have ever encountered(amish). actually its a smorgasborg. it seats 2500ppl. and stays crowded(the shady maple). they have two long hot tables with veggies, starches and seafood, hearty meals like ham balls, meatloaf, spagetti, casseroles, baked corn, mac and cheese, (way to much to remember)and such. they have 4 different grilling stations with various steaks, chops, sausages, grilled salmon, tuna, and such. they have a bread station with tons of varieties of homemade breads and rolls. 4 different drink stations, two different dessert stations with tons of pies, cakes, cobblers, puddings, ice creams, its just ridiculous.
but for all its delicious fares, there are a couple that stand out to me. the beef roast, and mashed potatoes. now i dont know how they do it, or what they put in there, but each bite of the roast melts in your mouth, and i can only imagine this is what a crack-head feels after each puff from the ole pipe. or maybe the heroin addict. i cant stop eating it. its smazing!
ALL THAT ASIDE, they charge real close to tweenty dollars a head, including 'service charge'

but back to the question... to properly answer, would require clarification. do you want our opinions based on what we want to eat, or what we would put on OUR buffet, as a good wholesome profitable food?
now for profitability, you must include tons of starches and veggies.
but dont cheap out, no one will spread the word, about cheap crap.
make them memorable. like for mashed potatoes, make sure you use whole milk, real butter, and sour cream. the three main ingredients.
seasonings are the important.

as for meats, dont over do it. too many meats will make it impossible to keep affordable.
once you figure you are done, price out each item, and see how bad you can be hurt, by heavy eaters. then set your price not quite that high. use small plates, and small utensils. i see alot of places use huge spoons and ladles. thats a big nono.

something unique is always a great draw. check out the other 5 buffets in you area... do they have mexican, do they have italian, do they have bbq, what is missing from all of them.
another thing is to have different themes each night. steak night, seafood night, pasta night, low country boil night, dogs and burgers night, taco night, bbq night(mmmm) , e.t.c.

ok, coffee cup empty....
peace out
mike

Bassrocker,

Where is this place, I'm in need of the Roast Beef!!

Thanks for all the responses :)

I have an existing restaurant that would be clasified under family dining. We serve breakfast all day, and our menu has the basic Midwestern items. Breakfast: Omelets, B&G, Steak and Eggs, and other basic combos. Lunch: Burgers, Tenderloin Sand. Open face Sandwiches, etc. Dinner: Chicken Dinner, Roast Beef, Chopped Steak, Shrimp, Steak etc.

Sorry I lied about the location but competition is stiff in my small town of 5,000, so I am a little worried about who might be lurking around here lol, but they are shaking in their boots since they learned I will soon run a buffet.

There is a buffet in town, but it is non-smoking and has horrible food (KDHE has shut them down more than once) and I know they are barely making it. The other competition is smoking only, and he has tax liens, garnishments, and bad management practices (racism, running customers off, etc.) and he is known for his bad service. At this point I am doing better than the competition, but there is not room for three similar restaurants in this small town.

My employees have told me that this location of 30 years has drawn large crowds in the past when they ran a buffet (people waiting in the motel lobby), and the customers ask me just about every day "when am I starting a buffet?" What I am told by my employees is that I will draw the older crowd (good because they eat less lol) and the Sunday after church crowd.

I have the hot and cold tables just about ready to go. I plan to run the buffet only a couple days a week as a special, and see how it goes. Sunday would be good and maybe one of the days the competition is closed or shuts down early (my doing lol).

Anyways thanks for all your suggestions, all of us need all the help we can get in this bad economy and cut-throat industry, and this is a great place to get it.

As a rule I shun buffets, but there are two in town that I hit whenever I can... one is a chinese buffet with a Mongolian bbq in it, so you can have the regular buffet items or the bbq (or both). The other is a Mexican buffet done only on Saturdays and Sundays at a Mexican restaurant. The food is simple and good, fresh salsas and toppings, decent meats and sides. I'm always in abject pain when I walk out of that one, I need help to the car and have to take a nap when I get home.