A guy at work weighed about 400 lbs.
He and his large brother went to Chesapeake Bay for all you eat crab legs.
After about 3 hours of non-stop eating, the manager came out and told them to leave.

They told him, "But it is all you can eat."
The manager then told them "You have had all you can eat!" and kicked them out.

We still have them here. Quite a few! All you can eat seafood buffets in OBX are kind of pricey. Tourist prices. I think the last time we went what's about four or five years ago and it was $36 each for adults. The only thing that was kind of limited with the crab legs and they would bring a platter out for your table and once you finish those they would replenish. No waste.

There are numerous places around Raleigh which we call fish shacks and they serve deep fried seafood. Some are all you can eat buffets that run about 12 to $15 each. It's fresh shrimp from Carolina tidal Rivers. you may have heard it called Calabash style seafood.

Back in the late 70's and early 80's the wife and I used to go to a place that specialized in lobster dinners. I believe at the time they charged six or seven dollars for a nice rock lobster dinner. Needless to say we ate lobster like there was no tomorrow. Back in 86 vacationed out in Main where we hit a couple lobster pounds where the prices for lobster were within a dollar of what we got it for at home. Eventually our favorite restaurant closed so the only place to get lobster was Red Lobster. At first their Lobster Fest hit around every July and you could count on a reasonably priced lobster dinner. Eventually that too passed with lobster fest serving up everything except full lobster. I've often wondered what happened, lobster get overfished? All I know is that nowadays a reasonably priced lobster (usually paired with steak or something else) is scarce as hen's teeth. Now I realize you can still get lobster but at premium prices but I'm not talking about that, just modestly priced lobster dinners.

My first job was at the Woodbridge location. They had just opened '75/'76.At the end of the night they would throw everything away,never gave it to us workers.

I think it's a mix of gluttony and just a general lack of ethics/morals...like people nowadays go out of their way to figure out ways to "game" the system.

It can't just be about having a nice dinner and taking what you need, now it's about specifically going after the most expensive seafood and taking WAY more than you need just to eat later/take advantage of the situation. A friend of mine worked at a buffet like this and people would wait for the most expensive seafood and just clean out the whole tray at once. There would just be huge stacks/multiple plates of crab on tables that people would take home with them and 75% of the customers would never get a chance to even see the crab/lobster.

You see the same thing even on these forums. An online shop might make a mistake on pricing and instead of just being a normal person and trying to order one for personal use, you'll see people here trying to buy 10+ because they want to game the system. Back in the day it would happen, companies would often honor the messed up pricing because it's individuals trying to get a good deal for themselves. We didn't have all of the scumbags buying dozens to flip on re-seller sites that basically ruins the deal for everyone.

You see this selfish mentality everywhere.

Crab, oysters, salmon.  I was young enough to enjoy that gluttony without adverse effects.

It's shit like this that pisses me off. And people wonder why America has so many ridiculous rules/signs that seem like common sense to 99% of the population but businesses have to be put up anyway because of the 1% scumbags.

It's people like your coworker that ruin so many fun things because they're completely void of ethics...it's all about "gaming" the system and "it's all about me, screw everyone else" without consideration to the fact they're eating $100+ worth of food without regards to the fact they're screwing over the business.

Howard Johnson's Restaurants had all you can eat fish or fried clams.

There used to  be a place here called Barnacle Bill's Crabhouse that offered all you can eat prime rib, or crab legs. Also offered all you can eat walleye.

Several churches around here used to have all you can eat perch during lent.

All are gone now.

Nowadays, a fatty land whale would go into one of those places and would literally eat every single bit of food they showed in that commercial by themselves.

Wow, OP!  Holy flashback.

Yeah, we used to go to the one in Vienna.

Growing up as a young kid in the early/mid 80ies, it was a “fancy” restaurant for us.

We went rarely and usually for a special occasion with family, cousins, etc.  The food was awesome (or at least it was from my perspective as a little kid).



Thanks.  This thread is cool.  You’re cool, OP.

Butter is good for you.

Only one I’ve tried is Caesar’s, and it was “okay”, but not amazing by any stretch.

I’m much happier spending the same 80 bucks on what I actually want.

Good...

Also, Chesapeake Bay Sea Food House was fantastic but went to shit when they put a buffet in it.  Shortly thereafter both locations shut down...

Agreed 100%

Bud Jones in San Antonio has all you can eat fried fish every day of the year.

You usually last no more than 2 servings.

During Lent season? Forget it, you'll be waiting for a table and then for a serving forever.

Just got back from Disney.  Did several “all you can eat” buffets that were required for “character” dining.

Kids loved it, but I was repulsed by the smell just walking in.

Cost more than a fine dining experience (without wine) in most instances.

I went to bed several nights hungry after paying for an “all you can eat” buffet.

GROSS.

I do, howverever, miss the good all you can eat catfish places that used to be present in my AO.

It was Chesapeake Bay Seafood House in Manassas, Virginia.......All you could eat frog-legs for me......I could care less about the rest.

A bowl of coleslaw, a bowl of hush-puppies, a glass of water, and keep the frog legs coming till I say No Mas.

I tipped very well to never see a empty frog-leg plate too.