I find the point about predictability interesting. Personally, sometimes (not always) I have been in a buffet and the quality is very low because some people e

I find the point about predictability interesting. Personally, sometimes (not always) I have been in a buffet and the quality is very low because some people eat as much as they can. In that context I would gladly have paid per item. Point one, quality may change when charged per item. > But paying for every item in a dining hall would be a sucky UX and lead to perverse outcomes because customers will find the product hard to use. I basically only disagree with you on this one. This is exactly how restaurants work, and customers do not find it hard to use. They still often have a menu to combine a subset of all the items available under a common pricing. IMO it is cultural. I believe it is a combination of two factors: First, do we think of the students as intelligent creatures, with discerning capabilities, or as cattle to be fed? And second, do we value the quality of food, or it is just a problem to be solved at the minimum cost? Paying per component or buffet can both work. I do not think one is more efficient/rational. Quality, freshness of product, amount of food wasted, variance in price, health implications, can change a lot between both approaches.