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I once went to an all-you-can-eat buffet in Bulgaria with a mechanism I'd never seen before. The salads and starches and suchlike were all self-service, and wa

I once went to an all-you-can-eat buffet in Bulgaria with a mechanism I'd never seen before. The salads and starches and suchlike were all self-service, and waiters toured the room with big skewers of freshly roasted meat they'd carve right in front of you. But of course they'd only serve you a certain amount, and they weren't very fast to make a return visit. Thus limiting diners' consumption of the more expensive items, unless the diner was very patient. Of course, the prices were very fair and we all left well fed.

bitxbitxbitcoin 3y ago
That sounds like a churrascaría aka Brazilian steakhouse/bbq to me! Did the waiters ask if you wanted meat or were there cards with a red side and a green side?
- xyzzy123 3y ago
  I went to one of those once without understanding how the token worked. They kept coming again and again with the delicious things... I left so full I could barely walk. It's weird how while I could have turned "more grilled meat" down at any time but I didn't.
maximinus_thrax 3y ago
I used to go with my team to Fogo de Chão in the before-fore times as they were right across from our building, and they applied the exact same strategy wrt to meat.
WalterBright 3y ago
I've seen that in a few places, though I've never been to Bulgaria.
civilitty 3y ago
In the US this is often the case at Brazilian steakhouses. They're usually higher end than regular buffets though because the meat is the main attraction and they're not stingy with it.
voganmother42 3y ago
Reminds me of “In churrascarias or the traditional Brazilian-style steakhouse restaurants, servers come to the table with knives and a vertically-held skewer, on which are speared various kinds of premium cuts of meat, most commonly local cuts of beef, pork, chicken, lamb, and sometimes atypical or exotic meats.” Ive found these types of restaurants all over the US - https://fogodechao.com/ https://fogodechao.com/ is one I remember
- fsckboy 3y ago
  churrascaria refers to the skewered and grilled cooking aspect. the roaming the room and serving you from the skewer is called rodizio
  - ufo 3y ago
    Although to be fair, most churrascarias use the rodizio model.
    - fsckboy 3y ago
      yes, and you wouldn't be able to write that sentence without the proper vocabulary :) now people know what they'll get at a sushi rodizio
  - Beijinger 3y ago
    You make me miss Brazil. And you make me hungry.
  - rapfaria 3y ago
    Do americans have pizzeria rodizio? They bring slices to your table. Younger folks usually brag like "I had some 20 slices last rodizio"
    - ender341341 3y ago
      the only 'rodizio' I've seen in the US tend to be on the higher end, while most all you can eat pizza places tend to be on the lower end and just self serve.
Spivak 3y ago
I love me a Brazilian steakhouse, I think you're overestimating the patience required. * If there's something specific you want and it's not currently going around you can ask and they'll usually bring you a whole skewer just for you. Your server will also typically collect the table's favorites and send them your way. * For everything except the steak that's carved right on to your plate you can just ask for more when they're serving it to your table. And the only reason for the steak is just because they have to take it back to get seared again. * Unless your restaurant has specific dinner service slots (which is pretty rare) you'll likely get people coming over to serve you meat before you even get a chance to hit the "salad" bar. Those steakhouses make the economics work by simply charging $25/plate/lunch $50/plate/dinner before drinks. They've got to be some of the least "sleezy" restaurants around.
- dwringer 3y ago
  I would have agreed with your comment 100% after my first visit to such a restaurant, but after my most recent visit I cannot do so. The amount of patience required depends entirely on the quality of service, and this is not necessarily consistent at all such restaurants at all times.
- michaelt 3y ago
  This was at a time when Bulgaria's per-capita GDP was around $7500. I can assure you, they were not making the economics work by charging $50/plate :) Which is probably why they weren't delivering full skewers at request.
- PH95VuimJjqBqy 3y ago
  I was hesitant to be that guy, but this does indeed sound like a brazilian steakhouse.
jessehattabaugh 3y ago
We have those in the US; it's called Old Country Buffet https://youtu.be/net7t1HjQxY?si=W4lZ0ru3QYbFs7SO https://youtu.be/net7t1HjQxY?si=W4lZ0ru3QYbFs7SO
- sumtechguy 3y ago
  Never saw that style of service at old country buffet. That chain is usually go get it from the buffet tables with a person on the end of the buffet tables carving ham or beef. If you have never been to a 'Brazilian' steak house you should try it at least once they are a little pricy but a very interesting experience distinct from a buffet. The one I went to had a very small salad bar. Everything else they wandered by and served meat of skewers.
JohnFen 3y ago
This is how I remember buffets operating in the US when I was a child, too. Nobody would go table to table to serve the good stuff, but would have stations at the buffet line, and you'd have to ask them to carve whatever you wanted. You could go back and get more as much as you wanted, but each trip got you a set amount.
- deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]
gosub100 3y ago
> they weren't very fast to make a return visit I've seen this at several AYCE sushi restaurants. They repeatedly offer you seaweed salad, soup, and mussel appetizers, but get really 'busy' when they are preparing the sushi rolls. The worst I saw was (about 20 yrs ago) some stingy owner had a stipulation for AYCE only for the first hour, then you had to pay up. The chef was incredibly slow preparing the food. Other places I've seen try to chat you up to slow down your eating.
deleted 3y ago
[deleted]
awiesenhofer 3y ago
Reminds me of the Czech Republic, where in some places you get unlimited sauce and dumplings with any roast dish. So you might only get 2-3 pieces of meat with your ie. Svíčková but you can order more sauce and dumplings as often as you want. Of course both are relatively cheap and all the beers you order to go with it more than make up for it. Great for kids too (without the beer preferably).
mckn1ght 3y ago
Makes sense. The slower you eat, the less food it takes to feel full, because the nutrients have had time to absorb into your blood and hit the feedback mechanisms. So the longer in between servings of high cost items, the less overall will probably be consumed.
grecy 3y ago
I was just at a Brazilian steakhouse in Vegas that is exactly this. That being said, my table ate an inhuman amount of extremely delicious meat.
sofixa 3y ago
> I once went to an all-you-can-eat buffet in Bulgaria with a mechanism I'd never seen before. Do you remember where it was and what it was called?
hnbad 3y ago
I've been to a Chinese AYCE in Germany that has another spin on this: cheap meat like deep fried chicken is available as part of the regular buffet but the other fish and meat is only available at a separate buffet where you pick out cold vegetables and raw fish and meat and a sauce or marinade for it all to be grilled for you and served to your table. It's copied off the model of a popular chain of "Mongolian BBQ" places where this is the main selling point because the chef prepares the food in direct central view of most of the tables but it also slows down customers by requring them to put their plate with the expensive food in a queue and encouraging them to pass the time by filling up with the cheaper stuff from the ready-to-eat buffet. Another effect in addition to slowing down eating (i.e. reducing how much food is consumed before customers feel satieted/full) is that the raw meat and fish shrinks from the water loss during cooking so customers get to feel like they filled up their plate but only be served a smaller amount of cooked food than if they had been able to load up their plate with pre-cooked food directly. And of course most of the sauces and marinades as well as the deep-fried cheap food is also fairly salty, encouraging customers to pay for more drinks (which also additionally fill up their stomachs).

bitxbitxbitcoin 3y ago

That sounds like a churrascaría aka Brazilian steakhouse/bbq to me! Did the waiters ask if you wanted meat or were there cards with a red side and a green side?

xyzzy123 3y ago
I went to one of those once without understanding how the token worked. They kept coming again and again with the delicious things... I left so full I could barely walk. It's weird how while I could have turned "more grilled meat" down at any time but I didn't.

maximinus_thrax 3y ago

I used to go with my team to Fogo de Chão in the before-fore times as they were right across from our building, and they applied the exact same strategy wrt to meat.

WalterBright 3y ago

I've seen that in a few places, though I've never been to Bulgaria.

civilitty 3y ago

In the US this is often the case at Brazilian steakhouses. They're usually higher end than regular buffets though because the meat is the main attraction and they're not stingy with it.

voganmother42 3y ago

Reminds me of “In churrascarias or the traditional Brazilian-style steakhouse restaurants, servers come to the table with knives and a vertically-held skewer, on which are speared various kinds of premium cuts of meat, most commonly local cuts of beef, pork, chicken, lamb, and sometimes atypical or exotic meats.” Ive found these types of restaurants all over the US - https://fogodechao.com/ https://fogodechao.com/ is one I remember

fsckboy 3y ago
churrascaria refers to the skewered and grilled cooking aspect. the roaming the room and serving you from the skewer is called rodizio
- ufo 3y ago
  Although to be fair, most churrascarias use the rodizio model.
  - fsckboy 3y ago
    yes, and you wouldn't be able to write that sentence without the proper vocabulary :) now people know what they'll get at a sushi rodizio
- Beijinger 3y ago
  You make me miss Brazil. And you make me hungry.
- rapfaria 3y ago
  Do americans have pizzeria rodizio? They bring slices to your table. Younger folks usually brag like "I had some 20 slices last rodizio"
  - ender341341 3y ago
    the only 'rodizio' I've seen in the US tend to be on the higher end, while most all you can eat pizza places tend to be on the lower end and just self serve.

Spivak 3y ago

I love me a Brazilian steakhouse, I think you're overestimating the patience required. * If there's something specific you want and it's not currently going around you can ask and they'll usually bring you a whole skewer just for you. Your server will also typically collect the table's favorites and send them your way. * For everything except the steak that's carved right on to your plate you can just ask for more when they're serving it to your table. And the only reason for the steak is just because they have to take it back to get seared again. * Unless your restaurant has specific dinner service slots (which is pretty rare) you'll likely get people coming over to serve you meat before you even get a chance to hit the "salad" bar. Those steakhouses make the economics work by simply charging $25/plate/lunch $50/plate/dinner before drinks. They've got to be some of the least "sleezy" restaurants around.

dwringer 3y ago
I would have agreed with your comment 100% after my first visit to such a restaurant, but after my most recent visit I cannot do so. The amount of patience required depends entirely on the quality of service, and this is not necessarily consistent at all such restaurants at all times.
michaelt 3y ago
This was at a time when Bulgaria's per-capita GDP was around $7500. I can assure you, they were not making the economics work by charging $50/plate :) Which is probably why they weren't delivering full skewers at request.
PH95VuimJjqBqy 3y ago
I was hesitant to be that guy, but this does indeed sound like a brazilian steakhouse.

jessehattabaugh 3y ago

We have those in the US; it's called Old Country Buffet https://youtu.be/net7t1HjQxY?si=W4lZ0ru3QYbFs7SO https://youtu.be/net7t1HjQxY?si=W4lZ0ru3QYbFs7SO

sumtechguy 3y ago
Never saw that style of service at old country buffet. That chain is usually go get it from the buffet tables with a person on the end of the buffet tables carving ham or beef. If you have never been to a 'Brazilian' steak house you should try it at least once they are a little pricy but a very interesting experience distinct from a buffet. The one I went to had a very small salad bar. Everything else they wandered by and served meat of skewers.

JohnFen 3y ago

This is how I remember buffets operating in the US when I was a child, too. Nobody would go table to table to serve the good stuff, but would have stations at the buffet line, and you'd have to ask them to carve whatever you wanted. You could go back and get more as much as you wanted, but each trip got you a set amount.

deleted 3y ago
[deleted]

gosub100 3y ago

> they weren't very fast to make a return visit I've seen this at several AYCE sushi restaurants. They repeatedly offer you seaweed salad, soup, and mussel appetizers, but get really 'busy' when they are preparing the sushi rolls. The worst I saw was (about 20 yrs ago) some stingy owner had a stipulation for AYCE only for the first hour, then you had to pay up. The chef was incredibly slow preparing the food. Other places I've seen try to chat you up to slow down your eating.

deleted 3y ago

[deleted]

awiesenhofer 3y ago

Reminds me of the Czech Republic, where in some places you get unlimited sauce and dumplings with any roast dish. So you might only get 2-3 pieces of meat with your ie. Svíčková but you can order more sauce and dumplings as often as you want. Of course both are relatively cheap and all the beers you order to go with it more than make up for it. Great for kids too (without the beer preferably).

mckn1ght 3y ago

Makes sense. The slower you eat, the less food it takes to feel full, because the nutrients have had time to absorb into your blood and hit the feedback mechanisms. So the longer in between servings of high cost items, the less overall will probably be consumed.

grecy 3y ago

I was just at a Brazilian steakhouse in Vegas that is exactly this. That being said, my table ate an inhuman amount of extremely delicious meat.

sofixa 3y ago

> I once went to an all-you-can-eat buffet in Bulgaria with a mechanism I'd never seen before. Do you remember where it was and what it was called?

hnbad 3y ago

I've been to a Chinese AYCE in Germany that has another spin on this: cheap meat like deep fried chicken is available as part of the regular buffet but the other fish and meat is only available at a separate buffet where you pick out cold vegetables and raw fish and meat and a sauce or marinade for it all to be grilled for you and served to your table. It's copied off the model of a popular chain of "Mongolian BBQ" places where this is the main selling point because the chef prepares the food in direct central view of most of the tables but it also slows down customers by requring them to put their plate with the expensive food in a queue and encouraging them to pass the time by filling up with the cheaper stuff from the ready-to-eat buffet. Another effect in addition to slowing down eating (i.e. reducing how much food is consumed before customers feel satieted/full) is that the raw meat and fish shrinks from the water loss during cooking so customers get to feel like they filled up their plate but only be served a smaller amount of cooked food than if they had been able to load up their plate with pre-cooked food directly. And of course most of the sauces and marinades as well as the deep-fried cheap food is also fairly salty, encouraging customers to pay for more drinks (which also additionally fill up their stomachs).