Q&A for How to Eat at a Buffet

This typically happens because there is nothing to draw guests away from the table. To discourage hanging about the table, place chairs and smaller standing tables away from the buffet table, then have a kind host or helper to guide people toward these areas for eating. It can also help to have a helper or the host kindly ask people to move along once they've served themselves.

There are usually only two courses at a buffet table––the main course and a dessert/sweets. As such, you only need to put out two sizes of plates, a larger one for main course and a smaller one for dessert. Place the plates in two piles at each end of the buffet table, to encourage people to use both ends of the buffet table and avoid slower plate filling. Place both cutlery and serviettes/napkins next to the plate piles as well.

At a buffet you can do the service either way. You can serve guests if there are sufficient people available for serving, otherwise it is usually much easier to let guests serve themselves. Indeed, this is a big attraction of the buffet table, to allow for those preparing the food to set it out ahead of time and let guests serve themselves as much or as little as they want. It can also allow the host to mingle, if relevant.

A buffet is another word for a sideboard. Buffets are sometimes also called buffet suppers, fork suppers, cold buffet, finger buffet or service à la française. A buffet is intended to serve many people at once without having to provide seating and wait staff.

If your fried chicken is burnt, you don't have to eat it.

That depends on where you are and how dirty your plates get! Some buffets request you get a new plate every time, while others encourage you to use your plate over unless it's too dirty. Ask your buffet for advice. Make sure you change plates for dessert though.

Yes, it is. Usually, you pay after you eat, though some buffets may have you pay before, or charge extra for certain items. If they do charge extra, it'll be clearly marked.

See if you can find tiny spoons near where the shot glass dessert is offered. If not, ask a waiter to bring you a tiny spoon or other utensil to eat the dessert with.

It's up to you. When you feel ready for dessert, go for it.

It takes about 12 minutes between food entering the mouth and the body reducing its feeling of hunger. So if you're hungry for ten spoons of rice and you eat ten spoons of rice, then for the next twelve minutes you'll still be hungry, even though the solution to that hunger is already on its way inside your body. Never put more on your plate than you are hungry for, and wait a good while before you take seconds.

Chewing is a mechanism to pre-process food items before they enter the digestive tract. It also brings out the flavors of foods. It further triggers the brain, telling it the body is receiving food. It further serves as a protective measure to prevent indigestible, poisonous or unhealthy things from entering the body. If there's a pebble in your food, for example. So always chew well. A rule of thumb is 6 times for every bite.

You do not have to eat anything that you don't want to eat. If you don't like Jello, feel free to skip it.

Some do, some do not. This really varies on the kind of buffet you are attending. Most family-friendly hosted buffets will not.

The etiquette for buffets has turned into "Take all you want, but eat all you take". To prevent food waste, don't put a lot of food on your plate. You can always go back for some more food if you're not full.

Small salads and common appetizers, such as mozzarella sticks are great starters at a buffet. For entrees, meals such as chicken and seafood are must-haves as well. Cookies, cakes, and brownies are great desserts to have at a buffet. The types of meals depend on the buffet, so feel free to ask the waiters there for what they would recommend.

Open buffets usually have a set price, and how much that is will depend on where you are and what sort of food is on offer. The benefit of this though is that you know upfront what the total cost is and if you're prepared to pay that, you can eat as much as you want without having to pay more. Often an open buffet will be cheaper than a la carte (ordering from the menu) or eating from a set menu, and you have more freedom about what you do and don't eat, and how much.