Family kicked out of buffet for wasting food
A story on Yahoo news reports about a case of an American family getting kicked out of a Chinese buffet after the staff got disgusted about how much food they were wasting.
Wendy Dershem may think twice before leaving that egg roll on her plate at her next Chinese buffet. The Des Moines woman, her boyfriend and her two children were kicked out of a restaurant last week after management accused her of leaving too much food on her plate.
“They told us we are not welcome there anymore,” said Dershem, a repeat customer at the Dragon House buffet. “We waste too much food. But the buffet is all you can eat. And you know kids. They won’t always eat everything and they want something else.”
Dershem said she paid her $5.95 fee on Saturday but was abruptly told to leave after eating one plate of food.
Employees said they had been watching her family on previous trips to the restaurant and were fed up with her habits.
“They just take one bite and throw it away,” said cashier Lin Huyen. “They take four egg rolls and crab ragoon, take one bite of egg roll and throw the whole plate. That is wasting food.”
Dershem said she was shocked by the scolding and complained to management when she paid her check. “It was embarrassing. … If it’s a one-stop buffet, post it,” she said.
Dragon House manager Kent Cao said his restaurant offers all you can eat buffet, not all you can waste. Dershem’s family took food, didn’t finish it and then piled on the same food again, he said.
I’ve got to say that in this case I absolutely side with the restaurant. I’ve definitely been guilty of wasting food at a buffet, and who hasn’t? But this kind of excessive wasting of food just because you can quite frankly disgusts me.
Good riddance to the lady, and good job by the Chinese restaurant for risking a law suite (even though it’s 100% legel for them to do that) for common sense.
If only people would actually learn from this
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POSTED IN: General stupidity
2 opinions for Family kicked out of buffet for wasting food
Blaine Moore (Run to Win)
May 8, 2006 at 5:50 am
They won’t learn. They’ll feel like it is somebody else’s fault.
Jon Sterling
Jul 30, 2007 at 3:18 am
I see that type of waste all the time here in Houston - When we have people on street corners begging for food or a dollar and people walk into buffet style restaurants and waste like this it makes me sick.
Our family frequents many Chinese style buffet’s and I cannot remember the last time I actually went and retrieved more than one plate of food - But, I was raised by my grand parents and you just did not waste food - (they grew up during the depression when eating was almost a privilege.)
On the other hand I have been to a seafood establishment in the past where it was all you could eat shrimp - and after they second plate - I was told, “You’ve had all you can eat” and that was then end of the meal.
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