Hot Breakfast including resorts, is it still a hot breakfast, now?

There is a well known casino in Vegas who came up with an idea for their buffet to continue. You get a complete list at your table of the food items available for your selection from the buffet. Then, you pick and mark the buffet list with your choices. Next, the server will take your food list and then your items are plated for you. The plate is brought back to your table for you to enjoy. You never leave the table. You can do this as many times as you want.
I like that. So there may still be hope for my favorite Buffet restaurants to survive.
 
There is a well known casino in Vegas who came up with an idea for their buffet to continue. You get a complete list at your table of the food items available for your selection from the buffet. Then, you pick and mark the buffet list with your choices. Next, the server will take your food list and then your items are plated for you. The plate is brought back to your table for you to enjoy. You never leave the table. You can do this as many times as you want.
Must you leave a tip?
 
I haven't been there myself. I would think a tip is appropriate considering all they are doing to serve you.
Golden Corral workers took your empty plates. They were not servers that worked for tips. That was their job. No tip required.
 


Golden Corral workers took your empty plates. They were not servers that worked for tips. That was their job. No tip required.
In this particular case the server is getting your plate filled with food. They deserve a tip.

I tip at Golden Corral, too. I appreciate getting drink refills and taking away the dirty plates; so, there's room on the table for new plates.
 
In this particular case the server is getting your plate filled with food. They deserve a tip.

I tip at Golden Corral, too. I appreciate getting drink refills and taking away the dirty plates; so, there's room on the table for new plates.
The server is not a "tip" worker. They are getting what ever minimum wage is or higher. I get my own refills too
 


But this is true covid or not. And surface transmission (what there is of it) is still easily taken care of with hand sanitation if you plan to eat with your hands.
Again-common sense. The media has hyped the fear that the virus is literally lying in wait for (and presenting it as a VIABLE virus not fragments detected after hours) that the things going on is ridiculous and amounts to safety theater. And here in US the county health department regularly inspects hotels including the buffet kitchens. I work with kitchens and am well aware of health/food safety codes and proper handling.
High heat (like in a toaster) will inactivate most viruses and bacteria. I refuse to go around acting like every surface is going to kill me when I know I can mitigate MY risk by washing hands., with a few exceptions: keeping silverware out in bulk often with the eating end up and potentially touched by hundreds of hands, or communal bread in a bag everyone reaches into? Blech-but that bothered me covid virus or not and those I DO say something about.

The super HYPER awareness of this virus has both pros and cons, but in so many cases it is leading to nonsensical decisions as a way of showing "care" and "safety" while in actuality doing nothing at all :)

It would be better if people stopped relying on hand sanitizers and actually washed their hands. I read a study a while ago that showed that hospitals, where the staff would only use sanitizer between patients as opposed to hand washing, had their post op infection rate that was remarkably higher. We have always been huge hand washers and do not touch any food without first washing our hands. That means that we would get our food, then go wash our hands before handling anything. People are just gross and, after working in food for over 30 years, I can tell you that a very, very small percentage of people wash their hands before touching food. No wonder there are so many sick people all the time. Our family has never had the flu, ever. Nor have my kids had any other "common" illnesses like strep and ear infections. Hygiene is very important.
 
The server is not a "tip" worker. They are getting what ever minimum wage is or higher. I get my own refills too

The way I see it is, these people have been called back to work, most likely with limited hours(because that is what is happening everywhere). And they are working for very little money. They were probably making more on unemployment then they are now back to work. Couple that with their new, increased work load of serving and extra cleaning. I have zero issue with giving them a few extra bucks as a tip. We have to support each other. I mean, it's golden corral for goodness sakes, your paying around $10 for a buffet and you can't afford to give the servers a few dollars? I don't get it. Minimum wage is not this big sum of money. If someone makes min wage and works 40 hours a week/52 weeks a year, so no days off, that is only $15,080 a YEAR before taxes. I really don't get it how someone who goes and enjoys the services that these people provide and can then be so indifferent to them. I wish there was a law the forced everyone to work at least 6 months in food service so that everyone can appreciate how difficult it is and experience how many people treat food service workers so badly. There is nothing shameful in working in these jobs and these people should be treated with respect and dignity.
 
From what I understand the Golden Corral server is considered a tip employee. The average starting wage is $2-3/hour.
That is indeed true. The people who served behind the glass at the buffet (carved roast, etc) were not but the people who served beverages and cleared dishes truly depend on tips. At least they did until they were furloughed because of covid.
 
So we just stayed at a hampton inn and the breakfast was grab and go. You were given a bag at the beginning and it had a granola bar in it. Then there was a buffet of sorts where you told the employee what you wanted in your bag. If you wanted 10 boxes of cheerios you could have that. Everything was prepackaged, muffins, fruit, etc.
 
There is a well known casino in Vegas who came up with an idea for their buffet to continue. You get a complete list at your table of the food items available for your selection from the buffet. Then, you pick and mark the buffet list with your choices. Next, the server will take your food list and then your items are plated for you. The plate is brought back to your table for you to enjoy. You never leave the table. You can do this as many times as you want.
That sounds like most asian/sushi "all you can eat" places I have been to. you sit at tables, they pour you tea and give you a notepad/login to the app, you order and they bring it. At no point do you ever have to share elbow space with sniffly strangers while handling tongs over a chafing dish of sushi rolls. LOL
 
I would think that some buffets could convert to a small plates format as well. Instead of shoveling food onto your large plate, individual portions are plated on small plates in the kitchen. Say instead of a full pan of lasagna, there are 20 small plates of lasagna. Patrons can select however many small plate items they want. Leads to a lot more dishes, but no shared utensils required.
 
Next, the server will take your food list and then your items are plated for you. The plate is brought back to your table for you to enjoy. You never leave the table. You can do this as many times as you want.
So I am relying on a min wage worker to sanitize hands between each handle, AND to keep fingers OFF the plate and out of food?
It would be better if people stopped relying on hand sanitizers and actually washed their hands. I read a study a while ago that showed that hospitals, where the staff would only use sanitizer between patients as opposed to hand washing
Very true-sanitizer works well in a pinch against most - norovirus is one that is hard to kill and soap/water/scrub works. However most hospitals evolve practices as information becomes available. I also wonder about that hospitals visitation policy-OMG visitors are scary dirty. I asked the infection control nurse (back when I was in hospitals) why WE had to gown/glove/wash in isolation rooms but VISITORS could come and go freely. Repy? "we encourage them to practice hand hygiene" as it was " CDC guideline", and it actually WAS the recommendation of the CDC that visitors didn't need to practice the same isolation precautions, but the person who was literally in there for 5 seconds to pick up a tray had to do full glove/gown etc. Can't hurt the survey afterwards ya know. That was years ago, and did change. I happened to sit next to CEO at a banquet award dinner a couple years later and asked him that question. He was newly appointed at that time. He ended up making a lot of personel changes and put people who actually knew their job instead of their buddy in those positions.

Patrons can select however many small plate items they want. Leads to a lot more dishes, but no shared utensils required.
So let's see how many people now touch that dish. clean end dishmachine, stacking for storage until used. Pulled out and individually plated. set out onto buffet. Vs dishmachine to storage caddy which is wheeled out or carried out in a stack. Oh and that person plating those dishes? Uses the same gloves when grabbing new pan of lasagne from hot box, (handle, shelf) then picks up utensil left laying on table. then grabs plate, sets plate out or on tray and now that glove that has been everywhere has contaminated that plate. Buffets are just gross in most places :)

sorry for rant - improper food handling and especially improper glove use drives me absolutely batty! Subway is one of the very few places that do it properly. I am hoping one thing to come from this super hyper awareness is better sanitation along with common sense.
 
So I am relying on a min wage worker to sanitize hands between each handle, AND to keep fingers OFF the plate and out of food?

That is a very disparaging remark. You are saying that only those that are paid a high salary are conscientious workers. As if salary is an indication that someone takes this seriously. I have worked in food service for over 30 years and am very clean and follow all food safety rules. This is just another example of how people look down on food service workers as if we are pieces of crap below their feet. Improper glove usage is a problem in some places, but not everyone is like that. As a baker, we don't use gloves because it sticks to the dough and we have to feel the dough and what we are doing. My hands are extremely clean but if someone sees me without gloves, they freak out as if gloves have some magical force field around them. What you don't see is that there is a standard procedure for using things in the kitchen. You can use the same gloves to touch a utensil and then a container of food because they are cleaned and sanitized on a regular basis.
 
That is a very disparaging remark. You are saying that only those that are paid a high salary are conscientious workers. As if salary is an indication that someone takes this seriously. I have worked in food service for over 30 years and am very clean and follow all food safety rules. This is just another example of how people look down on food service workers as if we are pieces of crap below their feet. Improper glove usage is a problem in some places, but not everyone is like that. As a baker, we don't use gloves because it sticks to the dough and we have to feel the dough and what we are doing. My hands are extremely clean but if someone sees me without gloves, they freak out as if gloves have some magical force field around them. What you don't see is that there is a standard procedure for using things in the kitchen. You can use the same gloves to touch a utensil and then a container of food because they are cleaned and sanitized on a regular basis.
Nope I meant that i have worked with kids and adults and teaching hand hygiene the way it is supposed to be is climbing an uphill battle. Especially with gloves. The freak out over not using gloves comes from those who don't get it. I'd much rather a bare hand be used on foods that will be cooked as then the person is prompted to wash more frequently r/t feeling the hands and stuff that touches them.
My point though-is that minimizing contact in any way is the end goal. And of all the fast food/buffett restaurants (yes including the precious disney) only Subway comes close to proper hand hygiene and glove usage.
And you are right-that was a disparaging remark and I apologize. It is pretty any food worker that is rushed no matter the salary, even the pros. I've been in enough kitchens that everyone may know better but doing better isn't there nearly enough in normal times,
 
In my mind, buffets won’t survive unless there is staff who will dole out the food onto clean plates. Sneeze guards likely need to be modified to some degree to be safer

No self-refills of drinks, period. Need a staffer there too.

And you are right-that was a disparaging remark and I apologize. It is pretty any food worker that is rushed no matter the salary, even the pros. I've been in enough kitchens that everyone may know better but doing better isn't there nearly enough in normal times,
I understand what you were saying, didn’t strike me as offensive.

In my mind, it’s that the staff might not be adequately trained, let alone encouraged to implement the procedures they were taught.

Strikes me that many places are running with skeleton crews as it is. May just be trained as lip service to local edicts. RL may produce a totallly different outcome, no fault of the servers.

In my county they have additional health dept employees specifically hired/trained to visit restaurants checking not so much for normal criteria but social distancing & the new health concerns needed to protect both the staff & customers.
 

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