I am going to Golden Corral now

time to enjoy the "steak product"

you joke, but the steak really isn't that bad. you just gotta request what you want and not allow them to give you the leftover of what they've been giving everybody else. if you're willing to wait 5min you can get a nice rare one.

/seriousadvice

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/1/1d/K-Bob%27s_Steakhouse_sign_Picture_2170.jpg

My mom in law (affectionately!) calls this place "Pig's Trough."

Every time you go back for another steak they give you a smaller cut. Eventually the steak servin' dudes will just pretend you don't exist. They don't give a shit if you decimate their cottage cheese supplies tho. Don't fill up on bread!

today I could barely crawl past the convalescents in there

was kinda ilke day of the dead

Why are all the buffets having these old-timey-ey shit Wild West names? Chuck Wagon, Golden Corral, etc?

Manifeast Destiny

hahaha!

54º 40' or Food

^^ ftw

And why isn't there a restaurant called Varmint's? There should be.

because it sounds like they would serve possum or something

Having never heard of this place, a quick googling yielded five locations within California and their menu / nutritional info : http://www.goldencorral.com/menu/

The calorie count is helpful, but I doubt the majority of people go to buffets with a scale and a measuring cup. Sort of goes against the spirit of the establishment. Which, perhaps has something to do with those old-timey names.

I shall not accept boundaries or limits within this land...or of my digestive system!
You cannot contain the American's desire for expansion or containment...within serving sizes!

Their slogan, "Help Yourself To Happiness" also suggests ideas independent, freedom, and American boot-strappy-ness.

was kinda ilke day of the dead Specifics ploz.

what are all of America's gross national chain buffets? old country buffet, ponderosa (do they still exist), sizzler's...

I know of one Sizzler still in operation in California. Coincidentally I believe it is on the same street and not far from the last waterbed store in California as well.

Would you like to know what the top-grossing restaurant in my state is?

There used to be some Sizzlers here too, they all disappeared years ago tho. God they were dreadful quality.

Used to get Sizzlers mixed up with Western Sizzlin'.

There is a man named Kerry Kramp (file under: Youcantmakethisshitup) who is trying to make Sizzler relevant.

According to their most recent press release, there are 260 restaurants worldwide. O_o

My grandparents eat at the same Old Country Buffet every time they drive from Florida to Georgia. Every time!

I signed my dad up for the Old Country Buffet mailing list and he gets excited when they send him a coupon for a free breakfast on his birthday

My grandparents eat at the same Old Country Buffet every time they drive from Florida to Georgia. Every time!

Do they have a buffet strategy after all that time?

When I was younger I was always instructed to stay away from the potatoes and jello because they were cheap, high volume, and therefore filling foods which prevented the actor from engaging in the extremely important and oft communicated strategy of "getting the most value for your (my) money." Tactics were often planned prior to seating, current food prices were referenced, and plates brought back to the table were either met with grins of approval or deep sighs of profound disapproval.

I always filled most of the plate with mac 'n' cheese and yeast rolls (I still love these tbh)

iirc Golden Corral has a thing at the front where you can buy Golden Corral AYCE food by the pound to take home to the family.

The only restaurants my family ever went to when I was very young were Sizzler's or J J North's (another buffet). My parents would take us all out on someone's birthday if they begged hard enough. For desert, my siblings & I would skip the soft serve and just stir together the ice cream sprinkles, caramel sauce, and crushed peanuts together. In retrospect, I realize this is disgusting. Children have a pretty amazing ability to tolerate sugar.

I think that was why we (kids) liked the buffet. We never got soda otherwsie but it was all you could drink at the buffet. At home, my mom made a lot of cookies & brownies, but we never got mainline sugar dosage like that except at Halloween & at J J North's.

I know of one Sizzler still in operation in California. Coincidentally I believe it is on the same street and not far from the last waterbed store in California as well.

― ThirtyPennies, Saturday, March 12, 2011 10:10 PM (Yesterday)

there are 27 Sizzlers still in operation in Northern CA alone

pretty much all in places you'd expect: Hayward, Morgan Hill, Modesto, Antioch, Sacramento suburbs, Santa Rosa, and the used car mecca that is Turlock.

Bakersfield apparently has 3 Sizzlers

which is totally unsurprising since it's the last major California stop on the way to Vegas

Do you live in Bakersfield? I lived in Tehachapi as a kid for about 8months. But yeah, that town is a dump.

I really liked Sizzler in Australia, had a lot of birthdays there when I was a teenager...the way to my heart was endless pasta and ice-cream, lol! I think i was just in love with the idea of an all you can eat buffer bc I had never seen one before then. But the ones here in the states feel like night and day. Buffets of sadness. My father in law took me to one in Citrus Heights years ago and it was just dark and empty and soooooo depressingly bland.

Many years ago before I gave up dieting as a lost cause, I was on the Adkins diet and about once a month, I would completely lose my shit and take a furtive lunch time trip to the Golden Corral by my office, sit alone in a dark corner, and eat macaroni and cheese from the buffet. As I was leaving one day, my car wouldn't start and I had to call a coworker to come pick me up. To this day, I associate Golden Corral with desperation and secret shame.

Old Country Buffet has my favorite commercials. They're like "Other restaurants want you to pay $10 for one steak! But at OCB you can pay $10 and eat like TEN STEAKS if you want! Cheap steak! Get some at Old Country Buffet!" All this happens over a sad looking family with empty wallets and one steak on their plates, who then run into OCB and smile around their bulging mouthfuls of cheap meat.

I've never been to Golden Corral...though I've seen like 100 commercials for it today alone and this thread making me hungry. Must go eat.

I used to eat at the Sizzler a lot. there's still one near us, which we went to for Christmas dinner in 2010 (parents visiting from out of town, it was ....less than ideal).

anytime I see the name I keep thinking of Kadeem Hardison taunting Woody Harrelson in White Men Can't Jump

The thing with Golden Corral is that I can't help but feeling like cattle being herded into their elaborate lines and being fed remnants of food that once probably had a conscience.

iono, maybe it's just their tacky wallpaper

^^^^^^^ "I have some stuff you should read" post

Huh? Like books?

meaning what you wrote sounded like a political screed I heard in August: Osage County last night

no, I don't live in Bakersfield. I went to Denny's in Bakersfield on the way to Vegas, and it was the most depressing Denny's I've ever been to. Everyone seemed really grim and hopeless.

first clue was menu items like "Moons Over My Fuck It Life Is Futile"

no, the menu items had the same names. The people eating there almost all looked like the people depicted in Meth: Before and After photos.

my brother once witnessed a gang fight in the Denny's nearest me, but then again, that's near wehre the 7-11s look like jails and where ABC liquors = just a counter where the employees get everything for you.

Denny's is dead to me anyway after tehy got rid of the Breakfast Dagwood

the Denny's nearest me isn't open 24 hours because of past gang fights.

I always feel really sorry for the graveyard shift employees and try to tip extra if I'm there at that hour. Not only are they purposefully understaffed, they have to deal with the shiftiest of characters and rearrange their sleep schedule.

That had me very confused til I googled it cos here a Dagwood is one of these:

http://www.seriouseats.com/assets_c/2010/08/20100822-dagwood-dogs-thumb-500x375-107242.jpg

(corndogs I guess basically)

why would you go to Denny's during normal hours?

Golden Corral used to be a regular chain steakhouse--my parents used to take me there a lot when I was a kid in the Seventies. It's why I like chicken fried steak so much.

well I usually went between 10 and 11, which is when a lot of normal restaurants are still open on the weekend, but after midnight things get nutso in those types of restaurants. I worked at Steak 'n Shake at 17 and thankfully child labor laws prevented me from working them during the school year.

(xpost)

there are only 4 Sizzlers in the state of Florida; 3 are in Orlando

yea I know of the one on/near 535

Is Orlando as depressing as Bakersfield?

we took my brother to Dennys the other week, we had to kill time before his flight...probably the most regrettable meal i have ever had. never eaten there sober before..never not had Moons Over My Hammy (i had a burger)...whole experience was sadness & regret

they used to have a nacho platter that was pretty ok

xxpost well dunno, haven't been to Bakersfield, it's not horrible, it's just kinda 'eh'. Honestly O-Town isn't terribly, it's just boring, but there are nice parts. Downtown tho is the pits.

Orlando has a lot of the inconveniences of most 'big' cities, just very little of the fun associated with them.

why would you go to Denny's during normal hours?

Because you're tired of eating in the hospital's cafeteria.

xp - doesn't it have some vegan place with a talking bee?

hmm, if it does, I haven't found it. lol

honestly places like Steak 'n Shake/Dennys et al used to be actors' favorites because they'd be the only places open after your show ended, but now there's this awesome place (which bamcquern is also a fan of) called B@nanas. wide variety of food on their menu, and after like 11 pm their waiters are all in drag. plus beer and liquor which is an advantage.

actually I did go to one Denny's once that had beer/wine....the only one i've ever seen.

maybe i just have an overly rich inner life, and i misheard/read something. but I thought this place had this animatronic bee that talked.

there might be....i wouldn't be an expert on vegan places

i think it was run by a cult or something?

this is sounding more and more like an establishment I would like to frequent

Hale Bopp Vegan Restaurant and Future Soul Alignment

lolol

serious lols San Te, A++++

Because you're tired of eating in the hospital's cafeteria.

The two last ones I ate in (Sarasota Memorial Hospital and Blake Medical Center, both in SW Florida) had pretty good food.

And it's always nice to see more evidence of San Te's ruleitude.

;) thx u two!

Baptist Hospital here in Miami boasts its own sushi chef!

whoa

:-)

I've only been there once, and it was in Arkansas on a long road trip. Soft-serve and toppings were ace.

at one of em I went to they advertised 'delicious fried fish' on one of the food containers, not even specifying the type. no thanks!

the one near me served fried Tilapia. fuck that. if I'm gonna eat tilapia (which I love) it ain't gonna be fried

54º 40' or Food

― Buff Orpington (Abbbottt), Saturday, March 12, 2011 7:07 PM (5 days ago) Bookmark

cannot stop thinkin baout/laughin baout this

Golden Orral

went again today, had most of the same crap. employee griped at me for 'not using the tongs' to pick up one of the pre-made sandwiches. ehh sorry dude, didn't wanna pick it up the very sloppily assembled sandwich with tongs and have it fall apart in midair, besides I only touched MY sandwich. I KNOW HOW TO USE TONGS THX U USED IT FOR EVERYTHING ELSE

less old people today tho

wtf you don't admonish customers

TBF you don't pick up buffet food with your bare hands, either.

there's a big diff between picking up, say, bourbon chicken, macaroni and cheese, or fish with your band hands, and picking up a premade sandwich with your bare hands. most buffets I go to don't include tongs or materials in which to extract a sandwich -- and it seems (to me) like a very sloppy way to handle a sandwich as it could easily fall apart. At least put a toothpick in it or something.

or have a piece of wax paper to grab it with — tongs make no sense

I had an embarrassing moment at Quiznos when after using the mini tongs to put a slice of lemon into my ice tea, I picked up another one to chew in my mouth on the way back to the office.

Except not thinking, I brought the lemon slice to my lips with the tongs - like it was a roach clip or something - and pulled the fruit off like it was bait on a hook.

I suddenly realized what I was doing, dropped the tongs and quickly exited the place. Haven't been back since.

hahah