Buffet restaurants or lack thereof

[Fritter]

I was just curious why there is not many Buffet restaurants in the GTA? What few there are seem to be of the Chinese food variety. There is Frankie Tomatoes in Markham, and Vinnie Zucchinis in Vaughan, and any Mother Tucker's that there may be left. I am not aware of too many more Buffet places. Any thoughts?

 

[AlvinofDiaspar]

Good question - maybe it's both a consumer preference and cost issue. Buffet is a splurge kind of food (vs day to day) - and if you are paying $25, 30 per head plus booze you might be aiming for more than volume - unless it is something exotic. Also the trend is towards smaller portions anyways.

When it comes to food cost, buffet is high up there, esp with food waste - and what are you going to serve without a carvery - and if you have one, it won't be cheap?

AoD

 

[vic]

There are a bunch of Indian buffets around too, even mini-chains like The Host.

 

[mettle]

does King Edward still have brunch buffet? it's a nice room.

 

[jje1000]

There are a couple of Chinese buffets in the suburbs (not Chinese-Canadian like Mandarin).

With all buffets, food quality is definitely not up there.

 

[AlvinofDiaspar]

There is also more of a trend towards AYCE anyways (esp. Chinese -operated Japanese and Korean places) - easier to control food cost than straight up buffet.

AoD

 

[christiesplits]

Here in Hamilton there are a ton of them still around, including specialty buffets for Indian and Thai. I wonder if it is more of a blue collar, small/mid size town thing.

 

[prosperegal]

The Indian places (including The Host) tend to have buffets at lunch, but not dinner. As for why there aren't many here - I don't think it's in our cultural mindset outside of, say, Easter or Mother's Day (and other special events) to do buffets (okay, fine, some of the social clubs in the city have nightly dinner buffets, but it might have more to do with kids (and kids being picky, picky eaters)).

 

[jje1000]

I think there are lots of Indian restaurants around also have a buffet component (usually a few tables with hot dishes).

I guess that a lot of the food served there like curries keep well for extended periods of time, and combining a buffet with a restaurant reduces the need for a specialized layout and equipment.

 

[TOareaFan]

as many of you know, I reside in Brampton....doing so has its pluses and minuses.....heavy on my list of minuses is how many buffet joints we have (I hate buffet restos...personal choice)...here is yelp's top 10 list of buffet restaurants in Brampton (yep, there are so many someone actually compiled a top 10 list!).

https://www.yelp.ca/search?cflt=buffets&find_loc=Brampton,+ON

 

[jje1000]

Interesting that they mostly fall into the categories discussed above:

- Western buffets (Country, Italian, probably supported by select regulars)
- Mandarin
- Asian ones (usually run by the Chinese)
- Indian buffets​

 

[Johnny Au]

Canada's Wonderland has the Marketplace International Buffet, which primarily serves Western food, despite its name.

Interesting that they mostly fall into the categories discussed above:

- Western buffets (Country, Italian, probably supported by select regulars)
- Mandarin
- Asian ones (usually run by the Chinese)
- Indian buffets​

Mandarin is even headquartered in Brampton, complete with a flagship location there.

 

[MisterF]

Were buffets ever really that popular in Canada? It's not like in the States where buffets are everywhere and portions are huge. I find the food quality at buffets to be mostly suspect, especially considering the price you pay. For the same $30 you spend at Mandarin, which is basically food court Chinese on steroids, you can get way better food at any number of restaurants all over the city. I'm sure that good buffets exist but it's tough to overcome the popular perception of overpriced, mediocre food sitting in warming trays for who knows how long.

Canada's Wonderland has the Marketplace International Buffet, which primarily serves Western food, despite its name.

"Western" and "international" aren't contradictory words. Western countries takes up the better part of four continents after all.

 

[jje1000]

I think "gourmet buffet" don't really exist (or are extremely rare), other than the concept of the Sunday brunch buffet, at some higher-end restaurants + catered party buffets + maybe buffets at luxury hotels/cruise ships. Those run for short periods of time so the food quality doesn't degrade from sitting out too long.

Buffets really only exist serve to satisfy the hedonist cravings of the middle-lower class.

Edit: Copacabana (Brazillian buffet) in the Entertainment district is a bit better than most usual buffets. That one is more of a mixture of all-you-can eat & a buffet. Of course, the prices are also much higher than your run-of-the-mill buffet.

 

[prosperegal]

I think "gourmet buffet" don't really exist (or are extremely rare), other than the concept of the Sunday brunch buffet, at some higher-end restaurants + catered party buffets + maybe buffets at luxury hotels/cruise ships. Those run for short periods of time so the food quality doesn't degrade from sitting out too long.

Buffets really only exist serve to satisfy the hedonist cravings of the middle-lower class.

Edit: Copacabana (Brazillian buffet) in the Entertainment district is a bit better than most usual buffets. That one is more of a mixture of all-you-can eat & a buffet. Of course, the prices are also much higher than your run-of-the-mill buffet.

Some family clubs run buffets daily - mostly to satisfy kids who are picky eaters. There are some kid-friendly items, but parents can pick out more "grown-up" foods for the kids to try without having to order an adult plate for them (only to have them NOT finish).