Bad blow for all you can eat restaurants after a customer’s complaint which could have implications for the entire category.
Everyone today knows the restaurants that offer their customers this formula “all you can eat”that is, the one where you can eat as much food as you want by paying a fee fixed price. This model has become popular in many countries, especially the United States and Asia.
The origin of all you can eat is quite debated, but still relatively recent. Some believe it is born in Japan in the mid-1950s, when buffet restaurants called Viking with a fixed price formula.
Others, however, trace the birth of these restaurants to the 1930s, immediately after the period of Great Depression. In fact, it seems that this model was born as a response to the terrible crisis of 1929 which started in the United States and also had repercussions in Europe.
From being a solution to fight hunger, today all you can eat has become a sign of opulence, showing all the signs of the exaggeration of the modern age, double-linked to the problem of food waste. Even if the restaurateurs then added a set of rulesbut more to avoid excessive losses than to offer a solution to waste.
The influencer kicked out of the all-you-can-eat restaurant
The question many people often ask is whether in all you can eat restaurants there is a limit or not. The question came up again recently in a story told by Cookist regarding a well-known American influencer.
Madison, this is the name of the TikToker, is famous for her feast on live social media, a real nightmare for all you can eat restaurants. And in fact, the content creator was kicked out from one of these venues after four and a half hours of his performance. The accusation is that of having eaten too much, e.g his name ended up on the restaurant’s blacklist.
Is there a limit in all you can eat restaurants?
The answer to this question is NO: no restaurateur can kick out a customer because he ate too much with the all you can eat formula. The restaurateur is required to honor the contract that is created with his customer from the moment he orders until the bill is paid. However, there are some elements to keep in mind.
The restaurant has full ability to establish personalized rules, the most common is that drinks and sweets are paid separately; the practice of charge a penalty for food ordered and not consumed. Other locals, however, establish a time limit. In this case it is legitimate that at the end of this the restaurateur can ask customers to leave the table, but the motivation certainly cannot be having eaten too much. And, in any case, if the service is limited, this clause must be clearly specified at the entrance to the restaurant and on the menu. So, pay attention to these details!
