Last month we had a fund raiser lunch here at my office and had a baked potato bar and salad bar with toppings. The various toppings were in largish bowls with a good sized serving spoon in each. They really did not get all that unsightly during the two hours of the lunch.

I would suggest that you have several back-up bowls of each topping to replace if they start looking messy. That will be less time consuming than filling individual cups. If you impress upon your volunteers the importance of keeping the serving bar looking clean and appetizing, I think it should work well for you. We have 150 or so in our office.

Last week they had a taco salad bar for lunch as another fund raiser because the potato bar went so well.

We very often have a potato bar at our church, probably serving 100....give or take 10 or 20.
we also allow people tos erve themselves from bowls, and replace the bowls often with other bowls. It gets a little messy in between bowl replacements, but not overly so. And we also serve from a crock pot of hot cheese sauce with a ladle and a bowl of steamed broccoli.
I think the problem is managed by changing out messy bowls and wiping the area every time the bowls are changed.
I regularly manage (cook and serve) buffet meals for 100 or more, and every time I put out another casserole or plate of food, someone follows with a wet cloth and wipes up any spills.
Linda C

I have no experience whatsoever, but . . .

Could you use condiment squeeze bottles (like diner ketchup and mustard ones) for the sour cream and softened butter? And those metal shaker thingies, maybe with the holes in the lid enlarged a bit if necessary, for the grated cheese, chopped green onions, and bacon bits?

Maureen, I think the condiment squeeze bottles are a great idea.

Our local Commission on Aging has a fundraiser every year on St. Patrick's Day selling baked potatoes. They have a person making the potatoes, though, because the toppings include chili, broccoli and cheese, or a sour cream/chive mix and you can add any of the other ingredients you want.

I think the squeeze bottles are a great idea, even if someone is making the potatoes. I think I'll mention it to the COA Director, thanks, because I know the butter gets kind of messy, they just use a big one pound chunk in a bowl.

Annie

Can you also have a low-cal butter? And label it as such. I think it will be popular.

Sorry, I can't add more ideas than the great ones already suggested. I think that the sour cream (also a low-cal alternative?) would work in the squeeze bottles, but not the butter.

I honestly think, if you have a couple of people behind the counter, fixing the potatoes for the 'customers', you'd be better off in the long-run. You'll save money, because you won't have the mess you'll have with people serving themselves, you won't have some people over-indulging with the toppings, and you won't have the problem of having to throw out a whole bowl of something because some kid (or gross adult) comes along and sticks their finger in it to see if it's something they want. Unfortunately, I've never been to a buffet where I didn't see some slob do that.

Not only that, but it will actually go faster if you have servers, with appropriately sized ladels/scoops in each ingredient.

Biggest advantage of all? There are people (like me) who won't ever eat at a buffet, because of the situations I described above. If word gets out that the customers aren't able to contaminate the toppings, you're likely to have even more folks turning up than you would have otherwise.

Given the situation these days with the flu you may want to go the server route or individual pre done cups. I know it's a pain but people may not be comfortable with eating food that is served with any type of "communal" access.

chase, that's a good observation. I wouldn't probably think about it but many people will.

Annie

At our large New England fair The Big "E" they have a booth that I always stop at. Bob's Baked Potatoes. They have the person taking your order make up the potato how you want. I think that would be best for your fund raiser. It's faster, there isn't any mess to clean up after on other tables and there won't be as much waste as there would be as when people serve themselves. By the way my favorite is butter, mushroom, broccoli and cheese! Good luck with your fundraiser. It sounds like a lot of fun! NancyLouise

Seems like servers would be a lot more efficient and neater than customers serving themselves. Also, it seems like servers could work most quickly with big spoons and bowls of toppings. But I have no experience in this. It's just an opinion.

Would the serving line move quicker if customers were provided a checklist on a slip of paper so they wouldn't be hemming and hawing over their choices while being served?

Whatever you decide, best of luck with it. I hope it's a big success.

Jim