I sure hope so. Not that I go to them often, in general we just don’t eat out much. But my parents loved Shady Maple Smorgasbord in the Amish area of Pennsylvania. So much so that a picture of them eating there was included in the photos shared at their funeral services and made many of us smile. I would be sad if that place didn’t reopen.

Not a big fan of buffet restaurants. I would rather see more carveries and Hof Braus make a comeback.

I did like old fashioned family run Smorgasbords but the American chain buffets and the modern 50.00/60.00 plus per person Asian buffets don't impress.

Some have apparently opened. I receive emails from Pizza Ranch which is a buffet with a small selection of pizza, chicken, and salad. The last one mentioned that you can now serve yourself. Each area will do their own thing but for those that can have servers they may find that the reduced amount of waste more than makes up for additional salaries.

"Resorts are really going to be affected by this, all their meals are buffet"

Really?

The word "resort" is pretty generic and not specific but I wonder what you're thinking of and where such places are?

Hopefully not.

I think they probably will return. I'm not particularly a fan of them, but I wouldn't be afraid to go to one. To me, there is a difference between good food and a lot of food, and buffets that I have been to fit the "lot of food" category.

I don't care if they come back or not. I hate buffets and never go to them. The few times I've been to one, I end up watching people. Some people are gross. And like marilyn_c said, there's good food, and then there's just lots of food. Buffets just have lots of food. I think they're usually overpriced.

My son worked in restaurants years ago when he was young and always refers to buffets as "barfets." For good reason, he says.

To each his own, a bff and I would weekly meet in the middle each summer Monday while school is not in session,and spend the day at a lovely Chinese cafe house that had a noon buffet. We have wondered too if that will ever be able to happen again. sigh. I sure hope they survived with take out through all this. The proprietors are lovely people!!!

In general I don't love buffets, but there are some that are really excellent. I saw Cara mentioned Shady Maple--- small world! We are fairly new ( like 2 years ) to the area, and someone recently mentioned Shady Maple to us. We went to the Welsh Preserve for a beautiful walk and then stopped by to see Shady Maple Market. (The buffet is closed still.). The next day we were at a farm stand and people were talking about how they cannot wait for the restaurant to open again. Definitely on my list! That is such a sweet remembrance, Cara!

The “All Inclusive “ resorts is what I was talking about, the Caribbean is full of them.

I wouldn't say all all-inclusive resorts are buffet only. The one my family frequents outside of Cancun has 12 different restaurants and multiple poolside snack bars. Only one of them is buffet style and that is only for breakfast. And they could easily convert that to an order off the menu facility.

After Covid-19 is over and done -- a year or two years at most is my guess -- buffets will come back. I think enough people want quick and easy access to affordable food (sometimes good quality, sometimes good quantity) to make buffet restaurants a profitable option. Maybe there will be enhanced sneeze guards, hand sanitizer stations, one-time use serving utensils, gloves, etc -- that would be a smart marketing approach.

The economy of some of these small islands rely on these resorts. The resorts I go to all have the buffets, I love them.

Two Indian cuisine restaurants in my area announced new plans going forward. No buffet, no delivery and carry out by customer only. That means no door dash, uber eats, grub hub, etc., all of which have a bad reputation. If I had Wishenpoof's wand I'd make those delivery services disappear.

I don't eat from buffets - I stopped doing that when I moved out of my parents' house because I always thought they were gross.

I've stayed at all-inclusive resorts (which are not, by a large margin, my favorite way to travel/play tourist). Only one had any sort of buffet, and it was just for breakfast. Everything else was a seated meal with a server.

These restaurants can always go to the cafeteria mode, where the customer asks a server to plate the desired items.

I liked the cafeterias in Texas, but the only one I've been to here is Brazilian - the type where they weigh your food, and so you have to choose carefully, as everything is sold by the same price per pound. I went to one of those in Rio, but the one is Culver City is actually better.

At the Mana Island Resort in Fiji, the main restaurant was cafeteria style for breakfast and dinner, but they had table service for lunch. There was one other restaurant at the resort, and it was table service only.

The term "resort" is one I find perplexing because it's so non-specific and overused but I appreciate the examples which have redirected my thinking.

We went to a number of Club Med locations when our kids were kid-aged. We enjoyed the format and fun activities. The dining rooms had food in buffet style stations with chefs at carving, omelette, or pasta stations depending on what was being served. I'd think as an alternative it could be done with the kitchen staff behind a glass screen handling the plate, putting on what the guest wants and presenting the plate at the end of the line.

Edit to add: We rarely if ever ate in buffets during normal times. other than the salad bar type like Sweet Tomatoes/Souplanation I mentioned awhile ago. Marilyn's description seems apt - Good food versus a lot of food. Buffet restaurants and buffet setups in general rarely offer good food (that suits my tastes and expectations). But there's always a lot of it, take as much as you want. No thanks.

We rarely eat buffet so wouldn't miss it if they don't make a comeback. If we're at a social event not restaurant where food is served buffet style, we're cautious/picky ;0) DH will eat familiar looking dishes. I come closer to wanting to know who made them. We eat buffet with his large family, no problems there but I've been in all of their kitchens, and more mature now (older ;0)), we are more conscious of keeping hot foods hot, cold foods cold and have the right type serving and table set ups and serve ware to accomplish that.

We ate buffet at my brothers health club for Thanksgiving one year, that one was well executed and gorgeous, no hesitation about serving ourselves there. Last Christmas Day, we ate buffet brunch at my mothers care facility and bravo to the food staff. The number of dishes was limited but presented, prepared well and at the correct temperatures. In their more formal dining room with table cloths, candles, cloth napkins - quite well done.

I have to confess that I went to two places that have/had buffets because they only had certain items on their lunch buffet only that I liked.

I am curious about the $50-$60 Asian buffets and what they have. I have seen a couple of high end ones on YT in parts of asia but wonder where in the US except for perhaps a holiday a buffet with that price range would an Asian one be found.

Several restaurants have/had Sunday brunch buffets. Shanghai Red's (which is now closed) had cracked king crab legs, and so that made it worthwhile to me. I think it is now called Whiskey Red's, probably because of change of ownership. I would go back for their brunch buffet.

I also liked the Alpine Village Restaurant Sunday buffet in Torrance, but that closed permanently this year.

El Abajeño is cafeteria style, and I like that very much. Sea Salt Fish Grill in Culver City does not have table service (You have to order at the counter), but it is not really cafeteria style either.

Most buffet restaurants in my area would be no loss if they disappeared.

Although I have been to a rare few elsewhere that are actually good, and so I hope those can hang on.

I don't care for buffets in general. I got severe food poisoning at a big Asian restaurant here and ended up in the hospital. I have had similar bad experiences at other buffet restaurants in the past. I avoid them. The big casinos in Louisiana have massive seafood buffets, I have been to one a couple of times, it was worth trying and luckily I didn't get sick.

I am sure some form of them will return.

I can’t remember the last time I went to a buffet. I don’t think there are any close to us.

I would definitely go to a buffet in Louisiana, especially southern Louisiana. I've never had bad food there, even in bus stations. I had some of the best fried chicken at the bus station in Lake Charles, but that was in the 1970s. The only way to get bad food in Louisiana is to go to a chain like McDonald's, which I have never visited anywhere.

The first pizza I ever had was in Shreveport, and it had shrimp on it, which may sound odd, but it was really good. It may not have had cheese on it, however.

Lars-are you saying you have never been to a McDonalds?! When our kids were young, they loved buffets because they could try different foods without risking ordering it and not liking it. I may go to a buffet maybe 3 times a year. It’s fun to have a little of this and a little of that. I think if they can hang on thru this crisis that they will be back. A sneeze guard and an individual cheap glove to use for serving will help.

I'm with you lisa_fla. I must be lucky because I've never been to a bad one. The cost here is 1/2 what it costs at a table served restaurant and most serve a variety of good homemade food.

My husband and I are having buffet withdrawals! We both very much enjoy the ease of eating at a buffet. Not only do we get to choose what we like and have a variety of choices, we also don't have to sit and wait to be waited on hand and foot by a waiter which we both really REALLY hate! It is just so much easier to go get what we want. Normally a menu doesn't have what we like, very lacking in selections.

Yes, I am saying that I have never been to a McDonald's. When I was growing up in Texas, there were none there, and the drive-ins that we went to were locally owned. My favorite one was called The Chuck Wagon, and it had huge wagon wheels out in front. Where my grandparents lived, we went to The Frigid Queen: