Family Kicked Out Of Buffet Restaurant For Wasting Food

[The Sushi Bandit]

DES MOINES, Iowa -- Wendy Dershem may think twice before leaving that egg roll on her plate at her next Chinese buffet.

The Des Moines woman, her boyfriend and her two children were kicked out of a restaurant last week after management accused her of leaving too much food on her plate. "They told us we are not welcome there anymore," said Dershem, a repeat customer at the Dragon House buffet. "We waste too much food. But the buffet is all you can eat. And you know kids. They won't always eat everything and they want something else."

Dershem said she paid her $5.95 fee but was abruptly told to leave after eating one plate of food. "They just take one bite and throw it away," said cashier Lin Huyen. "They take four egg rolls and crab rangoon, take one bite of egg roll and throw the whole plate. That is wasting food." Dershem said she was shocked by the scolding and complained to management.

Dragon House manager Kent Cao said his restaurant offers all you can eat buffet, not all you can waste. Dershem's family took food, didn't finish it and then piled on the same food again, he said. "Shes done that too many times," Cao said. "We would welcome her back if she has respect and knows what she wants."

[otohara]

1. Wow, Interesting

Manager Cao has biggie balls.

[BrklynLiberal]

2. Owner of restaurant not totally wrong if his description is accurate.

[slackmaster]

4. Not wrong at all IMO, and certainly within their rights

To refuse service, to anyone.

[Warpy]

17. Yes, for objectionable behavior that costs them money

and the people he ejected are like the folks who dig their fingernails into the bottoms of candies in a box so they can figure out which ones are the nasty ones and leave the damaged stuff with fingernail dirt for other people. Either that woman can teach her brats some manners and respect, or she can take 'em out for Happy Meals.

Three cheers for Mr. Cao.

[mwb970]

24. I like the ones who press their thumbs into every steak at the store.

Every steak I buy now has a big thumb depression in it from some inconsiderate slob, a species that seems to be multiplying rapidly here in the Land of the Free.

[mac56]

5. I agree.

If this is true the restaurant owner is completely justified.

Reserve the right to refuse service to anyone. The customer ain't always right.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

10. Brazilian all-you-can-eats do something else

Waste, if deemed excessive, is either (a) weighed and charged at a publicly-known rate, or (b) counted and charged per unit, in the case of easily countable things like sushi rolls. And in case you're wondering, yes, eating the fish and leaving out the rice IS considered waste of one unit.

[slackmaster]

3. Kudos to the restaurant - Maybe she will teach her kids better behavior

And you know kids. They won't always eat everything and they want something else."

Bad idea to let your kids dictate what they are going to eat.

[MrModerate]

6. This story is morphing . . . previously she was quoted as saying . . .

That she was asked not to come back -- now she was "told to leave." I smell a rat.

Really, wasting food is a sin. It has nothing to do with the restaurateur's profit margin, it has to do with the human condition.

[thereismore]

7. I agree. Would our hungry soldiers who beg Iraqis for food like that

family? I think the restaurant did well.

[Poll_Blind]

8. If the manager's description is correct I can't say I disagree much.

I love all-you-can-eat buffets. I've done everything from American to Thai. While I wouldn't say I have a very high metabolism I can eat enormous quantities of food, enormous, in one sitting. Somehow, it hasn't caught up with me yet. Anyway, never, even on my fifth or sixth plate of food has anyone ever given me a cocked eye. I grew up very, very poor and it was drilled into me that one should always finish off the plate of food they have in front of them because many people are not so lucky to have a plate of food to begin with.

Morality aside, this is a business. If someone habitually comes in and throws food away instead of eating it, I imagine it eats pretty heavily into their profit margin which, I'm guessing, isn't that great to begin with.

I've also done all-you-can-eat with children. Here's the trick: Give them a little bit of food each time- they can always go back and get more if they want.

But that's just me I guess.

From an Indian buffet I frequent regularly: "Food is a gift from God, please do not waste it."

PB

[Sequoia]

9. Sometimes I won't go because I won't eat enough

to justify the price. Long ago when I called IHOP, IHOP before it became the name to call it. (I was also saying KFC and Fed Ex long before everyone else did, so pat me on the back... pat..pat) I wanted to order off the kids menu because the adult portion they served was way too much for me but the waitress refused. I told her I couldn't eat all that food, that I'd waste it, but she didn't care. I basically never went there again. I really was a wad back then. Five foot, 1 inch and 152 pounds lord forbid. Now I'm just a slip of a gal. And I don't much go to IHOP at all.

[arcane1]

11. same here...

and on the other side, I've gone to buffets and eaten more than I could imagine myself capable..

I can't say I'd disagree with the buffet's decision, though. She paid her price, but I'd hate to see food I could've sold, getting dumped in the trash

[daveskilt]

12. cultural issue here - wasteful americans

wasting food would make my parents (who grew up with rationing after wwII) go crazy. When I was a kid if I didn't finish dinner it was breakfast.

In Scotland if you ask people for one word to describe Americans (and remember this would be based on most scottish people's experience of american's - tourists and mormon missionaries) they would come up with FAT, IGNORANT, or SPOILED.

I used to get ticked off about that but now I see it has consequences. I run a nursing home and I see a lot of 50 year olds dying from complications from obesity - If you ever want to get in shape, quit smoking, booze, or fat foods - come visit a nursing home for a few days. people slowly dying with amputation after amputation from cellulitis, diabetes, or kidney problems complicated by blood pressure, and multiple other comorbidities.

Being fat and wasteful has consequences. I have to wonder if being ignorant of other cultures or other experiences will have consequences too.

[slackmaster]

13. My mom grew up during the Depression, she doesn't waste food

Nor do I, and I compost nearly all of my food scraps.

[NoAmericanTaliban]

14. You think this is bad, you should go see old folks eat at buffets in FL.

I'm amazed at how much they can pack away. I've actually seen people get into fights in the food line going after a piece of chicken. Their stomachs & hand bags are a lot bigger when they leave. 'course being on a limited budget may mean some food will fall into your bag - at least that food isn't wasted :)

There used to be a group - Buffet Busters - that would pull up to a place in a large bus with 30 to 40 large hungry folks - their object was to eat the place out of food & then demand their money back when they ran out. Wonder if they are still around.

[StatsBabe]

15. Good for the restaurant manager! So what if she was offended -

the rule at our house when I was growing up was, "take all you want, but eat all you take." It didn't take my sibs and me long to learn not to load up our plates with too much food. Leaving a bite or two was OK, but leaving a lot meant you had to do the dishes, whether it was your night or not! People shouldn't be encouraged to be pigs, especially not at $5.95 per person. Not much profit there, and too many of us are obese anyway.

I'm starting to sound like my mom. . . :nopity:

[TallahasseeGrannie]

16. I have no problem with this

really. Around here, the Chinese restaurant folks are rather aggressive-seeming. I think it is a language thing, but when you call and make an order and they ask you if you want Diet Coke or white rice with that, they scream it and it is a bit intimidating!

They work hard to make the food, and to leave it is wasteful and disrespectful of their efforts.

[FloridaPat]

18. Is it possible the food was terrible? I've taken 1 bite and left it

it was horrible tasting. I admit, I've never done that with an entire plate because I can usually find something. But I've had food at restaurants where I sent the stuff back because it was horrible in some way.

[mac56]

19. I got the impression that this was a recurring thing.

Not just once.

[barb162]

20. Same here; you could take something because it looked

good and there could be a dressing of some sort on it that makes you not want to eat it

[salin]

23. According to the restaurant - they would then go back to fill the plate

with the same food already thrown away. If accurate - that is just odd behavior.

[The Sushi Bandit]

21. Its a SIN to waste food...

.. and I'm an Agnostic!

[RedG1]

22. maybe she had this fortune cookie with her meal...

[opihimoimoi]

25. Kick those Wasters Outta there never to return...Peeps are starving

and they got the nerve to waste...almost on purpose??? The action was appropriate

[KansDem]

26. "Buffet Buffoons" We've all seen them...

People who exhibit very few, if any, manners at buffets.

People who walk by the buffet and snatch something with their bare hand to pop in their mouths (cherry tomatoes, carrot sticks, etc). People who let the sleeve of their coat drag through the food at the front of the buffet as they attempt to get to the food at the back. People who pick out certain ingredients from a tray of food, like picking out all the beef from the "beef and broccoli" tray, leaving only the broccoli.

But my all-time "favorite" was a buffet buffoon at a pizza parlor. She had taken a couple pieces of pepperoni from a pizza that had just come out from the oven. Then, apparently liking pepperoni, she proceeded with her fingers to pull off the remaining pepperoni slices from the rest of the pizza, leaving about 3/4 of a "pepperoni pizza" with no pepperoni for the rest of us.

I used to love eating at buffets. But now health problems have made it necessary for me to avoid such eateries. I also tend to eat too much at these places. Now it's "quality" over "quantity." :9

[genieroze]

27. Let me say I agree with the manager but if it were a heavy person

eating plate after plate would they be justified? Don't know if it's ever happened though.