What's The Best Time Of Day To Go To A Buffet?
A solid buffet strategy entails more than just dish-based recon, scanning the smorgasbord to plan which foods to try first. To truly navigate a buffet like a pro, foodies should arrive at the best time of day. For the best buffet experience, the right time to chow down is all about three crucial criteria: Food freshness, crowd density, and pricing.
Steer clear of high-traffic dining times to avoid crowds and ensure fresher, hotter offerings. The ostensible business manager at the world-renowned Bacchanal Buffet at Caesar's Palace, one of the best buffets in Las Vegas, expounded on this sentiment in a Yelp post: "We are rarely busy before 10 a.m., so if you're an early riser you can beat the crowd. Also Tues, Wed, and Thurs are our slowest days. Try to avoid peak meal times like 11 a.m.-1:30 p.m. and 6-8 p.m."
Avoiding crowds also means that the restaurant won't be in a hurry to flip tables, so diners can take their time eating, dining slowly and taking breaks between courses — an essential tactic for getting the most out of your buffet-going experience. Plus, enjoying their largest meal of the day at lunchtime will give guests adequate time to digest before bed (sayonara, acid reflux). However you fill your plate, a universally good strategy is to start with the most desirable foods you never cook at home (more room in your belly) and to end the meal with a peppermint tea (aids in digestion).
Come early for breakfast and dinner but late for lunch
As another note on timing, be aware of what time the buffet switches from its lunch menu to its dinner menu. "If they switch from the lunch menu and lunch pricing to the dinner menu and dinner price at 4PM, go in at 3:30," writes one Reddit foodie. "That gives you enough time to get your first plate from the lunch menu and subsequent plates will be fresh dinner selections at the lunch price."
Buffets typically charge more for dinner than for lunch, even though many of the food offerings will be the exact same but with a higher price tag. Arriving shortly before the changeover period means folks can pay lunch prices but have access to premium dinner dishes. Plus, they'll be greeted with the fresh, hot batch that gets brought out to feed the new wave of guests. If you're going to a buffet on the weekend, keep in mind that many buffets serve two structured meals on these days (brunch and dinner) instead of three.
Beyond the specific hour, the day of the week can also impact buffet-goer's dining experiences. Even without a reservation to worry about securing, crowds are likely to be densest on Friday and Saturday evenings, the worst times to visit a restaurant. As a general rule, according to Anthony Bourdain, Tuesdays are the best days for eating out at a chain restaurant because this is when many establishments receive their deliveries of fresh ingredients and crowds are thinnest.