Why The Food At The Front Of The Buffet Line Is A No-Go In Our Book

If you frequent buffets, you probably have a strategy for how you like to attack that giant table of nearly endless food options. But even the most seasoned buffet-ers can get side-tracked by all the steaming trays of deliciousness. Luckily, Tasting Table has 20 tips you need to navigate any buffet, and one of the most important ones is to refrain from loading up on the food at the very front of the line — regardless of how tempting it might be. 

There's a good reason for this. Buffets tend to put the bulky, cheap dishes right at the beginning, hoping that diners will load their plates with too much of that stuff and avoid taking too many of the more expensive dishes towards the end. If you pile your plate high with bread, pasta, and mashed potatoes, you may not have room — on your plate or in your stomach — for those fancy meats further down. This urge to take too much from the buffet table too quickly may be one of the reasons why you get too full too fast at buffets too. 

But, now that you know this, you won't give in to the temptation and will be better prepared on your next visit to take full advantage of everything on offer. 

Among the many mistakes you're making when eating a buffet is not having a plan of action before diving in. Before you grab a plate and start filling it up, take a quick gander at the whole lineup of food in its entirety. Take stock of what looks appetizing, and what you definitely want to save room on your plate for. This small step will prevent you from filling it with the cheap stuff just because they're the first dishes you see. Much of what's cheap is also often what's bulky. Think breads, pastas, mashed potatoes, rice, and casseroles. If any of these look super appetizing, don't deprive yourself. But keep your portions small — one or two bites worth of these dishes can go a long way at a buffet. 

Otherwise, save the weight for meat and other high-value items, but don't bite off more than you can chew either — literally. A whole steak and a chicken thigh and a piece of fish and a few shrimp? You'll be stuffed before you know it! Our advice is to stick to one or two main entrées, at least to start with anyway. You can always go back to try the others if you have room. But this tactic ensures that you have plenty of space on your plate for what really matters: Sides galore, including salads, veggies, and the like. 

Now, depending on your personal taste, and the restaurant itself, you may want to focus each buffet plate on a specific cuisine. Maybe it doesn't appeal to you to have your Italian dishes next to your sushi. As such, we would recommend keeping each plate simple and manageable and going up for more if and when the time comes.