The Future of Buffets?

I think it will change to where you are "served" the food, much like cafeterias, rather than self serve for a while, if it doesnt go away completely. which means no golden corral rolls😢(only thing worth going there in my opinion). Now I think it will go back in a year or so just because of cost efficiency, but not anytime soon.

We're Having A Buffet And We Haven't Heard Anything About It Being Changed Yet.

We were originally supposed to have a buffet, but we have been talking to our caterer about switching to a plated meal now for safety reasons.

Talk to your caterer, mine recently sent us a list of things that they are changing; IE wearing masks and gloves. Then possibly having the buffet served. But going away altogether is unlikely.

We are planning a buffet for our November 2020 wedding (assuming we can still host at that time.) I will be talking to my caterer about having servers available so guests don't need to touch the serving utensils. Additionally, I think I'll make sure to have bottles of hand sanitizer on the tables (little ones so it won't look terrible) to help guests with piece of mind as well.

I went to a wedding late last year where it was buffet but it was not self serve, there were servers doing it. so i think buffets could still be around if someone else was serving it.

I can’t see a traditional buffet setup happening anytime in the next couple of years. I read this article that seems to agree https://www.today.com/food/it-safe-eat-buffet-restaurants-when-they-reopen-what-health-t180482

Preparation and serving will change but the traditional buffet setup vs plated isnt going anywhere.

I haven't heard anything from my caterer, but I have wondered this. Wish I had visited a Mr. Gatti's buffet for the last time!

In terms of wedding catering, I don't think buffets will go away completely, though they may be structured somewhat differently for awhile. Our wedding has been pushed out to next summer, but as of right now we haven't been advised of any required change to our buffet plan for food.

I do think buffet restaurants are likely to be severely impacted and restricted going forward.

I didn't Even think about the whole buffet thing! My s/o and i are at the point in planning where we’re going to start looking over the menu to choose buffet or plated. I’ve got a meeting with my venue coming up next month. I’ll definitely ask about this. Thanks!

We're having a buffet and keeping it. I think having a buffet at a wedding is different than going to a restaurant buffet. But that's just my opinion. With buffet people may worry about other people walking by the food. With plated , people may wonder if the server bringing their food sneezed or did anything to it on the way to the table. Either way, people may still be cautious whether it's buffet or plated and you just have to pick which you'd prefer. For us, it's buffet.

You can also have servers serve at the buffet if that's the route you take. I haven't heard of any changes from our caterer but I don't see them "going away" when it comes to weddings or event catering.

I have always hated buffets for this exact reason... I feel like it is super unsanitary. Of course the kitchen could always be too, but you have to trust the professional chefs are clean, AND even if they are not, at least there’s fewer of them. At a buffet there’s the potential of many more people touching/breathing on the food.

View Quoted Comment Little bottles of hand sani are a fantastic idea!! Maybe we will give them as a favors, people would love it.


We are having a plated meal anyway. I was just thinking about those with buffets what they had heard.

From what I have read on various catering websites that are still operational out of curiosity, they said buffets aren't going anywhere and that's how many operate on short notice/corporate, etc.

We were planning on having a mix of buffet and stations for our food. I think if we do see buffets on the near future at all, they may look like buffets with servers so only 1 person per section of food is handling the serving utensils with gloves vs. all guests. And of course all stations having sanitizing stations at the tables/food areas.

We are having a served buffer for dinner but there are also salad satations and a fruit bar station which im not sure if its self serve. Maybe I should remove those options or ask the caterer to provide someone to serve at the station. Also the appetizers from a different company are self serve. Maybe I should get someone to serve those too. Didn’t think about it until now!!

Nothing yet. Ill let my caterer figure it out. I'm surely paying them enough to figure itnout

I had a call yesterday with my cater about my buffet style for my wedding that is taking place in November. To what I am thinking, the catering company is serving cafereria style, so that the guests dont touch everything so that it is portioned evenly. Plus, I have the biggest package with my venue, which includes my catering so I trust my chef and their health procedures.