As someone who trained in large scale industrial catering i have nothing but respect for the staff of this place. The logistic of running this kind of operation daily is breathtaking.
It is amazing how much work it takes to do this level of food production and service - I always feel appreciation for servers, cooks and those who keep places like these running.
They should put up a sign that says, "Please take small portions at a time to avoid wasting food. You can always come back for more after finishing your plate."
They do have these signs all over the restaurant. I imagine they didn't enforce it with her because this is pretty much an advertisement for the business, but I assure you regular visitors don't do this and if they do, staff will certainly say something to them about it.
One thing she did not mention, is apparently that place also gets their produce and meats and such all from local farms. Thats one of the reasons why they can keep costs down. The food you eat there likely came from a farm down the road.
This supports the local produce, local industry. In Australia, Locally Grown anything is fully supported, for the community survival, and also economically and environmentally sustainable rather than using fuels and all the chain of manpower to get goods and produce. All pros.
@@Danys81 Not necessarily true. If you live in an urban area, it typically is more expensive because there often are not many local farmers and land is more expensive. However, in rural Pennsylvania -- and especially Amish country -- there are a lot of farms. By buying local, you can save on transportation costs. Plus, if you are a big buyer, you can sometimes get deals by developing a good relationship with a local supplier.
Bro I think this is a good way to test a partner out. Take a date to a buffet see how ignorant they act. Seeing that lady grab food like it was a bunch of toys disgusted me but maybe she ate it… doubtful she seemed like the kinda lady that doesn’t care.
I went to a local Italian buffet in NJ on a business trip once. It looked like it was in someone's house. There was a sign that said "Take all you can eat, but remember that wasting food is a sin." It was hanging on the wall next to a picture of the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
This is another place to add my agreement, that food is so important, and wasting food is despicable. I do need to trim off bad food, and I put into my compost so I can give it back to the land.
That's funny, since the heart of Mary was not immaculate. "Everyone have sinned and fallen short of the glorious God". Jesus is the only human without sin.
@@jayfreechavez0000 It was basically a commercial for the restaurant. I see commercials for fast food places all the time. Are folks upset that the burger and fries may not have been eaten after filming the commercial?
@@xuimod EXACTLY THIS. The reason why ur quarter pounder looks so shit compared to the commercials is because there are paints, juices, and dyes and even cardboard to make the ad burger look juicy and shiny, in order to get ppl to buy. There's videos all about this on the internet ranging from food to perfumes and pretty much anything u can think of, I'm surprised more ppl don't know ab it
@@xuimod Pictures in magazines and on billboards are often fake But you can see people taking bites of burgers and eating french fries on television commercials..
@@WolfGan0178 you haven't had their breakfast yet I'm assuming. Just went recently. For only 13.99 during the week it's the best buffet breakfast I've had.
At least she actually paid for both buffets, instead of getting them for free as part of filming the piece. Doesn't make it right, but at least the damage wasn't quite as bad.
that's a decent business idea worth testing it if hasn't been already EDIT: Yes, thank you everyone. I'm getting pinged with notifications nearly every day being told that it's something a lot of buffets do in one way or another
"Would you please consider having a salad? You really must have some roughage." "I'm absolutely fine." "People are quite worried!" "What, like the doctor?" "No, your plumber. He called me in tears the other day!"
Many people really overeat at these places and yes, the bathrooms can be busy. The other thing I tell people is not to load up on the scalloped corn. It tastes delicious, but it can have the same effect as a Fleet enema.
They probably did. I recall on the sister channel to this, Food Insider, the staff got to eat the various food items when they were comparing UK vs USA McDonalds, etc after the shoot was done.
Truck driver here. There's a truck stop down the road a little south of the place. I was waiting to get dispatched on a Hershey's load so I parked at the truck stop there and walked over. One of the best Buffets I went to. The staff were super friendly and over all good food and atmosphere. If you're in the area, swing by the place as it's some of the best eating in the country.
My sweet Uncle raved about this place and was a happy customer until the age of 90 years. He lived in Delaware and eventually needed someone to drive him to his Shady Maple but with my uncle it was joyful and a party every time for everyone!
We lived close to Shady Maple and it was the place we would go for birthdays. When we moved out of state, we make sure to stop by when we come back to visit friends and family!
In all you can eats in Belgium, you pay for each dish you don't eat = less good waste. This should be mandatory for all buffets if everyone eats (doesn't eat) like she did.
That’s a great idea. I’d think it would be effective. People are shameless and greedy. People also have eyes bigger than their bellies…. Although maybe not in the States😉
There's an all-you-can-eat hot pot in my town that has that rule. They charge for too much uneaten food and it does make you more conscious of what you're putting in your bowl.
Buffet is a style of eating and serving (you pick and serve yourself with a reasonable amount of food)... NOT a waste food station! Remember, you can go back as many times as you wish... so, take smaller portions each time and come back if you need more. Eat all you can and DON'T waste the food. All-you-can-eat does NOT equate to all-you-can-waste!!!
All I could think about was when I used to be the manager for a restaurant on Sundays and we had a buffet. Much small operation and sometimes I'd accidentally mess up a dish or not realize we were running low or start prepping it too late.... so many logistics to keep food fresh and ready on the line
@@ManabiLT Most of their food is done that way. Something I was a little sad they didn't go into in the video is how traditional Shady Maple is along the lines of Pennsylvania Dutch foods and methods. I've lived within about an hour to an hour and a half of it all my life, and my background is Pennsylvania Dutch, which were basically all the old German farming families that migrated from Europe mostly in the 1800s and early 1900s before the world wars. A LOT of them built up in the Lancaster PA area and surrounding counties, and we have a HUGE food tradition that Shady Maple does a pretty good job of keeping going. A great example is her reaction to scrapple. It's VERY salty and an acquired taste, and even a lot of locals aren't horribly fond of it sometimes. But a LOT of the older generations love it and it's a taste of home to us. Cooking some foods by hand, as you've mentioned, specific recipes... The whoopie pies are another example of a traditionally PA Dutch treat, or the PA Dutch Shoo fly pie that wasn't featured but most or all Lancaster County food places have on the menu. PA Dutch/Amish food is one of those things that are taken pretty seriously around here as traditional foods.
It’s a European cultural thing. They get as much as they can and then barely eat any of it. Their culture is gluttonous so I guess we just have to deal with them. 😒
Shady Maple is an original and really different place. They have a shop or store under the buffet floor. I live about a half hr away and been there many times. Ive never been able to see ALL the different foods available! I also have to say I am a food service repair tech of 30+ yrs and had a few service calls there...this place is nuts! With equipment! I will add the kitchen IS CLEAN!!
@@ericryanyawl9401 okey so I will waste alot of food and it's fine as long as I upload a video to youtube? lmao thanks dude didn't know it worked like this!
I work in the grocery industry. Walk around the store. Half of the product is tossed. Our entire economy is based upon over production and waste. That’s why it’s called a consumer society
Because no one can afford it. My grocery trips are TWICE the cost than what they were under Trump. Thanks, all the brainwashed and non-self interested people that voted for a corpse. Hope they are happy with their diminished financial power and crime. 😎👍
One, prices set way too and everything is a lot of the time cheaply massed produced...imangine if food companies stsrted making good healthy food, there probably be less waste
@@andrewli1519lol that will literally never happen. Look at the history or corporate foods in the past 100 years. Kelloggs and General Mills kept claiming to have “natural ingredients” until they were exposed to be lying. Take a look at the boxes from the like the 50s… Corporate greed will always keep society down. That’s probably why starting your own garden and supplementing the rest from food store
Worst thing is when people take refrigerated items and choose to not buy them so they just leave it sitting with the bread or by a register… what do people think is going to happen to that ice cream they left sitting with bread? It’ll magically stay cold? Ighhhh so glad I don’t work in retail anymore, customers can be such, well, shitty people
To the lady who said it’s expensive. Imagine they cooked all for you. Hundreds of servants Hundreds of dishes For you to pick and eat whatever you desire. It’s insanely affordable. Imagine what a slow” day costs in food -staff wages alone.
Buddy really thinks he's going to get canceled for saying "cameraman" lol. But honestly though, the "cameraperson" never dies right? So they don't even need to eat. They just go and go forever.
@@abundantharmony lmao I don't know the average Business Insider viewer, so I just suppose the SJW quota tends to the max. Being completely honest, it did sound weird and far too PC. Edit: just checked. "Camera operator" is the term. Much better than cameraperson 😆
@@JohannesWOW Not weird? 1 menu and a sidedish like nuggets and you are paying around 15 here, maybe a bit more. Mc Donalds is not cheap anymore like it used to be, period.
A big mac meal in West Penn Amish country is more like $8 tax in but your point is taken the Amish buffet definitely has better economies of scale and better food than a McD I agrre with that
@@adeyosola414 Exactly. I worked as a dishwasher many years ago at Old Country Buffet, I thought it would be easy work when I saw that huge dishwashing machine but soon realized that wasn't the case at all. Sheet pans, pots and pans those neat looking pans food goes out to the line as well. If food is stuck on it someone cleans it by hand. And it gets HOT in that area. When that machine gets overworked it breaks down, but, we (workers) never did. The customers never knew it. Jobs of servitude get little to no appreciation.
All those hollow legs, right? My uncle as a teen, out west was only allowed 6 trips through the town's all you can eat buffet. I believe they started getting concerned around trip 3 the way my mom would tell it.😅
You know what keeps this afloat? You noticed the dynamic of the staff that works together as one unit with their heart? That's it! There is no comparison to a good team that proudly works their job and is being treated good by their company.
Yes, very wasteful, and I didn’t care for her way of reviewing with that “yuck” look on her face. Very unprofessional. I know the story was mostly focused on the business side of it, but if you’re going to review the actual food for taste, it should be a more considerate objective review than “ugh, too dry.” Frankly I thought it was rude to this amazing establishment that gave her access to their hardworking employees who clearly take pride in what they do. 🙁
Yea, for my family during tough times we'd bring 35 bowls of tupperware and get massive quantities and just stuff the leftovers in the tuperware. As a child in a family of 7 not including me times were tough and we went to buffets like these and use the kids under 10 eat free advantage and the bill would be like $80-$40 we'd do it once a month and wed stock up on delicious food that would last of a month and we would have different delicacies we weren't tired of. Its sad to see all the food she picked up go to waste
They definitely should have used someone with a better more refined pallet for this documentary. This chick has the pallet of a 12 year old. All she really liked was the Fried chicken and mash potatoes. The pulled pork and 14 hour slow smoked brisket to her was just on a level of "Ehh it was Decent." Should have gotten a true food lover to do this documentary.
....Just because someone doesn't like food, doesn't mean they don't have a "refined pallet ". Thats a bogus term anyway. But even it existed in the way that you arr inferring it does, no one with one would get within 10 miles of this place. Why buffets are struggling is NOT a mystery.
From my experience growing up in the 80s and 90s ... buffet's weren't where you went to experience the best food at the highest qualities. It's where you went when you had a large family (or a bunch of guests from out of town) and you all wanted to go out to dinner together. With that many different mouths to feed, a buffet was not only economical, but it guaranteed that everyone in the party would be guaranteed to find something they liked to eat. A buffet was an especially great place to go if you had a bunch of kids to feed since you'd usually get half-off at least for kids, and we all know that kids are bottomless pits when it comes to eating.
Yeah this actually makes a lot of sense. I'm currently a teen and my family usually only gets together on holidays and someone just cooks a bunch of food rather than going out. The food at most buffets is also low quality, which might be why they died out in the 90's when everyone was watching their health/food.
Absolutely. I'm 32 now but I have a lot of fond memories at Golden corral when my grandparents came to town and all the cousins, aunts, uncles you know the drill. Nobody ever left hungry because the wide variety even us kids were always Goin to find stuff we liked
Been there. In that area the buffets or smorgasbords as they call them is nothing like the chain buffets. Local food and Amish cooking. It is such a great area to visit.
I feel so sick inside of me to see people bring like plate after plate to there table and only eat like half or it. like dude, if you want more food after that go get it. one at a time. has your mom not taught you manners.
In the Philippines, there is a law followed by buffet restaurants where a person, if he cannot eat all the food that he put in his plate, he will be charged extra for the leftover.
In my country most restaurants that have a form of an ‘all you can eat’ or ‘pay per round’ will charge you for leaving food on your plate (⎌as an adult, children who don’t like a certain dish don’t get ‘fined’).
My mother started an all you can eat restaurant in 1970. It was kind of new at the time and it was $2.50. People loved it and we had many regulars. Many people said their favorite was the salad bar, all homemade. She always had three meats, and being a southern Ohio girl fried chicken was always one of them. I think she was ahead of her time.
I live right down the road from here....the biggest reason why I eat and trust shady Maple is because they have a pretty clean buffet. Go to any other buffet and there's all kinds of nasty things you'll find. Shady is constantly bringing out new hot and fresh food too. They do a good job of keeping clean and being the largest in the USA helps.
I ate here for the first time a year ago. My friends wanted to go but I wasn’t really excited about the thought of a buffet. I was expecting mediocre food at best, but most of the food I picked was DELICIOUS! I didn’t overfill my plate like this “reporter” did, ate everything on my plate, and left feeling very satisfied and not at all uncomfortable. Absolutely one of the best buffet experiences I’ve tried. My favorite is still the Hotel Bethlehem’s Sunday brunch, but that’s a much different experience.
@@williamwallace410they opened in 1985 I don't even think that word was used for that reason back then 😂. Just like in old time movies they say the kids are all gay .
I went there once,the chicken, the brisket and those shrimp,spectacular! I couldn’t eat more as I tend to get full quickly but I am glad I picked those! YUMMY! Btw, you never mentioned the fresh variety of breads, amazing! ❤️
As a Central PA native, I've been to Shady Maple several times. Seniors from my high school would often go to Shady Maple for breakfast and show up to school an hour late. It's definitely an institution. I haven't been since pre-COVID times, and it's insane to see how busy it's become. I don't think I've ever waited in a line out the door.
Except that would be against the restaurants rules. Cut her some slack. She'd doing a story on it. It isn't like she's going to return weekly and do this.
I’m just so glad the comments section seems to be on the same page here. Holy shit, she needs to be taken off the payroll and thoroughly educated on the fact that people only take what they plan on eating. Getting full sized portions of everything, just to waste 90% of the freaking meal. It really becomes evident that this lady has not been through poverty, or ever went to bed hungry. It shows.
She's showcasing the food. Every other food content creator does the same shit and y'all don't complain. They order the whole menu to show what they are selling! They probably paid her to come in and do that you simple minded fools
@@Sicaine I get you but think what kind of subconscious message does that convey to the viewers. Every public content creator should consider such responsibility.
Did she just get like...five plates before she even started eating? So everything had time to get cold? No wonder the brisket was dry! One plate at a time and your food will be hot and tasty. (The catfish is ALWAYS my first plate. Yummm!!!)
Meat carving station forgot to ask those important questions ..."Is it still hot out there" "Did you catch the game last night" "Have you tried the lasagna, it's my favorite."
I am American. I love the all you can eat buffet BUT I only take a small portion (maybe two bites) of everything that takes my fancy, eat everything I took, and go back for refills of what I do like. I don't throw food away. I haven't been to a buffet in 4 years. I miss it in a way but no plans to find the nearest buffet. It stresses me out to see and think about so. much. waste.
I do the same thing on the rare occasion my family visits one. I am a picky eater and buffets are the best way to try new things. A tiny piece of this, a bit of that and i almost always discover something i would never have tried otherwise. I admit if there are bits of meat leftover that arent to salty ill bring it home for my cat (yes shes a spoiled brat)
We've got two where I live, quite large ones. One of them has dropped so far in quality we stopped going there. And the price doubled since 2020. The other one doubled the price as well. Became pointless to bother going.
"It stresses me out to see and think about so. much. waste." Don't think about what a grocery store tosses out, or remember how efficient just in time delivery is? People dump and plowed over whatever and continued on waiting for lock downs to lift. On hold means 100% waste like ya cut a major artery. Go means let the blood flow and it's constant consume. Compete down to the smallest profit margins, the most efficient of movements. Disruption is grind the wheels and hope for the future. So much can collapse being no more. Other products like spam, if they allowed to ship and produce it, would thrive in such a situation.
Did you pay attention to the video? This is A M I S H. They take her food, throw it in a bin, feed it to the pigs, then in a few months they're bacon on the buffet. You socialist bleeding hearts call this the "circular economy" but now yall are crying when yall realize it isn't as clean and idealistic ivory tower as yall thought LOL
I visited this place, it was a fantastic experience. I had a grand time with my relative. Congratulation Shady Maple for surviving against all odds. God bless you all.
Shady Maple is wonderful. We don't go as often as we would like, but it's so good. Spotlessly clean, everyone is so friendly, and the gift shop downstairs is cool.
@@jamesgarner2103 Of course not. It's something you eat once in a while. I guess it could save people money if they ate once a day there and fasted the other 23 hours.
She waste too much food, looks like she grew up priviledged and never starve at any point in her life, so wasting food seems normal to her. What a shame
I once had a friend stay with me for a weekend. We went to Costco and they bought a whole roasted chicken. Proceeded to take of 1/2 of the "good meat", and attempt to throw the remainder of it away. THANKFULLY I was in the kitchen at the time because I could not fathom throwing THAT MUCH chicken away. Not only wasteful, but disrespectful to the animal who had died for the meal. This person grew up very privileged. (Child of an oil executive). I had never realized just how some people live. This woman... gives me that vibe. This "I bought it so I can do what I want" vibe. It irks me so hard.
Came here to confirm what I suspected after watching the video. I knew folks would be pissed about how she wasted all that food😂 To be fair, it triggered me too.
Compared to other American restaurants- the kitchen of this place looks quite clean and the quality of the food and all those stations preparing dishes right away look good to me. Kudos and respect to the kitchen staff for all those tasty dishes'
I don't know about little hole in the wall places (though I've never gotten sick from one) but every commercial kitchen I've worked in has been very clean. Probably cleaner than my kitchen at home during that time of my life.
Usually the more industrial and commercial, the cleaner the kitchen. Large operations have very efficient and meticulous protocols in place every step of the way. From prep, to cooking, to cleaning. The reason why small restaurants are often filthy is because the owners/cooks have to clean it themselves and they're too tired (and often too lazy) to clean up properly after service.
@@aeroAdvocate At least locally we also have the inspections in the local papers. Basically everyone gets access either through the paper or various online outlets to see what inspection problems restaurant locations have had, and generally at least here around southern central PA, they're closed down REALLY fast if they have repeated offenses. That said I'm sure some of the same nepotism and other issues occur, but generally speaking the inspectors can get pretty nitpicky, as someone who's worked for a family entertainment center with a food area before. They were always very 'by the book' folks from my experience.
The average American doesn't go to a buffet to grab 5 plates in one sitting. Find a life that is outside of click bait social media. You might actually learn something.
In the 1990s I used to drive past it on the way to work. Every Friday morning after work my entire Pressroom would go there for breakfast. I have not been there in over 25 years. Good memories
Ha, notice how she *clearly* had a negative reaction to the scrapple but post editing removed her commentary on it ... presumably not to offend the locals who do love it.
I noticed and didn't like that as well. One of the reasons I don't do buffets. Where did they get this woman? Not the best candidate between the waste and the total disregard for others.
These look like normal customers eating at a restaurant staffed by workers that care about what they do. THAT'S how they have survived. Every buffet around here turned into Walmart customers being fed by employees that hate life.
I’m always turned off by the idea of buffets. Like the cleanliness aspect and the food quality. Shady Maple is one place that I do not have those concerns at. It’s very very clean and well maintained and staffed with hard working people.
I don’t think so. I think the purpose was to show us what they have and what they serve and I bet her crew finished the food lol. Also more people (aside from the 8,000 that go currently) will probably go.
What they didn't mention is the place is two stories!! There is a basement level that has the biggest gift shop you have ever seen!! My first time we spent 2 hrs just in the gift shop. It even has a furniture dept.
We Pennsylvanians love Shady Maple for the breakfast buffet! I haven’t been there since right after the pandemic, but it was $10 at the time for all you can eat breakfast. Whether you were a younger teen/ adult coming from a long night out with your friends, or a family taking their kiddos out, Shady Maple is great!
it was apparent to me the reason this place survived when compared to other buffets. they use real food to cook with instead of canned and boxed foods. this makes a huge difference the flavor of the food and at the 16:15 min mark, you have a customer who confirmed this. "it tastes more like real food".
One advantage they have is location--they are beyond commuting distance of the Philadelphia and Baltimore/Washington metro areas, but close enough to both that people are willing to drive out on weekends to chow down. So they operate in a relatively low cost-of-living area, but can draw on millions of higher-income customers.
As a midwesterner who *frequented* Old Country Buffet as a kid and teenager, I loved watching this video. Thank you Abby and team for some really nice journalism!
I went there with my boyfriend last year in December. The food was good, but the lines were so long. After dinner we went downstairs to the gift shop. They had these beautiful handmade quilts. They were expensive so I couldn't buy one but if I had the money they would've been so worth it.
I'm a quilter who appreciates that you value the worth of the handmade quilt. Too many people think quilts should cost $100, but that barely covers the fabric costs.
I grew up on buffets. I was raised by my grandmother, who owned and ran a business, and also had a farm. She was also a vegetarian. So, often times, the easiest way for both of us to have dinner was 7-8pm buffets. Ryan's, Old Country Buffet, Ponderosa....even Wendy's and Pizza Hut, you name it. Anyone remember Rax? Those were the days! We don't even have Golden Corral in my town anymore. It saddens me that they are a thing of the past. The buffets in Vegas really took a hit after 2020, and now most of them are closed, and the ones that are left are premium, but expensive, or only brunch, and a shell of what they were. I wish they would come back, but I understand the economics. But hey, if food courts can make a comeback (as they are), maybe buffets will someday too. If I lived by this buffet, I would go once a week.
I have worked in a lot of restaurants in my early working life. I can tell you exactly why they succeed. Quality control manager. When you have a quality control manager you have somebody whos only focus is ingredients. Thats a huge plus
@@elizabethleee If that's true, that's kind of a shady practice. The advertised price needs to include everything. Added fees like this are similar territory to bait-and-switch.
I mean, it's a video to show off the place and the food. What's one person doing this? It got 4.4 million views and i'm sure the restaurant got that back and then some. Also, there is a whole film crew there, so whatever wasn't eaten on camera was probably eaten off camera, there's probably 5-6 crew waiting around. The video would be pretty bad if she only took one tiny plate of chicken and didnt show off anything else
It’s weird how nostalgic this made me. I’m not from Pennsylvania. I’ve been there once in my life, and yet this restaurant really took me back to my childhood in a very happy way.
I once worked at the University Of Chicago Law School Div. Cafeteria. Dining Hall area. We would start prepping for the Sunday Brunch the day before. I would make 10 gallons of Pancake batter. 20 Lbs of Bacon, and several crates of eggs and veggies for the omlette station. That doesn't include all the pies, cakes, cookies, and pastries we would also have on hand. It was insane! Students and their family's would eat as if it was their last meal on earth!! I once made 200 Lbs of Fried Chicken!! It was gone in 30 minutes!! They would wait outside the Dining hall. By the time we opened at 8:00am for brunch. There was Huge line going out the building and down the street. The buildings at the Univetsity are very old style, so you have to go through several doors, and rooms to reach your destination! I saw this and it reminded me of when I worked there.
When my dad was in graduate school my mom was the head dietitian for what was at that time the largest men's college dormitory in the USA--after WW II and Korea so students were in college on the GI Bill. She developed the menus, ordered the food, oversaw the employees, and was there for lunch and dinner every day. She was also there for breakfast frequently. We lived in married student housing--which was renovated quonset huts that had been erected on an Army training site. It was a great place for families! I got shuffled between my parents and the babysitter, which was the best of all worlds to me. When my mom was done with work, we went to pick her up. I was enthralled by the HUGE equipment and the "piles" of food. The most impressive part was the rack of candy for sale at each register--5 cents for each one. There were small packages of Brach's candies. I got a LOT of attention from the employees and they took turns buying me whatever I picked out--usually candied orange slices. Looking back, I realize how very hard all of those people worked! They were efficient AND always kind and respectful to each other AND the students. They lifted and carried HUGE containers of food, and turned around and did it all over. Over 8,000 students ate there every day--it was an assembly line!
People always forget Wendy’s had a buffet in the 80’s. Tacos , baked potato’s , salads , that’s where the chili started. Feel free to verify. Nobody ever believes me.
My wife and I have been going there for the last 20 years. ALL of the food is quality food and tastes great. I've never been to any other buffet that even comes close to Shady Maple. Barry
@@jaker3151I’ve eaten here and other smorgasbord’s in the area like Miller’s and there is no penalty for wasting food, but it is frowned upon. There are usually signs that say “Take all you want, but eat all you take”. A group of us at work used to eat lunch at buffets on a weekly basis. And I didn’t usually see many people wasting lots of food. After eating at these places a few times you learn to limit yourself because you usually feel sick for the rest of the day if you stuff yourself at these places. One thing I do tell people about the shady maple is not to eat the cracked corn! It tastes delicious but it will clear your colon faster than you can run to the bathroom.
I’m An eighties baby (1978) buffets were all the rage! We had ponderosa which became bonanza, old county buffet which became homestyle buffet, there was cicis buffet pizza, Chinese buffets all over, Golden Corral…and so many local joints that got in on the action with Sunday brunches and Saturday night buffets. I live in a rural area with lots of Amish folks and there are lots of places called “the barn” that have pretty decent buffets, and smorgasbords. It’s just a bummer they’re all kind of gone. I never could eat a lot but lots of other folks in my family could! I loved eating a big plate of salads and cottage cheese, jellos, fruits, and soup, then I’d get bread rolls…then you get little blobs of corn casseroles, stuffing, mashed potatoes, Mac and cheese, green beans…and then some ice cream on a rice crispy treat with cookie dough crumbles and strawberry sauce. The ability to just get two bites of each part was my fave. One blob of tapioca, one peach slice, a pile of pea salad…sigh, yeah I miss buffets.
@@allanpeter7700 I'm from Bulgaria, The Poorest country in the EU and I can tell you - the right term for their price is - Dirty Cheap! Good luck if you can buy his amount of food here for less than €120 at the Minimum! Not to mention - buffets like this simply do not exist here... It is Unreal and Only in America something like this can exist! The Margins and the Enormous People flow to make it happen!
@@vasiovasio That's not entirely true. Buffets are popular around the world, and in some countries you can find buffets/all-you-can-eat spots for as little as $5 or $10 USD. If you think I'm kidding or making it up, just look up Jimmy Kim's channel here on TH-cam. He goes to cheap Korean (and other countries) buffets all the time, comparing say a $5 buffet to a $100 buffet etc. You can believe it or not, find fairly cheap buffets in France and Spain still. Hell, the best buffet I ever went to outside of Paris, wasn't more than $30 I think at the time (it's the world-famous buffet that has a lobster tower....).
@@allanpeter7700 its not cheap though. i spend less than 26usd a week on healthy food from the supermarket, which works out to 3.7 bucks a day. even if i got enough food at the buffet for 2 days i would still be spending more than i usually do
@@vasiovasioThey serve over 7,000 people per day at $17 (€15.85) for breakfast and up to $30 (€27.98) for dinner. x 7,000. That's between $119,000-$210,0000 (€110,997-€195,877) each day In the US The average profit margin for Buffet Restaurants ranges from 5% to 10%. The average profit margin for a Casual Dining Restaurants ranges from 3% to 9%
It's probably easier to let the employees--and journalists--in an unlocked exit door than try to monitor the public entrance to keep customers from sneaking in prior to opening.
![[#2024MAMA] ROSÉ (로제), Bruno Mars - APT. | Mnet 241122 방송](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/dgGqD28J6aQ/mqdefault.jpg)
As someone who trained in large scale industrial catering i have nothing but respect for the staff of this place. The logistic of running this kind of operation daily is breathtaking.
I know and they seemed to really like working there. Good team dynamics to keep it all running smoothly.
Is weird that I thought it impressive they had the stainless steel containers sideways to be able to grab them easy?
yeah it's breathtaking, especially if you have high blood pressure from eating nothing but buffet food
And to keep it profitable
It is amazing how much work it takes to do this level of food production and service - I always feel appreciation for servers, cooks and those who keep places like these running.
They should put up a sign that says, "Please take small portions at a time to avoid wasting food. You can always come back for more after finishing your plate."
100 %
They do have these signs all over the restaurant. I imagine they didn't enforce it with her because this is pretty much an advertisement for the business, but I assure you regular visitors don't do this and if they do, staff will certainly say something to them about it.
They don't really serve small portions, but people know to only take what they expect to eat.
But then one must get back in line. So much wasted food
Yea, some people just aren't taught good manners growing up.
One thing she did not mention, is apparently that place also gets their produce and meats and such all from local farms. Thats one of the reasons why they can keep costs down. The food you eat there likely came from a farm down the road.
This supports the local produce, local industry.
In Australia, Locally Grown anything is fully supported, for the community survival, and also economically and environmentally sustainable rather than using fuels and all the chain of manpower to get goods and produce.
All pros.
Local is not cheaper, as a business owner local prices tend to be around 25-30% more expensive. They charge way too much to process meats nowadays
@@Danys81depends on the place. I dont know what hell u came from
If they used local farmers and producers goods, I wish them continued sucess
@@Danys81 Not necessarily true. If you live in an urban area, it typically is more expensive because there often are not many local farmers and land is more expensive. However, in rural Pennsylvania -- and especially Amish country -- there are a lot of farms. By buying local, you can save on transportation costs. Plus, if you are a big buyer, you can sometimes get deals by developing a good relationship with a local supplier.
As a dad of 2 kids, after watching this video ,i now see why my dad got mad for wasting all that food >.> it triggered me now lmao
Bro I think this is a good way to test a partner out.
Take a date to a buffet see how ignorant they act.
Seeing that lady grab food like it was a bunch of toys disgusted me but maybe she ate it… doubtful she seemed like the kinda lady that doesn’t care.
@@dustintacohands1107 I agree with you! Lol
+1
I went to a local Italian buffet in NJ on a business trip once. It looked like it was in someone's house. There was a sign that said "Take all you can eat, but remember that wasting food is a sin." It was hanging on the wall next to a picture of the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
This is another place to add my agreement, that food is so important, and wasting food is despicable. I do need to trim off bad food, and I put into my compost so I can give it back to the land.
That's funny, since the heart of Mary was not immaculate. "Everyone have sinned and fallen short of the glorious God". Jesus is the only human without sin.
@@Henrik46 Henrik has no opinion on buffets or the food. Henrik would not eat at Shady Maple because he thinks the Amish are not real Christians.
Buffets disappeared in Canada where in 2024 hole in the wall food outlets want to charge over $18 for a hamburger.
@@Henrik46 Well it was one of those devotional pictures.I"m not Catholic, but I think the woman who ran the buffet was. LOL
Damn that was a lot of food she didn’t eat
I'm hoping the camera guy got some, at least
yeah...this captures perfectly why American society will collapse
prolly asked her to advertise for them lmao
The food she didn't eat in that one breakfast could feed most families around the world for an entire day.... Let that sink in.
That doesn't mean it went to waste lol, I'm sure the camera crew got to eat it.
"Can I get an omelette with everything on it..."
*Proceeds to not eat it*
Yeah what a waste of food.
@@jayfreechavez0000
It was basically a commercial for the restaurant. I see commercials for fast food places all the time. Are folks upset that the burger and fries may not have been eaten after filming the commercial?
@@stephenlurie821most food in ads are fake and not edible.
@@xuimod EXACTLY THIS. The reason why ur quarter pounder looks so shit compared to the commercials is because there are paints, juices, and dyes and even cardboard to make the ad burger look juicy and shiny, in order to get ppl to buy. There's videos all about this on the internet ranging from food to perfumes and pretty much anything u can think of, I'm surprised more ppl don't know ab it
@@xuimod
Pictures in magazines and on billboards are often fake
But you can see people taking bites of burgers and eating french fries on television commercials..
She just casually mentions the gift shop as if it's not a whole department store underneath the buffet. Worth the trip just for the store.
Imo the store and the supermarket are better then the smorgasbord. Either way it's worth the trip.
@@WolfGan0178 you haven't had their breakfast yet I'm assuming. Just went recently. For only 13.99 during the week it's the best buffet breakfast I've had.
@@Josh0222 I've been there for all three. I grew up in the area. It's still good don't get me wrong, but it was even better a decade ago.
@@WolfGan0178 that's true. Unfortunately that's the case for most things these days
@@Josh0222 very true
She's the reason why buffets closed or ran out of business. What a waste.
Damn, I was disgust when she wast it at lunch and did not expect that she will reiterate without shame to wast 90% of what she take for dinner
Fr 😂
At least she actually paid for both buffets, instead of getting them for free as part of filming the piece. Doesn't make it right, but at least the damage wasn't quite as bad.
Yeah, it was wasteful, but tbf, her assignment was to try a large variety of what the buffet has to offer.
I hope the camera crew eats some of that. She certainly can't!
“How long can I stay?”
Long enough for you to finish what you put on your plates.
long enough till you burst
They probably paid her for that review! And wanted her to showcase everything!!!!
buffets should put a rule
you pay for what you didn't finish eating
that's a decent business idea worth testing it if hasn't been already
EDIT: Yes, thank you everyone. I'm getting pinged with notifications nearly every day being told that it's something a lot of buffets do in one way or another
@@DavidKFZ Lots of places already have that rule.
"The Wharf" (when it existed) in the OBX had this rule.
@@o0hotoko0o guess that shows I don't know a thing about the buffet scene LOL
All you can eat sushi does this
Those people work so hard to feed so many people. Bless them!
Her parents should have taught her, only take food your going to eat.
Your parents should have taught you to mind your own business
@@reefacheefa8990shouldn’t that apply to you as well then..?
In this case the point is to try a lot of the food offered so that doesnt really apply.
But I agree its wasteful.
@@reefacheefa8990 bro its a public youtube video....
@@battlingmink467 and it’s a review of the buffet video not finish every single thing I get at the buffet video so what’s your point fuckin lame
They forgot to show the most important job here. The plumber.
"Would you please consider having a salad? You really must have some roughage."
"I'm absolutely fine."
"People are quite worried!"
"What, like the doctor?"
"No, your plumber. He called me in tears the other day!"
What a looser!
I heard they have Obliterator 5000 toilets which are toilets with commercial grade wood chippers integrated in them 🤔
The most important job here to me is not the plumber, it's who made it all possible and that's the farmers.
Many people really overeat at these places and yes, the bathrooms can be busy. The other thing I tell people is not to load up on the scalloped corn. It tastes delicious, but it can have the same effect as a Fleet enema.
Hope the camera crew got to eat too, and not waste all the food she got.
I'm sure that's how it went. They'd have to be real aholes not waste that food and not let the camera people eat
He absolutely ate, and a lot of it too!
It's a buffet. It's all wasted
They probably did. I recall on the sister channel to this, Food Insider, the staff got to eat the various food items when they were comparing UK vs USA McDonalds, etc after the shoot was done.
@abby
I dont know ppl trashing u ... Its mental .. internet loves to hate
I get making a whole documentary about this buffet but you didn't have to waste all that food to prove a point
Truck driver here. There's a truck stop down the road a little south of the place. I was waiting to get dispatched on a Hershey's load so I parked at the truck stop there and walked over. One of the best Buffets I went to. The staff were super friendly and over all good food and atmosphere. If you're in the area, swing by the place as it's some of the best eating in the country.
I hope it is still open by the time I can get there.
Is it true that truck drivers sleep with lots of prostitutes?
@@thyslop1737 It should be. My sister went there last weekend.
Yup. I grew up 40 minutes from Shady Maple and it's amazing.
I will never wait in a line like that for anything
My sweet Uncle raved about this place and was a happy customer until the age of 90 years. He lived in Delaware and eventually needed someone to drive him to his Shady Maple but with my uncle it was joyful and a party every time for everyone!
Aww, how wonderful that there was a place he enjoyed that much. 🤗
When was the next time to go to avoid long lines?
We lived close to Shady Maple and it was the place we would go for birthdays. When we moved out of state, we make sure to stop by when we come back to visit friends and family!
In all you can eats in Belgium, you pay for each dish you don't eat = less good waste. This should be mandatory for all buffets if everyone eats (doesn't eat) like she did.
@@SarahIlaydaWould be bad PR, and bad online reviews.
@@MisterMikeTexas It's not actually enforced, but it's just enough of a reminder for people not to be complete assholes.
That’s a great idea. I’d think it would be effective. People are shameless and greedy. People also have eyes bigger than their bellies…. Although maybe not in the States😉
Jail time seems reasonable for folks who don't finish their food.
There's an all-you-can-eat hot pot in my town that has that rule. They charge for too much uneaten food and it does make you more conscious of what you're putting in your bowl.
Buffet is a style of eating and serving (you pick and serve yourself with a reasonable amount of food)... NOT a waste food station! Remember, you can go back as many times as you wish... so, take smaller portions each time and come back if you need more. Eat all you can and DON'T waste the food. All-you-can-eat does NOT equate to all-you-can-waste!!!
Why did she take so much food?? She said she wants to try a little of everything and then gets 12 pieces of bacon
Yes she was a true greedy pig by taking so much and eating so little of what she took. She was SELFISH.
Crew
Waisting...
It's a documentary about a buffet. You have to get a bunch of food to show you. Cmon man.
Because ITS FOR THE SHOW, cmon, why pick on her. It’s obviously a great ad for the business!
Respect for all of the restaurant staff. It’s hard work. Especially with massive batches like that and such a busy restaurant.
Their doing all the pancakes by hand is incredible. Most places that make a ton of pancakes use a machine.
This is one of the more impressive bulk cooking restaurants they've profiled. The machinery, the time management... It must be exhausting.
All I could think about was when I used to be the manager for a restaurant on Sundays and we had a buffet. Much small operation and sometimes I'd accidentally mess up a dish or not realize we were running low or start prepping it too late.... so many logistics to keep food fresh and ready on the line
Thank you
@@ManabiLT Most of their food is done that way. Something I was a little sad they didn't go into in the video is how traditional Shady Maple is along the lines of Pennsylvania Dutch foods and methods. I've lived within about an hour to an hour and a half of it all my life, and my background is Pennsylvania Dutch, which were basically all the old German farming families that migrated from Europe mostly in the 1800s and early 1900s before the world wars. A LOT of them built up in the Lancaster PA area and surrounding counties, and we have a HUGE food tradition that Shady Maple does a pretty good job of keeping going.
A great example is her reaction to scrapple. It's VERY salty and an acquired taste, and even a lot of locals aren't horribly fond of it sometimes. But a LOT of the older generations love it and it's a taste of home to us. Cooking some foods by hand, as you've mentioned, specific recipes... The whoopie pies are another example of a traditionally PA Dutch treat, or the PA Dutch Shoo fly pie that wasn't featured but most or all Lancaster County food places have on the menu.
PA Dutch/Amish food is one of those things that are taken pretty seriously around here as traditional foods.
She had 10 full plates, then took only one tiny bite of everything, lol . Nobody is going to eat that. What a waste !!
Cameraman? Doggy bags? Who knows.
@@wmv8996 she could have used utensils and cut a piece to try. Not grab the food and bites it. I would not eat the left overs with her spit on it.
It’s a European cultural thing. They get as much as they can and then barely eat any of it. Their culture is gluttonous so I guess we just have to deal with them. 😒
The funniest part is that she didn't like much of the stuff.
She s vegetarian
Shady Maple is an original and really different place.
They have a shop or store under the buffet floor.
I live about a half hr away and been there many times.
Ive never been able to see ALL the different foods available!
I also have to say I am a food service repair tech of 30+ yrs and had a few service calls there...this place is nuts! With equipment!
I will add the kitchen IS CLEAN!!
Never let this girl document an experience again
God forbid having a normal person do something instead of a bubbly, annoying squeaky mouthpiece.
Yankee brain rot runs pretty deep, man.
A lot of wasted food, but she did a good job
@@KarthNno she didnt and she seems like a karen
She's an Emily. Not a karen
@@KarthN no she didn't. you could see the disgust on her face trying the food. she only liked the chicken.
I love how when I realized she's wasted so much food and then started reading comments only to find so many people already commented on it.
I love how you do not realize this was for a report.
@@ericryanyawl9401 chill crakka!
TH-cam comment section in a nutshell...
@@ericryanyawl9401waste is still waste
@@ericryanyawl9401 okey so I will waste alot of food and it's fine as long as I upload a video to youtube? lmao thanks dude didn't know it worked like this!
I work in the grocery industry. Walk around the store. Half of the product is tossed. Our entire economy is based upon over production and waste. That’s why it’s called a consumer society
Because no one can afford it. My grocery trips are TWICE the cost than what they were under Trump. Thanks, all the brainwashed and non-self interested people that voted for a corpse. Hope they are happy with their diminished financial power and crime. 😎👍
One, prices set way too and everything is a lot of the time cheaply massed produced...imangine if food companies stsrted making good healthy food, there probably be less waste
@@andrewli1519lol that will literally never happen. Look at the history or corporate foods in the past 100 years. Kelloggs and General Mills kept claiming to have “natural ingredients” until they were exposed to be lying. Take a look at the boxes from the like the 50s…
Corporate greed will always keep society down.
That’s probably why starting your own garden and supplementing the rest from food store
Worst thing is when people take refrigerated items and choose to not buy them so they just leave it sitting with the bread or by a register… what do people think is going to happen to that ice cream they left sitting with bread? It’ll magically stay cold? Ighhhh so glad I don’t work in retail anymore, customers can be such, well, shitty people
@@andrewli1519 Yeah but then you'd complain about the price.
To the lady who said it’s expensive.
Imagine they cooked all for you.
Hundreds of servants
Hundreds of dishes
For you to pick and eat whatever you desire.
It’s insanely affordable. Imagine what a slow” day costs in food -staff wages alone.
Abby: "Just one"
Employee: "Just one today?"
Cameraperson:
👁️ 👄 👁️ 💀
Buddy really thinks he's going to get canceled for saying "cameraman" lol. But honestly though, the "cameraperson" never dies right? So they don't even need to eat. They just go and go forever.
@@abundantharmony"buddy thinks he's gonna get cancelled" 🤓. Pls get some new jokes
@@abundantharmony lmao I don't know the average Business Insider viewer, so I just suppose the SJW quota tends to the max. Being completely honest, it did sound weird and far too PC.
Edit: just checked. "Camera operator" is the term. Much better than cameraperson 😆
@@abundantharmony Joe Biden's America 🇨🇳
😂😂😂😂😂😂 right like damn
$17 is insanely cheap for that much food. You pay that for a McDonalds value meal these days.
if you can go into mcdonalds and spend 17 bucks on yourself only, you deserve it.
CORRECTION, KIDDIE MEAL LOL
@@JohannesWOW Not weird? 1 menu and a sidedish like nuggets and you are paying around 15 here, maybe a bit more. Mc Donalds is not cheap anymore like it used to be, period.
It gets better. Birthdays they offer a free meal if you present ID. It's become a regular birthday spot for a lot of locals.
A big mac meal in West Penn Amish country is more like $8 tax in but your point is taken the Amish buffet definitely has better economies of scale and better food than a McD I agrre with that
Respect to the ones not seen or thought about, the dishwashers; who wash every plate, fork, spoon, knife, cup and cookware..
I bet that's an operation worth seeing - industrial scale!
@@BitcoinfunforBoomers Maybe it is so that's why they didn't show it or maybe it's not so that's why they didn't show it...
I picture there being a super large dishwasher which the dishwashers load and unload.
@@adeyosola414 Exactly. I worked as a dishwasher many years ago at Old Country Buffet, I thought it would be easy work when I saw that huge dishwashing machine but soon realized that wasn't the case at all. Sheet pans, pots and pans those neat looking pans food goes out to the line as well. If food is stuck on it someone cleans it by hand. And it gets HOT in that area. When that machine gets overworked it breaks down, but, we (workers) never did. The customers never knew it. Jobs of servitude get little to no appreciation.
Damn right❤
I took a group of seniors there from my church (from Tennessee) and this meal was the highlight of our trip!
Just checked and I'm a hour from here. I'm going in the morning. As a single father with 3 teenage boys I needs this!!!😂
All those hollow legs, right? My uncle as a teen, out west was only allowed 6 trips through the town's all you can eat buffet. I believe they started getting concerned around trip 3 the way my mom would tell it.😅
Man, enjoy. You'll have a great memory with your sons.
How was it??
😂😂😂
Wait till your birthday, you eat for free if you bring a paying customer with you.
You know what keeps this afloat? You noticed the dynamic of the staff that works together as one unit with their heart? That's it!
There is no comparison to a good team that proudly works their job and is being treated good by their company.
Amish and Mennonite vibe and lifestyle helps
Yep, they work together like a well-oiled machine. Secret behind any successful business!
I Agree‼️🎯💯
She’s one of those people who only fine dine. By the amount of food she grabbed vs. how much she actually ate is mind boggling.
I would have had some Tupperware and took that food with me.
Yes, very wasteful, and I didn’t care for her way of reviewing with that “yuck” look on her face. Very unprofessional. I know the story was mostly focused on the business side of it, but if you’re going to review the actual food for taste, it should be a more considerate objective review than “ugh, too dry.” Frankly I thought it was rude to this amazing establishment that gave her access to their hardworking employees who clearly take pride in what they do. 🙁
Yea, for my family during tough times we'd bring 35 bowls of tupperware and get massive quantities and just stuff the leftovers in the tuperware. As a child in a family of 7 not including me times were tough and we went to buffets like these and use the kids under 10 eat free advantage and the bill would be like $80-$40 we'd do it once a month and wed stock up on delicious food that would last of a month and we would have different delicacies we weren't tired of. Its sad to see all the food she picked up go to waste
It’s all for views. And it worked.
@@Insitikabro what? Who brings tupperwares to buffets? That’s insane lol
They definitely should have used someone with a better more refined pallet for this documentary. This chick has the pallet of a 12 year old. All she really liked was the Fried chicken and mash potatoes. The pulled pork and 14 hour slow smoked brisket to her was just on a level of "Ehh it was Decent." Should have gotten a true food lover to do this documentary.
Yes! I just replied to someone else's comment about her palate! Even my granddaughter who was a few months shy of 2 years old loved the food!
....Just because someone doesn't like food, doesn't mean they don't have a "refined pallet ". Thats a bogus term anyway. But even it existed in the way that you arr inferring it does, no one with one would get within 10 miles of this place. Why buffets are struggling is NOT a mystery.
I just think she's all about herself as a budding personality and not the restaurant or food.
spot on
The buffet fare offered here doesn't require a "refined pallet"
We had a all you can eat catfish house growing up. A little sign was at every table which read "Take what you want but eat what you take".
Good idea
Just like when the Simpsons thought the aliens were fattening them up to eat them. 😅
😂😂😂
They have those signs as well.
Sad that you need a sign to remind you this….
From my experience growing up in the 80s and 90s ... buffet's weren't where you went to experience the best food at the highest qualities. It's where you went when you had a large family (or a bunch of guests from out of town) and you all wanted to go out to dinner together. With that many different mouths to feed, a buffet was not only economical, but it guaranteed that everyone in the party would be guaranteed to find something they liked to eat. A buffet was an especially great place to go if you had a bunch of kids to feed since you'd usually get half-off at least for kids, and we all know that kids are bottomless pits when it comes to eating.
Yeah this actually makes a lot of sense. I'm currently a teen and my family usually only gets together on holidays and someone just cooks a bunch of food rather than going out. The food at most buffets is also low quality, which might be why they died out in the 90's when everyone was watching their health/food.
Absolutely...
Do you remember being a kid though at one of these places? Getting dessert at the end, and building your own sundae?!? Best part about it!
Absolutely. I'm 32 now but I have a lot of fond memories at Golden corral when my grandparents came to town and all the cousins, aunts, uncles you know the drill.
Nobody ever left hungry because the wide variety even us kids were always Goin to find stuff we liked
Been there. In that area the buffets or smorgasbords as they call them is nothing like the chain buffets. Local food and Amish cooking. It is such a great area to visit.
She should be charged extra for wasting all that food. Ridiculous
I feel so sick inside of me to see people bring like plate after plate to there table and only eat like half or it. like dude, if you want more food after that go get it. one at a time. has your mom not taught you manners.
In the Philippines, there is a law followed by buffet restaurants where a person, if he cannot eat all the food that he put in his plate, he will be charged extra for the leftover.
"we don't know everything happened after that scene"
@@jval9002 It is same in Spain. I was in asian buffet and they charged 3euro for one unfinished plate.
In my country most restaurants that have a form of an ‘all you can eat’ or ‘pay per round’ will charge you for leaving food on your plate (⎌as an adult, children who don’t like a certain dish don’t get ‘fined’).
My mother started an all you can eat restaurant in 1970. It was kind of new at the time and it was $2.50. People loved it and we had many regulars. Many people said their favorite was the salad bar, all homemade. She always had three meats, and being a southern Ohio girl fried chicken was always one of them. I think she was ahead of her time.
😊
Sounds to me like your mother was a true Pioneer 😊
Congratulations on having an awesome mom.
Thank you, that was very nice of you to say.
@@Bo-hb3eo Your welcome..I think that's an awesome legacy
What happened?
I live right down the road from here....the biggest reason why I eat and trust shady Maple is because they have a pretty clean buffet. Go to any other buffet and there's all kinds of nasty things you'll find. Shady is constantly bringing out new hot and fresh food too. They do a good job of keeping clean and being the largest in the USA helps.
The name "Shady" is not appropriate then.
I’m from Texas and have heard amazing things about the SM buffet and store!
@@williamwallace410Shady as in maple tree. Get it?
I ate here for the first time a year ago. My friends wanted to go but I wasn’t really excited about the thought of a buffet. I was expecting mediocre food at best, but most of the food I picked was DELICIOUS! I didn’t overfill my plate like this “reporter” did, ate everything on my plate, and left feeling very satisfied and not at all uncomfortable. Absolutely one of the best buffet experiences I’ve tried. My favorite is still the Hotel Bethlehem’s Sunday brunch, but that’s a much different experience.
@@williamwallace410they opened in 1985 I don't even think that word was used for that reason back then 😂. Just like in old time movies they say the kids are all gay .
I went there once,the chicken, the brisket and those shrimp,spectacular! I couldn’t eat more as I tend to get full quickly but I am glad I picked those! YUMMY! Btw, you never mentioned the fresh variety of breads, amazing! ❤️
As a Central PA native, I've been to Shady Maple several times. Seniors from my high school would often go to Shady Maple for breakfast and show up to school an hour late. It's definitely an institution. I haven't been since pre-COVID times, and it's insane to see how busy it's become. I don't think I've ever waited in a line out the door.
I was looking for a comment like this. If you lived within an hour away from shaddy Maple and it was senior day, you were there
It’s probably due to buffets disappearing…. Americans love them
Yep, school districts even half an hour+ away. Senior skip day was always just a big Shady Maple trip in the AM. I have great memories of this place.
I REALLY respect food critics/tasters who at least try to eat all the food. If not at least box it up or share it with the camera crew
Right. Eat from one end then feed the crew
Except that would be against the restaurants rules.
Cut her some slack. She'd doing a story on it. It isn't like she's going to return weekly and do this.
They don’t allow boxing up food.
I’m just so glad the comments section seems to be on the same page here. Holy shit, she needs to be taken off the payroll and thoroughly educated on the fact that people only take what they plan on eating. Getting full sized portions of everything, just to waste 90% of the freaking meal. It really becomes evident that this lady has not been through poverty, or ever went to bed hungry. It shows.
She behaves like some spoiled teenager.
She's showcasing the food. Every other food content creator does the same shit and y'all don't complain. They order the whole menu to show what they are selling! They probably paid her to come in and do that you simple minded fools
Your comment is stupid. Srsly it's a video production. Of course they wanna shot a scene with all the food...
@@Sicaine I get you but think what kind of subconscious message does that convey to the viewers. Every public content creator should consider such responsibility.
@@Sicaine you obviously haven’t lived in a less fortunate household. Grow up.
Did she just get like...five plates before she even started eating? So everything had time to get cold? No wonder the brisket was dry! One plate at a time and your food will be hot and tasty. (The catfish is ALWAYS my first plate. Yummm!!!)
Meat carving station forgot to ask those important questions ..."Is it still hot out there" "Did you catch the game last night" "Have you tried the lasagna, it's my favorite."
You’ve been watching that training video again! LOL!
Lol
Alllllright.
"Nah bro, I'm at the Meat Station... Not Pasta"
Do you like hot fudge sundaes
I am American. I love the all you can eat buffet BUT I only take a small portion (maybe two bites) of everything that takes my fancy, eat everything I took, and go back for refills of what I do like. I don't throw food away. I haven't been to a buffet in 4 years. I miss it in a way but no plans to find the nearest buffet. It stresses me out to see and think about so. much. waste.
There is a strategy to buffets
I do the same thing on the rare occasion my family visits one. I am a picky eater and buffets are the best way to try new things. A tiny piece of this, a bit of that and i almost always discover something i would never have tried otherwise. I admit if there are bits of meat leftover that arent to salty ill bring it home for my cat (yes shes a spoiled brat)
We've got two where I live, quite large ones.
One of them has dropped so far in quality we stopped going there. And the price doubled since 2020.
The other one doubled the price as well. Became pointless to bother going.
and people . . . sometimes I think I'm in Spirit Away movie syurroudned by pigs
"It stresses me out to see and think about so. much. waste." Don't think about what a grocery store tosses out, or remember how efficient just in time delivery is? People dump and plowed over whatever and continued on waiting for lock downs to lift.
On hold means 100% waste like ya cut a major artery. Go means let the blood flow and it's constant consume.
Compete down to the smallest profit margins, the most efficient of movements. Disruption is grind the wheels and hope for the future.
So much can collapse being no more. Other products like spam, if they allowed to ship and produce it, would thrive in such a situation.
is it me or im just so grossed out at her for all that food waste
AND SHE ISN'T EVEN GRATEFUL AND SATISFIED AT EVERYTHING LIKE A SASSY BLONDE BULLY
Did you pay attention to the video? This is A M I S H. They take her food, throw it in a bin, feed it to the pigs, then in a few months they're bacon on the buffet. You socialist bleeding hearts call this the "circular economy" but now yall are crying when yall realize it isn't as clean and idealistic ivory tower as yall thought LOL
Same
im grossed out at your assumptions
It was a promotion for the restaurant. They benefited from this.
I visited this place, it was a fantastic experience. I had a grand time with my relative. Congratulation Shady Maple for surviving against all odds. God bless you all.
Shady Maple is wonderful. We don't go as often as we would like, but it's so good. Spotlessly clean, everyone is so friendly, and the gift shop downstairs is cool.
this is a terrible way to eat. it's nice once in a while, like a birthday or something. not every week.
@@jamesgarner2103 never eat all you can eat, lol, thats crazy to me. I'm fit.
@@jamesgarner2103 Of course not. It's something you eat once in a while. I guess it could save people money if they ate once a day there and fasted the other 23 hours.
The way she serves herself is exactly why buffets don't exist anymore.
They should tell her it's all you can eat, not all you can waste
I thought you were only supposed to take what you could eat! Since you can go back and get more if you want. How wasteful.
Maybe the crew finished it and it wasn't all wasted.
@@anye76 I hope so too.
Sigh...
She waste too much food, looks like she grew up priviledged and never starve at any point in her life, so wasting food seems normal to her. What a shame
Hopefully the cameraman and sound guy got to eat the leftovers.
I once had a friend stay with me for a weekend. We went to Costco and they bought a whole roasted chicken. Proceeded to take of 1/2 of the "good meat", and attempt to throw the remainder of it away. THANKFULLY I was in the kitchen at the time because I could not fathom throwing THAT MUCH chicken away. Not only wasteful, but disrespectful to the animal who had died for the meal. This person grew up very privileged. (Child of an oil executive). I had never realized just how some people live. This woman... gives me that vibe. This "I bought it so I can do what I want" vibe. It irks me so hard.
Yes, white privileges... she was the worst review...
@@chrisa.8175 Only white people waste food? What kind of logic is that lol
Changes literally nothing about the world. Getting mad about this is pure virtual signaling.
Came here to confirm what I suspected after watching the video. I knew folks would be pissed about how she wasted all that food😂 To be fair, it triggered me too.
Compared to other American restaurants- the kitchen of this place looks quite clean and the quality of the food and all those stations preparing dishes right away look good to me. Kudos and respect to the kitchen staff for all those tasty dishes'
I don't know about little hole in the wall places (though I've never gotten sick from one) but every commercial kitchen I've worked in has been very clean. Probably cleaner than my kitchen at home during that time of my life.
Usually the more industrial and commercial, the cleaner the kitchen. Large operations have very efficient and meticulous protocols in place every step of the way. From prep, to cooking, to cleaning. The reason why small restaurants are often filthy is because the owners/cooks have to clean it themselves and they're too tired (and often too lazy) to clean up properly after service.
@@aeroAdvocate At least locally we also have the inspections in the local papers. Basically everyone gets access either through the paper or various online outlets to see what inspection problems restaurant locations have had, and generally at least here around southern central PA, they're closed down REALLY fast if they have repeated offenses.
That said I'm sure some of the same nepotism and other issues occur, but generally speaking the inspectors can get pretty nitpicky, as someone who's worked for a family entertainment center with a food area before. They were always very 'by the book' folks from my experience.
They also know some people will come filming that day so that also 😂
I dunno what you're smoking, most American restaurants in general have super clean kitchens.
She must be a rookie. You don't get carbs or salads at a buffet. You go for the protein first.
This!
A friend's dad hits the desert bar 1st! Prioritize
You are probably the size of a bus.
Best comment so far
Literally this. Why waste time on salad?
The reporter is the embodiment of being an American. She grabs a whole ton,doesnt finish it, and throws it away.
Thankfuly most Americans are not wasteful like this ridiculous woman.
The average American doesn't go to a buffet to grab 5 plates in one sitting. Find a life that is outside of click bait social media. You might actually learn something.
The obligatory American hater.
I stopped going to buffets years ago. This video was great. Much respect for the staff.
In the 1990s I used to drive past it on the way to work. Every Friday morning after work my entire Pressroom would go there for breakfast. I have not been there in over 25 years. Good memories
Where is this place?
@@craigha7959 Lancaster County Pennsylvania
Having a supermarket and doing takeout to back up the buffet restaurant is genius.
Ha, notice how she *clearly* had a negative reaction to the scrapple but post editing removed her commentary on it ... presumably not to offend the locals who do love it.
I do think its only because she knew what was in it, because it looks just like fried spam
They kept the reaction in - they don't care. I don't like scrapple but then I'm not blatantly making fun of it.
LOVE their scrapple. She's just a kid doing a tasting...kids don't like anything lol.
I love scap-le
Scrapple. Pig Slop.
I loved the part where she leant down so she could get her head underneath the sanitary guard to get the chicken, so she could breathe over all of it.
You think that is the worst thing to happen to the food there?
Her manners were gross. Bleck!🤮
LOL!!!
I noticed and didn't like that as well. One of the reasons I don't do buffets. Where did they get this woman? Not the best candidate between the waste and the total disregard for others.
@@sue8237if you don’t do buffets why are you watching a video on one and commenting on it. GTFO
What a colossal waste of food.
My son went once and was sad they had no pumpkin pie out. A young lady brought him an ENTIRE pumpkin pie!!
“Good chicken wings” ma’am that’s a drumstick
Missed opportunity.
Talking about the biggest buffet, without talking about how they deal with waste. Was really intrigued to know
I don't know about this particular location, but many of the buffet's in Vegas send their scraps to hog farmers.
These look like normal customers eating at a restaurant staffed by workers that care about what they do. THAT'S how they have survived. Every buffet around here turned into Walmart customers being fed by employees that hate life.
They hire a lot of Mennonite locals - hard working, friendly, quality conscious, positive attitude.
They pay their employees living wages. That's how they survive.
We pay $9 for a value meal in Alabama.
@@chucksellers8422 gotta feed those investors/stock holders/executives. probably $1 of that goes to any staff where you got it
I’m always turned off by the idea of buffets. Like the cleanliness aspect and the food quality.
Shady Maple is one place that I do not have those concerns at. It’s very very clean and well maintained and staffed with hard working people.
She eats about 10% of what she takes. They lost money on her.
I don’t think so. I think the purpose was to show us what they have and what they serve and I bet her crew finished the food lol. Also more people (aside from the 8,000 that go currently) will probably go.
She is only there for the PR.
@@pauliejulietta5290 unless whoever watches this follows her poor example and wastes multiple plates of food themselves.
We were just there two weeks ago and it's still great. Quality and variety of the food is excellent. Highly recommend.
What they didn't mention is the place is two stories!!
There is a basement level that has the biggest gift shop you have ever seen!! My first time we spent 2 hrs just in the gift shop. It even has a furniture dept.
A furniture department?! 😂😂😂
@@highspeedracer1921 the effing amish man
17:35 .... she tours the gift shop.
@@rack11 at the ass end
@@KrohnosOW I was captivated by the buffet!
This video is basically an 18 minute ad for Shady Maple. Clever.
We Pennsylvanians love Shady Maple for the breakfast buffet! I haven’t been there since right after the pandemic, but it was $10 at the time for all you can eat breakfast. Whether you were a younger teen/ adult coming from a long night out with your friends, or a family taking their kiddos out, Shady Maple is great!
it was apparent to me the reason this place survived when compared to other buffets. they use real food to cook with instead of canned and boxed foods. this makes a huge difference the flavor of the food and at the 16:15 min mark, you have a customer who confirmed this. "it tastes more like real food".
This is the most American thing ever.
Pure American
Amerrricu
🦅🔴⚪️🔵🦅🔴⚪️🔵🦅🔴⚪️🔵🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸
Now I know why murica needs so much oil its for the buffet 🦅
@@EricVianaI'm against wastefulness too but charging by weight would defeat the purpose of "all u can eat" for flat fee
One advantage they have is location--they are beyond commuting distance of the Philadelphia and Baltimore/Washington metro areas, but close enough to both that people are willing to drive out on weekends to chow down. So they operate in a relatively low cost-of-living area, but can draw on millions of higher-income customers.
Exactly
3:55 The slow motion pour with the classical music 😂Excellent editing choice.
As a midwesterner who *frequented* Old Country Buffet as a kid and teenager, I loved watching this video. Thank you Abby and team for some really nice journalism!
buffets at my place would weigh our leftover and charge us per 100g food that we waste. this is a brilliant and win win business model.
@@wm69 But bad PR.
I went there with my boyfriend last year in December. The food was good, but the lines were so long. After dinner we went downstairs to the gift shop. They had these beautiful handmade quilts. They were expensive so I couldn't buy one but if I had the money they would've been so worth it.
I'm a quilter who appreciates that you value the worth of the handmade quilt. Too many people think quilts should cost $100, but that barely covers the fabric costs.
I grew up on buffets. I was raised by my grandmother, who owned and ran a business, and also had a farm. She was also a vegetarian. So, often times, the easiest way for both of us to have dinner was 7-8pm buffets. Ryan's, Old Country Buffet, Ponderosa....even Wendy's and Pizza Hut, you name it. Anyone remember Rax? Those were the days! We don't even have Golden Corral in my town anymore.
It saddens me that they are a thing of the past. The buffets in Vegas really took a hit after 2020, and now most of them are closed, and the ones that are left are premium, but expensive, or only brunch, and a shell of what they were.
I wish they would come back, but I understand the economics. But hey, if food courts can make a comeback (as they are), maybe buffets will someday too.
If I lived by this buffet, I would go once a week.
I have worked in a lot of restaurants in my early working life.
I can tell you exactly why they succeed.
Quality control manager.
When you have a quality control manager you have somebody whos only focus is ingredients. Thats a huge plus
5:00 “No tipping please”
This place is absolutely incredible
I’d tip just bc of this 😂😂😂
They add a 12% service fee to the advertised price, so the tip is already paid at the register before you eat.
Larry David would love it
Awesome. I love no tipping places.
@@elizabethleee If that's true, that's kind of a shady practice. The advertised price needs to include everything. Added fees like this are similar territory to bait-and-switch.
Took my adult family to Shady Maples years ago and the food was fantastic. We all had a great visit. So many varieties to choose from. Loved it all.
It’s not food it’s grease pretending to be food
Haaaa! Reporter walks right into the restaurant's double doors that say - in large print - "EXIT ONLY" 😂
Why did she get so much food and barely ate it? Take only what you will eat. It's the unspoken rule on eating at all you can eat buffet. What a waste.
I mean, it's a video to show off the place and the food. What's one person doing this? It got 4.4 million views and i'm sure the restaurant got that back and then some. Also, there is a whole film crew there, so whatever wasn't eaten on camera was probably eaten off camera, there's probably 5-6 crew waiting around. The video would be pretty bad if she only took one tiny plate of chicken and didnt show off anything else
Thank you for pointing out the film crew. People are too stupid in comment sections@@charlied8355
It’s weird how nostalgic this made me. I’m not from Pennsylvania. I’ve been there once in my life, and yet this restaurant really took me back to my childhood in a very happy way.
I once worked at the University Of Chicago Law School Div.
Cafeteria. Dining Hall area.
We would start prepping for the Sunday Brunch the day before.
I would make 10 gallons of Pancake batter. 20 Lbs of
Bacon, and several crates of eggs and veggies for the omlette station.
That doesn't include all the pies, cakes, cookies, and pastries we would also have on hand. It was insane!
Students and their family's would eat as if it was their last meal on earth!!
I once made 200 Lbs of Fried Chicken!!
It was gone in 30 minutes!!
They would wait outside the Dining hall. By the time we opened at 8:00am for brunch.
There was Huge line going out the building and down the street.
The buildings at the Univetsity are very old style, so you have to go through several doors, and rooms to reach your destination!
I saw this and it reminded me of when I worked there.
When my dad was in graduate school my mom was the head dietitian for what was at that time the largest men's college dormitory in the USA--after WW II and Korea so students were in college on the GI Bill. She developed the menus, ordered the food, oversaw the employees, and was there for lunch and dinner every day. She was also there for breakfast frequently. We lived in married student housing--which was renovated quonset huts that had been erected on an Army training site. It was a great place for families! I got shuffled between my parents and the babysitter, which was the best of all worlds to me. When my mom was done with work, we went to pick her up. I was enthralled by the HUGE equipment and the "piles" of food. The most impressive part was the rack of candy for sale at each register--5 cents for each one. There were small packages of Brach's candies. I got a LOT of attention from the employees and they took turns buying me whatever I picked out--usually candied orange slices. Looking back, I realize how very hard all of those people worked! They were efficient AND always kind and respectful to each other AND the students. They lifted and carried HUGE containers of food, and turned around and did it all over. Over 8,000 students ate there every day--it was an assembly line!
People always forget Wendy’s had a buffet in the 80’s. Tacos , baked potato’s , salads , that’s where the chili started. Feel free to verify. Nobody ever believes me.
My wife and I have been going there for the last 20 years. ALL of the food is quality food and tastes great. I've never been to any other buffet that even comes close to Shady Maple.
Barry
Any penalty for excessive amounts of leftover food? I'm guessing doggy bags are not permitted.
@jaker3151 correct, no food can leave their facility. No penalty for leaving stuff on the plate.
@@jaker3151I’ve eaten here and other smorgasbord’s in the area like Miller’s and there is no penalty for wasting food, but it is frowned upon. There are usually signs that say “Take all you want, but eat all you take”. A group of us at work used to eat lunch at buffets on a weekly basis. And I didn’t usually see many people wasting lots of food. After eating at these places a few times you learn to limit yourself because you usually feel sick for the rest of the day if you stuff yourself at these places. One thing I do tell people about the shady maple is not to eat the cracked corn! It tastes delicious but it will clear your colon faster than you can run to the bathroom.
Do they have desserts available at breakfast? Lol, asking for a "friend". 😂
@happycook6737 sort of, but it'll be stuff like donuts, pie, etc. The shoo-fly pie is delicious.
All that food wasted. Such a shame.
Imagine how much the establishment itself wastes when no one even puts it on their plate.
By law buffet cafeterias must discard their leftover food every day. Es la lea.
I really hope there is a policy that allows taking leftovers home or something.
@@Rachel-h3n highly doubt it. And giving it to the homeless doesnt work either unless they dumpster dive
Maybe she just tasting everything for the viewers
The workers look like they're performing a labor of love. I sure would like to dine there but it's too far away.
You've never heard of a plane.
@@eggchin9721 I'm not going to fly to a small town in the Midwest to dine at a restaurant.
@@LoanShoppingExpertmidwest? It's in pennsylvania on the EAST coast? and yea i am very lucky to have it 45 mins away
@@ftnizzy23 I stand corrected. Thanks.
I’m
An eighties baby (1978) buffets were all the rage!
We had ponderosa which became bonanza, old county buffet which became homestyle buffet, there was cicis buffet pizza, Chinese buffets all over, Golden Corral…and so many local joints that got in on the action with Sunday brunches and Saturday night buffets.
I live in a rural area with lots of Amish folks and there are lots of places called “the barn” that have pretty decent buffets, and smorgasbords.
It’s just a bummer they’re all kind of gone.
I never could eat a lot but lots of other folks in my family could!
I loved eating a big plate of salads and cottage cheese, jellos, fruits, and soup, then I’d get bread rolls…then you get little blobs of corn casseroles, stuffing, mashed potatoes, Mac and cheese, green beans…and then some ice cream on a rice crispy treat with cookie dough crumbles and strawberry sauce.
The ability to just get two bites of each part was my fave.
One blob of tapioca, one peach slice, a pile of pea salad…sigh, yeah I miss buffets.
That is definitely not expensive especially considering all you can eat.
It’s more than not expensive, that’s cheap.
@@allanpeter7700 I'm from Bulgaria, The Poorest country in the EU and I can tell you - the right term for their price is - Dirty Cheap!
Good luck if you can buy his amount of food here for less than €120 at the Minimum! Not to mention - buffets like this simply do not exist here...
It is Unreal and Only in America something like this can exist! The Margins and the Enormous People flow to make it happen!
@@vasiovasio That's not entirely true. Buffets are popular around the world, and in some countries you can find buffets/all-you-can-eat spots for as little as $5 or $10 USD. If you think I'm kidding or making it up, just look up Jimmy Kim's channel here on TH-cam. He goes to cheap Korean (and other countries) buffets all the time, comparing say a $5 buffet to a $100 buffet etc. You can believe it or not, find fairly cheap buffets in France and Spain still. Hell, the best buffet I ever went to outside of Paris, wasn't more than $30 I think at the time (it's the world-famous buffet that has a lobster tower....).
@@allanpeter7700 its not cheap though. i spend less than 26usd a week on healthy food from the supermarket, which works out to 3.7 bucks a day. even if i got enough food at the buffet for 2 days i would still be spending more than i usually do
@@vasiovasioThey serve over 7,000 people per day at $17 (€15.85) for breakfast and up to $30 (€27.98)
for dinner. x 7,000.
That's between $119,000-$210,0000 (€110,997-€195,877) each day
In the US
The average profit margin for Buffet Restaurants ranges from 5% to 10%.
The average profit margin for a Casual Dining Restaurants ranges from 3% to 9%
If Shady Maple was open 24/7 I would never leave. The food is that good.
That insane pot of béchamel mac & cheese sauce and the giant whisk he was using is crazy
I’m literally going in three weeks and already I’m already hyped!!
They didn't appreciate it till it was gone. Now they are showing it the love it deserves.
This is the kind of scale i feel only places like the US can pull off, 12-14h grilled brisket on a buffet is wild! I love it!
She got a black leather jacket and entering through exit only doors (1:23), this journalist is a rebel!
And she eating whoopie pie for breakfast
😅🤣
@QueenFocusEd Just scroll to the comment section to mention this and You my brother already do it!
She is a badass! 😂😂😂
It's probably easier to let the employees--and journalists--in an unlocked exit door than try to monitor the public entrance to keep customers from sneaking in prior to opening.
@@jb31842I agree. She was there way before opening and that is probably the only unlocked door.