Does anybody still eat at Cafaterias?

[US71]

La Guardia has a salad bar with a "pay by weight" concept. (Don't know how it fares...had the pay-by-the-slice pizza instead.)

That's how Golden Corral handles carry-outs. You can eat as much as you want as long as you stay in the restaurant, but if you take it with you, you pay by the ounce.

Furr's does the same as does Western Sizzlin (though it's beyond me why anyone would eat Western Sizzlin)

[Takumi]

Western Sizzlin is still around?

[US71]

Western Sizzlin is still around?

Surprisingly, yes.

[getemngo]

The Grand Rapids area had a burger-focused cafeteria chain called Mr. Fables until they went out of business in 2000. Part of Michigan's fading tradition of green olive burgers (see also: Mr. Quick in Muskegon, Mr. Burger in Grand Rapids, Halo Burger in Flint, Hot 'N Now if you can still find one, and a new example: Michigan Smashburger locations). I only ate there once that I can remember and it seemed pretty average, but people obsessed over their olive burger sauce. I still remember the jingle.

There's also the Red Hot Inn, which has amazing chili dogs and shakes. But it has a pretty elderly clientele, and two of the three locations have closed in the last decade.

Most people probably wouldn't think of them in this category, but until the past few years, many (if not most) Roy Rogers locations at Pennsylvania and New Jersey Turnpike service plazas operated essentially as cafeterias. You'd pick up a tray at the head of the line, slide it past warming racks with pre-made burgers and pre-filled fry boxes, and pay at the end.

Last summer I ate at a Roy Rogers on the New York Thruway that was still like this. It was westbound, somewhere between Albany and Syracuse.

[roadman65]

We have a Pei Wei Chinese Fast Food which is a cafeteria that is nice.  You grab a tray, you pick from a menu on the wall.  The attendant gets you meal from the steam table and plates it for you.  You take your dish and move down the line where you pay extra for drinks, deserts, etc.

I also remember Newark International Airport once had a Bufferteria it was called combining both elements of a buffet and cafeteria.  It was when Eastern Airlines was around, and in its terminal.  I was too small to remember how it operated, but interesting to combine the two concepts of eating then.

[pctech]

We just got a Pei Wei here, but I haven't tried it out yet. It's just off the Acadian Thruway exit (157) of I-10.
I understand that that they are part of the PF Changs operation?

[corco]

They are. The ones I have been to aren't cafeteria style though- more you order at the counter, take a number, and the food is brought out like a Hardee's. I guess it could vary by location.

Panda Express is I guess cafeteria style though, though ordering isn't purely a la carte.

[hbelkins]

Western Sizzlin used to be really, really good. Haven't seen one in years.

[golden eagle]

I remember Morrison's as a kid. They don't have them in Mississippi anymore. It's pretty much Piccadilly's here, though there's a Luby's/Fuddruckers combo under construction in north Jackson.