EclectEcon

I always assumed that different restaurants set their buffet prices according to a number of factors, including:

1. The cost of the food,
2. The amount of food the customers are expected to take (i.e. eat or leave on their plates), and
3. the type of competition in their area.

If they serve expensive food, they charge more. If they expect their customers to take a lot of food, they charge more. And if there is little competition (e.g. Ben Miller Inn on Christmas Day), they charge more. Somehow, it doesn't really seem like a buffet if the restaurant charges according to how much food you take. But it looks as if not all restrauteurs approach buffet pricing this way [h/t to BenS].

A 6-foot-3, 265-pound man says a restaurant overcharged him for his trips to the buffet line, then banned him and a relative because they're hearty eaters. ...

On his most recent visit, he [Labit] said, a waitress gave him and his wife's cousin, 44-year-old Michael Borrelli, a bill for $46.40, roughly double the buffet price for two adults.

"She says, 'Y'all fat, and y'all eat too much,'" Labit said.

Labit and Borrelli said they felt discriminated against because of their size. ....

Houma accountant Thomas Campo said the men were charged an extra $10 each on Dec. 21 because they made a habit of dining exclusively on the more expensive seafood dishes, including crab legs and frog legs.

Labit denied ever being told he would be asked to pay more than the standard adult price.

The argument grew heated, and police were called.

The police report states, "The incident was settled when the management advised that the bill was a mistake and, to appease Ricky, the meal was complimentary."

Labit said he insisted on paying but was told not to come back. He complained that when seafood on the buffet line runs out, the restaurant only grudgingly cooks more.

Campo said the proprietress tries to reduce waste of quality food, he said.

"Food is for eating, not toys for your child," reads a sign posted on a wall in typewritten text. A handwritten addition reads "Or 20% added."

You know what? I feel discriminated against at most buffets. I don't eat much, and I tend to stay away from the more expensive items on the line. I eat more vegetables and salads instead. By doing so, I end up subsidizing the big eaters and those who concentrate on eating the more expensive items in the buffet.

In larger metropolitan areas, different buffets with different prices and qualities of food can emerge in the marketplace, and there would be little reason for anyone with non-median preferences to feel discriminated against. Unfortunately in this area (the population of the entire county is only about 100,000), there isn't as much choice.