All-You-Can-Eat Buffets: Can You Get Booted for Eating Too Much?

A clearly frustrated waitress leans on a counter in a restaurant.

(Image credit: Getty Images)

We’ve all seen news stories where giant swarms of locusts descend on farmers’ fields and within minutes decimate their crops. Did you know there is a human version?

That’s right, human “locusts” devouring plate after plate, tray after tray of expensive food items at all-you-can-eat (AYCE) buffets, in quantities most people would consider unreasonable.

The justification? “Well, it’s all you can eat, so I’m getting my money’s worth!”

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YouTube has dozens of videos showing customers — who have annihilated trays of lobster, prime rib, sushi and other expensive proteins — with sad faces, seemingly shocked that a restaurant would cut them off. They’re asking, “Can they kick me out of an all-you-can-eat buffet for eating too much?”

'We are competitive eaters'

On December 31, 2024, I received a request to accept a WhatsApp video call from “a reader with an urgent legal question.” Curious, I agreed and at once was greeted by folks at an AYCE buffet.

“Janine” explained that she and her five friends were warming up for a competitive-eating contest at a restaurant. “We each pay for the buffet and then practice eating as much as we can.”

When I asked if they’d explained their purpose for being there before paying, she replied in an arrogant, entitled, emphatic tone of voice, “No! Why should we?”

Their camera operator sent me real-time video of what I can describe only as human vacuum cleaners devouring plate after plate of expensive meat and seafood items — enormous amounts of lobster, crab and prime rib.

They were all laughing. I wasn’t.

H. Dennis Beaver

After attending Loyola University School of Law, H. Dennis Beaver joined California's Kern County District Attorney's Office, where he established a Consumer Fraud section. He is in the general practice of law and writes a syndicated newspaper column. "I love law for the reason that I can help people resolve their problems," he says. "I know it sounds corny, but I just love to be able to use my education and experience to help — simply to help. When a reader contacts me, it is a gift."

It reminded me of Ring camera videos on YouTube at Halloween of adults wearing masks and ill-fitting costumes while emptying entire bowls of candy — intended for kids — into bags and running away. Pure theft.

To me, these competitive eaters were ripping off the restaurant. The owner, on camera, said, “Stop! This isn’t the Las Vegas Bellagio buffet. What you are doing would be wrong there, too, but this is our family’s livelihood. You are taking so much that my other customers have nothing. Get out, and do not ever return.”

“I read your Kiplinger column. You help people. This is an AYCE restaurant! Can he do this?” Janine asked with sad, puppy-dog eyes.

Her attempt at innocence and victimization didn’t fool me.

“Janine, in my legal opinion, yes, but lawyers have differing opinions. To be safe, I recommend leaving the restaurant immediately.”

Competitive eating vs food insecurity

Competitive eating — consuming as much as you can as fast as you can within a given period of time — is big business and has been around for hundreds of years. While beyond the space limits of this article, it is important to be aware that there have been several deaths during these events, as well as long-term health consequences.

Also, there is a moral issue involved here.

In 2023, 13.5% of U.S. households were food insecure, having difficulty providing enough food for their members due to a lack of resources. Blogger Jane Olivier eloquently puts it this way: “Competitive eating mocks struggles of the poor who worry about how to put any food on the table to feed themselves and their children. How disrespectful it is for those suffering from malnutrition in famine or drought-stricken regions to see such blatant, unnecessary gorging for the sake of ‘sport.’ These contestants make a game out of stuffing themselves to sickening levels while almost one billion don’t even have access to enough calories.”

“I could not find this issue adjudicated,” says Bryan Hull, Los Angeles-based Loyola Law School Contracts Law professor. He suggests, “Management should have a time limit or language that would spell out the terms so that customers know what they are getting into. A restaurant could refuse to serve someone who has abused the system. If they sued, the damages — if any — would likely be the cost of the buffet.”

Good faith, fair dealing and reasonableness

I discussed this issue with Catherine Pastrikos Kelly, a New York attorney. She has written extensively on the legal issues raised in implied contracts. “Going to a restaurant and paying for food is an implied contract,” she says, “and like all contracts, there is a duty of good faith and fair dealing. This means acting in a reasonable manner. At a buffet — even an all-you-can-eat buffet — a customer would be expected to eat what a person would reasonably eat at one meal.

“For example, it would not mean eating 30 to 40 lobsters or multiple trays of food or practice for an eating competition, for that is not what a reasonable person would do. In situations where the customer is acting outside the scope of what a reasonable person would do, management would be well within their rights to make them stop, pay extra or, potentially, leave the premises.”

So a sign that says “all you can eat” doesn’t mean we get to abandon all logic and human decency. Let’s enjoy ourselves within reason.

Dennis Beaver practices law in Bakersfield, Calif., and welcomes comments and questions from readers, which may be faxed to (661) 323-7993, or e-mailed to Lagombeaver1@gmail.com. And be sure to visit dennisbeaver.com.

Disclaimer

This article was written by and presents the views of our contributing adviser, not the Kiplinger editorial staff. You can check adviser records with the SEC or with FINRA.

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After attending Loyola University School of Law, H. Dennis Beaver joined California's Kern County District Attorney's Office, where he established a Consumer Fraud section. He is in the general practice of law and writes a syndicated newspaper column, You and the Law. Through his column, he offers readers in need of down-to-earth advice his help free of charge. "I know it sounds corny, but I just love to be able to use my education and experience to help, simply to help. When a reader contacts me, it is a gift."