I've seen signs for several "homestyle" buffet restaurants; they feature buffet stations where you serve yourself, and offer a variety of choices built around the concept of middle America cuisine, and "comfort food." I note that they tend to be at malls and shopping centers—off of main throughways and interstates, where not only families with children, but long distance truckers and travelers can spot the familiar sign even in unfamiliar areas. I should probably confess that my first knowledge of these restaurants was via a South Park episode, where the featured buffet restaurant was named "Old People's Buffet." Most of the "comfort food" American style buffet restaurants are owned by a single corporation, who owns the "Country Buffet, " "Old Country Buffet" and "HomeTown Buffet" chains.

We were at a shopping center today—a rare occurrence, and noticed that the local Old Country Buffet restaurant served lunch. Curious, since I've never been, we had lunch. The basic concept at all three chains is that you pay for your meal at the front; food is inclusive, but beverages are a separate fee. $2.00 more each for infinite refills of a variety of beverages, including soda, juice, milk, tea and coffee. You leave your ticket at your table, and go fill a plate; you make as many trips as you wish, leaving your previous plate at your table, and using a new one for each trip.

There are several stations for various categories of dishes (entrees, vegetables, meats, etc.). There's a full salad bar, that includes fresh fruit as well as a variety of ingredients and dressings to build a salad, potato salad, macaroni salad, etc. The meats included fried chicken, baked fish, a "Bourbon Street" chicken, and sliced beef. I sampled their mac and cheese, which was made from scratch and quite good, the Bourbon Street chicken, which was a mildly spicy sauce and boneless chicken, the baked fish which was very good, and several cooked vegetables, all of which had begun life as fresh and unfrozen produce. I note that they had baked potatoes, several varieties of french fries, a complete salsa and taco bar, pizza and spaghetti. There's a separate dessert bar, with surprisingly good bread pudding, and apple crisp, and passable peach cobbler, right next to an ice cream station with ice cream, cones, and all the ingredients for making a sundae.

I can see eating here being a lifesaver for a family, particularly if both parents work and the kids are old enough to have individual preferences about what they eat. It's surprisingly economical, it's quite possible to eat a balanced diet; they even provide nutritional information. There's a lot to appeal to a kid too; finger food, and pizza, and of course the taco bar, set up for tacos or nachos, with a variety of salsas. I'd go back for lunch, or dinner, and I confess to keeping Old Country Buffet in mind for breakfast, at $4.99 a person.