All-you-can-eat restaurant


An all-you-can-eat restaurant is a type of restaurant in which a fixed price is charged for entry, after which diners may consume as much food as they wish. All-you-can-eat establishments are frequently buffets.

Buffets

The all-you-can-eat buffet has been ascribed to Herbert "Herb" Cobb McDonald, a Las Vegas publicity and entertainment manager who introduced the idea in 1946. In his 1965 novel The Muses of Ruin, William Pearson wrote, of the buffet:
A 2011 study showed that the actual amount of food consumed increases with the price charged for the buffet.
With many restaurants offering take-away or delivery only, since March 2020, most all-you-can-eat buffets were suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Other restaurants

The all-you-can-eat business model is also prevalent in Korean barbecue, Brazilian churrasco, and Chinese hot pot.

Beverages

When applied to beverages, particularly alcoholic beverages, the unlimited model is known as "all-you-can-drink" or "bottomless".