There apparently are some very nice buffet restaurants in other parts of the country. There are very few here that I’d feel comfortable with. Plus, leaving all that food out on a steam table in a crowded restaurant even with sneeze guards just screams salmonella and e coli to me, especially with kids sticking their hands in it and people who have no clue about hygiene handling the utensils. If it was a nice clean place busy enough to keep the turnover up, moving it off the buffet regularly, and the patrons weren’t in any way suspect themselves, I’d love it if the food was good and the price was too. Can’t think of a one that fits that description, though.
I don’t like most buffets either. No matter what the regulations may be, I always wonder how often they recycle food that sits out for a long time, and the bacteria accumulating therein.