Eatin' WLS Good At Furr's Cafeteria's New "Fresh Buffet"
was talking to a good friend of mine earlier yesterday on the phone. He is a former hospital and army cook and has been out of work for some time since he has been recovering from an ankle injury (he was cooking for a large nursing home here at the time). He was excited to tell me that he had just gotten hired as a manager by Furr's Cafeterias and starts with them for training next week. 
I admitted to him frankly that I had never been a big fan of Furr's, even as a pre-op who would eat almost anything. Although their cafeteria features "all you can eat", to me the quality of the food was, IMHO, on a par with that of the average high school cafeteria - cheap food cheaply prepared.
The other thing about their all-you-can-eat concept is that it could be a major guilt trip, since you have to go down the cafeteria line and ask the workers to hand you whatever it is you want. (I'd feel kinda bad asking them to give me, e.g, a piece of pie, and a piece of cake, AND 3 cookies, etc.) 
My friend was very pleased to inform me that Furr's is changing their style. Many of their stores are being closed and completely remodeled to make their service style more like that of Golden Corral, e.g. self-service. They are also upgrading the quality and preparation of their food. These new concept stores are called "Furr's Fresh Buffet" .
He invited me to check out the one in Garland, so I went there later in the day.
WOW .. what a difference, alright.
Furr's is very much like Golden Corral, except better. A greeter/server greets you after you go through the register (TWO register lines, for fast service, btw) and asks you where you want to sit and takes you there, bringing you silverware which is vacuum-sealed in a little plastic bag. There is a card to leave on the table saying it is "occupied" (you flip it over when leaving so they know to only then clean off your table - great idea! 
). Your regular server then comes, bhecks your ticket, and bring you your drinks. There are several food stations out in the main dining area with the entrees, salads, side dishes, desserts, etc. And a station where a chef carves turkey and ham for you. On Friday and Saturday nights they have custom-cooked steaks, ala Golden Corral. All this for under $10 per adult (plus $2 for drinks). 
And now, what to eat, fellow WLSers.
Protein Protein Protein, of course. And boy do they have it. I decided to try to sample at least one bite of everything that had a good deal of protein in it (except fish - hate it!). (warning to non-DSers: some of this is NOT low fat!)
I started off at the salad station. I think I chose one small wedge of lettuce that came with blue cheese dressing and crumbles on it, and added more b.c. dressing of my own, shredded cheddar cheese, a couple of scoops of the feta cheese, some ham chunks, hard-boiled egg bits, and some shredded lean bacon "bits". I also had a small bit of cottage cheese and tried their potato salad, which was surprisingly good.
I was then back for the entrees. They have like 4 or 5 kinds of chicken: roasted chicken, fried chicken, buffalo wings (VERY hot), lemon-spiced roasted chicken, and chicken-fried chicken, among them. 3 or 4 kinds of fish. Small hamburger steaks, hand-carved ham, turkey, chicken-fried steak, liver and onions, cheese enchiladas, make-your-own tacos, husk-wrapped tamales, meatballs w. speghetti, and even pepperoni & cheese pizza. Side dishes included BAKED mac & cheese, tried potatoes, mashed potatoes, ec. etc. Lots of varieties of beans, too.
Desserts - well no no,
but I had to sample some of them anyway. 
Most of it was the usual high-sugar mush, but they did have a surpisingly good ole-fashioned Southern Chess pie (made with eggs, milk, custard, etc. ), as well as pecan pie (my fav). 
My only gripe at buffets, and this one was no exception, is that they don't make the entrees (e.g. steak, fried chicken, etc.) available in smaller portions, so you don't have to put a full-size portion on your plate to be able to try just one or two bites of it. So a lot of it goes to waste, at least for us WLSers. (they also will never usually let you have a dogie bag).
.
I think this new appraoch by Furr's is going to be a big hit with everyone, WLSer or not.
(hmm I wonder if my bud will be able to get me a discount now?
)
I admitted to him frankly that I had never been a big fan of Furr's, even as a pre-op who would eat almost anything. Although their cafeteria features "all you can eat", to me the quality of the food was, IMHO, on a par with that of the average high school cafeteria - cheap food cheaply prepared.
The other thing about their all-you-can-eat concept is that it could be a major guilt trip, since you have to go down the cafeteria line and ask the workers to hand you whatever it is you want. (I'd feel kinda bad asking them to give me, e.g, a piece of pie, and a piece of cake, AND 3 cookies, etc.) My friend was very pleased to inform me that Furr's is changing their style. Many of their stores are being closed and completely remodeled to make their service style more like that of Golden Corral, e.g. self-service. They are also upgrading the quality and preparation of their food. These new concept stores are called "Furr's Fresh Buffet" .
He invited me to check out the one in Garland, so I went there later in the day. WOW .. what a difference, alright.
Furr's is very much like Golden Corral, except better. A greeter/server greets you after you go through the register (TWO register lines, for fast service, btw) and asks you where you want to sit and takes you there, bringing you silverware which is vacuum-sealed in a little plastic bag. There is a card to leave on the table saying it is "occupied" (you flip it over when leaving so they know to only then clean off your table - great idea! ). Your regular server then comes, bhecks your ticket, and bring you your drinks. There are several food stations out in the main dining area with the entrees, salads, side dishes, desserts, etc. And a station where a chef carves turkey and ham for you. On Friday and Saturday nights they have custom-cooked steaks, ala Golden Corral. All this for under $10 per adult (plus $2 for drinks). And now, what to eat, fellow WLSers.
Protein Protein Protein, of course. And boy do they have it. I decided to try to sample at least one bite of everything that had a good deal of protein in it (except fish - hate it!). (warning to non-DSers: some of this is NOT low fat!)
I started off at the salad station. I think I chose one small wedge of lettuce that came with blue cheese dressing and crumbles on it, and added more b.c. dressing of my own, shredded cheddar cheese, a couple of scoops of the feta cheese, some ham chunks, hard-boiled egg bits, and some shredded lean bacon "bits". I also had a small bit of cottage cheese and tried their potato salad, which was surprisingly good.
I was then back for the entrees. They have like 4 or 5 kinds of chicken: roasted chicken, fried chicken, buffalo wings (VERY hot), lemon-spiced roasted chicken, and chicken-fried chicken, among them. 3 or 4 kinds of fish. Small hamburger steaks, hand-carved ham, turkey, chicken-fried steak, liver and onions, cheese enchiladas, make-your-own tacos, husk-wrapped tamales, meatballs w. speghetti, and even pepperoni & cheese pizza. Side dishes included BAKED mac & cheese, tried potatoes, mashed potatoes, ec. etc. Lots of varieties of beans, too.
Desserts - well no no,
but I had to sample some of them anyway. Most of it was the usual high-sugar mush, but they did have a surpisingly good ole-fashioned Southern Chess pie (made with eggs, milk, custard, etc. ), as well as pecan pie (my fav). My only gripe at buffets, and this one was no exception, is that they don't make the entrees (e.g. steak, fried chicken, etc.) available in smaller portions, so you don't have to put a full-size portion on your plate to be able to try just one or two bites of it. So a lot of it goes to waste, at least for us WLSers. (they also will never usually let you have a dogie bag).
.
I think this new appraoch by Furr's is going to be a big hit with everyone, WLSer or not.
(hmm I wonder if my bud will be able to get me a discount now?
) 
Good deal, Michael .. (btw, I got a good online budette in Ft. Smith that I haven't heard from in ages .. "Clarissa" was the assistant to one of the long-time judges there for many years before the judge recently retired) ...
I learned tonight that Furr's F. B.s are also offering a big breakfast buffet on weekends, with made-to-order omlettes .. no excuse now to not get your protein in on weekends!
no excuse now to not get your protein in on weekends! Most Active
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