Sometimes when my sweetie and I are feeling like we're not as cool as we were 5 years ago, we'll head on over to Old Country Buffet where it's great being the only hipsters around under the age of 61. Worried that we'd be the youngsters again this evening in a sea of glimmering silver hair, Bran assured me as we were walking in, "See! There's a teenager with her mom walking out. And there's a young family with a few little kids just exiting!" Needless to say, the younger crowd must have all cleared out around 7:30 p.m., because we were clearly the only people in there tonight under the age of 55.
Every time I smell the combo cinnamon roll + hard boiled eggs + deep fat fried chicken, I am reminded of all the family trips to all-you-can-eat buffets when I was little. My family was to Bonanza and The Royal Fork as Norm was to Cheers. In retrospect, it was probably awesome for a family of 7 to visit an establishment that served just a little bit of everything. Dad could get his mashed potatoes and gravy fix, the growing boys could go back for 7ths if they pleased, and the girls could have whatever was not on their "disliked-dish-du-jour" list.
I, for example, went through various stages where I didn't like the following:
a) hamburgers
b) hot dogs
c) eggs
d) steak
(all of which could be considered the unofficial 4 basic food groups of the great plains, by the way)
It seems like buffets were okay with me until I hit age 9 or so, then buffets were suddenly "uncool" for some reason. I think a good punishment for rebellious teens would be, "You'd better make curfew on Saturday night, or it's The Royal Fork for Sunday brunch, missy!" Even though I opted for Apple Brown Betty for dessert this evening at Old Country Buffet, I was reminiscing about how mixing the chocolate and vanilla straight out of the ice cream dispenser (look at me! i'm pretending that I'm a cool teenager who works at Dairy Queen!) seemed to make me forget the lady who cut in front of me in line and washed away that dirty feeling from that dirty look I got from the teenage busperson as I left half of my cold french fries on my plate. Somehow that mini dish 'o ice cream seemed to wash away all my worries.
If Old Country Buffet is wrong, I don't wanna be right.
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6 comments:
I love that Brenner's had a bowling alley! Good times. I don't think the Honner's ever made it to Brenner's- must have been too much of a hike across town for us or something. :)
We did go to Brenners you always got your choice of a little dish of ice cream when you had ate your meal. We just never did the bowling alley. Buffet are for the hungry and you don't have to wait for them to bring you the food just say buffet please! Your Dad still loves that part of it!! Tired and a little sunburned from my fun day watching a little boy watch his hard saved for swing set become something he can play on... Paige said it was hard for him to let go of that hard saved money he had been saving since last fall. Now he says him and his Daddy are saving for a boat but for now God gave them a paddle boat... Great opptimistic yound man.
We *did* go to Brenners! So strange that I don't have a memory of that place- I can't think of what it looks like.
I told dad on the phone tonight that Bran & I visited Old Country Buffet, and he said that it's just a little better than the SF buffets- so guess you'll have to come visit again soon.
That's cute about Maxie. Brandon and I saw a little canoe-looking boat as well as paddle boats at Sam's Club the other day. I think both would be -so- much fun.
It sounds like you guys would be eating and I always seem to be on the other side of the wall bowling at Eastway Bowl.
I think we only ate at Brenners when there was a tournament and we didn't want to drive anywhere to eat since we had been there all day anyway.
>> It sounds like you guys would be eating and I always seem to be on the other side of the wall bowling at Eastway Bowl.
I can't believe I missed the buffet and bowling alley connection! But now that you mention "Eastway Bowl"-- I completely remember Eastway, but not Brenner's for some reason.
>> with your Cinnamon-Roll Side Salad
I think my boyfriend is the only person who orders a main course with a cinnamon roll "side salad." Ahem. :)
Hey Nicki, thought I would get into this blog as well. I can rarely find the time to write out a complete thought. But I had to let you all know, tonight I drove by what was Brenners. (It is now a consignment mart). I had vicarious flashbacks of your families' buffet line extravaganzas. My family never did buffets and I am surprised I never tagged along on a Torretta outing. Guess I really missed out. Perhaps if I can find a vegetarian buffet somewhere, Iris and Micah can indulge in a little buffet-o-rama.
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