350-pound man calls police after all-you-can-eat restaurant cuts him off

[Odin2005]

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/05/16/350-pound-man-calls-police-after-all-you-can-eat-restaurant-cuts-him-off/

An unusually large man in Wisconsin called the police recently after an all-you-can-eat buffet restaurant decided he’d had enough fried fish and cut him off at 20 pieces.

Standing 6-foot-6 and weighing 350 pounds, Bill Wisth certainly looks like trouble for any buffet restaurant. Chuck’s Place in Thiensville, Wisconsin recently learned this the hard way, according to Wisconsin news station Today’s TMJ4.

After watching Wisth devour 12 individual pieces of fried fish on Friday, May 11, the management decided that was quite enough. They intervened, explaining the restaurant were running out of fish and simply could not allow him to stay any longer.

Giving him eight more pieces as a courtesy, for a total of 20, the restaurant’s management sent Wisth on his way in hopes that the costly episode was behind them. That hope, however, was severely misplaced.

Jesus, I weigh 300lbs and I can't eat even close to that much! And this guy is a perfect example of "unhealthy fat", I am only 5' 9" and yet a look much thinner than he does!

[MiddleFingerMom]

1. I'm a big guy (tho folks are AMAZED when I tell them how much I weigh -- I carry it pretty well)

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I DO think that a buffet restaurant SHOULD honor its "all-you-can-eat" promotion (the same way
I believe Intertubes providers who offer - and charge for - unlimited data allowances should not be
allowed to "throttle" down heavy bandwidth users.
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I can see a buffet restaurant setting TIME limits (say two hours), but not (sorry) cheese out with
their amended "all-you-can-eat" BS.
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You gonna eat that?
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Thamppppfff's bulfshipppt.

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[Warren DeMontague]

2. Sorry, but if you advertise it as "all you can eat"

You need to be prepared that someone is gonna take you seriously.

[Major Nikon]

5. They did

They told him that's "all you can eat".

[Warren DeMontague]

6. Dont get between a hungry man and his 21st piece of fish

Bad idea.

[Major Nikon]

8. Especially a 350lb hungry man

[Initech]

48. Remember - just keep your hands and feet away from his mouth.

[Honeycombe8]

36. I think implicit in "all you can eat" is "all an avg person can REASONABLY eat."

Anyone who goes to an "all you can eat" knows that there is a limit to the total amount of food in the place and that there are other customers.

To expect to have 2 or 3 times what others are having is one thing. It could be argued that the business should have planned for such a customer. But to eat 12 times what others eat is unreasonable, selfish, and narcissistic.

[Warren DeMontague]

38. I disagree.

If you want people to be reasonable, don't call it all you can eat. I'm not defending the behavior, or not defending it. I'm only saying, if they want the rules, they should set them. You can't make the speed limit 120 on the freeway and then be surprised when someone doesn't drive 55.

[Honeycombe8]

50. It's common knowledge what "all you can eat" means. It means all yu can reasonably

eat in the establishment, w/o unreasonably eating ALL the food so that other customers don't have any, as long as the establishment prepared a reasonable amount of food.

There is an implicit limit on EVERYTHING. An "all you can eat" salad bar usually has a limit on the number of times you can go back to the salad bar and fil'er'up.

People need to be reasonable and think of others. I guess from now on the signs should have in small print underneath "we reserve the right to limit the number of times a customer can request a meal."

[Warren DeMontague]

51. If you have me confused with either a 350 lb compulsive fish fillet gobbler, or a restauranteur

Who runs these sorts of promotions, you would be mistaken.

Who I am is someone who strives for clarity in language and accuracy in representation. Therefore, if a restaurant feels that "all you can eat" carries an implicit asterisk, then they should include that on the sign.

Or, just dont call it "all you can eat".

Ive had enough jobs dealing with crappy, literal minded members of the public to know that things need to be spelled out Clearly and -this is important- Completely.

[quakerboy]

55. Thats bunk

This has nothing to do with other customers. Its between the patron and the establishment. Taking care of other customers is on the establishment and again, has nothing to do with other customers. If one person eating 20 pieces runs out their supply, so would 20 people each having one piece. Which is possible with the influx of one good size party. If the buffet was understocked, any issues or unhappy people coming in are 100% on their heads.

It also has nothing to do with whether stuffing yourself is a good idea on any level.

If there are limits posted, then fine. Them are the rules. But if its all you can eat, then its all you can eat. Not all a "reasonable person" can eat.

[Honeycombe8]

56. "All you can eat" does NOT mean all that you can eat for a long period of time, sitting there

stuffing your gut.

It means you can fill your plate a couple or three times.

Yes, it has EVERYTHING to do with other customers. That is part of what has gone wrong in this country. No consideration or even acknowledgement of others. It's a business. There will be many customers. The business will have prepared a finite amount of food. One person cannot sit there for hours and eat it ALL. That is NOT what "all you can eat" means.

Maybe restaurants should start cutting people with problems off, like bars too, when a customer has had too much to drink. Maybe restaurants should start refusing to serve people with food addictions more than three servings of fattening foods, because they've had too much to eat and are out of control.

You guys apparently don't frequent "all you can eat' salad bars. There is often a limit to the number of times you can go back to fill 'er up. "All you can eat" means you can pile your plate up once or twice. The end. Period. It does NOT mean you can pile your plate up with ALL the chicken in the salad bar, and keep going back to gobble up all the replenished chicken, leaving none for anyone else.

I guess the man with the food addiction thought "all you can eat" means literally all you can stuff in your gut over an extended period of time. That is not what it means.

[quakerboy]

58. Im sorry, but you are wrong

Its all in what the terms are. If it is an open ended "all you can eat", then it is just that. All you can eat, you being the customer. If there is a posted number of visits or a time limit, whatever, then that's an entirely different picture. But that was not what I saw presented in the article.

As a customer with a business, it my responsibility to make sure that other customers are taken care of? So when I get to Safeway, and they only have 2 boxes of Cheerios left, it is on me to make sure the next customer gets some? Or if I go to get an oil change and they have only 5 quarts of my favored brand left, its my responsibility to make sure that they have it for the next guy who wants it? I buy what I want from a company, if they have it and want to sell it.

I think you are over moralizing this, as well as adding parameters that the article did not specify. If he broke a rule, fine. Boot him. If there's no more fish, fine. That tray sits empty. If they don't want his business, refuse to seat him next time. But unless there are rules limiting the deal offered, when I walk in the door, I expect all you can eat to be all you can eat. And if they run out of something, well, thats what happens with buffets, and then the kitchen subs in some other dish. Ive seen it done virtually every time Ive been in a buffet. Though, you are correct in stating that I don't frequent them.

[bluedigger]

3. I knew a guy who got tossed from an "all you can eat" Chinese buffet.

Management's parting words to him were, "You had enough, fat boy!"

[MiddleFingerMom]

4. Louie Anderson has a funny bit about that -- YOU GO HOME NOW!!!

[ElboRuum]

18. I think that's a John Pinette bit.

[MiddleFingerMom]

19. You're right. All us big guys look alike.

[Major Nikon]

7. Some buddies and I ate an "all you can eat" place out of business and we weren't the least bit fat

This was many years ago in my early 20's when I weighed next to nothing and could eat everything in sight without gaining a pound. Three of my buddies were just like me. A local fish restaurant had an "all you can eat" special every Friday. At first, they had crab legs on the buffet. We would get there early and eat nothing but crab legs until they ran out. The waitresses couldn't keep up with the empty plates and shells. After a few weeks of this, the restaurant took crab legs off the buffet, and a few weeks after that they went out of business. I'm not exactly sure if we actually ate them out of business, but I don't think we helped any and it makes for a good story.

[Cal33]

9. I wonder if he knows he's eating himself to an early grave. It is a form of self-destruct. I wish

he'll come to his senses.

[harmonicon]

15. Yeah, most people should live like you want them to. (nt)

[JI7]

22. maybe he thinks it's healthy because it's Fish

[cliffordu]

10. Shit. That guy is WAY over 350 if he's actually 6'6"...

One of my best friends is 6'2" and just over 350 and is MUCH smaller than that fish eaten' fool.

[Major Nikon]

11. Maybe that's just where his scale maxes out

[Odin2005]

20. I'm 300 and 5' 9", and I'm a LOT thinner than this guy.

He must be at least 400.

[Arugula Latte]

12. Yay, America!

[Chan790]

13. This has motivated me to go for a walk.

I mean I'm big and I'm tall and I was 335# at half that size and wearing a 46" waist. Got to a 38", now up to a 42"...so I'm going to go for a walk and see if I can see 36" before November.

[MiddleFingerMom]

14. One of the reasons I like going to buffet restaurants is that their "regulars" make ME look petite.

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Seriously!!!
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"Honey, do these other diners make me look fat?"
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[Chan790]

17. The Chinese buffet near me recently had to invest in "special" chairs for "our more-grand guests"

I'm astounded. I'd never considered the necessity of dining furniture weight-rated to a half-ton before.

Other buffet diners scare me. I'll settle for my salad bar and a water at Ruby Tuesday TYVM.

[Odin2005]

21. Beware of the "Health Halo" of salad bars.

Salad bars can be worse than a Double Whopper and yet people think it's healthy because it's a salad. People forget that ranch dressing, bacon, and croutons have a lot of calories and feta cheese is high in sodium.

[Chan790]

23. I'm a vegetarian.

Out of all of that, the only ones I eat are the feta and croutons.

I'm genetically disposed to chronic low-BP and I'm not giving up the croutons.

I got fat because I used to drink 2 2L bottles of Coke a day and eat Chips-Ahoy and Cool Ranch Doritos for dinner.

[struggle4progress]

16. He needn't return if he doesn't like the place.

[GoCubsGo]

24. Life imitates art.

Back in the early 1990s, there was an episode of "The Simpsons", where Homer frequented an all-you-can-eat seafood restaurant, The Frying Dutchman. He was banned for eating too much, and he sued them for it. It was the first thing I thought of when I heard this story.

[Release The Hounds]

37. So did I.

(then) "We went fishing".

[Rex]

25. "Hello! 911! They won't let me have any more fish!"

So what he eat a few planks?

[bigwillq]

26. All you can eat means ALL you can EAT

whether it's 6 pieces of whatever or 600.

Whether he's fat or unhealthy or whatever you want to call him, the restaurant is in the wrong, imo.They need to post signs or alert patrons of when an item is running out. Even then, I guess he should've been allowed to eat the remainder of the fish in stock. He did pay for it.

[Odin2005]

27. So gluttonous pigs have a right to drive small business out of business?

Anyone who takes "all you can eat" absolutely literally needs to learn some common sense, because common sense says that "all you can eat" implies a normal appetite.

of course, I bet that this pig knows that, he's just a selfish glutton who doesn't give a damn about everyone else. Gluttony is considered on of the 7 deadly sins for a reason.

[MiddleFingerMom]

29. "Gluttony is considered on of the 7 deadly sins for a reason."

Ahem. Biblical "law"? Really? Bwa-ha-ha-ha-ha!!!!!!!!!!!!

[bigwillq]

31. Then don't call the joint "All you can eat"

have signs posted with limits on the amount you can eat. Simple.

I totally see your point, and I agree with it, but I really believe it's false advertising by the restaurant and I support this "pig" in this case.

[Bruce Wayne]

32. Change the name to "All You May Eat"

[MiddleFingerMom]

34. Perhaps the first "Grammar Nazi" that I've been GLAD to see!!!

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[bigwillq]

39. Not a bad idea

[JVS]

49. Are you as tough on those who enjoy lust, envy, sloth, wrath, pride and greed?

Is it ok for Hustler subscribers not to be sent a new issue for a few months because they're lustful?

[NickB79]

28. On the plus side, all that picketting is bound to burn off some calories. nt

[derby378]

30. I'm 350 pounds, and I'd like to weigh a little LESS than 350 pounds

This guy is doing it wrong.

Besides, I think these two guys had the best approach to a buffet I've ever seen:

[Codeine]

41. Dairy Products Gone Bad! A Wedge of Spite and a Carton of Hate! nt

[Bossy Monkey]

33. "We did mention that the fish is BP Deepwater Horizon brand, right?" n/t

[MiddleFingerMom]

35. Buffet restaurants figure in people like him along with the petite little MIL who...

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... nibbles at a salad and half-a-piece of fish. They also figure in the children that eat free.
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Their cost to you, if they've got their shit anywhere NEAR in order, is not going to allow those
with heavy appetites to "run them out of business".
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Seriously!!! Have you ever people-watched at a decent local buffet restaurant. I get the very
occasional low-esteem teen shouting "Go on a diet, FatMan!!!" from passing cars, but the diners
at buffet restaurants really DO make me feel petite by comparison.
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If you can't stand the "eat", stay out of the kitchen!!!
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[datasuspect]

40. DO YOU EVEN KNOW WHAT THE WORD BUFFET MEAN!?~

it mean eat all you take, not take all you eat.

[Taverner]

42. "We reserve the right to refuse service to anyone"

That about sums it up.

[KamaAina]

43. Make lemonade out of this lemon

they should have Wisth challenge Joey Chestnut or whoever to a fried fish-eating contest and air it on ESPN2. Memorial Day weekend's coming up!

[Taitertots]

44. They should change the name to "All it is profitable for you to eat" n/t

[Odin2005]

45. Naw, "only people with common sense may enter" is better.

Assholes like this guy who intentionally nitpicks things like this are why people are so afraid of being sued in this country.

[Taitertots]

52. Just change it to "No Hungry/Fat People", because the common sense meaning of "all you can eat"...

Is perfectly clear. The only assholes here are the people making offers that they know they have no intention of honoring.

People get sued because they want to distort the meaning of common sense language. If they want to claim that there is a limit, they should express that limit in writing for people to see before coming in. It is a good thing that people get sued when they are making offers with no intention of honoring them.

[davsand]

46. Why didn't they just stop refilling the fish on the buffet?

They could have substituted something like liver and onions or anything else they wanted to. It could very easily have ended up that he left chock full of mashed potatoes, salad, or dessert items that have a lower food cost.



Don't get me wrong--I'd hate to see a customer like that gobble down an entire week's profits in one binge--but they DID advertise all you can eat. A deal is a deal even IF it is costing you more than you bargained for.




Laura

On edit: I just watched the news report on the website, and this guy owes the restaurant for an unpaid tab! Screw him!

[Initech]

47. That man ate all our shrimp and two plastic lobsters!!

[WhoIsNumberNone]

59. Another case of like imitating art

I was going to point out that this was a Simpsons episode- Right down to the all-you-can-eat seafood.

[alphafemale]

53. He NEVER even PAID?

For who knows how long?

I wouldn't even have let his parasitic ass in the door that night until he paid off the previous tab. AND paid up front for that nights meal.

[originalpckelly]

54. So that's the 350lbs man eating fish I keep hearing about.

[The Magistrate]

57. Lucky they Did Not Get a Visit From Al Bundy, Sir

"That sign clearly said 'all you can eat'. It did not say 'all you can eat today...."

[marygoround9]

61. It works both ways...

All you can eat means all you can eat! They have to anticipate that some people will stuff themselves until they burst. But it also works in their favor when small people eat there. I go to buffets because I love variety. I love a little of everything. I'm tiny and certainly am never able to eat even close to the amount we pay. They should have just realized that for every huge person overeating, I'm sure they have many more eating much less than they are "entitled to".