All American Buffet

Place is closed

I disagree with Chuck below, as the All American sneeze-​guard is just icky to me. Even worse is the Chinese buffet next to it — but that’s for another review.
The All American Buffet is a $ 4.99 hot & cold food buffet in 30^th Street Station. The cold salads are pretty safe — but the hot food is warmed-​over and dried out alot of the time.
If you HAVE to go here — do it before 12 noon — and closer to 11 AM when the food is first set out.
I am just not a buffet person. Eew!

What an undiscovered gem!
You might be wondering how something can be «undiscovered» when it’s in the middle of a major metropolitan train depot. Fair question. All I can say is that this place has the worst branding/​marketing/​all-​around advertising that you can imagine. I had to look extra hard *just to figure out what the place was called,* since it was really just a long booth at a food court and I thought the restaurant’s name was just the category of food. Creativity FAIL.
On the other hand, everything that was actually, you know, *important* was positively as fantastic as it could be. I confess that I love buffets. For a Choosy Charlie like myself, the sheer selection, the lack of pretending, and a delightful absence of overweening assistance are all optimal.
So here’s the story. I just got in from a tiring train ride, two hours late. I’m exhausted from travel, nervous about the complicated arrangements for the coming weekend, and just looking for comfort food to settle my stomach and soul. So I find my way to the little food court 30 St. Station and what do I see? Well, there’s overpriced/​fake-​ass Southern eatery. And a «Chinese» buffet that’s interchangeable with every other American-​Chinese palace of grease and MSG from Seattle to Miami. No thanks.
A couple of booths in the middle of the seating area sell coffee and ice cream. That’s a no-​go. Big, slutty corporation Cosi looms large across the way. Finally, some obviously inadequate Italian-​inspired junk food at the end of the hall. Please. I’m not THAT much of a tourist.
And then, I saw it. Didn’t look like anything special. I couldn’t even tell the name. And the food itself seemed undistinguished until I gave it a closer look.
The food was fresh and healthy. Not just one item, but many. Honeydew and cantaloupe that were ripe and sweet. A fish dish. Vegetables that actually weren’t drowning in oil. Salads that weren’t being suffocated in mayonnaise. Simple foods, to be sure, but tasty. And who the hell every heard of _​healthy_​restaurant food?
And all of this for $ 4.99 a pound. If it cost any less, I would’ve checked if there were cops nearby waiting to arrest me for stealing.
I think you might be able to order options that aren’t buffet. Don’t bother. This is the buffet for real Americans who love their families and work hard to achieve what is right. Hopefully, AAB stays in business for a long time and never changes a damn thing.