All-You-Can-Eat Restaurant Sparks Debate By 'Charging Extra' If Diners Don't Finish Food

There's a concept of our eyes being "bigger than our stomach," and for good reason. Sometimes when we go to a restaurant, and especially when it's an all-you-can-eat-style restaurant, it's easy to load up a plate with all of the food that we want, not what we're capable of eating.

TikToker @mikasahanma said that the restaurant she works for combats this overconsumption by charging extra for food that is ordered but not eaten, to shrink down potential food waste.

While preparing a beetroot for a variety of sushi dishes, the TikToker specified the difference between "all you can eat" as opposed to "all you can order."

"Leftover food costs extra in our restaurant. If you cannot finish the food you ordered, you have to pay for that food."

"Why do you have to pay extra? You already paid for the food, right?"

"We have a special concept. We offer all-you-can-eat at our restaurant. First, you pay 30 euros, and then you have 90 minutes to eat as much as you want. All you can eat!"

"But the name of our concept is 'all you can eat,' not 'all you can order' or 'all you can take with you.'"

You can watch the video here:

Some TikTokers reassured the employee that this concept made sense.

@mikasahanma/TikTok

@mikasahanma/TikTok

@mikasahanma/TikTok

@mikasahanma/TikTok

@mikasahanma/TikTok

In another video, @mikasahanma explained further that the onus of not wasting food fell on the customer, not the restaurant.

"'Charging extra for leftovers is wasting food.'"

"I know where this thought comes from. However, you first have to understand our concept."

"We offer 'all you can eat,' and everything you cannot finish, you have to pay extra. And if you pay extra, you can take it with you. But you have to pay extra if you want to take it home or not."

"Accusing us for the wasted food does not really make sense, because the people order themselves the food that they cannot finish. Our guests are responsible for themselves and ordering just as much as they can eat."

"And if you don't finish something because you don't like the taste of it, you obviously don't have to pay extra."

"But when you leave big portions of food, it's a difference between leaving something, and it's obvious that you tried it and you didn't like it, or just ordering way too much because your eyes were bigger than your stomach."

You can watch the video here:

Some TikTokers continued to nod in agreement with the concepts from the video.

@mikasahanma/TikTok

@mikasahanma/TikTok

@mikasahanma/TikTok

@mikasahanma/TikTok

@mikasahanma/TikTok

While the TikToker continued to argue for her restaurant's model of payment, most of the commenters agreed with the concept and said they had seen this done in restaurants across Europe, Japan, and even some all-you-can-eat buffets in the United States.

It's a great practice in encouraging customers to order what they can eat, with the invitation for them to order more if they feel up to it—without wasting so much food.