Is it illegal in GA to take food home from an all-you-can-eat buffet restaurant? What the law says
Buffet-style restaurants have some of the best food around— and a lot of it.
All-you-can-eat fried chicken, mac and cheese, meatloaf and more. Plus, let’s not forget dessert.
But be sure to eat your weight in food before you leave because packing a to-go plate is just not a thing at buffets.
But why not?
According to Marketplace writer Nancy Marshall-Genzer, there’s actually a lot that goes into buffet-style restaurants and probably the most important thing is determining the price per person.
Because the bottom line is, if the plates aren’t priced right, buffets could be losing money. And if there’s no profit, buffets could soon be a thing of the past. And we don’t want that to happen, now do we?
Here’s how buffets come up with their pricing:
Typically, buffet-style restaurants have a set price for the “all-you-can-eat” plates and that price is based on three things:
- How much each person will eat: buffets usually assume each customer will consume around one pound of food.
- Average number of customers in a day
- Daily food cost
- After doing the math in each category, the buffet will set a price per person who will dine in. But note, that’s dining in, not take out.
So, what if you make your own plate to-go? Can you get in trouble for that? Here’s what we know:
Is there a GA buffet law?
Short answer: maybe. Let’s see why:
While restaurants can ban you from coming back and refuse to serve you, they can’t have Georgia law enforcement arrest you for doing this on the spot.
However, they can press charges later on for stealing or theft by taking. According to Georgia law: “A person commits the offense of theft by taking when he unlawfully takes or, being in lawful possession thereof, unlawfully appropriates any property of another with the intention of depriving him of the property, regardless of the manner in which the property is taken or appropriated.”
So, if you thought you could take some home for tomorrow’s dinner, think again. But there are such things as a “weigh and pay” now at certain buffet chains like Golden Corral. It works by grabbing a to-go box that you can fill with as much food as you want from the buffet and then pay based on the weight of your food.
What other questions do you have? Let me know at cmadden@mcclatchy.com
This story was originally published November 5, 2025 at 6:00 AM with the headline "Is it illegal in GA to take food home from an all-you-can-eat buffet restaurant? What the law says."
