"Do these really look like the actions of a man whose had all he can eat?"

*Lionel Hutz, The Simpsons

What do you do after Plans A & B fail and you are looking for someplace to eat on a Friday night?
You've had to rule out the more sane & desirable options because apparently everyone is going out to eat at your favorite spots on Friday evening and everyplace, INCLUDING the King Buffet is mobbed.
King Buffet, for reference, is in the strip mall, in between Radio Shack and Subway. There's also a dilapidated looking Aldi's (although maybe it's just the poor lighting), a Staples, and *the* movie theater. Well the non-discount movie theater. So it's a happening spot.
Now, no joke this buffet is also MOBBED. There's a line the second you get inside the door and chaos inside. Apparently you also have to get a sticky little plastic card that has a number on it, which the people running/seating may or may not call.
I feel kind of mixed about buffets, because while the variety aspect of it appeals to me, the all you can eat/unlimited trips doesn't really do much for me, and generally winds up being a bit of a rip-off. But for many people, I'm guessing, the all-you can eat is definitely a big part of the appeal. Never mind if it's all you can eat of a pretty mediocre quality, it's the quantity that counts here.

But anyhow, I digress... I'm always up for trying something new and this is one place we had not been yet. So we get our table and go up to take a look at this buffet... I should mention this is allegedly a Chinese buffet. There are some nominally Chinese looking dishes and one entire salad bar thing that is filled with the following: macaroons, cookies, huge vats of 2 different colored Jellos, pudding, strawberries and whipped cream, giant bowls of canned fruit, potato salad, cheesecake, olives, and here the final odd pairing, next to each other, sushi rolls and tiramasu. I should add, as part of the "allure" of the King Buffet you get all you can eat of these delectables, a drink, and ice cream (there's a soft serve machine!).
I'm not sure about a Chinese buffet which also has toast and bacon bits, but okay.
The middle bar has some more standard fare, although I do relish that there are donuts in the middle of the General Tso chicken and lo mein. Very interesting.
Also of note, the "baccon with scallops', which actually appeared to contain crab legs. And the "musse" dish, which randomly had mussels. I was a little leery though of their seafood. I did try some rather bland & tasteless breaded fried shrimp.
The food was okay but nothing spectacular. What's more interesting is merely observing the scene at King Buffet. The place was absolutely packed, families, students, kids, your everyday Ames people. The servers/workers were efficiently seating and clearing tables, bringing over your check and fortune cookies when you appeared near done. My fortune read: "The nice thing about standards is, there are so many to choose from"
I don't know if that was somehow relevant to this experience...
As we left, I see the lucky cat, his front paw frantically swinging up and down... I think he's saying, Your luck's about to change...
Or maybe eat at your own peril...Hard to say.