“I’ve always hated buffets - you cook food ahead of time andthrow it in a pan,” he added. “It will feel like there’s six or seven restaurants in here, notjust one buffet,” Camerota said as he organized cooking equipmentWednesday afternoon, two days before the grand opening. It’s a little bitdifferent from the typical buffet, where there’s food on displayand you just help yourself.”Įxecutive Sous Chef Robert Camerota said he doesn’t even like tocall the place a “buffet,” in the traditional sense of theword.

“All the cooking is being done right at the stations,” Bembeneksaid. Inside the restaurant, which opened for its first meal atlunchtime Friday, a rotation of chefs prepare various styles andtypes of food, from Chinese to seafood.

Without a membership card, prices range from $14.99 to$24.99. Members of Pala’s Privileges program - which is free to join -pay $11.99 for lunch and $15.99 for dinner Monday through Thursdayat Choices, with a $13.59 brunch and $19.99 dinners on theweekends. “We wanted to make surecustomers could be seated as quickly as possible, so they’re notspending their holiday waiting in a line.” “One of the things we see at most buffets in Southern Californiais that, on peak weekends, you typically wait anywhere from half anhour to 1 1/2 hours to be seated,” he said.

“The real reason that we went to a larger space was for theconvenience of our guests,” Bembenek said of the upgraded buffet,which will seat 625 guests, compared with 400 in the former TerraceBuffet.

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