SALT LAKE CITY - A West Valley City couple on the Atkins Diet have a beef with a local restaurant after being booted from the buffet for eating too much meat.

Isabelle Leota, 29, and her husband Sui Amaama, 26, both on the no-carb diet, were dining Tuesday at a Chuck-A-Rama in the Salt Lake City suburb of Taylorsville when the manager cut them off because they'd eaten too much roast beef.

"It's so embarrassing actually," said Leota. "We went in to have dinner, we were under the impression Chuck-A-Rama was an all you can eat establishment."

Not so, said Jack Johanson, the restaurant chain's district manager.

"We've never claimed to be an all-you-can-eat establishment," said Johanson. "Our understanding is a buffet is just a style of eating."

The general manager was carving the meat, and became concerned about having enough for other patrons, Johanson said. So when Amaama went up for his 12th slice, the manager asked Amaama to stop.

Offended by the request, the couple argued with the manager, then asked for a refund. The manager refused, and when the couple refused to leave, he called police.

"I really feel like we were discriminated against, I feel like we were treated unfairly," said Leota.

The restaurant's roast beef is cooked overnight and takes between 12 and 14 hours to cook, Johanson said. Depending on the location, a Chuck-A-Rama may have only between one and five roasts each day.

But Johanson said the manager offered plenty of other buffet items for the couple to choose from.

The couple are finishing their second week of the Atkins Diet, which requires taking in little to no carbohydrates, and they eat at Chuck-A-Rama's $8.99 buffet at least twice a week because of its convenience.

"You can just go there and just eat meat," said Leota, a mother of two.

Johanson said there's no written policy for what patrons can or can't eat, or for the size of their portions. But the restaurant reserves the right to talk to patrons if they abuse the buffet - a rare occurrence, he said.

The couple said they won't return to the restaurant.

"I don't have any desire to go there ever again," said Leota.

Too funny. But anyone chowing down on 12 slices of roast beef at an all you can eat buffet is not on atkins. A "portion" is unbelievably small. It's hard to get around the whole calories in vs. calories burned issue.

Sum1 should tesch thoze peepz the benefitz ov moderation ... 12 slicez ov meat 4 a meal iz no humanoid diet.

The Stormstress wrote:Sum1 should tesch thoze peepz the benefitz ov moderation ... 12 slicez ov meat 4 a meal iz no humanoid diet.

Actually, I'd be perfectly comfortable with that. I wonder how many ounces each slice was...

Sick, Sad world.

but still eating all that meat can't nescesarily be good for someone! Can it?
The workers should have just lied and said that they were temporarily out of meat or that they were inthe process of cooking up some more....the cuople would have left soon after probably and they could bring it out again for all of the......civilized eaters....

white_darkness wrote:Actually, I'd be perfectly comfortable with that. I wonder how many ounces each slice was...

I'm wondering the same thing.

Though I'm willing to bet it was quite a lot, if the management actually risked the bad publicity of telling someone at a buffet to stop eating.

I'd be rather pissed if it happened to me, though. If I pay good money to eat at a buffet, I'd damn well better get all I can eat.

iblis wrote:

white_darkness wrote:Actually, I'd be perfectly comfortable with that. I wonder how many ounces each slice was...

I'm wondering the same thing.

Though I'm willing to bet it was quite a lot, if the management actually risked the bad publicity of telling someone at a buffet to stop eating.

I'd be rather pissed if it happened to me, though. If I pay good money to eat at a buffet, I'd damn well better get all I can eat.

You know, I need to find an all you can eat steak buffet...i need some major steak type chow.

How rude!

...which one? lol. Both, I'd say. And really, these people should realize eating a few carbs is much better for you than eating 12 pieces of roast beef. I really don't get the Atkins diet, sounds like a nice way to clog your arteries... ...Didn't Dr. Atkins die of some heart condition?

Vachy wrote:Didn't Dr. Atkins die of some heart condition?

Yes. Yes. And Yes.

They say that his death was no related to his diet; however, regardless of the validity of those statements, it does prove one old axiom: Eat right, exercise daily, die anyway.

Fad diets are a joke. I can tell anyone willing to listen how to lose weight.

It's simple: Burn off more calories than you consume. No, that doesn't mean to starve yourself. That means to get off your ass and do something. Be it dancing, Yoga, jogging, or even walking around the goddamn block a few times.

Oh, and stay the fuck away from that tub of ice cream until you look like something other than a potato with zits and eyeballs.

Sheesh.

um actually, you have to have carbs to live.....and eating that much roast beef....and i'm sure even if those were school serving sizes...12 is still a fucking lot, that eating that much, and being on the dumbass diet is sorta like saying i'm gonna run to mcdonalds to lose weight.

The no carb diet does works sorta.

I did it for 5 weeks. After the first few days everything is fine. All the eggs, cheese, and meat you can eat.

I lost some weight, but as soon as I started eating bread and pasta (and beer, oh MAINLY drinking not lite beer) again I gained every bit of what I'd lost back.

THe diet works by tricking your body about storing carbs as fat . So you don't store carbs you burn fat to make up for carbs.

You also need to be taking hella big vitamin doses to make up for the the minerals and vitamens that are in bread and cereals.

I think the manager had every right to ask them to stop eating the meat.

You only lose weight if you burn more then you consume in calories. one pound is I think 3600 calories ( could be off by a couple hundred). You burn a certain amount of calories just living, by breathing, having your heart beat, walking around, etc. you also burn calories by consuming food. typical person burns about 1500-1800 calories a day with normal activity levels. So if you eat 1500 calories a day of ANYTHING and burn 2000 calories a day because you get in some extra exercise, then over a week's time period you'll lose a pound. simply because you burned enough calories to amount to the energy of one pound. It's all quite simple.

The reason people lose weight on Atkins diet is because they typically continue to eat everything they were before except they cut out breads and starches (like potatos and pasta)... so they lose weight because they're simply eating less food.

Carbohydrates provide energy better then a lot of foods, and it is patently rediculous to think that eating fatty meats and no vegetables, fruits or carbs is a healthy way to live.

snarfcat wrote: The reason people lose weight on Atkins diet is because they typically continue to eat everything they were before except they cut out breads and starches (like potatos and pasta)... so they lose weight because they're simply eating less food.

That's pretty much it. But trust me, for people who are serious about it, it is NOT a diet, but a lifestyle change, and a pretty harsh one...Which is why I would never be able to do atkins. Carbs are cut out initially - I think it is a 2 week "induction" to "clean them out of your system." They do come back into your menu, but slowly and in extreme moderation. Sure, they eat more meats and fats, but it is not a carte blanche gorge fest. Also, a real part of atkins is daily exercise, a little thing many people who claim to be on the diet tend to forget.

I triedit for like a week once.....I didnt lose any weight but by God I was hungry all the time!!!!! I can see eating 12 peices of roast beef or whatever that was if it were small slices....if thats all you are eating!!!!

ON the other hand I personally felt the atkins diet was for those who didnt want to work out at all.....LAZY......not good...I had my suspicions that depriving yourself of anything can be bad in the longrun..........just go run!

A Buffet is a Buffet and generally considered an all you can eat,so no they shouldnt have been kicked out! I agree, if all you were eating was meat then 12 slices would only equal out to total the same amount of food as if you were eating vegetables, fruit, bread and dessert.It cant be healthy though because you arent getting the recommended vegetable, fruits, grains etc that nutritionists say are required. Think about when along time ago sailors on boats started dying and it was discovered they had SCURVEY...which was caused by not having fruits and vegetables for monthes at a time.Im not sure about carbs, but I lost a total of 65 lbs several years ago by counting both calories and fat grams and walking 2 miles every other day. I was only allowed 1,000-1,200 calories and 10- 12 fat grams per day. Yes, I was starving but I lost it!