Chuck-A-Rama

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Chuck-A-Rama is a chain of buffet restaurants based in Salt Lake City, Utah with eight restaurants in Utah and two in Idaho. The restaurants offer a wide variety of food items not typically found in more traditional restaurants. Many of the items are what one would consider "home cooking" types of recipes rather than fine dining offerings. The restaurant therefore has a different appeal and clientele than a fine-dining establishment, where the emphasis is on the entertainment value of the dining experience. People frequently eat at Chuck-a-Rama as families and often as extended family groups. Another group of people who often eat at the restaurant are older people living alone or as couples, and who find it easier and more satisfying to eat at the restaurant daily rather than cook at home.

Service in the restaurant is "self-serve". After paying a fixed price at the door, one enters the dining area, selects a table and then chooses food from a number of buffet islands. One may obtain a new plate at any time and choose additional items. The table help will bring beverages or other food items, and will clear the table of empty plates. It is customary to offer a small tip for this service, but this is not required.

In 2004 Chuck-A-Rama gained national attention when, at its Taylorsville, Utah location, a couple following the Atkins diet were kicked out for trying to go back to the carved roast beef twelve times. The chain stated that, although they are a buffet, they are not an all-you-can-eat restaurant.

In the restaurant's earlier history, the Chuck-A-Rama "milk maids" would refill customers' milk glasses; this practice inspired the "Dance of the Chuck-A-Rama Milk Maids" in a performance of Saturday's Voyeur (an annual news parody musical).

Locally, the chain is known more for the quantity than the quality of its food [1], and is sometimes referred to by the nickname of "Up-Chuck-A-Rama".[2] [3] [4] (The term "up-chuck" means to vomit.)

The name of the restaurant is somewhat odd as the suffix "-a-rama" is not common in current English usage. Chuck is apparently a century-old slang term for food; see chuckwagon. The -a-rama suffix is not found in the dictionary, but is found somewhat rarely in American usage, typically in naming a store or exhibition, and indicates an unusually large and varied display of items. Similar examples of this usage are Futurama and Scout-a-rama.