I have 2 teenaged boys and they can pack away quite a lot of servings.
Many times I would ask my oldest son if he would grab something for me while I was finishing my veggies or helping my youngest teen as he was on his way to refill his plate. No one said anything to us but if someone did I would have mentioned that fact. When my mother was alive and we took her to a buffet we would go get her food for her (we would bring her a selection of different things several times) as she had problems walking and carrying something at the same time. Her mobility was very bad in her final years so we were her *feet* for her.
I feel that manager was out of line as well. Restaurants generally have enough food to feed everyone and buffets are set up so you can serve yourself as much as you wish.

I have two small children, ages 1 and 4, so I am very familur with the grab for everyone principle. People look at me odd when I make three trips to the salad bar all at once, or balance 3 plates. Also since the kids are so little one adult has to remain at the table, so sometimes things will be grabbed for that adult

Our local buffet has bbq night & I love their ribs. When the extended family, 10-12 of us, would be there, if someone saw a new pan of ribs come out, several would head up and get 4-5 ribs per plate and bring them back for everyone. Sometimes it was the only way to get a couple of them without waiting 15 minutes between ribs as they are real popular and go fast. No one ever said anything.

I think this might be the low carb verson of kicking card counters out of the casino.

The sad fact is that Old Country Buffet, Hometown Buffet etc. make money by offering a plethora of choices laden with carbs. These ingredients are less-filling and more profitable. These restaurants don't have the sort of non-meat offerings (nuts, better salads, a variety of cheeses, strawberries, etc.) that would appeal to low carbers. So, you are relegated to eating the taco meat, dried up hamburgers, etc. at these places.

that was just plain rude. most of the prime rib i've had at buffets is about 3 inches long and extremely thin. i could eat quite a few pieces of that. oh and do you really think the carver counted 12 specific trips???? how embarrassing.

Love it! That's exactly it!