You can eat like a pig, but don't bring one
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I was in Raytown last Saturday to do a little shopping with my friend Truman, a total fan of Dirty Don's, the salvage store for the serious bargain hunter. Truman had already been there once that week to scope out the deals and on our outing, he quickly dragged me over to the box filled with 12-ounce packets of Ethiopian Sadamu whole coffee beans priced at less than four bucks (and really superb, as it turned out) and a crate of gift-wrapped boxes of gourmet chocolates. "They're just a teeny bit past their expiration date," Truman explained, "but really delicious and only two bucks!" I usually won't buy food if it's even a couple of weeks past the expiration date, but in this case it seemed like a fair deal. The chocolates were great.
Before we left Raytown, Truman had another bargain venue he wanted to check out: Mama China Restaurant at 6623 Raytown Road. "The parking lot is always packed!" he told me. "That's got to be a good omen, right?"
The news about the parking lot was an understatement. I had to circle the lot several times before I could find a space to pull in. This joint was jumping! I did hesitate at the entrance, however, when I saw the hand-printed sign taped to the door: "No Animals Please!!!!"
"Is that code meaning 'Don't come in and eat like a pig' or does it really mean, you know, animals?" I asked Truman.
"I guess we'll see," he said.
Luckily for people like me, who take those four words "all-you-can-eat" seriously, the banned animals aren't healthy eaters. I watched a lot of people going back to the buffet line three or four times. Our server told me that she thought the sign referred to customers who wanted to bring in their pet dogs. You know how those Pekinese pups love egg rolls.
Mama China isn't very big, so there can be a wait for a table on a busy Saturday afternoon. I was taken aback when we were offered a table in the smoking section -- I forgot that smoking in restaurants is still legal in Raytown. Luckily, no one seemed to be puffing a cig in the room and I didn't even notice the ashtray on the table until Truman pointed it out. I thought it was a white china holder for the soy sauce bottle.
The food is good by local Chinese-buffet standards. The steam tables are well-maintained and generously laden with the dishes people want to see on these sorts of buffets: heavily glazed General Tso's chicken, sauteed pork and peppers, beef and broccoli, lo-mein noodles, sweet-and-sour chicken, spring rolls, crab rangoon, soups, fried chicken wings, steamed white and fried rice, and stir-fried vegetables. There's a selection of desserts, too, including canned fruit and chocolate pudding.
I only ate a couple of plates of food and a single almond cookie for
my lunch. I didn't want anyone to think I was being piggish.
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