http://www.gazette.com/articles/buffet_32575___article.html/pizza_biggs.html

Smaller portions for kids at Biggs?
Obesity concerns lead fun center to end all-you-can-eat pizza buffet
By BILL RADFORD
THE GAZETTE
January 31, 2008 – 7:15PM

With children’s waistlines expanding, Mr. Biggs Family Fun Center in Colorado Springs is eliminating its all-you-can-eat pizza buffet in favor of more healthy alternatives.

“There’s nothing right about selling kids all-you-can-eat pizza,” said Steve Bigari, coowner and chief executive officer of Mr. Biggs.

So even though the $4.99 buffet has been a success financially, Bigari said, it will be replaced in the next month or two with a line of “healthful, low-fat, greatvalue options.”

A salad buffet will remain and cost less. There will still be pizza, but it will be sold by the slice and will include a whole-wheat, low-fat pizza. Kid favorites such as fries will be available but sold in moderation, alongside new options such as turkey burgers and panini sandwiches.

Bigari, a former McDonald’s franchisee who sold his dozen McDonald’s restaurants in 2006, said the decision to end the Mr. Biggs buffet is a bad one from a business standpoint. But with childhood obesity labeled a growing crisis, he said, “I don’t see that I have a choice.”

I am disappointed in this decision.   

Have you seen the pizzas at the buffet?  They are small, maybe 12-13″ diameter.  The slices are kid-sized.   

How much are they going to charge per slice?  Do we have to buy by the slice only or will they also sell whole pizza pies – hopefully for less than the cost per individual slice times the number of slices.

Their arcade prices are already expensive,  their party packages are inflexible, and now they are going to make their restaurant charge more as well?

I wish he wouldn’t couch the decision under the guise of being healthier.  He simply wants to make more money, period.

Kid favorites such as fries will be available but sold in moderation

What does that mean?  Will we only be allowed to order one serving per child?

I think he needs to spend more time fixing the broken laser tag equipment and the problem of people having to wait in line for 30-40 minutes for attractions on a 2 hour pass.

My kids are active, high energy kids who can eat 2-3 slices of pizza and still remain at a healthy weight.  They even eat vegetables along with their pizza.

If this decision were truly based on concerns of childhood obesity (and I don’t believe that it is), I feel that the parents who do make good choices for their children are being penalized because of parents who let their children overeat and don’t encourage their children to be active.

If he was *truly* concerned about childhood obesity, then perhaps he should also discontinue the arcade games, Go Karts and Battletech and replace them with more calorie burning activities.

If we decide to go there again, we’ll just eat lunch at home before we go. Or at McDonald’s

Want to read how the West Side Moms feel about it?