BC Ferries has permanently closed the Pacific Buffet, and is asking the public’s opinion about what comes next. Jennifer Blyth / West Coast Traveller photo

BC Ferries eyes replacement for famed Pacific Buffet

June 13, 2023 // by Chris Campbell

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For the last few years, many BC Ferries passengers have wondered when the Pacific Buffet would reopen.

The bad news for fans of the all-you-can-eat buffet – also boasting one of the best seats in the house – is that the Pacific Buffet is permanently gone. The good news is that BC Ferries is looking for feedback on what comes next.

BC Ferries has launched a survey looking for feedback. The online survey will be open for three weeks, and based on travellers’ feedback, a “new, more sustainable, offering is expected to be introduced to customers this fall” on the Tsawwassen-Swartz Bay route, according to a BC Ferries’ news release.

BC Ferries was initially forced to suspend the Pacific Buffet in March 2020 due to health safety regulations relating to the spread of COVID-19.

“The food industry has been significantly challenged by the pandemic; fewer food suppliers, supply chain unreliability, new attitudes about food safety and waste as well as record high food costs have forced all businesses to rethink their strategies,” Nicolas Jimenez, BC Ferries CEO, said in a statement. “I know the hard decision to permanently close our buffets will be disappointing to those who used and loved them but the timing is right to re-think the space based on what our customers tell us.”

In the meantime, the buffet dining room will be open to provide customers extra seating during the peak summer travel season. Food and beverage services will remain available in the Coastal Café, Seawest Lounge and Arbutus Coffee Bar through the peak summer season.

Pre-pandemic, the buffet required seven staff members per sailing, or more than 80 crew in total, and lost approximately $1.2 million annually, BC Ferries said, noting that “in the last year the Pacific Buffet operated, it attracted less than nine per cent of the Tsawwassen-Swartz Bay route’s 4.87 million passengers.”

Find the online survey can be found here.

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