Buffet, reviewed

Buffet is an iOS app for meeting people in real life. Members claim a spot at curated weekly events — dinners, activities, nights out — and once three people join, a group chat opens automatically so the group can make a plan.

It holds 4.74 out of 5 from 47 ratings on the Apple App Store as of September 2026. This page collects what the app actually does, how it works, and every written review members have left — including the critical one.

View on the App Store

What is Buffet?

Buffet is a social app built around a simple premise: the hard part of meeting people is not matching, it is actually showing up somewhere. So instead of an endless message thread that never becomes a plan, Buffet starts with the plan.

Each week the team publishes a handful of curated events — dinners, activities, nights out — at real venues. You claim a spot at one, which the app calls “getting a plate.” Once 3 people have claimed the same event, a group chat opens automatically and you sort out the details between you. Groups fill to 6 and then split, so you are always meeting a small table rather than a crowd.

Alongside events, a 1:1 tab shows a short daily list of individual people with a match score and a short note on why you might get along. You can invite someone to a specific place rather than opening with “hey.”

Is Buffet a dating app?

It is whatever you want it to be. Buffet is used for dating, friendship and networking, and it does not make you declare which. Members describe it in their own words as “like tinder — for friends” and “a fun spin on the usual dating/friendship/networking apps.” Because most first meetings happen with a few people around a table, it feels far more like being introduced through friends than like a first date.

How much does Buffet cost?

Buffet is free to download and free to use, with a cap on how many events you can join each month and how many people you see each day. An optional Buffet+ subscription removes those limits. Current prices are on the App Store listing; what each tier includes is on the pricing page.

What do members say?

Fifteen members have left written reviews. Fourteen are five stars, one is a single star. Three representative ones:

Read all 15 written reviews, including the 1-star →

Where is Buffet available?

Buffet runs live in Los Angeles today. Austin and New York are the next two cities and both have waitlists open inside the app. Expansion is the single most common request in member reviews — four of the fifteen written reviews ask for it by name. See the cities page.

Who is Buffet for?

It is made for people who have moved somewhere new, who work remotely, whose friends have drifted into different life stages, or who would simply rather turn up to something than negotiate it into existence. The structure does the work: one member writes that Buffet is “really great for an introvert like me,” because the event gives you a reason to be there and something to talk about before you have said a word.

Everything on the calendar is chosen by the Buffet team rather than crowdsourced, so the week is short and every option is somewhere worth going. If you would rather scroll hundreds of user-created listings, Meetup works differently.

Where to go next

• How Buffet works, step by step
• Every App Store review, verbatim
• Pricing: free vs Buffet+
• Buffet vs Timeleft
• Frequently asked questions