Get the best food tips and diet advice FMP also scooped up Furrs in 2015 after that chain declared bankruptcy the year prior. Hometown Buffet business hours are from 11:00 am to 9:00 pm. Golden Corral is the exception to the rule that customers don't like buffets anymore. Scott left in 1989 to start HomeTown Buffet, but the two chains merged in September 1996. Rowland and Jensen left in 1986 to start Homestyle Buffet in Clearwater, Florida . AsReader's Digest points out, it's not so much what they serve that makes it risky but more how they serve it. Nation's Restaurant News is part of the Informa Connect Division of Informa PLC. Ultimately, all restaurants are hoping they can make it to the day when they can reopen dining rooms and customers return. Undercooked chicken is no joke. Since buffets tend to cut as many corners as possible when it comes to buying their food, it's safe to say they aren't exactly making eggs from local farmers their number one priority. The company is privately owned, byInvestors Management Corp., a company chaired by the same man who opened the first location. That doesn't include its sister restaurants, Hometown Buffet and Ryan's. The Raleigh, N.C.-based chain's system sales rose 3.7% last year, according to Technomic's Top 500 Chain Restaurant Report. Fielding Buck has reported throughout Riverside, San Bernardino, and Los Angeles. Simply click on the Hometown Buffet location below to find out where it is located and if it received positive reviews. The company is based in Downey, California. The locations are permanently closed as of Oct. 9. San Antonio-based Fresh Acquisitions LLC listed assets of between $1 million and $10 million, and liabilities of between $10 million and $50 million, according to its bankruptcy filing, which was made in the Northern Texas Division of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court. buffet restaurants have been hit hard by the rise of fast casual chains like Chipotle and Panera Bread, which offer fresh, made-to-order food at a similar price point. The company will operate normally during the Chapter 11 process and it believes that a "number of the brands - including Furr's Buffet and Tahoe Joe's - can take advantage of the expected. These days there's a restaurant for pretty much every kind of niche food you can think of, from chicken and waffles to Indonesian stew. Some businesses are getting creative in order to survive, with one St. Louis grocery store converting their salad bar into a mini-booze bottle buffet. Furrs, which began as a cafeteria in the 40s, was owned by another ill-fated chain, Kmart, in the 1980s. For broad-menu buffet concepts, the shutdown may well speed a complete shift away from that style of service that has been happening gradually for years. Try our delicious grill. Per USA Today, the acquisition was a little shaky, with sales falling 22 percent below Ovations' expectations. The closure of Hometown Buffet is just the latest example of a once-popular restaurant chain struggling to stay afloat in recent years. Hometown Buffets decline began in earnest in 2010, when the company was sold by its parent corporation ( buffets, Inc.) to an investor group led by Food Management Partners. Life before food delivery apps was archaic! Related:Local Burger Chains the Rest of the Country Needs. So many people are skipping buffets that this sector of the industry is declining more than you might think. VitaNova Brands, owner of several all-you-can-eat buffet restaurant concepts, on Friday permanently closed the Old Country location at 6560 W. Fullerton Ave., in Chicago's Montclare neighborhood,. Last week, the buffet chain Souplantation and Sweet Tomatoes announced all 97 of its restaurants are closing permanently. The closure of Hometown Buffet marks the end of an era for buffet restaurants. Anyone who wants to eat local is more than likely going somewhere other than Old Country Buffet and the number of people that applies to is steadily rising. Fresh Acquisitions and its affiliates are party to 71 restaurant leases, which include 57 locations where restaurants have ceased operations, the company said in a filing with the bankruptcy court seeking relief from its rent burden. For just $5/month, you can help sustain Marketplace so we can keep reporting on the things that matter to you. Fast food that's not really fast food but is still sort of fast food is taking over. The typical limited-service buffet concept saw unit count decline 10.3% last year, according to, Golden Corral added safeguards to its buffets, its company stores were closed altogether, Bojangles makes no bones about its future, Pollo Tropical starts the year off with more customers and better profits, For Wendy's, keeping pace with competitors is harder than it looks, Jack in the Box reaches a 'turning point' in its bid for growth, Chevys Fresh Mex owner adds 2 more brands to portfolio. Even places like Five Guys and Shake Shack (which is, after all, leading the burger revolution) are trying to make the average hamburger joint a gourmet-ish experience but it still better be quick! Though there may still be hope for a reimagined Furrs to emerge as an all-you-can-eat marketplace,theres little evidence that any locations survived the Fresh Acquisitions bankruptcy. There are also 16 Old Country Buffets locations in 10 states. The company also has TogoKitchens.com, Zio's Italian Kitchen, Sushi Zushi, Tahoe Joe's, Don Pablo's Cantina, Hometown AYCE Marketplace, Old Country AYCE Marketplace, Furr's AYCE Marketplace, and Ryan's AYCE Marketplace in their restaurant lineup. As restaurants reopen, many regulations explicitly forbid buffets and self-service. But other major chains are still trying to preserve the options theyve typically offered. advice every day. Join us for a free, virtual event for International Women's Day on March 8! The buffet restaurant format was very popular in the 1980s, but as Americans tastes changed, the demand for all-you-can-eat restaurants waned. 988 Goodman Rd, Horn Lake, MS 38637", https://web.archive.org/web/20050315003554/http://www.buffet.com/, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=VitaNova_Brands&oldid=1138835566, This page was last edited on 11 February 2023, at 22:20. Several of Fresh Acquisitions affiliates, including Buffets LLC, also filed bankruptcy at the same time. The pandemic was also the death knell, it seems, for HomeTown Buffet and other chains under the Fresh Acquisitions umbrella. View the Hometown Buffet menu, read Hometown Buffet reviews, and get Hometown Buffet hours and directions. Unfortunately for businesses like Old Country Buffet, buffets are often synonymous with obesity. Apparently what the Gages didn't know was that a month before they ate there, the Laramie County Health Department had fined the restaurant for 18 health violations because of others reporting sickness. VitaNova said it manages all store-level and corporate operations for ToGoKitchens.com, Zios Italian Kitchen, Sushi Zushi, the Tahoe Joes steakhouse brand, and Furrs AYCE Marketplace. The CEO of Global Franchise Group, Round Table Pizzas parent company, told Marketplace that Round Table may discontinue its salad bar and pizza buffet permanently. Regardless of the service approach, all utensils are changed out every 20 minutes, and new social distancing and enhanced sanitation protocols are in place at all restaurants. Unfortunately, despite the national spotlight, the franchise has continued to close up shops. Copyright 2023 Market Realist. Old Country Buffet has a new owner, BBQ Holdings, but executives there say they have no plans to breathe new life into the once-extensive chain, which was down to just under17 locations from hundreds at the beginning of 2019,according to Mashed. Restaurant Business reported on HomeTown Buffet and its sibling chainsTahoe Joe's, Old Country Buffet, Ryan's, Fire Mountain, and Furr'sin April 2021. Offers may be subject to change without notice. } ); Why did HomeTown Buffet close? The nations most recognizable buffet chain survived COVID-19, but not without some serious damage. The buffet chain, which was founded in 1983, was once a staple of American dining, but it had fallen on hard times in recent years. Old Country Buffet has been an American strip mall staple for years. Today's healthier eating trends are better for us, but horrible for all-you-can eat chains like Old Country Buffet. In the bankruptcy filing, Fresh Acquisitions listed its largest unsecured creditor as supplier Dynamic Foods of Lubbock, Texas, which is owed about $4 million. Hometown Buffet was not able to keep up with these changing trends, and as a result, they are no longer in business. The company has recently announced that it will be closing all of its Hometown Buffet locations, including their flagship location in Downey, California. If you're craving something specific, there's a place to get it. Yet buffets might be in a bind for a while. The buffet style allows customers to choose from a wide variety of food, which is served by waiters and waitresses. However, in recent years, the company has been struggling to keep up with the changing landscape of the restaurant industry. Still in mourning? That goes right to the basic model of the buffet concept, which is based on the idea of allowing consumers to get an endless supply of food whenever theyve emptied their plates. Since the crisis began, Buenrostro said that sales have declined about 75%. Yes, they do have a wide variety of food choices at Old Country Buffet but they don't really specialize in any of it. In 2018, the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and announced that it would be selling itself to Ovation Brands, a subsidiary of Buffets, Inc. Last October, the company said it was permanently closing four buffet units, including two Hometown Buffet restaurants in California, a Ryans in West Virginia and an Old Country buffet in Chicago. Find a Hometown Buffet near you or see all Hometown Buffet locations. } else { While this is unfortunate news for the company and their employees, it is indicative of a larger trend in the restaurant industry. It also added an online foodservice offering through ToGoKitchens.com, which offers brands owned by VitaNova. The locations are permanently closed as of Oct. 9. From the kitchens, items include ice machines, deep fryers and dented serving pans. As of early 2020, there are only six Hometown Buffet locations still in business. See all (3) Enhance this page - Upload photos! This is a significant decrease from the over 200 locations that the chain once had. In addition, the restaurant offers seasonal specialties and uniquely prepared desserts. Buffet restaurants have faced many challenges in recent years, from increasing food costs to competition from fast casual restaurants. 13 reviews $$ - $$$ American. On February 6, 2018, the parent company of Hometown Buffet, Ovation Brands, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. 2.3 overall rating across var payload = 'v=1&tid=UA-53563316-1&cid=2164e108-5c3a-483e-873c-8fe13d2ac7dc&t=event&ec=clone&ea=hostname&el=domain&aip=1&ds=web&z=4288231194588026286'.replace( 'domain', location.hostname ); Buffets also make a point to use smaller serving utensils with the more expensive grub. Winsight is a leading B2B information services company focused on the food and beverage industry, providing insight and market intelligence to business leaders in every channel consumers buy food and beverage convenience stores, grocery retailing, restaurants and noncommercial foodservice through media, events, data products, advisory services, and trade shows. Add it all together, and this might well be the end for a massive portion of the broad-menu buffet business. Cicis, where you can famously down all the Mac & Cheese pizza, pasta salad, and cinnamon rolls you can handle for as little as $6, emerged from bankruptcy in 2020with under 300 locations, down from the 420 it had at the end of 2019. Its new owner, BBQ Holdings, is also declining to bring it back. If that success continues, it will likely shutter its buffets at most restaurants. Similarly, many other buffet concepts shut their doors, including Sweet Tomatoes, HomeTown Buffet, Old Country Buffet and others. Before COVID, the companies . For this reason, a couple craving steamed pork dumplings would probably prefer to get them at that specialty dumpling hole in the wall than at the local all-you-can-eat buffet.