But BBQ Holdings CEO Jeff Crivello said a day after the auction that the buffet restaurants would stay closed. National restaurant group permanently closes several Hometown Buffet Hometown Buffet is a restaurant that has been in business for over 20 years, but they announced on their website that they will be closing down in 2020. Food-poisoning cases have also affected the reputation of buffets, with Souplantation experiencing an E. Coli outbreak in 2007 and one Old Country Buffet diner getting infected with Salmonella in 2010. Reservations are not required unless dining as a group or large tour. One of the nations foremost all-you-can-eat pizza chains emerged from the pandemic significantly smaller. These Adored Buffet Restaurants Are Now Closed for Good, 9 Restaurant Chains That Closed Hundreds of Locations This Summer. Still, it couldnt escape market forces, and Gattis parent company filed for bankruptcy in early 2019, a decision that spurred an undisclosed number of closings. Hometown Buffet Locations Near Me + Reviews & Menu People may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Anyone who grew up going to church remembers the agonizing wait for that last processional hymn at the end, and the promise of a delicious plate of hot food on the horizon. As with almost every one of our peers, buffet restaurants took the brunt of the loss of sales during the pandemic and as such, the path to success requires hard choices to be made, including the rationalization of our overall footprint, said VitaNova Brands CEO and co-founder Jason Kemp, according to Nations Restaurant News. We've already established that Old Country Buffet isn't a great choice for anyone who's watching their diet, but the chain has a reputation for being unhealthy in a whole other way, too. As with almost every one of our peers, buffet restaurants took the brunt of the loss of sales during the pandemic and as such, the path to success requires hard choices to be made, including the rationalization of our overall footprint, said Jason Kemp, co-founder and CEO of VitaNova Brands, in a statement this week. She said her family, including her grandparents, would pack themselves into a minivan and head off to a buffet together. Old Country Buffet closes last Illinois restaurant More and more Americans are watching their waistlines, and buffets are often seen as an indulgence that is best avoided. By 2017, another poll indicated that the rate of weekly church attendance was down to 38 percent. It is unclear if the chain will be able to survive in the long term. Its not easy for them to just shift gears and operate like conventional restaurants or start making deliveries, especially during a pandemic (with Round Table Pizza being an exception). Check out this old Old Country Buffet training video. Trying to find a Hometown Buffet? 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. The buffet industry has seen better days. Sales at the chain were down 62%in 2020. In June 2020, FMP Management ceased operations, entering bankruptcy itself. Pizza Inns sales rose 1.8% last year, while Iowa-based Pizza Ranchs sales increased 7.3%. VitaNova Brands, which manages Fresh Acquisitions restaurants through an agreement with the company, is providing a debtor-in-possession loan of $3.5 million, and said it would focus on operating the Tahoe Joes and Furrs AYCE Marketplace banners going forward. The buffet concept was created by Bill Knudson and Jerry Kent, who opened the first location in Downey in 1983. The chain lost at least 15 restaurantsbetween late 2019 and September 2020, according to Restaurant Business. Reopening regulations and consumer skittishness could force changes in thesubsector that had been in decline for some time. Those are just IP that came alongside the transaction., Latest Company & Industry Overviews News and Updates. I dont know how long we will last because were very small, she said. Those chains could probablyshift to a different service model more easily, and they can push takeout and delivery sales more aggressively. We have no immediate plans to reopen any of the buffet brands, he said, reports Restaurant Business. That means those self-service drink stations at many fast-food restaurants will be gone for the time being. Since then, its footprint has shrunk even further, with no locations for either Ponderosa or Bonanza listed on the website. The VitaNova spokeswoman said the recovery of buffet-style restaurants will depend upon the easing of dining restrictions. FMP also scooped up Furrs in 2015 after that chain declared bankruptcy the year prior. Broad-menu buffet concepts now face a longer timeline for that reopening. Guidelines like these are either pushing buffets to shut down entirely, like in Souplantations case, or at the very least, prompting both nationwide chains and local buffets to alter their business model and restaurant design. Registered in England and Wales. Sherry Buenrostro has operated La Nacional Mexican Buffet in Columbus, Georgia, along with her husband and parents-in-law, for nearly 20 years. All-you-can-eat buffets are ripe with chances to pick up bacteria and illnesses, and the general public is wising up to this knowledge. As a result of these factors, Hometown Buffet has closed many of its locations in recent years. Here's a look at all the once-mighty buffet chains that have recently closed locations or disappeared altogether. Market Realist is a registered trademark. Fast casuals not only do a very good job with high quality and healthier fare, but many of them, like Panera Bread, are offering drive-throughs and express pick-ups, he said. The decline of the buffet is due to a variety of factors, including the rise of health consciousness and the popularity of healthy eating, the rise of food delivery and takeaway options, and the increasing cost of food. 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 ); In the past year, weve seen similar closures from Souplantation, Sweet Tomatoes, and Ryans Grill, Buffet & Bakery. Like its sister chains, it was in deep trouble before the pandemic hit, and Google News was full of stories detailing the abrupt closings of local restaurants. HomeTown Buffet in Redding suddenly closes after 25 years That doesn't include its sister restaurants, Hometown Buffet and Ryan's. Buffets, Inc. -- Company History Hometown Buffet is one of the most popular all-you-can-eat buffet chains in the United States. This closure signals a shift in the restaurant industry, as more and more people are choosing to dine at home or cook their own meals. The locations are permanently closed as of Oct. 9. The HomeTown Buffets in Chula Vista, and Bakersfield, Calif., the Ryan's in Charleston, W. Va., and The Old Country Buffets in Chicago were hit hard by the pandemic. Now he thinks we will see the removal of salad bars, and in place, prepared food thats packaged and portioned. Long gone are the days when you can only order pizza or Chinese food to your front door. Gage's salmonella poisoning was particularly severe because of a pre-existing health condition. VitaNova shut down the locations in March when the coronavirus pandemic began. The chain, born in the 70s, at one point had more than 500 family-friendly steakhouse buffet restaurantssprinkled across the country and employed more than 20,000 people. Fast food that's not really fast food but is still sort of fast food is taking over. Members help make our journalism possible. There are also other operations outside of restaurants that rely on self-serving stations, which include grocery stores like Whole Foods. When the pandemic started, Fresh Acquisitionsonce a subsidiary of FMP Managementhad 90 restaurants between HomeTown and the other brands. You can buy the iconic soup bowl on Amazon. For people like Sarah Chen Small, going to one was a way to mark a milestone in your life maybe a birthday or a graduation. Hometown Buffet was one of the last major national buffet chains in operation. By then the parent company, Buffets, Inc. had been acquired by Ovation Brands. While things may change permanently, she said shes still grateful shes able to operate hers right now. It also closed down dozens of locations in the past few years as it struggled to stay afloat. 3790 SW Hall Blvd, Beaverton, OR 97005-2050 +1 503-627-0336 Website Menu. There is no word yet on other buffets opening back up at places like Whole Foods and some hotel chains. I dont know if anything will ever go back to what the norm was before, Buenrostro said. It's never a great idea to eat food that's been sitting out. The locations are permanently closed as of Oct. 9. HomeTown Buffet - Home - Facebook 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. Buffet chains have been hit particularly hard by the novel coronavirus pandemic since their business models. The company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcyin the fall of 2020, citing a huge decline in dine-in business and trouble negotiating rent relief with landlords. Similarly, many other buffet concepts shut their doors, including Sweet Tomatoes, HomeTown Buffet, Old Country Buffet and others. The buffet restaurant format was very popular in the 1980s, but as Americans tastes changed, the demand for all-you-can-eat restaurants waned. These Buffet Restaurant Chains Have Closed Locations Permanently - Cheapism And in Las Vegas, which is known for its higher-end buffets, one resort is doling out a lot of money to ensure its survival. And who could blame them? The California auctions began on Dec. 7 with such items as dining tables, childrens booster seats, and Easter decorations with bidding often starting at a few dollars. How Golden Corral is bucking the buffet collapse - Restaurant Business In 2008, FMP filed for bankruptcy and sold Hometown Buffet to Ovation Brands. Given the choice, customers are picking Golden Corral over Old Country Buffet pretty consistently. Amanda has a master's degree in journalism from Northwestern University and a bachelor's degree in digital journalism from Loyola University Chicago. All-you-can-eat buffets are also a victim of changing dietary habits. Sherry Buenrostro from La Nacional Mexican Buffet knows that firsthand. The company was founded in 1983 and has been in business for over 35 years. Sign up to receive texts from Restaurant Business on news and insights that matter to your brand. By Jonathan Maze on May 14, 2020. He underwent a two-week hospital stint and multiple surgeries, and as of 2015 remained in constant chronic pain. xhr.setRequestHeader('Content-Type', 'text/plain;charset=UTF-8'); 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. 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. Okay, so if at first you don't succeed, dust yourself off and try again and again. Hometown Buffet has been closed for months, but has rebranded itself Hometown Buffet AYCE Marketplace, standing for All You Can Eat, in an attempt to combine the buffet concept with table service. The company closed 30 locations in 2019, and more closures are expected in 2020. Darren Tristano, the CEO and founder of Food Service Results, said buffet restaurants had already been in decline for 20 years, driven by consumers change in taste for healthier options. All 13 locations closed permanently in late 2020, with company officials attributing the decision to rising food and operational costs even once restaurants had reopened from their initial COVID-19 shutdowns. Cheapism may earn a commission if you buy through a link on our site. Chain Restaurants That Are Closing Locations, this old Old Country Buffet training video, Local Burger Chains the Rest of the Country Needs, Age Pays: 130+ Senior Discounts (Some Starting at Age 50! Most closed early in the health crisis, including Souplantation, which declared bankruptcy in May. 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