Modesto's HomeTown Buffet closes suddenly after nearly 25 years

The HomeTown Buffet in Modesto abruptly closed Wednesday night.

A spokewoman for Ovation Brands, the national buffet chain's parent company, said the Modesto site lost its lease and was forced to shut down. But she did not know if the restaurant would try to relocate to another site in the city. The eatery has been a staple on the corner of Prescott Road and Plaza Parkway since it opened in 1994.

The HomeTown Buffet management released a statement announcing the closure, which read: "This was a business decision and is in no way a reflection of the hard work of the location's management or employees. We appreciate the community's patronage and hope to serve you at one of our other locations in the future."

The Turlock HomeTown Buffet on Countryside Drive remains open. A sign on the door of the Modesto restaurant's directed people to its Turlock and Stockton sites.

In March 2016, HomeTown Buffet and its affiliated Buffets LLC restaurants filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. It was the chain's third bankruptcy filing in the past decade. At the time it closed 74 restaurants nationwide, including the site in Merced.

The Ovation Brands spokeswoman, who declined to give her name, said the Modesto site's closure this week was not related to its bankruptcy filing.

The Modesto restaurant has already been deleted from the company's website, which lists 34 other California locations. But the restaurant was still inviting people to join them for "Family Night" in a post that went up on its Facebook page Thursday afternoon.

This story was originally published February 22, 2018 at 2:43 PM with the headline "Modesto's HomeTown Buffet closes suddenly after nearly 25 years."