HomeTown Buffet

Drove by last night at the place was closed! Maybe the health department finally closed them down.

Wow… this place was depressing. Way overpriced. Quality of food was poor (I sampled a lot). Limited buffet offerings. Even though it was before the dinner rush, the place was dirty.
I won’t bother writing about taste of food, because that is subjective and besides, this place is supposed to be a «bargain» eatery at $ 15 a person; which was waaaay to much. Especially for the quality. Even the hot fudge was runny, thin, and not much like chocolate at all. The only food I found to be decent was the brisket. A lil dry, but easily their best offering.
Staff was friendly tho. And it is why I give this place two stars.

This location used to be great. Food was delicious, environment was friendly, and the place was clean as can be. Well today they put the Home Town name to shame. The food was disgusting, the food displays were a mess and the place just felt gross to be in. There was pizza that was undercooked, ground beef that was floating in grease, and the condiment bar looked like if ketchup declared war on sour cream and then celebrated by raiding the mustard station.
The one highlight of the day was Jennifer who made sure to clear our plates promptly and took our complaints back to the kitchen. Additionally i saw no hair nets on the employees that were serving the food, or the employees that were going back into the kitchen.
I won’t say this is the last time I will go because i really want this place to get back to what i could say was its formal glory.
Home Town PLEASE kick it into gear, if you’re going to raise the prices every year then the very least you can do is keep the food good

Never give anyone a 1 star but everytime I go here I leave with diarrhea.. Just sayin I’ve tried it three different times mostly for big birthdays with the family… and different times of the day thinking it may have just been me. but icky results each time. food tasted good but WOWZERS

They will quote you one price on the phone and play dumb and charge a higher price when you get there. They don’t have a senior discount anymore but pretend like they do when you ask for it. Dishonest management gets them 1 star.

Patron Beware:
The $ 9.99 coupon for dinner when you purchase the drink is a LIE… bait and switch and misrepresentation at its best.
I will post my receipt in pics for all to see.
You will be overcharged approx. $ 2.50 and could be told as I was that your getting charged twice is due to a double tax charge… huh…what…liars…ripoff
2dinners at $ 9.99 plus 2 drinks $ 4.98 that’s what you should pay… but imagine my surprise
See my pic dined 2÷12÷16 18:20 pm

Today we came all the way from fremont. Tim was amazing. The best customer service ever above and beyond expectations. He is very nice and friendly.

Nasty food and restaurant is disgusting. As your eating there nasty generic mash potatoes you can smell feet. The carpet stinks SO bad. It’s been awhile since I’ve been here and definitely will be my last. Do not come here unless you like to smell feet while you’re eating. –5 Stars!!!

If only I could spell awful with negative stars I would. First things first, my outer and inner fat boy loves a good buffet. Sadly, this is not one of them, far from it.
The one star, the one staff member, she was nice. She took out money, make sure to clear our table. Which at a buffet place, is really all one can ask for.
The food here, is Nasty. We came in about a hour before closing and that usually is enough for them to refresh whatever. Nope, I was wrong, the two pieces of mini meatloaf was that was available for everyone, or the one slice of three hours old pizza or the dried up pasta, or the pot of non-​existence soup. The list goes on and on. Besides the one person who worked there, (there were more employees, just one working) everyone else looked like I punched them in the face just by me saying hi.
Pro-​tip: Go to the Big 5 sporting goods next door, they have better food.

Disgusting. Tried to find a place with something for everyone and not too expensive for 2 boys and 2 adults. Cost more than worth, bleh food, and FOOD POISONING for almost a week! I will never ever go to a hometown buffet again. I hadn’t thrown up in about 10 years but this woke me up in the middle of the night and kept me sick at least a week

This «restaurant» deserves a negative star rating. First of all, the food was cold and plain. Made me sick to my stomach. The restaurant was unsanitary and uninviting. To top it off, my whole family was harassed by the unprofessional manager named Larry. He accused us of stealing soda and grabbed our cups off of our table and eventually called two Pinole police officers to deal with the situation. He embarrassed us in front of the whole restaurant and ruined everyone’s night.

I ate here because my tutoring student cancelled at the last minute (really, after the last minute), so I had some time before my next student, and figured I could use some dinner. I’d heard it was good, and came in to check it out.
The cashier, who had to be called over by other staff to ring me up (you pay before you eat, which is typical of any buffet, etc.) was excited to hear it was my first time eating there, and asked me if everything was okay when she was taking care of other duties. She pointed out that they had ham, roast beef, and other things. There wasn’t anyone at the carving station, so I asked one of the workers who was busily cleaning and stocking, who the carver was. He said «I’m the carver,» and took care of me after finishing whatever he was doing. The management definitely gets as much work as it can from the staff there, which makes service time suffer a bit, but it wasn’t busy enough and I wasn’t in a big enough hurry for it to matter. The carver gave me two large slices of very rare roast beef.
The other food was typical of what you’d get at a Ponderosa, Sizzler, cheap Las Vegas casino buffet, or whatever. There was fried fish, fried chicken, mac & cheese, green beans, mashed potatoes, Sweet Tomatoes or Souplantation style pizza and brownies, Rice Krispie treats, soft-​serve ice cream, and tons of other things. Mostly I stuck to the roast beef and mac & cheese, but the fried fish wasn’t bad, either. I didn’t try the chicken, mashed potatoes, or the soft-​serve, but I’m sure it was fine.
The place wasn’t crowded when I was eating there (about 5:45 to 6:30 pm), and the service was reasonable — they cleared my plate and utensils while I was up getting more food, so they’re pretty efficient at keeping the place clean. The buffet and soda (free refills) cost me about $ 16. I don’t see how you can beat that price for an all-​you-​can-​eat buffet with decent food, including real roast beef.

Mom dragged me here because she had a $ 4.99 coupon for breakfast… I’m not even sure if it was worth that.
I hadn’t been to this place in probably over a decade and I see nothing has changed! It’s the same old, bland, reheated and re-​fried crappy food. The dining room is dingy as hell and doesn’t feel clean at all.
Plus one star for the cheap price and the really friendly cashier.

I knew walking into Hometown Buffet not to have good expectations, but my goodness! I am currently sitting in a booth with my kids and I can’t wait to leave! The food here is terrible. I waited 5 minutes at the front desk just to pay, that should have been my first sign. The kids were excited about the Icee machine, none of the flavors were ready. The foods appearance is terrible. Right off bat looking at the buffet made me loose my appetite. The plates and cups look partially washed. I am so disappointed how bad this place is, I don’t know how it is still in business. I really wish I wouldn’t have waisted my money here.

Don’t know if anyone actually reads these reviews but I can’t even review the food since we were basically pushed out before. We arrived at 820 not knowing they closed at 830. We haven’t been here in so long but decided to give it a try. We weren’t trying to stay long since my friend works graveyard we just had a craving.
One of the ladies nicely told us they were closing soon and offered to let us look at what they had to see if we still wanted to stay. After looking we decided to stay. Only to be meet by another girl who started to say «are you sure you want to stay? We close in like 7 minutes and foods only left out for another 10 minutes» mind you the girl earlier said they close at «8:30, but really like 9». Then the pushier girl said yeah it’d be like 32 $ for you both, we’re almost about to close. Making it BLATANTLY obvious we weren’t welcomed.
Not sure if they wanted the extra food to bring home or just didn’t want to deal with us but having to leave irritated and hungry is not a good combination. As both full time workers we understand better than anyone having people come in last minute but that’s what you’re paid for. Acting like you hate your job and your clients is a sure way to lose business. We won’t be coming here again, sad we couldn’t even try the food.

The smell in this place is terrible and is coming from the carpet. I am not planning on coming back again!
I suggest tiles or please change the carpet. Surprised you can keep the restaurant open to the public it is anti hygienic

We’ve been to this location a few times. The few things I like they have a lot of: corn bread, mashed potatoes — really good corn, orange chicken — couple other things.
But I do see what people are complaining about as far as food goes. The pizza looked like it was taken out of the garbage. I saw the same two pieces untouched the whole time we were there last night. We have been there before where it took a long time to get fresh silverware out. I asked a guy about it and he snapped «it’s coming.» Unlike the HTB in Concord, the lettuce at this place never looks fresh. We have been here when only one ice-​cream dispenser was working and there was a very limited selection of desserts (everything was good last night).
Again, it comes down to clientele. Can you stand being around the other patrons? Last night there was this large group of folks who moved a bunch of tables together and blocked everyone from getting by to go to the bathroom. Other people don’t exist to folks like this. Me, I just pushed their chairs aside to get through. They looked at me like «wtf?» I’m peeing in the bathroom over there, or I’m peeing here on your table — your choice.
There was one lady at the table next to these folks, who didn’t want the waitress cleaning off the table there while she was eating (after the rude idiots left). I didn’t see the whole thing, I saw the end where she yelled «get the f away. I don’t want you here.» I don’t know if it was a racist thing or what. Seeing people like that makes me want to stay far away from places like this. It’s not the first time I’ve seen something like that there.
One time we were here and there was this guy carrying a pillow he had just bought. This table of folks over from him said «hey! Where’d you get that?» like they had never seen a pillow before or perhaps there’s a pillow shortage in Pinole I’m not aware of.
The guy said «at Kmart! Only 2.50» The table of pillow fans all happily mumbled together «wow, that’s amazing. We have to get some!» They talked about this amazing pillow for a long time after.
Only at a place like this will you find folks who are impressed with a 2 dollar pillow.

Hard to believe the Home Town in Pinole is the same franchise as the one in Fairfield. The quality of the Pinole one has been going downhill for quite a while.
We only ate there recently because of an online coupon and were again disappointed. I live in Vallejo and its and easy choice to eat at the Home Town in Fairfieild. We won’t be visiting the one in Pinole any time soon

I got what I paid for, but far less then I expected. (Caveat Emptor)
Service is adequate and polite.
The food preparation is marginal and some is downright sketchy.
Stay away from the roast beef. The outside is burnt to a crisp and the center is cold and bloody.
The beverage area is neat and clean and seems to have been upgraded since my last visit.
The tables are cleared promptly and the floors are surprisingly clean.
This place is for families with adolescents and teenagers. mac and cheese, fries and pizza seem to be most popular.

If you have ever visited the San Leandro location, this is better compared… the noise level is low, it is continuously in cleaning, the staff is very nice…
Our server Jhay, I think that was her name, wonderful service…
I wouldn’t pay full price for this buffet, only with discounts…
Much cleaner by all means, the customers are even nicer here…
San Leandro ought to be redone… everything.