I have been a very strict vegan for 5 years now and they have so many great things for us! We are also gluten free...(mongolian with noodles, noodles for marinara, good sesame dressing at the salad bar- very well taken care of, baked potatoe, taco stuff, fries, green beans and carrots)
Plus this is the only hometown where they know what vegan is...they are all smart and don't argue...just check.
The managers came out to our table a few times after they heard we are vegan and asked if they could make us something special...we said no we just thought the fries oil needs changing...and they agreed and did it right away!
muahs!
I have been to this location in the past. Â It was never great, but it used to be passable, with good to middling items.
The fried chicken is still good. Â Unfortunately, the rest looks fine but is largely tasteless. Â Or tastes *bad*.
Pasta in white sauce with chicken? Â No taste. Â What looks like Orange Chicken? Â I can't even tell what it was supposed to be, but it was sticky and bland, with way too much batter.
Some items with taste just tasted terrible. Â The popcorn shrimp had nice texture but the oil taste was very strong and the taste of shrimp nonexistent. Â The pineapple at the stir-fry to-order station had an obnoxious, fake taste. Â I've had far better canned pineapple. Â It's bad when you're eating out and longing for canned pineapple.
The stir-fry station was new to me. Â The plus is that you get a large amount, and it's your choice of noodles or rice, chicken, shrimp, or beef (or all three), and veggies. Â The downside is that it doesn't taste very good. Â Even with my beloved Sriracha, I wanted to be done after a few bites.
To top it off, the desserts are equally tasteless. Â The bread pudding was a textureless, tasteless mush. Â The banana pudding, which used to be so flavorful, was flat. Â Carrot cake was okay, but uninspiring and sad. Â The cheesecake? Â No taste at all. Â It was a crime against cheesecake. Â Even the hot fudge is now unappetizing. Â
The price has gone up, but the quality, which was never stellar to begin with, has gone way down. Â I don't ever want to come back.
At the end, I didn't feel shame because I ate too much. Â I felt shame because I ate food that was sub-par to awful. Â Don't waste your time or money. Â There are so many better options out there.
If you come into HomeTown Buffet and expect a high quality dinner, then you're going to leave grumpy, sad, and pessimistic.
If you take it for what it is, your experience will be a lot better. Â Remember that you're paying around $10 for a salad bar, a variety of hot foods, and a dessert bar!
The only thing i have to say is "aweful". Â My family came for first time and the manager gave a team meeting to his staff at the next table. Â I feel it was very unprofessional of the manager to pick that location to speak to his staff. Â Besides the bad food we had to sit there and be subjected to all the restaurants issues and problems. Â Specifically the food was underflavored and very bland. Â Besides salads there were no good vegetable choices. Â They did have corn, green beans and carrots that all appeared to be dumped right out of a can. Â I go to Sizzler and Souplantation and in my opinion they are much better in quality, and atmosphere.
Review Source:Gosh I wished I had yelped this before wasting my money coming here.... After fasting blood work we were ravenous for a quick close-by lunch. Â Dingy place, food not so good, crowded with Leisure World residents. Â I don't get it, why pay to eat here? Â I have been to many HTB's but will not return to this one ever again. Â thought because of the location it would be good but....save your money even the desserts were not worth it.
Review Source:10/04/2012, Â No clean tables the food was cold and it was just a mess. What do you expect for the price you pay and this establishment caters to Laguna Woods you would think they would take a little pride in the quality of what is being put out after all the quest can see what is going on we all don't have to were glasses.
Review Source:One star? Â So mean you say? Â Noooooo. Â My family and I used to frequent Home Town Buffet in my teens early twenties, and back then the food was good. Â Nowadays, it is just disgusting. Â Although it is still cheap to eat here, the food quality has gone down the drain with the economy. Â My last visit will be just that.....my last visit. Â This location in particular has torn up booth seats, it's just plain old run down. Â Save your money, and eat up calories else where.
Review Source:This review applies to the Laguna Woods location only, haven't been in other locations to assess.  Unless its obvious, like tomatoes, they don't want you to know what they're serving - almost NOTHING is labeled. Unbelievable. You have to chase down a staff member to ask what the food is. The other day, there was some kind of mystery meat in the hot bin, we couldn't tell if liver or perhaps swiss steak.  I had to take a fork, lift it to my nose to smell it, nope, wasn't liver. How many others have to do that breathing their germs all over the food before putting back?  If you have food allergies, or don't eat pork, or are vegetarian - forgetta bout it, you may not see/notice an offending food until you have it in your mouth already.  That happened the other day with a potato/cheese dish which I discovered had bacon in it when I took a bite of it.  Love bacon but it doesn't love me.  Oh, and I hope you like gristle. Yes there are more hot food options here but Souplantation is a much better choice.  They label EVERYTHING, including ingredients, what's vegetarian and everything made fresh.  And if a senior, less expensive: Mon-Thurs from  2-5pm, only $6.99 including drinks.
Review Source:I have never been to a Hometown Buffet. Â After going only once, I will never go again. Â The food was tasteless and messy. Â All the food looked like it had been played with by kids. The cleanliness of the place was terrible. Â The tables were greasy and the fountain drink area smelled like old wet towels. Â Terrible!
Review Source:They say u get what u pay for, but at htb u get more! I think this is such deal! With a $3 coupon u can online, dinner is only $10! With that includes prime rib, pastas, nachos, tacos my favs:fried chicken, mashed potatoes, gravy, carrots, desserts, and the out of this world sweet rolls!
We went last nite n it was packed except for the two booths in back right corner. Found out there is a funny smell there. Tott....think on these things
Just like any other buffet, lots of food choices with blah quality. Â What I love most is their prime rib, with mash, and with lots & lots & LOTS or G.R.A.V.Y! Â It's SO GOOD when they're all put together in a perfect bite. Yummmooooo, I HEART it. Â
What else is good, oh their fry chicken. Â It's so juicy, hot, and crispy because their right out of the fryer! Â But, of course, it's only the best if it's loaded with GRAVY!!! Â I don't know what's up with me a gravy... but food just doesn't taste the same without it. ^^
After I stuff all the food in my mouth and into my stomach is when the guilt to set in. Â BUT!!! I have learned to tell myself, "Rose, it's o.k., your diet can always start TOMORROW!"
The people who beat up on this place in reviews are funny.
But they're not accurate.
For the same price (or less!) than a salad, burger and mini-dessert at some fast-food restaurant, you get a wide variety of choices. I was impressed how they continually bring out fresh supplies from the kitchen so nothing stagnates. It gets a little crowded during peak times because it's an exceptional bargain for what you get. Sure, you can get a better steak for $50. But this place feeds the whole family for that price. And it's terrific for kids who like choosing their own meals, so a multi-generational outing makes everyone happy.
So to those who go here with the intention of writing bad reviews, here's a tip: Don't go! You'll be much happier at Taco Bell (for the same price) or Mortons (for ten times the price). Heck, Home Town Buffet even has a surprisingly fresh salad bar so you can eat healthy if you want. Or just pig out with the whole extended family.
Of course, if you don't like children and old people, avoid this place. (And good luck living without starting young or becoming old.) Also, if you have certain racial prejudices, you might also find yourself unhappily surrounded. Those who don't mind being among a variety of fellow humans will probably have a much better time. :)
Leisure World in da howwwse!
I wanted to get out of the house, so I begged my boyfriend to take me out to dinner. Â Unfortunately, money is tight for him, so he insisted on dragging me here because he had a coupon for it. Â Nevermind that there are tons of better restaurants around and we had coupons for better places. Â I tried to protest, but he insisted that if I wanted to eat out, that it was Hometown or eat at home. Â Blah. Â I'm no fan of buffet restaurants. Â Maybe Chinese buffets will do, but I've never cared for HTB. Â
The cashier took forever, so the line getting in was slow. Â The food was as bland and salty as I remembered it from years ago. Â Another thing I don't care for is the ambience, or lack thereof. Â Also, as I tried to tell him, this place is geared more for families, not couples like us. Â I saw far more kids than elders the evening we were here.
Also, some of these reviews say that the bathrooms are clean, but I dunno...I went in to wash my hands after eating some of the fried chicken and this woman and her little daughter stunk up the bathroom from dropping dueces.
There was awful Muzak playing really loud above the tables.
All kinds of people milling about, grabbing mediocre food. Â I don't know why anyone likes this place. Â I also hate when I get full and fat on foods that I didn't even like. Â Also, on the way home, my heartburn was acting up. Â My esophagus felt on fire and I had to swig some Pepto-Bismol. Â Then, I pooped. Â The end.
A friend of mine insisted we go here. I checked the rating on yelp of 2.5 stars and wasn't expecting much. We went in and the place looks like an old plain cafeteria (this place is all you can eat, like Soup Plantation, btw). Â I started with the salad bar, which was actually Good and fresh. I liked that part. Then I made a sample platter of everything else, tacos, spaghetti, steak, ham, shrimp, pizza, and other stuff. When I sampled it, I only like about 2-3 out of about ten things. The spaghetti tasted like a store-bought box spaghetti. Yuck. The pizza was terrible. The chicken wings were good. The ham was okay. The steak was okay-good. The rice and jambalaya was good. So I liked three things (and the limited salad bar) out of about a dozen plus things that I tried, and two things were actually repulsive (I spit them into my napkin). I would go back for just the ... Actually No, I will Not be going back.
Review Source:Ok ... lets the set the expectations here. This is not Vegas, this is not some fancy restaurant, this is a chain restaurant where they buy beef, chicken, fish for really low prices at wholesale for people to consume.
Is food cooked? Yes
Is the food edible? Yes
Do they have steak night? Yes
Does 6.99 for lunch sound like a deal? Yes
Can you deal with the Sr. Citizen crowd? Yes
Are you ready to stuff your self with carbs, i.e. mashed potatoes, mac n cheese? Yes
This is the joint for you.
Don't come here if you want service, organic, or decor. Frankly it's stuck in a time warp in 1990 with its teal color scheme.
Enjoy some fried chicken and be happy.
I have found this restaurant to be a hit and miss. Â More often than not a miss. Â If you are looking for healthy selection's this isn't the place. Â I would love to see more raw vegetable selections and less glopped up salads. Â The soups are leisure world style, bland. Â The noise level is horrible. Â The dessert bar area should be avoided unless you want to contract some disease. Â VERY DIRTY. Â We sent a letter to their corporate offices and have yet to hear from them. Â We won't go back unless we hear of some tremendous changes.
Review Source:I've been dragged to two of these places three times over the past few years and finally had to write something up because the third time I almost broke my rule about lecturing others on their food and this rant has been building up inside me. Seriously - at this point if I hear someone say "let's go to Hometown Buffet" I might just run away like a vampire from garlic and if they're taking children there I believe child protective services should get involved. If you doubt that the American palette has devolved, come here. If you doubt that Americans have largely given up on the idea that food should have some nutritional value and less than a pound of salt per serving, come here. If you want to watch people shovel it in and justify calling it good because it's cheap and you can eat like a pig, come here.
The first time I went to one of these (Oceanside, CA) was with a large group of friends and a good-sized passel of kids. I was told upfront what a great place this was and had really good, wholesome food. At the time I was not yet a vegan so I was prepared to dive into just about anything there. I did. And I regretted it. Grease. Salt. The salad bar was bland and horrible: I've done better with fast food places' salads. The "carving station" meat was fatty and gross and their greatly-hyped fried chicken was bland other than the salt. I love to cook and I know food and I was having trouble eating this stuff. Lots of bland or salty side dishes, and what nasty buffet would be complete without little mini-slices of cardboard-like, barely-sauced "pizza?" The mashed potatoes were instant. Bad. Very bad. Dessert: ho-hum baked goods that you can top with half-watery/half-icy soft-serve ice cream. What bothered me was all the people either actually enjoying this dreck or (I'm hoping) pretending that it was worthwhile so as not to offend others.
The next two times were at the Laguna Woods location. Same stuff, different restaurant. At this point I am off meat so I don't have to subject myself to anything other than the iceberg lettuce. I was "tricked" into showing up this last time: if I had known that was where everyone was getting together I'd have feigned a family emergency or joined the Foreign Legion or something to avoid it.
What bothers me not so much that this place is bad, it's that this type of place so often now passed off as "good." Worse, this is considered a great place to take kids? Google around a bit, folks, there are easy ways to cheaply feed your family that don't involve a chemical-laden, prepackaged, diet of salty swill.
I'm really surprised by the low reviews for this Hometown Buffet. I thought this as one of the better hometown buffets out there. I've eaten at 8 other hometown buffets and would say this is one of the better ones. The steak at this one was better than Denny's and Norms, I always ask for the pinker meat and have them slice it on the side of the filet mignon.The fried chicken is good as well just have to get it when it first comes out and get the smaller pieces. They had good selections of salad (mixed, spinach, ceaser) they even had real extra virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Not a fan of the carb dishes, spaghetti, pizza or breads, rice etc....Taiwanese thing I guess my parents always told me to go for the meats and unbreaded seafood first and expensivevegetables plus allthe drinksare included. carbs r cheap. Am going back again.
Review Source:Located in new part of El Toro. Â This location is incorrectly displayed by Google Map. Â I'm surprised to see some of the harsh reviews. Â Personally, I didn't think it was spectacular but definitely not as bad.
The price has definitely been a little more than before but considering it's pretty clean and most diners are senior citizens. Â It's pretty decent place for dinner. Â Some other locations, you literally have to gear up to "fight" for the ration. Â So knowing I don't have to do that, it's a relief after all, the staff would replace for new batch frequently.
Food can be inconsistent. Â If you are looking for a great piece of prime rib, this is not the place. Â Sometimes it's good but sometimes it's overcooked and a little dried. Â The last time I was there, the fried chicken was pretty good.
This buffet restaurant used to be "ok" for your dollar.  It's not high quality food.  Drinks used to be included in the meal charges but now it's an extra 99 cents charge.  That's fine until they harrass you to death about forcing you to pay another 99 cents for a drink!  No matter how many times I've gone to this place and told the fools no thank you for the beverage, they'd keep hounding me.  I've seen them do it to other customers too and this poor old man in front of me in the cashier's line nearly choked up because they wouldn't accept his no to the drink!  I was disgusted and shocked at them.  Their new  "beverage charge" is outrageously ridiculous and because of the bad customer service I've received (about the drink add on) to the manager there, I'll never return to this rest.  The mgr. did nothing to alleviate or compromise a complaint that I had which was being overcharged on a meal!  The mgr. should have offered a discount coupon or something.  Nothing!  There was not even an apology.  I'll go to some place like Coco's and pay more $$ from now on.
Review Source:OMG, I went to a Buffet style restaurant!! What has gotten into me?!
Ok, ok, for my defense, I went with my parents and THEY were paying. Free food, a chance to get outta the house, free food, spending *cough* quality time with the parentals *cough*, free food, I can party with the old folks of Laguna Woods (seriously, I was one of the youngest people in the whole place), free food...well, you get the point.
For one, I think this place is kinda expensive. $11.29 for a buffet dinner?! I could think of better places I'd rather go and spend the same kinda money. But whatevers, the parents are paying.
Second, food is just meh. Salad bar was wonderful, lettuce and all the veggies are fresh. As for the rest of the food..well, it's a hit or miss. I tried their mashed potatos and mac and cheese, I ate all of them, but they left a weird taste in my mouth and made me feel way bloated. Huh. And I'm a die hard mac and cheese and mashed potato fan too. Ok than. My parents tried some ribs (which I couldn't eat because I'm on a strict no meat diet). They loved the ribs and ate 2 plates full of them. They sure did smell good!!! Guess they were good....
Dessert made the meal. Yummy slice of cheescake with strawberry topping. Yummmm tasty. So good.
Drinks...well, you serve yourself so you can have as many as you'd like. They offer milk, coke and diet coke, sprite, etc, coffee and *gasp* slurpees!!!! OMG, I'm in heaven...expecially when the last time I had a slurpee I was probably 10 years old. How fun.
The staff and cleanliness of the place was great!! Staff was friendly. Bathrooms were clean and smelled like they were recently cleaned too, score!!!
Not sure if I'd come here on my own, but if I come with my parents....well, I'd give Hometown Buffet another shot than.
Ugh, the food here is so gross. Â The man and I came here only because he had a gift card for Hometown Buffet (who the hell would give a $100 gift card to Hometown Buffet? Â Why not just buy them an ipod or something?) that he wanted to use up. The food is so gross.... I did not like anything I tried. First of all, the price all day on Sundays is like $12.95 or something which is ridiculously expensive for effing Hometown Buffet. The mashed potatoes tasted like the stuff from a box. The gravy tasted like the stuff from a packet. The corn tasted like it came straight from the can. The freshly baked bread wasn't good. The pizza was crap. No shrimp in popcorn shrimp. The beef for the tacos was worse than Taco Bell beef. The orange sherbet tasted like frozen Sunny D. The rice krispy treats tasted like cardboard. Â How do you eff up rice krispy treats? Â Although I will admit that the bbq ribs were decent, but Hometown Buffet must have been out to get me because the rib dropped onto my white shorts -_- Never going back! Even if it's free!
Review Source:I.
Grace K.
Yeah - me. Â I, like I said. Â You know, the foodie - - me. Â I is me.
I went here.
To Hometown Buffet.
In Laguna Woods.
There were 2 four year olds, 4 eight year olds, and then I was the youngest in the whole room of some 100 people.
Yeah - you heard me. Â I partied at Hometown on a Saturday night.
Quite literally - the majority of the meal was bad. Â I mean B-A-D. Â People kept raving about the fried chicken and I tried it.
B-A-D.
They carved me some 3 varieties of meat. Â I'm not sure how ALL were B-A-D.
But soft-serve and warm apple crisp on top.... Â the saving grace, no pun intended, saved the day. Â I mean - COME ON. Â That earns at LEAST one star.
______________________________________
I rarely feel dumber than when I waste calorie intake on food I don't even LIKE.
Decent for the breakfast buffet on the weekends. Â Cheap! it can get busy as well. Get there early!
Too bad they don't have it during the week. I'm sure all the old people would dine here. The carrows up El Toro is very busy on weekday mornings.
Overall, it's pretty mediocre for my standards. Some of the food sits out too long.. I have had worse though. Â Las Brisas is better, but much more pricey.
The review is closer to 2.5 stars. Â This review is for breakfast only.
You know what, I actually enjoyed the buffet. I used to be the person who didn't like buffets with massive portions and people gorging themselves on food. But last night, I had to restrain myself from eating too much meatloaf. Well just remember its meatloaf is only on wednesdays so it's a special treat.
All of the food was nicely prepared, nothing out of the ordinary was floating in the corn. I really liked the cornbread stuffing and the grilled cheese. Yum Yum!
This was a relatively cheap dinner for two...$24 for all you can eat?
NIce.
Don't turn your nose up to the hometown...give it a chance!
You are horrible. Â I love you. Â My dark, sweet treat. Â Your food has no flavor, save the hint of salt that you deign to give me, only now and again. Â Peering at your mounds of macaroni and puddles of gravy, through scratched sneezeguard, all things seem possible. Â Yet nothing materializes. Â You make me long for the day when I foresake everything and drown myself in your meaningless calories. Â Ballooning to enormous size, conforming to the shape of your booths, softly serving soft serve spoonfuls to my sorrowful esophagus. Â Take me away, Hometown Buffet....
Review Source:
The 5 best restaurants in the 2015 Denver Restaurant Week
3,611 Views | Category: Denver
The complete list of 2015 Denver Restaurant Week businesses
1,972 Views | Category: Denver
The tourists' guide to Portillos: 5 must have dishes
3,318 Views | Category: Chicago
Pho = Pronounced "fuh" not "foe" for pho-king sake
2,915 Views | Category: Denver
Indulgery selected to exhibit at Collision Conference
2,987 Views | Category: Press Releases
Not Logged In
BUSINESSES
Local Businesses
Near Me
My Favorites
SOCIAL
Blog & News
MY ACCOUNT
Login
Register
Contact Us
Add Your Business
