Ovation Brands

Ovation Brands, based in the San Antonio suburb of Hollywood Park, Texas, is a subsidiary of Food Management Partners, Inc. and is the operator of a number of American national buffet chain restaurants including subsidiary company Furr's. The company's restaurants include steak-buffet, as well as steakhouse restaurants with menus that range from grilled-to-order steaks, single-serve dishes, scratch-made soups, entrees and desserts, beverage bars, buffets, chops and grilled seafood, and others. It was previously known as Buffets, Inc.

Their restaurants are now known as Old Country Buffet, HomeTown Buffet and Ryan's Buffet. As of February 6, 2017, Ovation Brands had 113 buffets.

History
 

The company was founded by Roe Hatlen and C. Dennis Scott on October 19, 1983, along with Dermot Rowland and Doron Jensen. Rowland and Jensen left in 1986 to start Homestyle Buffet in Clearwater, Florida.

Scott left in 1989 to start HomeTown Buffet, but the two chains merged in September 1996.

Buffets Inc. in the late 1990s, posted a net income of $28.6 million in 1997 and $39.4 million in 1998, on revenues of $808.5 million and $868.9 million, respectively. In 1998 the company increased the number of company-owned restaurants from 360 to 386. Part of this increase came from the acquisition of 11 eating establishments from Country Harvest Buffet Restaurants, Inc., for $5.6 million.

On November 1, 2006, Buffets Inc. acquired Ryan's Restaurant Group, adding 340 Ryan's Grill Buffet and Bakery and Fire Mountain Grills locations.

On January 22, 2008, Buffets Inc. filed for bankruptcy, under Chapter 11. Although all restaurants were said to be staying open and continuing to operate normally under the then-current reorganization plan, the company called for the immediate closing of 52 stores nationwide, effective February 12, 2008. The final day of normal business operations in these stores, as well as the announcement of closing to all team members in said stores, took place the previous day.

On April 28, 2009, Buffets Inc. emerged from Chapter 11 reorganization with reduced debt along with a new Board of Directors.

On January 18, 2012, Buffets, Inc. filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection again.  This involved the immediate closure of 81 restaurants throughout the country and recapitalizing in an agreement with its lenders that would convert debt into a controlling equity stake.

On March 7, 2016, Ovation Brands filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy closing dozens of locations the weekend before. The bankruptcy was blamed on a lawsuit that had not been disclosed when the current owner bought the businesses in August 2015. The landlord of 16 of Ovation's locations sued the company in February after the closure of 8 of those units. Buffets LLC, which is an affiliate of Food Management Partners, paid an undisclosed amount in August 2015 for Old Country Buffet, Ryan's, Fire Mountain and Tahoe Joe's, in addition to HomeTown. According to court documents, 150 restaurants that were operated by those chains, were part of the bankruptcy filing. According to a court filing by Ovation, the company had $186.3 million in liabilities and $160.2 million in assets.

Chains

Old Country Buffet

As of January 21, 2020, there are 17 locations operating throughout the United States as Old Country Buffet.  At one time there were more than 350 Old Country Buffet restaurants, primarily in the midwest.

HomeTown Buffet
As of August 20, 2019, there are 33 restaurants operating as HomeTown Buffet, with 25 of them in California and the rest scattered throughout the United States. As with Old Country Buffet, at one time there were more than 250 restaurants open under the HomeTown Buffet brand. In the late 1990s, several restaurants rebranded from Old Country Buffet to HomeTown Buffet when the two chains merged.

Ryan's Buffet and Grill/Ryan's Restaurant Group
Ryan's was founded by Alvin A. McCall in 1977. It was acquired by Buffets, Inc. on November 1, 2006.
Some of its accolades include being one of the "Best Small Companies in America" seven consecutive years, and named "Top Family Steakhouse in America" for 10 consecutive years.

Ryan's restaurants once had more than 400 locations primarily in the South and Midwest. This has since been downsized to 16 restaurants in 11 states as of August 20, 2019.

Other restaurants
Tahoe Joe's Famous Steakhouse, which has eight locations in California.

See also
 List of buffet restaurants

References

External links
 Old Country Buffet Website
 HomeTown Buffet Website
 Ryan's Website
 Tahoe Joe's Website

Category:1983 establishments in Minnesota
Category:2015 mergers and acquisitions
Category:Buffet restaurants
Category:Restaurants established in 1983
Category:Companies that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2008
Category:Companies that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2012
Category:Companies that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2016
Category:Food and drink companies of the United States
Category:Private equity portfolio companies