HomeTown Buffet

I have been to this location several times. Being a senior, I look for the most value for my buck. When it comes to food it is basic good food. The quality can range from good to uh-​ok, The service is good, pleasant, helpful, and unusually fast response to any question or concern
The place itself is clean, except the restrooms: Hmmmm
Overall, a good buffet

Great price. Server took 30 minutes to stop by our table to Say welcome she was busy looking at her phone and talking to frowns. So no tip for her I hope she gets paid foe reading text messages

I’m writing this to warn people that hometown buffet in El Cajon and Santee has completely change ownership and that food is garbage. Theres absolutely nothing good about these restaurants so what ever you do please don’t waste your money and time you will be absolutely dissatisfied.

Bad taste and bad service as well not worth it $ 15 a person, never go there again!!!

Should’ve known we were in for a bad experience when we saw vomit on the ground outside the restaurant by a trash can. Avoided the black eyed beans because of that. Inside the buffet, they didn’t keep selections stocked at all times. The food was fairly good otherwise. The Coke machine was out of carbonation. Then to top it off, the women’s restroom was nasty. Ugh, had to tell the cashier to get someone to clean it. We usually like to come here to eat but tonight was very disappointing. Managers on duty were Bill & Shawnte.

This place is controlled by the screaming children running around. It is like going to Chucky Cheese with cafeteria food at a circus.

Some of the food was too hard or too salty; food wasn’t fresh. I wouldn’t recommend this one. The waitress, Violet, greeted politely. Food wasn’t good at all. Came here with a BOGO coupon with my baby, wife and I. A cup had a CHUCK E CHEESE TICKET IN IT! WHAT IN THE WORLD?! Don’t plan to come back.

The stuff was nice, but the food was terrible. Is almost like a dog food. The meet was dry and over cooked. Everything else was cold and tasteless. I don’t recommend it at all.

The key is to come here with expectations that are on par with what you’re getting (you 1 star reviewers out there that had to wait 10 minutes for something that ran out). You may have to wait a short bit if something has run dry, but hey, usually there’s no wait to get a seat to begin with. If you mention something is out they’ll get on it– have patience!
This is basic midwestern and southern food, nothing fancy, and you’ll probably find a few dishes you love and some you’ll hate. The salad bar is very basic compared to Soup Plantation, but there’s a lot of other food to choose from. If you’re a fan of fried chicken, turkey, meatloaf and mashed potatoes, mac and cheese, maybe a mini pot pie or orange chicken, a couple soups, some southern fare like fried okra and collard greens, and other food along these lines, and you come with realistic expectations for the food and service, you’ll come away happy. If you come here thinking it’s all going to be amazing for this price you’ve set the bar to high (it’s a cheap buffet people!!).
Dishes worth trying:
chicken, meatloaf, okra, mini pot pies (I add more peas from the salad bar), pot roast, orange chicken, turkey/​potatoes/​gravy/​stuffing, etc.
Anyone who eats the pizza or pasta at a buffet like this and thinks it will be beyond mediocre is not choosing wisely, so use your brain when you choose what to eat at a place like this and you’ll be happy.
Sign up for their e-​club and you’ll get a steal of a meal on occasion too.

This particular location holds a special place in my heart for the many times we came here when my children were young. They each participated in a reading program sponsored by Hometown Buffet which rewarded them with a free meal when they met their goal. We came here other times as well but my children were always treated like superstars. My grown son and I recently ate dinner here and were pleasantly surprised to find a very nice lady named Violet still works here. We remembered her from a decade or so ago. She remembered us as well. :-) Meagan made our night memorable as well and didn’t mind our meandering over coffee and desert as it was near closing. For me customer service is everything in any type of business. This place has always had friendly, helpful staff as well as good food at a reasonable price. Thank you HOMETOWN BUFFET. And special thanks to Violet and Meagan.

Well I have been here a few times and it is what it is. Can’t expect gourmet food from a chain buffet. That being said food seems to be traded out and kept at a decent temp. Food isn’t anything to brag about but isn’t bad. Always seems to be kept very clean. All in all not a bad place to take the FAM for a quick easy well priced meal.

You need old management back this used to be so good??? Waited for plates to come out, then waited for salad bar to be filled, funny all the ingredients were sitting in the area while the cashier/​filler of the salad bar was talking at the register. Desert was a joke missing items and dirty posted pics. Won’t be back. And what is a code red??? Manager called code red after I talked to her

/​1I was at Hometown, El cajon, Sunday 9÷1÷15 about
. My whole church was there. The food was just okay not awesome like it usually is. This location has really gone down since we Randy left. Man what a great manager he was. Management really makes the difference. They need a visit from the ceo to stir them up. They should take pride in the food that they put out and how it is presented. People eat with there eyes and if it looks bad they will not return.

Came here ⁸⁄₂₃ around 10:40 am and was really impressed with this location. I usally pass on hometown because of I never been a fan. I always see the new coupons in mail and my neighbors wanted to go so I went.
I paid 5.00 for breakfast w/​coupon which ended at 11:00. We had the best of both– ending breakfast and begging lunch. Not crowded at that time and food was well stocked. I really wanted an omelette and the chef cooking the omelette was closing his station soon but was very accommodating taking my order, he was great! Even though another worker was rushing him.
On Sunday they had freshly cooked ham, beef roast and bbq ribs. Everything pretty good and for the price you can’t complain. I was with a group of 5 adults and 3 kids, one of the kids went up to a manager and asked for shrimp (mine you the kid is 6) the MANAGER was amazing she brought fried shrimp 5 mins later to are tables. I thought the kid was playing with us when she said it’s on the way… We didn’t get names but the MANAGER was a woman with brown hair, black pants and a white shirt– she’s amazing great customer service and really goes out of her way. Thank you.
This location has changed my opinion on hometown Buffet.;)

Well. as a matter of fact — we’re sitting in this establishment right now. We arrived at 4:15pm and there was absolutely NO meat sitting out on the carving boards. none, zip, zilch. And what food they DID have out looked kinda pitiful.
We both literally kinda stood around with empty plates in our hands in hesitation on what to try first.
It was «that bad» and we’ve been coming to this location for 20 years.
It’s so not anything like it used to be – even 2 – 3 yrs ago it was a good go-​to place for good, cheap all you can eat cafeteria type food. It’s gone downhill, and then got even worse, if you can imagine that.
Right now, I feel particularly sorry for one cool young man that’s been working here for a few years. poor guy looks totally embarrassed to be here today.
Can’t say I blame him. Oh well…
Oh yeah, and the highlight is the typical rodeo of little unattended kids literally running SPRINTS back and forth past our table.
Yeeahh, good times at HTB…

Oh home town. Oh how I miss the good ol days when you guys were awesome. But those were the 90’s…
Me and the family ended up trying out the El Cajon Hometown after not stepping foot for about 5+ years. We figured, hey maybe they got better — since they got a new CEO. Well the commercials were wrong.
We got seated pretty fast on a Saturday evening. Prices were what I expected. The place seemed a little messy on the tables (Later on one of the waitresses said they were low on staff). That usually says a lot about a business. If they can’t get their staff to come in, maybe the working environment (pay, moral) isn’t the best.
Break down on the foodies:
Good Food — Steak, Chicken pot pie, and the brownies. Yep. That’s it.
Meh food — Macaroni and cheese, grilled jalepenos (is that even a food or a side dish?), Salad (how does one go wrong here?)
Horrible — White mac n cheese, masked potatoes, prime rib (too dry and tough), pizza (didn’t even have cheese), brownie with pudding, etc. etc. etc…
What it boiled down to, was 3 good courses and the rest was mediocre to bad. I got what I paid for. Next time I’ll probably save my money for vegas or head to Barona or Viejas.
Sorry Hometown you tried, but you will eventually end up going bye bye in a few years.

So home town buffet…
I honestly don’t even know where to begin.
The other night my husband and I decided to take my mom to dinner and out of alllllll the places she wanted to go she picked home town in El Cajon. So we get there and there is a line out the door. Okay I was a little excited because I hadn’t been there in for ever. I figured it must be good if there is a line. Right? Riiiiggghhtt.. Come to find out it was a technical issue so we were only line for about 4 – 5 mins. We get in and there is no there.
So I try and find a place to eat and every where is dirty. I kindly ask the «server» to help me clean a table. She was super sweet and apologized.
So we go to get food.
I seriously felt so sick picking up food and putting it on my plate. Against my better judgement I ate some chicken. It was very bad. I was so mad that I was going to ask for money back but my mom is too sweet and suggested we leave. I just wish place put out quality food for people paying for it. Ugh.

Beyond irritated with this establishment… I came to this restaurant 12/​24/​2014 I went into the restaurant with my son and myself and was waiting on my fiancé so I paid for my fiancé ahead of time. Total came to $ 24 and some change… My fiancé came in unaware I paid (my fault) but then I realized he was about to pay and I yelled over, I already paid for you. So they «refunded» the card only the card didn’t refund and the payment posted. Writing a letter to their corporate, and quite honestly pissed.
In regards to the food it’s usually decent, however when we came here the waitstaff was less than helpful with clearing plates off the table. The restrooms here also are not well kept, and no changing station for a child. The ambience is nice but the blinds were all closed which was eh. I along with my son like to look out the window. So between the credit card problem, and the waitstaff I don’t think I’ll be back anytime soon!!!

Let me start this review, by saying that I am usually a HUGE fan of Home Town Buffet. But this location has failed multiple times recently. First… Breakfast at this location has become almost not even worth it. Watered-​down orange drink (can’t bring myself to call it juice), poached eggs that are anything BUT poached (more like over hard), English muffins that are so hard a steak knife won’t cut through them and biscuits that could be used as hockey pucks. That is NOT what I want to spend my hard earned money on. The milk machines are ALWAYS filthy, and half the time they are out of one type of milk or another. And when you bring these things to the attention of the chef, you get a very unenthusiastic reply if any response at all.
Lunch and dinner are just sub-​par. Way too many chicken dishes… Fried chicken, baked chicken, chicken fingers/​tenders (fried), teriyaki chicken, chicken pot pie… ect.
I understand the cost effectiveness of using chicken, but come on… enough of the chicken.
On a positive note… The new items on the dinner menu are fantastic !!
The carving station however, needs LOTS of help !! The meat that they call roast beef, is hardly edible. When my wife and I had dinner here last week, the roast beef (?) had a green/​yellow color to it. And the temperature was at room temp. That was right off the cutting board.
The bussers/​wait staff is friendly for the most part.
One suggestion… Get rid of the drink purchase requirement for coupons. Not everyone drinks soda/​tea/​coffee. I am diabetic, and drink only water. (Milk with breakfast).

The food is southern. Fried and starchy. If you like healthy like me you will have a hard time. The only reason I was here was because someone in my family likes it and dragged me along.
I’m giving it two stars because it is one step above a cafeteria style buffet. They did have an omelet bar and a salad bar (albeit very small; next to the fried taco shells with pseudo nacho cheese). In addition to fried chicken, they did offer some grilled chicken and a fish dish, but the semi-​healthy foods are slim pickings.
If your priority is to fill your belly and quantity over quality rules, this is the place for you. As for me, it will probably be another 15+ years before I return again.