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Boardman buffet reopens
By Kalea Hall
BOARDMAN
Golden Corral Buffet & Grill has come back to Boardman after closing its doors at the end of January.
The now company-operated location at 320 Boardman-Poland Road reopened this week to offer guests more than 140 food options in a 400-seat, buffet-style restaurant.
“We did a lot of renovations,” said Ronnie Nubbie, district manager for Golden Corral. “We took some walls out. and we added booths.”
The Vindicator reported the closing of the then independently owned restaurant in January. It was operated by franchisee Dan Gentile.
“The only thing we can say is for a number of reasons there wasn’t sufficient business to support it,” said Bob McDevitt, senior vice president of franchise development. Even back in January, there was a desire to make sure the location would reopen.
Boardman’s Golden Corral first opened about seven years ago and was a prototype store, McDevitt said. It came with a completely new design different from the other locations.
The newly renovated store reopened Monday.
“We had about 30 people at the door, so we opened a little early,” Nubbie said.
Boardman’s Golden Corral can seat up to 10,000 diners a week with dinner being the busiest time, Nubbie said.
A new Mongolian grill allows diners to choose what they want from an array of vegetables and meat for the chef to cook.
The location employs close to 100 part-time and full-time workers. About 25 percent of the staff was rehired from the previous ownership.
Throughout the week, the restaurant will be collecting for the local Disabled American Veterans chapter.
Nov. 17 will be military appreciation night at the buffet. Veterans can come and enjoy a free meal and beverage that day.