Hometown Buffet in Niles closed

NILES — Hometown Buffet at the Eastwood Mall Complex is closed.

The Texas-based company said it lost its lease at the Niles location, but Cafaro Co., which owns that property, said Hometown declined to renew the lease that was set to expire Dec. 31.

The buffet was in operation there for more than 20 years, previously operating as the Old Country Buffet, Cafaro Co. spokesman Joe Bell said.

“It came as a surprise,” Bell said. “We had no intention of terminating that lease.”

Cafaro is in search of a new tenant for the “turn-key” restaurant operation, Bell said.