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New Chapter for Hope Mills: Grandson's Buffet Closes, New Location Opens!
After closing Grandson's Buffet in Hope Mills, Dylan Warga is opening a new buffet on Owen Drive in Fayetteville on July 2.
New Chapter for Hope Mills: Grandson's Buffet Closes, New Location Opens!
On June 26, 2025, it was announced on Facebook that Grandson's Buffet in Hope Mills would be closing to make way for a new location and ownership. This decision was made by the Chason and Warga family, the operators of the buffet. The current location at 5339 Marracco Drive will close its doors, while a new Grandson's Buffet is scheduled to open July 2, 2025 in Fayetteville at 1758 Owen Drive. The new owner, Dylan Warga, is the great-grandson of Fred Chason and has been involved in the restaurant business since he was a child.
The history of Grandson’s Buffet dates back to 1979, when Fred Chason founded his first restaurant in Lumber Bridge. Unfortunately, Fred Chason passed away in 1995 and the original Chason’s BBQ was destroyed by fire in 1997. After the fire, Fred's daughter Deborah opened a new location on Eastern Blvd. Todd and Matt Warga, Fred Chason's grandsons, opened the Hope Mills locations in 2005, which quickly became a popular gathering place in the community.
New location and continuity
The upcoming move appears to be a positive development for the brand, as the new owners assure that all existing Grandson’s Buffet employees will be retained. The new Chason’s Buffet will serve breakfast, lunch and dinner daily. The closure of the Hope Mills branch is unfortunate, but the operators see this move as an opportunity to revive the brand and expand services.
In recent years, the situation has worsened for the other locations of the Grandson's buffet chain. Fred Chason's Grandsons Carolina Famous Buffet in Fayetteville, located at 3901 Ramsey St., was declared permanently closed by health authorities on June 22, 2021. This branch has been closed since the start of the coronavirus pandemic in March 2020 and has not recovered to date. Before the pandemic, Grandson's Buffet had multiple locations in Fayetteville, Hope Mills, Smithfield, Garner and Rocky Mount. The Hope Mills location was the last operating location, while the others, including the Garner and Rocky Mount locations, are marked as permanently closed, according to Google.
As the Warga family and staff work toward opening the new buffet, it remains to be seen how these changes will impact customer loyalty and whether the new buffet can successfully continue the tradition and service for which the original Grandson's Buffet was known.