Grand American Buffet reopens

FREMONT – One of the area's more popular buffet-style restaurants is welcoming customers back into the fold this week with a grand opening after an extended closure for repairs to its heating system.

The Grand American Buffet reopened Monday with its original buffet menu of American staples like fried chicken, meatloaf and pot roast and the addition of some new Chinese and Asian menu items.

Nancy Wang, the restaurant's manager, said a word-of-mouth campaign has started to bring a lot of Grand American's regulars back into the Ohio 53 location, although she joked that the staff was still waiting on one of the regular customers who used to come in every day and watch television.

"We've seen most of them come back," Wang said, noting that a lot of Grand American's regular customers were senior citizens.

The restaurant closed in December because of a heating problem with its furnace, Wang said, a problem that pushed the business' heating bills through the roof.

While the business was closed, the owners decided to bring in some new buffet bar items that had been requested by customers since Grand American originally opened in November 2013.

Wang said the new items include frog legs, General Tso's chicken, coconut shrimp and teriyaki pork steak. Other new items on the buffet Wednesday included Thai chicken and emperor shrimp. These selections compliment the baked salmon, liver-and-onions and homemade mashed potatoes and macaroni and cheese held over from Grand American's existing menu.

"We've had a lot of good comments about it," Wang said.

Some other new features at the restaurant include a regular crab legs special Friday and Saturday nights and steak also offered on those evenings, Wang said.

She said the restaurant would be open Easter Sunday and expected a big crowd for the holiday.

dacarson@gannett.com

419-334-1046

Twitter:@DanielCarson7.

Restaurant:Grand American Buffet

Location: 2170 Ohio 53, Fremont

Hours: Monday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.; Sunday, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.

Phone: 419-355-8800