Locally owned pizza buffets to close, reopen under new ownership

In an unexpected turn of events, Joe and Carie Scarborough closed all locations of Pizza + Buffet on Sept. 11.

On Dec. 29, 2021, the Scarboroughs opened Pizza + Buffet at 3746 E. Franklin Blvd. in Gastonia.

Within months, the business was doing so well that the Mount Holly couple decided to expand and have established two additional locations.

In an interview about the expansion last year, Joe Scarborough said the business had sold 4,000 pizzas in less than two months.

According to Joe Scarborough, the Gastonia location of the buffet was bringing in $1.3 million a year, on average.

For their first time owning a business in the restaurant industry, it was exceeding expectations.

The couple broke into the pizza business after the decline of CiCi’s Pizza.

CiCi’s went bankrupt and shuttered buildings across the country just a few years ago including the spot in Gastonia, Scarborough said.

The set up of these former CiCi’s establishments offered an easy move-in for Pizza + Buffet, and the Scarboroughs took over one in Gastonia, one in Albemarle, North Carolina, and another in Canton, Ohio.

This year, however, CiCi’s Pizza came under new management, and they are looking to make a comeback, Scarborough said.

The Scarboroughs will be retiring after selling all three locations back to CiCi’s Pizza.

“They made us an offer we couldn’t refuse, so we’re walking away,” Scarborough said. “I can’t tell you exactly, but it’s in the high-end six figures.”

According to Scarborough, CiCi’s will re-open the Gastonia location after a small period of training for the Pizza + Buffet employees who will stay on as CiCi’s takes over, and interior updates to reintroduce CiCi’s branding in the building.

CiCi’s is anticipating that they will be able to reopen the restaurant after roughly a week of making these changes, Scarborough said.

According to Joe Scarborough, he and Carie do not have any current plans for their retirement.

“We’re going to miss all our customers there,” he said. “We’ve had lots and lots of great customers.”

This article originally appeared on The Gaston Gazette: Locally owned pizza buffets to close, reopen under new ownership