Golden Corral’s fast-casual test concept, Golden Corral Favorites, has quietly shut down its Southern Pines outpost after roughly a year in business. The drive-thru-forward unit that took over the old Homeward Kitchen space now sits dark along U.S. Highway 15-501 near Murray Hill Road, leaving the chain’s smallest-format experiment in the Sandhills on pause and prompting fresh questions about whether this menu-focused prototype will see life anywhere else.
As reported by The Pilot, the Southern Pines Favorites location closed this week, just over a year after it opened. Reporter Emilee Phillips notes that the move effectively ends Golden Corral’s first public test of the Favorites name, with the closure tying back to the chain’s earlier decision to convert Homeward Kitchen into the new prototype.
How the Favorites test began
Golden Corral rolled out the Favorites concept in early 2025 as a streamlined, off-premises-friendly spin on its buffet menu, converting Homeward Kitchen into a 4,200-square-foot test unit in Southern Pines, according to Golden Corral. The company pitched Favorites as a curated lineup of its most popular dishes in a counter-service format, supported by digital ordering and a drive-thru option. Corporate materials cast the shift as an effort to pair the brand’s most requested items with a faster, more technology-forward service model.
Trade coverage tracked the pivot
Industry outlets chronicled the conversion from Homeward Kitchen and described Favorites as a rebrand intended to lift recognition and off-premises sales. Restaurant Dive reported that the chain was leaning hard on digital ordering and pickup as core elements of the prototype. Trade coverage has characterized the Southern Pines restaurant as a proving ground to see whether Golden Corral’s buffet staples could successfully jump into a quick-service footprint.
Sandhills Sentinel also covered the shutdown, pointing out that the Favorites location followed Homeward Kitchen’s February 2025 closure and its subsequent reopening under the new banner. That quick sequence of changes highlights how rapidly the site has cycled through concepts over the past 18 months. For regulars who leaned on its pickup and drive-thru lanes, the latest closure wipes out a convenient quick-service stop on a busy stretch of U.S. 15-501…