North Stonington - The longtime run of the self-proclaimed "world's most famous buffet" has come to an end.

Custy's International Seafood Buffet in North Stonington, the last in a long line of the restaurants, closed its doors in December after more than seven years at its location at 138 Norwich-Westerly Road (Route 2).

Gourmet Galley Catering LLC, a Quaker Hill company, will operate at the location after purchasing the property two weeks ago.

The Custy's franchise began in North Kingstown, R.I., in 1963 next to the Quonset Point Naval Air Station, according to its website, and was popular with military families in the area. At one point there were several throughout the Ocean State and Connecticut. A location in Higganum was reviewed by The Day in 1985, and the article mentions a previous location in Danielson.

"I for one am sorry to see Custy's go," North Stonington First Selectman Nicholas H. Mullane said. "It was really a nice buffet."

Custy's website says that it would be closed for the winter season from Nov. 19, 2010, to Feb. 6, 2011, but Custy Albert Corleone, who ran the North Stonington Custy's with his partner Mary Hall, said Tuesday that both he and Hall are ill and had to close the buffet's doors permanently last December.

"You can't run a business and be so sick," Corleone, 65, said. "That's the main reason Custy's closed."

Corleone said he was unsure of the fate of the brand, and if the name would be sold to someone hoping to continue Custy's.

The all-you-can-eat restaurants were known for expansive seafood spreads. Lobster, shrimp, steak and scallops were the main targets of hungry patrons, one of whom ate a chain-record 20 lobsters in the early 1980s.

The property was sold April 4 to AJL Real Estate Holdings LLC for $415,000.

Anna Lathrop, owner of Gourmet Galley, said she is excited to move into the 6,600-square-foot building that sits on a 1.2-acre parcel. She has operated the catering business out of a small commercial kitchen attached to her home for more than 12 years. The new building will double her current space. She said Gourmet Galley has already booked 67 weddings for 2011.

"We've enjoyed success (in Quaker Hill) but we're just busting at the seams here," Lathrop said Wednesday. "We're excited to spread out a little this year. It's just the right spot and already has that structure and base because it was a restaurant."

The sale included all the kitchen equipment and Lathrop said work has begun and the building is gutted. She is hoping the first phase will be complete by June 1, allowing her to move in and begin operations in North Stonington. She said there is a "fantastic" client meeting space and will include a tasting room and client room studio where people can "play around with table settings."

The third phase, which she hopes to complete sometime next year, would be a food-to-go or gourmet-style market. The location on heavily-trafficked Route 2 makes it ideal for such a storefront, Lathrop said.

"We'll put some kind of retail right in front there," she said. "We'll definitely tap into (the location) somehow once we find out what would do well there."

Lathrop, originally of Waterford, said she went to college for music performance but bought the Gourmet Galley after the company catered her wedding.

"Two years later (the previous owner) asked if I wanted to buy the company," Lathrop said. "I had no idea how to run a catering business, and my parents said, 'You're doing what?' But we've been very successful in spite of my lack of experience."

s.goldstein@theday.com