Growing up I used to love Luby's. Then somewhere along the way they changed and went away from the steam trays to these white platters that held the food. After that, it felt like your food got cold in just a couple of minutes, which sucked. We quit going then. Fuddruckers I didn't go to as much. For some reason I had a low opinion of their burgers, but we went to a nearby one only earlier this year before COVID and I was pleasantly surprised. Good quality and I really enjoyed it.
PIccadilly was absolutely my favorite. I will miss Luby's though I haven't been there in years. It's mostly nostalgia for me.
Luby's and Ryan's Buffet were somehow the go-to spots for my parents when I was kid. RIP to the last of the two. I think Ryan's has been gone for a decade.
pappas f***ed it up. they got rid of the tea ladies, jacked up the prices and the quality of the food went down. and having "waiters" that you were expected to tip was ridiculous... cafeteria dining didnt go out of style...pappas just didnt know how to do it...they tried to make lubys come off like a traditional restaurant instead of honing in on what they actually were and what people liked about them. lubys is a texas institution...hopefully someone will bring it back proper...i would do a "retro/classic" style lubies with the glorious return of the tea ladies...get rid of the "waiters" and make it a true cafeteria. get back to the roots of what made you great! my uncle was a manager at lubys for a couple years in the late 80's. they worked like 60 hours a week, but made a ****-load of money.
Picadilly was the ****. Fuddruckers was lowkey good. I don't think I ever got anything less than a solid burger from there. Great shakes too. Luby's was not my jam as there wasn't one nearby growing up but I did frequent it a handful of times on trips into Houston. I did notice the dropoff in quality in the 00s when Pappas took over. Smaller portions, more expensive, and now it wasn't a pure cafeteria experience. I hope everyone involved in that takeover and change management got fired. What a masterclass in how to torpedo a brand with a loyal following.
Agreed, Luby`s was great back in the day but I went a few months ago and my food was cold and just not good. Same experience with Fuddruckers, it was always decent but I went there when Covid started and whats the point if I cant pick my own toppings, now its just a burger place and there prices didn't go down to accommodate for the lack of the what there known for, talk about a let down
Was just at Fuddruckers like within the last month Lubys was a staple of places to eat with my mom Rocket River RIP FuddRuckers RIP Luby's
RIP Luby's. Back in the day it was all ways quality have not been in about 8-10 years. Fried fish was my go to, loved that tartar sauce. Meatloaf was good as well.
Lol, my mom always got me to split my meal with my sister, so I had to make some major power plays to get her to even put the jello on our tray. Then I usually had to take one for the team with either the broccoli or spinach
Yep! I always got just a half pound burger with nothing on it.....then piled on the ingredients from the topping bar. All their veggies were so fresh. The one in Kingwood used to be great. It has such a fun atmosphere with all the music memorabilia on the walls, kids with the paper hats bringing the shakes still in the metal mixer cups, game-room for the kids, homemade cookie bar by the exit door.... Then it totally changed a few years ago. Everything was taken down from the walls, no games for the kids, no music, get your own shakes...it just became depressing. Haven't been there in years. I remember the one by Willowbrook mall had a gigantic bar where you could taste all these mixed drinks for free. There were about 20 different ones, so you could get a pretty sweet buzz going without even buying one.
Growing up in Huntsville (during 80s), we would drive to North Houston and eat at Wyatt's Cafeteria at Greenspoint mall. Not sure how great their food was, but considering what we had available in Huntsville (Tinsley's Chicken notwithstanding), Wyatt's was awesome. Great memories of eating at Fuddruckers with my wife, while were dating, on Nasa Road One.
The two living owners (Harris and Chris) are getting up there in age. They were extremely hands on and being very conservative suited them well for a long time. They also were able to be really involved in picking the people that would work in corporate and run their restaurants. Almost all of those people are retired now. They have had to deal with their margins decreasing as well. Mary Pappas (the daughter of Harris was groomed to take over), and while she is bright, she isn't like Harris and Chris that were working in restaurants since they were children. She also died around 40 a few years ago. So they have management problems with kids that did not grow up interested in running a restaurant. I believe the family would have already sold the company if not for Harris and Chris still being alive and strongly being against it.
ive seen some mentions about how lubys food goes cold quickly. remember how back in the day they kept the food on steamers...then they moved to heat lamps. not sure if that was pappas or the health department that made them do it, but between that and the fact that you had to pay before you ate, it definitely made the food cool by the time you sat down to eat. i ate at lubys all my life and held on for as long as i could, but i had to stop going 7 or 8 years ago. i would think if they got owners who took it back to what it used to be (true cafeteria) that it would be successful. design the restaurants to have that classic/retro look that all the hipsters love and the millennials will be all over it!
Kind of similar, Pappas Burgers confuses me. Either make me order at a counter or give me a waiter. I don't want to deal with both. Probably why they're going out of business.
Quite possible. They have concepts they can easily grow but choose to do very little...and when they do, it takes forever.
