On a side note, I went to Luby's on Wednesday after seeing this thread and didn't realize it was "kids eat free night". Ultimately paid $18 for a family of 4, and it was packed!! Like unusually packed for Covid. Got me some baked fish almondine with double scoops of tarter. Probably gained about 10 pounds for the tarter sauce and mac & cheese alone
Yes, I think so. JoJo's was one of the few 24 hour spots we could find when we came back from a night out. Champs too but they were more a buffet spot.
Fuddruckers crispy chicken sandwich is fantastic. Better than Popeye's new sandwich. It'll cost you more but it's bigger and juicier than Popeye's.
Sad. I used to enjoy both places. I stopped going to FuddRuckers years ago though. Very rarely. Luby's maybe once a month or so.
Fudds....lives! LUBY'S SELLS FUDDRUCKERS TO A FRANCHISEE FOR AN ESTIMATED $18.5M The buyer is a newly formed affiliate of Nicholas Perkins, an operator of 13 Fuddruckers units and a contract management company.By Peter Romeo on Jun. 17, 202 Luby’s has agreed to sell its 92-unit Fuddruckers fast-casual brand to an affiliate of the chain’s largest franchisee, Black Titan Enterprises, in a buyout deal with a potential value of $18.5 million. The Back Titan affiliate has also agreed to buy the land underneath what are now company-operated Fuddruckers units. The details of that transaction, including the price, were not disclosed. The sale of the restaurant chain is the latest step in Luby’s liquidation, which was announced in September after the cafeteria operator failed to find a buyer. Luby’s main business is its namesake cafeterias, including four that are paired with a Fuddruckers. Luby’s said it will hang onto those four Fuddruckers, as well as five standalone units. The parent of Fuddruckers’ intended buyer, newly formed Black Titan Franchise Systems, already owns and operates 13 franchised restaurants and plans to acquire two more. Both Black Titan entities are controlled by Nicholas Perkins, who also has a foodservice management company, Washington, D.C.-based Perkins Management Systems. That operation runs the foodservice operations of colleges, healthcare institutions, government facilities, offices and factories. It also provides catering for sports and entertainment events. Perkins will serve as CEO of Black Titan Franchise Systems, or BTFS, as he does for Black Titan Enterprises and Perkins Management Systems. The deal announced Thursday by Luby’s calls for Black Titan Franchise Systems, or BTFS, to provide Luby’s with a note for most of the $18.5 million transaction price. Luby’s said it cannot guarantee the value will remain at $18.5 million, but the public company is not adjusting its projections of what its liquidation will fetch. Luby’s said it contacted 150 potential buyers before accepting Perkins’ bid, the highest in the batch. "As a Fuddruckers franchisee, I have a vested interest in ensuring that all Fuddruckers franchisees have the resources, infrastructure, and operational and marketing support they need to maximize their return on investment,” Perkins said in a statement. Luby’s has yet to find a buyer for its cafeterias and its contract management company, Luby's Culinary Contract Services, which competes in several of the non-commercial segments served by Perkins Management Systems. Fuddruckers was a pioneer of fast-casual dining. It was created by Phil Romano, also the father of Romano’s Macaroni Grill and Eatzi’s, as a place where consumers could get a better burger than what they would find at a typical fast-food restaurant. The burgers were made to order, and early units featured a butcher shop and bakery. Luby's said it expects the deal to close within 90 days.
Perfect timing. Covid is ending and peepl are hamburger hungry. Mop the floors, fire up the grills and get that exposed salad/dressing bar filled up!
I went to the Luby's on 34th about a month ago. Haven't been to one in at least over a decade, so me and my cousin figured what the hell since they're closing soon. The pricing was absurd for such a mediocre product, and the selection was terrible. A dry chicken fried steak, macaroni, potatoes and a slice of buttermilk pie ran me 18 dollars. I genuinely can't understand how they lasted as long as they did. Was it always like this, did Luby's just "fall off', I've never been a reguIar, so I can only imagine old people kept going there out of habit and didn't realize what they were paying for.
They were bought out by a chain (forget who but a Landry’s type of company maybe Pappas?) who changed everything. No more ladies with the tea/water carts, nicer seating areas and useless waiters who refill your drinks and you feel sorry for them and weirdly obligated to tip them despite it being a cafeteria. And they upped the prices quite a bit. You see the results. Sad
Yes I noticed this nonsense as well. She was a nice lady, but since she didn't have any actual waitressing to do she just kept bugging us.
Yep. I pity them and usually tip a few dollars, which ends up pissing me off when I leave as they just annoy you asking if you want more water or a ****ing peppermint.
I think someone could rebrand the cafeteria concept and be successful. Push more to go etc. schlotzsky's should look into it.
They originally tried to make them feel more "upscale" and that didn't really work. They then "downscaled" them back to what they sort of originally were, but they cut out all the things that made Luby's a Luby's (tea lady). I guess due to rising food costs, they had to up the price and downgrade the food. People may or may not remember, but there was a time when Luby's had some delicious comfort food. My wife and I took our daughter to the Woodlands location right before COVID. The food was not nearly as good as it used to be, the restaurant was dirty, and we really didn't like the experience. I can see why it failed.
