Another Luby’s is closing: See which Fort Worth-area cafeterias are still open
The dwindling Luby’s Cafeteria chain closed its north Fort Worth location Wednesday, leaving only two local restaurants in a chain that was once as iconic in Texas as Whataburger or Dr Pepper.
The Luby’s at 3801 NE Loop 820 was to close at day’s end after 27 years, leaving locations at 5901 S. Hulen St. in Fort Worth and 3312 SE Loop 820 in Forest Hill.
The Hulen location remains open, but its future is uncertain. A Chicago investor bought the Forest Hill location, along with 32 other Luby’s, in a deal announced last year. But that did not include the Hulen location.
The Luby’s in Forest Hill is among those sold to a new Luby’s company under investor Calvin Gin, a former executive whose catering and food-service companies had clients including airlines and Starbucks Coffee.
The new company bought only two other North Texas locations, at 5600 S. Hampton Road in Dallas and at 801 N. Beckley Road, DeSoto.
The home of fried “square fish” fillets, roast turkey and chicken-fried steak with lots of vegetables has been for sale since last year. Luby’s was already floundering but was hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic, with sales down 75% in March, April and May 2021.
For many Texans, Luby’s Cafeterias are the epitome of comfort food. The 1990s animated Fox television series “King of the Hill” even named one of its characters Luanne Platter, after the renowned Luby’s smaller “LuAnn Platter” that includes a half-serving of an entree, a side item and a roll.
Last year, the company announced that Luby’s and once-popular corporate cousin Fuddruckers would be closed and dissolved if buyers are not found.
A former Fuddrucker’s in Fort Worth, 5601 SW Loop 820, is becoming a Pluckers Wing Bar.
San Antonio-based Furr’s AYCE Marketplace closed its last Tarrant County location earlier this year. The 95-year-old Highland Park Cafeteria in Dallas closed in May 2020.
This story was originally published January 12, 2022 at 10:04 AM.
