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A throwback to the days of drive-in theaters, poodle skirts, and crooners, Luby's is an old-school American cafeteria based in Houston, Texas that has lured locals to its casual quarters since 1947 with rib-sticking meals and famous desserts. Texans lucky enough to have Luby's in their backyard still clamor for its retro sweets, loading their trays with its chocolate icebox pie, which boasts a creamy chocolate filling tucked into a graham cracker crust; its moist carrot cake with crushed pineapple and rich pecans; and old-school classics like gooey pecan pie, strawberry shortcake, and coconut meringue pie.

If you visit at the right time, you may even score a jackpot slice of millionaire pie, a rotational dessert with a creamy filling that's also chock-full of crushed pineapple and pecans. If you want to recapture some of the restaurant's nostalgic magic at home, check out the recipes on its website or scoop up one of Luby's cookbooks from decades past on Amazon.

But wait — with so much goodness to share, why have folks largely forgotten Luby's and its beloved Southern treats? For some Texans, of course, it will forever hold a place in their hearts. As Texas Monthly summarized in 2025, Luby's is a "bona fide icon of commercial Texas gastronomy." Still, its heyday is undeniably in the rearview mirror. In the mid 1990s, Luby's was riding high with 200 locations in 11 states, but slumps in sales and guest traffic shrank it to just 34 cafeterias by 2020.

Luby's continues its legacy of homestyle specials and retro desserts

Luby's exterior shot with logo.

Brett Hondow/Shutterstock

Luby's Cafeterias evolved from a Springfield, Missouri cafeteria outfit that operated from 1914 to 1916. Robert M. Luby, son of founder Harry Luby, carried the torch starting in 1934, when he opened a cafeteria in Dallas, Texas, followed by a San Antonio-based restaurant in 1947. By 1982, Cafeterias, Incorporated ran 63 restaurants, largely in the Lone Star State.

In the 2010s, Luby's began diversifying into other brands, but by 2020, it was limping along, with plans to liquidate and dissolve the company on the horizon. Luckily, in 2021, entrepreneur Calvin Gin came to the rescue and purchased its remaining locations. No longer a multi-state force, Luby's now operates 39 branches, all in Texas.

Though some locales are billed as "Luby's Cafés" with smaller digs than older branches, retro specials still reign supreme. The LuAnn platter, Luby's original value meal, is one of these. It comes with a select entrée (think chicken-fried steak or Luby's famous square fish), two sides (mashed potatoes and fried okra), and a roll for just $9.49, though selections and prices vary by location. As The Bitter Southerner noted in 2024, this bargain boatload is "a scaled-down version of the meat 'n' three," referring to the filling plate lunch popular region-wide. For diehards, Luby's is cafeteria dining at its finest, but if you don't live near a location, here are the best cafeterias in every state.