Luby's in Plano to Close Soon After 30 Years of Serving Square Fish

Luby's is dying a slow death, and it's a damn shame.

Community Impact reported earlier this week that Luby's at 5040 W. Park Blvd. in Plano will close on April 14. Luby's entered a liquidation phase in 2020, which was influenced by the pandemic, although business was already in decline.

This Plano restaurant opened in 1994, and flashbackdallas reports the home-style cooking cafeteria opened its first Dallas location along Main Street in 1929.

It's been a staple for generations of families across Texas, a beacon of warmth and nostalgia. If your grandma didn't push you through the line and help you pick out your LuAnn platter then maybe you need a new grandma. I even ate a Thanksgiving dinner there once (although I wouldn't say I liked it because I felt awful for the sweet lady who had to push the drink cart around. She stopped by to tell us her feet hurt and she wanted to go home.)

At its peak, there were more than 200 Luby's restaurants across the U.S. In 1996 there were 147 in Texas alone.

Tributes to the spot are filling in Luby's Google reviews, which sits at 4.2 out of five stars right now, better than some Uptown clubstraurant steakhouses. One reviewer, Ruby B., wrote how she'd travel 45 minutes to this location for a taste of the good ol' days. A few other fans lament that the landlord sold out:

"We love lubys. Sadly, corporate greed is going to destroy this wonderful place. Apparently, the landlord sold lubys out to Chick fil A. So once again the almighty dollar ruins a good thing for our neighborhood."

We feel that, but the math there is pretty simple: Chick-fil-A prints money.

Sometimes things have to die be born again. Like Detroit. Perhaps Luby's will plot a comeback in the next few years and cars will, as at Chick-fil-A, snake through the parking lot once more.

Until then, there are still North Texas Luby's to get liver and onions: 13455 Marsh Lane in North Dallas, 801 N. Beckley St. in DeSoto, and one on Interstate 20 in Fort Worth.

You have until April 14, the day before your taxes are due, to get a square crispy fish patty (extra tartar sauce).