OK, so everybody in Texas knows Luby's Cafeterias, and there is probably not much point in writing a review. It is part of the culture as much as Dairy Queen and Whataburger. LuAnn, one of the fictional characters on the Fox cartoon series "King of the Hill," was named after the famous LuAnn combination plate at Luby's that consists of a half portion of a meat item, two vegetables, and a roll. It seems that I have always had Luby's in the places I have lived and spent time-- Oklahoma City, Austin, El Paso, etc. There was even a Luby's in Lubbock but it could not survive the competition from the locally prominent Furr's Cafeteria.

If you have gotten out of the habit of eating here, as I have, you may not be aware of some changes that have occurred recently. They have added additional special dinners besides the LuAnn plate. The new plates have whole meat items, including the fish that I like (fried fish or salmon croquettes), and on all plates a salad can substitute for one of the vegetables.

The salads have not changed much over the years. Some of the fruit salads are very sweet and sugary, but they always seem to have good quality fruit (much of the fruit seems to have been shipped frozen, but at least the strawberries are ripe, the bananas are not over ripe, etc.).

One of the best features of Luby's is that I can usually find green vegetables that are cooked without bacon (this is not an easy task in El Paso). When they serve acorn squash or sweet potatoes it is a special treat, but the menu seems to vary according to the items that are available.

In the past there was a lot of variation between the El Paso locations (I always thought the one at Montana and Chelsea was the best), but the reorganization that took place in 2001 seems to have made things more consistent. I cannot say this is the greatest food in the world (I know the Queen Ann Cafeteria in Oklahoma City served much better food), but you can get a pretty decent meal, and now can get better deals than in the past.

Luby's has also started a weekend buffet, including one for breakfast, so it looks as if they are trying hard to keep their customers coming and to gain new ones.

Luby's is one of the few places open on Thanksgiving and other holidays. The whole turkey that is served is about as good as you will find anywhere in El Paso, if you can even find it at the other places.