This will be my last post on this blog. We are ending our semester here at Palo Alto College. We have covered many different things in this class involving our city. I thought I knew a lot about San Antonio yet this class has taught me so much more about my city. I now have a good knowledge of the history of this city as well as places that are worth going to such as the Mc Nay art museum and the botanical gardens. I am asked in this essay to discuss anything about San Antonio that I want. We need this essay to be in depth and well written so this essay will be my longest work to date. I chose to write my essay over Luby’s Cafeteria which is a chain of cafeterias that serves good food and was founded right here in San Antonio. I thought what better to write my essay on than a restaurant I eat at all the time. I am going to give you the history of Luby’s as well as their philosophy on running a restaurant. Obviously the owners of Luby’s have good business ideas because they were able to turn a local San Antonio cafeteria into one of the largest cafeteria chains in America.
Sixty years ago, Bob Luby had a dream. As a young man in his early twenties, he had a vision to develop a chain of cafeterias that would provide good food, good service and reasonable prices. Bob's vision was a product of his upbringing. In 1911, the year before Bob was born, his father, Harry Luby, started the New England Dairy Lunch cafeteria in Springfield, Missouri. Eventually, Harry's small cafeteria business grew to include restaurants in Texas, Oklahoma and Louisiana. By 1927, at the age of 39, Harry Luby retired from active management. Bob, who had grown up in the business and loved it, was determined to enhance his father's principles and work ethic with his own new ideas and passion for serving top quality food in a welcoming atmosphere. In 1947, Bob returned to Texas from his World War II service as an intelligence officer stationed in California. Determined and driven, Bob joined forces with his cousin Charles R. Johnston, and together they opened the first Luby's Cafeteria in San Antonio. It was thought to be an extremely risky venture since downtown San Antonio was deserted at night, and many people doubted that servicemen just home from the war would accept standing in line for anything again. The skeptics were wrong - the 180-seat cafeteria was packed for both lunch and dinner. And so the Luby's Cafeteria chain began. Over the next 11 years, Luby and Johnston continued to open new restaurants in Tyler, Harlingen, El Paso and Beaumont. An interesting challenge of their early expansion was not the availability of capital or land, but rather, the accessibility of well-trained managers capable of maintaining Luby's uncompromisingly high-quality standards. In 1959, with nine cafeterias in various locations, the San Antonio-based company incorporated under the name Cafeterias, Inc. It became a publicly held corporation in 1973, then changed its name in 1981 to Luby's Cafeterias, Inc. and joined the New York Stock Exchange the following year. In 1987, 40 years after its founding, Luby's reached a milestone when its 100th cafeteria opened in Round Rock, Texas. In 2001, two of America's most successful restaurateurs, Chris and Harris Pappas of Houston, joined the Luby's management team, continuing the company's commitment to high standards of excellence. The Pappas brothers each brought 30 years of restaurant experience to the organization, which included Harris' own experience working for Luby's as a young man in the early 1970s. For 60 years, Luby's has forged a unique relationship with its customers. The emotional connection Luby's has with its diners is unlike any other restaurant company in America. I can attest to this claim that Luby’s has a warm atmosphere. I have went to Luby’s and been entertained by live music how many places can you say have live music. Luby's success is due, in part, to consistently serving good food at reasonable prices. Another and no less important ingredient to that success is the understanding that meals can provide more than just nourishment. They can be memorable times that add warmth and meaning to all of our lives. Bob Luby's vision remains strong and continues to guide the company today, so future generations can create their own special Luby's memories. I called my local Luby’s and talked with the manager and he referred me to the company web site and I thank them for giving me all the great background information I needed. Now that you have all the background you need on Luby’s I want to tell you why I like Luby’s.
All the claims Luby’s makes above about being more than just your average diner is true. Since I have grown up in the San Antonio I have eaten at Luby’s many times before. Every time I eat there I am greeted by friendly workers with smiles. The food is always fresh and hot. You have a good variety of choices so the menu accommodates picky eaters like my girlfriend. You sit down and enjoy your meal in a relaxed environment. I now know the business philosophy of Luby’s and it is you treat your customers the absolute best that you can and provide them with a nice environment. This is a simple philosophy but it has worked in producing a San Antonio institution and one of the largest restaurant chains in America. I am not the only person in San Antonio who sees Luby's as one of their favorite places to eat. I recently visited my local Luby's on southeast Military drive to get some opionions from others. I was looking for some elderly people who were eating there. I wanted the input from elderly people who may have eaten here for many more years than myself. I was fortunate that I met Mr and Mrs Caldwell who heppened to be eating at this Luby's. I walked up to them and asked them if they come to Luby's often. They said yes so I proceded to ask them a few questions. Mr Caldwell was 67 and Mrs Caldwell was 61. The have been eating at Luby's since the sixties when there was only a handful of Luby's in existence. I was amazed that they have come to eat at the same place for so many years. They told me the reason they have been coming to Luby's for so long is the consistency of the product. Every time they have come here over the years the food is allways fresh and hot. The also said that Luby's restraunts were allways clean with a friendly staff. This is the key to a successful restraunt. You have to be consistent with the food and service and Luby's has done this very well for many years. I have enjoyed this series of post this semester. I have learned a lot but now it’s time to log off for the last time. I would like to thank my teacher Mrs. Ornelas for teaching me so much about San Antonio.
Sixty years ago, Bob Luby had a dream. As a young man in his early twenties, he had a vision to develop a chain of cafeterias that would provide good food, good service and reasonable prices. Bob's vision was a product of his upbringing. In 1911, the year before Bob was born, his father, Harry Luby, started the New England Dairy Lunch cafeteria in Springfield, Missouri. Eventually, Harry's small cafeteria business grew to include restaurants in Texas, Oklahoma and Louisiana. By 1927, at the age of 39, Harry Luby retired from active management. Bob, who had grown up in the business and loved it, was determined to enhance his father's principles and work ethic with his own new ideas and passion for serving top quality food in a welcoming atmosphere. In 1947, Bob returned to Texas from his World War II service as an intelligence officer stationed in California. Determined and driven, Bob joined forces with his cousin Charles R. Johnston, and together they opened the first Luby's Cafeteria in San Antonio. It was thought to be an extremely risky venture since downtown San Antonio was deserted at night, and many people doubted that servicemen just home from the war would accept standing in line for anything again. The skeptics were wrong - the 180-seat cafeteria was packed for both lunch and dinner. And so the Luby's Cafeteria chain began. Over the next 11 years, Luby and Johnston continued to open new restaurants in Tyler, Harlingen, El Paso and Beaumont. An interesting challenge of their early expansion was not the availability of capital or land, but rather, the accessibility of well-trained managers capable of maintaining Luby's uncompromisingly high-quality standards. In 1959, with nine cafeterias in various locations, the San Antonio-based company incorporated under the name Cafeterias, Inc. It became a publicly held corporation in 1973, then changed its name in 1981 to Luby's Cafeterias, Inc. and joined the New York Stock Exchange the following year. In 1987, 40 years after its founding, Luby's reached a milestone when its 100th cafeteria opened in Round Rock, Texas. In 2001, two of America's most successful restaurateurs, Chris and Harris Pappas of Houston, joined the Luby's management team, continuing the company's commitment to high standards of excellence. The Pappas brothers each brought 30 years of restaurant experience to the organization, which included Harris' own experience working for Luby's as a young man in the early 1970s. For 60 years, Luby's has forged a unique relationship with its customers. The emotional connection Luby's has with its diners is unlike any other restaurant company in America. I can attest to this claim that Luby’s has a warm atmosphere. I have went to Luby’s and been entertained by live music how many places can you say have live music. Luby's success is due, in part, to consistently serving good food at reasonable prices. Another and no less important ingredient to that success is the understanding that meals can provide more than just nourishment. They can be memorable times that add warmth and meaning to all of our lives. Bob Luby's vision remains strong and continues to guide the company today, so future generations can create their own special Luby's memories. I called my local Luby’s and talked with the manager and he referred me to the company web site and I thank them for giving me all the great background information I needed. Now that you have all the background you need on Luby’s I want to tell you why I like Luby’s.
All the claims Luby’s makes above about being more than just your average diner is true. Since I have grown up in the San Antonio I have eaten at Luby’s many times before. Every time I eat there I am greeted by friendly workers with smiles. The food is always fresh and hot. You have a good variety of choices so the menu accommodates picky eaters like my girlfriend. You sit down and enjoy your meal in a relaxed environment. I now know the business philosophy of Luby’s and it is you treat your customers the absolute best that you can and provide them with a nice environment. This is a simple philosophy but it has worked in producing a San Antonio institution and one of the largest restaurant chains in America. I am not the only person in San Antonio who sees Luby's as one of their favorite places to eat. I recently visited my local Luby's on southeast Military drive to get some opionions from others. I was looking for some elderly people who were eating there. I wanted the input from elderly people who may have eaten here for many more years than myself. I was fortunate that I met Mr and Mrs Caldwell who heppened to be eating at this Luby's. I walked up to them and asked them if they come to Luby's often. They said yes so I proceded to ask them a few questions. Mr Caldwell was 67 and Mrs Caldwell was 61. The have been eating at Luby's since the sixties when there was only a handful of Luby's in existence. I was amazed that they have come to eat at the same place for so many years. They told me the reason they have been coming to Luby's for so long is the consistency of the product. Every time they have come here over the years the food is allways fresh and hot. The also said that Luby's restraunts were allways clean with a friendly staff. This is the key to a successful restraunt. You have to be consistent with the food and service and Luby's has done this very well for many years. I have enjoyed this series of post this semester. I have learned a lot but now it’s time to log off for the last time. I would like to thank my teacher Mrs. Ornelas for teaching me so much about San Antonio.
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