Thursday, February 16, 2012

I see what you're doing, Luby's, and I do NOT approve.

Much like my love for baby animals, my love of Luby's is well-known. Is the food great? No. Is the atmosphere special? No. Do I get some sort of special deal for publicizing my love of this Texas institution? No. And I've tried to explain my enduring devotion to Luby's to non-Texans, and it just does not compute. But what it boils down to is the comfort factor--I ate there a lot as a kid, and other than some cosmetic alterations, occasional fluctuations in quality and some annoying operational changes (I miss the damn tea cart, yo!), dining at Luby's has remained a fairly unchanged experience for over thirty years.

Until this past weekend.

Ask any Texan, "What's the one thing that Luby's is sort of famous for?" and you can almost bet money on the fact that they'll respond with: the fried fish. Oh. My. God, y'all. I love the SHIT out of this nutritionally devoid mystery fish. It's rectangular and fried and I smother it in fresh squeezed lemon juice and go to fried fish heaven. The sides change, but the entree is always ALWAYS the fried fish for this Pine Curtain Gal.

BEHOLD!
This glorious image, courtesy of The Gluttonous Chinaman.

So The Geej (who has inherited my love of Luby's in a BIG way) and I go to have some lunch while running errands this past weekend, and when I slide my tray to the entree section of the line and ask the server for the fried fish, I notice...it's different. My fried fish rectangle I've been eating FOR DECADES has shrunk by at least 1/3. I mean it went from being about the size of my hand to the size of just my palm. Not okay, Luby's!! Why you gotta go and mess with my fish? And yes, my ass is bigger than it should be, so I know this smaller portion is "better for me" and all that shit, but I never ordered the fried fish for health reasons. And I feel, I dunno, betrayed. And little pissed. You just HAD to go and fuck with THE ONE THING that hadn't changed since I was small enough to have to get help carrying my tray to the table.

Luby's has messed with their sacred cow, and this dude does not abide.

6 comments:

Kathy said...

I love Luby's, but what I really miss is the Furr's Cafeteria in Northcross Mall. THAT was a dining experience, yo.

La Turista said...

If you'll recall, shit like that is why I broke up with Luby's almost five years ago. I see I made the right decision.

http://laturista.blogspot.com/2007/08/dear-lubys-weve-been-together-nearly-40.html

Elaine Mesker said...

Hi Karla! My name is Elaine & I work for Luby's. Can you email me at comments@lubys.com with the location you visited so we can look into this? Our portion sizes have not changed so we want to make it right for you. We look forward to hearing from you and thanks for the feedback!

Karla said...

Dude, capitalism at it's finest! Luby's represent! You write, they respond. Woot!

Let me try: Dear Tiffany's. My diamond is NOT big enough. Whachoo gonna do about it?

Karla May said...

Yeah...but it's a little creepy too. Plus, she read my ample use of the f-bomb. Hopefully it made her laugh.

Elaine Mesker said...

LOL, yes, it did make me laugh. And sorry if we seem like we are stalking - as the Social Media Manager, your blog post came up on a Google Alert I received this morning for the word "Luby's".

Sorry we can't do anything about your diamond though. :)