Romana Cafeteria At 5215 Buffalo Spdwy.

[Highrise Tower]

Found this matchbook on Ebay for Romana Cafeteria located at 5215 Buffalo Speedway.

What's the story of this place? Was it bought out by Wyatt's Cafeteria (turned Luby's) and then this particular location closed? 

Looks like this is was located at the present-day HEB on Bissonnet & Buffalo Speedway.  Was this restaurant in the Speedway Shopping Center? The Speedway Shopping Center was active in the 1960s. I'm not sure when Romana Cafeteria was in operation. 

Another location of Romana Cafeteria was at 6223 Bellaire Blvd. at Hillcroft Ave. 

 

 

[mkultra25]

This location operated as a Luby's until it closed in 2005. Not sure when the transition from Romana's to Luby's happened, as it was already a Luby's when I lived in the Kirby/West U area (roughly 1994-1998).

There's an earlier thread about it here:

https://www.houstonarchitecture.com/haif/topic/33076-lubys-at-5215-buffalo-speedway/

[brucesw]

I did not remember that either one of these was a Romana before becoming Luby's.  I probably frequented the one on Buffalo Speedway the most and always saw friends there.  

The one on Bellaire is now King Star Seafood Buffet and Hibachi Grill.  Mostly a pretty standard Chinese Buffet with a few more seafood options and a grill installed on the back row where you can get a 'parrillada' freshly prepared from raw ingredients.  They have a large Hispanic clientele in that neighborhood, hence the hibachi/parrillada.  

An AT&T store sits in front of the old Luby's building, making it easy to miss driving by.

I've been a couple of times recently with a friend who has raved about it for a couple of years.  My first visit was ..  I did much better on the second visit but still not sure.  Haven't tried the grill offerings, which are included, not extra.  Gets terrible reviews online.