Introducing Luby’s Celebration Table - 75 years a Heritage of Hospitality

The comfort of food brings us together and 75 years of Luby’s tradition brings us back around the table.  This Celebration Table serves as a reminder to celebrate all the moments in life with friends and family new and old. 

Antonio Avina, GM of Luby’s on Main Ave in San Antonio prepares The Celebration Table for a Thanksgiving feast.

What moments are worth celebrating? 

Fond memories for me have always happened around a dinner table. As a kid our worn round table was the place each evening we thanked God and talked about the day. We squeezed in more chairs than would fit comfortably for our family plus the frequent guest. Often a hearty casserole or meat and a bowl of potatoes (mashed, baked or fried) would be paired with a vegetable dish. We became accustomed to unfamiliar faces at our family table. 

My father brought in many friends or soon-to-become friends. I recall one evening our small faces fixated on our new guest. He broke the silence laughing, “I bet this is the first time y’all had a black man at your table!!”, it was true. Our tiny farm town in central Illinois had not one African American family living there. My parents wanted us to develop an awareness and sensitivity to the world beyond ours. Our table became the connection to an expanded worldview, and my father continued to bring new faces to share a home cooked meal.

The table was the place we learned to take only what we needed without waste. We built incredible bartering skills, trading a serving of broccoli for a biscuit with homemade jam or macaroni. Most importantly it was a safe space we could count on spending time with people who loved us. It was the 90’s and my father had risked everything to become a first generation farmer. We often didn’t have more than a $300 rent check and used car a friend had sold us for $500, but we always had a homemade meal and each other. 

Laura Rose Barth with her brothers Trent and Peter at their home in Metamora, IL Summer 1991

On Sundays and holidays we would gather around my grandparents’ table for a meal. It felt fancy! Would they use the red checkered table cloths that signified my grandfather’s pancake breakfast or would we be invited to my grandma’s dining room with silk pink napkins and matching flower arrangements. The extended families had a tradition of family meals and it created more safe spaces to learn about hospitality and celebrating together.

These signs sit on each of Luby’s Celebration Table’s (There are currently 40 Celebration Tables across Texas) and invite guests to leave thoughts, comments and stories.

These would become key tools for me in my career and would eventually lead me to becoming a partner in a Texas icon, Luby’s.

The early days of Luby’s Cafeteria. Captured in San Antonio approximately 1947. Iconic black and white image that captures the brands aesthetic and hangs with a series of images that nod to Luby’s nostalgia next to each Celebration Table.

Not every meal was a happy one. I vividly remember the meal following the passing of my young brother after a farming accident. Again we shared fried chicken, mashed potatoes and green beans and endless tears with family and friends and even strangers. The comfort of those moments will be forever cemented in my mind. 

A Celebration Table at Main Ave. in San Antonio loaded with Luby’s classic comfort foods ready to host a Thanksgiving Day celebration.

So why a round table?

I knew - even as a youngster - that I was included. Anyone my father brought to our old round table I could interact with as equally as any of the adults. I never felt left out sitting at that round table.

For many Texans Thanksgiving Day is a very important celebration that often is catered by Luby’s. The Celebration Table holds Luby’s most popular Southern comfort foods and each item is available everyday of the year.

What does this mean for us? 

Behind the concept for the Celebration Table is a longing to come back to a sense of belonging- to a family, to a friend circle, to a blended society representing all walks of life and coexisting peacefully.

Luby’s key leaders in San Antonio come together to help us prepare the classic Thanksgiving dishes and film a prototype for The Celebration Table’s release in August 2023. (Left to right) Store Managers; Laura Garza, Christina Sotelo, Veronica Perez. General Managers; Antonio Avina and Sam Pugh. Director of Operations; Trent Taylor. Luby’s owners; Laura Rose Barth and Calvin Gin.

Laura Rose Barth filming The Celebration Table prototype at Luby’s in San Antonio, August 2023

Sharing small comforts with people you love is essential for healthy relationships. Laura Rose Barth and San Antonio Manager, Laura Garza prep and film The Celebration Table to serve as this reminder.

I often say, “Come in sequins or sweats!” and this is the level of comfort I’ve experienced at Luby’s getting to know its regulars. You may see a Benz or a bike in the parking lot and sequins or sweats mingling in the serving line. That warms my heart. 

The blending of social classes without awkwardness makes me believe that we can care for our communities in respectful ways and carry forward the heritage of hospitality the Luby family created for Texans over 75 years ago. 

Shortly after The Celebration Table’s introduction The New York Times wrote this front page article, “At Luby’s, Every Day is Thanksgiving”!

You can expect to see our Celebration Table change often as we find reasons to celebrate all of life’s moments together.