Company History
Piccadilly Cafeteria, began operations in Baton Rouge, LA in 1944. Approximately three years before Luby’s. The cafeteria system was met with great success across the South. The influence of Cafeteria style operations was measurable, with most cafeterias even expanding into the Midwest. Piccadilly enjoyed many years of success. Up into the mid 1990s, when cafeterias began to falter. Cafeterias were viewed as “old people food”. The novelty of self-service had grown old in an age where tipping was becoming increasingly common beyond the restaurant industry. Even chains like Luby’s fell victim to this, closing many locations in the late 90s and early 2000s. Piccadilly’s defense was to limit their Cafeteria branding. Eventually dropping the word all together and just going by Piccadilly. As time pressed on the situation became more dire, leading Piccadilly to begin closing most locations outside of the South. Piccadilly would eventually file for bankruptcy in 2012. This would eventually reduce their footprint to around 40 locations.
Local History
Piccadilly was one of three prominent cafeteria chains operated in Houston. Their biggest competitor is the still operating Luby’s, along with the now closed Wyatt’s. Piccadilly proved to be quite popular in Houston. The strategy for building locations was to place them in Malls. A fad which was very common during the early days of mall building. The cafeteria was seen as a draw for the mall. Families would come to eat, and hopefully end up shopping. Throughout the years Piccadilly ranked up locations eventually getting to about 9. Of these 9 only 2 were not located in malls. As the role of malls changed in retail, Piccadilly began to lose locations. Eventually the final Piccadilly location in Almeda Mall closed around 2013.
Address | Notes |
|---|---|
| 12200 Gulf Fwy, Houston, TX 77034 | Almeda Mall |
| 2465 Bay Area Blvd, Houston, TX 77058 | Bay Area |
| 12300 North Fwy, Houston, TX 77060 | Greenspoint Mall |
| 750 Gulfgate Mall, Houston, TX 77087 | Gulfgate Mall |
| 303 Memorial City Way, Houston, TX 77024 | Memorial City Mall |
| 4400 North Fwy, Houston, TX 77022 | Northline Mall |
| 9500 Hempstead Rd Houston, TX 77092 | Northwest Mall |
| 1496 San Jacinto Mall, Baytown, TX 77521 | San Jacinto Mall |
| 7750 W Bellfort Blvd, Houston, TX 77071 | West Belfort |
I miss Piccadilly being in Houston. They had the best home cooked food. They still have them in Louisiana and Mississippi, when i tavel i make sure i stop at Piccadilly. I wish they were still in Texas.
Cleburne Cafeteria in Houston on Bissonnet was good.
Yes it is, Cleburne is actually still open!
As a kid, Texas had 5 statewide well known cafeterias: Luby’s, Piccadilly’s, Wyatts, and Furrs. Can anyone please tell me the fifth one, that I can’t seem to remember? Thanks.
Could you be thinking of Romana?
As a kid in Houston and surrounding areas, I remember 5 large statewide cafeterias: Luby’s, Piccadilly, Furrs, and Wyatts. There was a fifth that was also a household name, but I can’t remember it. Can someone name it for me, please?, Thanks
The occasional Sunday after church (back in the 70s) included lunch at Picadilly in Memorial City. Good times!
Thornhills would be great to read about. It was far better than Picadilly ever thought about. I favored the one outside of Gulfgate, about a block or two and in Pasadena Plaza.
I was trying to remember the name of the cafeteria in Memorial City years ago, and here it is! Piccadilly. Thank you!
Thanks for the website. I was trying to remember if Greenspoint had Wyatt’s or Piccadilly and here you have it!
Glad it could help! Keep an eye out for the Wyatt’s page eventually.
missing south wilcrest @ boone loop