Cafe at heart of San Antonio’s ‘gay strip’ still kickin at 73 – mySA

It’s been a long journey for the San Antonio College-area eatery. While people of all walks of life eat and drink at Luther’s — it is certainly not explicitly a gay restaurant and it never has been — its history is inextricable from the revitalization of what is known today as San Antonio’s “gay strip.” A major operator in the redevelopment is Luther’s current owner, Randy Cunniff, who also owns Heat Nightclub and bars Sparkey’s and Knockout. 

This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

Before Cunniff started opening businesses on Main Street and it became a colorful nightlife destination, the area looked a lot different. 

Early Luther’s and the ‘Gay Strip’

Luther’s first began cookin’ on the corner of Locust Street and Main Ave in 1949, and ran operations there until about 1976. From there, it relocated to Main and Evergreen to colonize an old 1,150 square-foot Texaco station that had recently closed down. In the early days, Luther’s was the sort of roadside joint where folks get something called a “red top.” They would bring in their old coffee cans and have them fill it half with chili and half with beef stew, then would bring it back home to feed their families.

You can still order a red top at Luther’s today, but you should probably leave your Folgers can at home. From what I’m told, the Luther’s of yesterday had more of a rustic, truck stop diner feel. An aesthetic through-line that can be seen in Luther’s interior to this day as it’s covered in relics of Americana, from rusty road signs to license plates. 

Previous to acquiring Luther’s in 2007, Cunniff had lived across from the burger joint for about eight years, and had been frequenting the area and the restaurant for the last 20. 

Before he opened Heat in 2001, the neighborhood was still known to harbor some gay bars, and a portion of Luther’s patrons were subsequently gay. But at that time, everything was more spread out and discrete, says Cunniff. Being gay was something that, more often than not, happened behind closed doors. There were no blatant LGBTQ signifiers, there was no rainbow crosswalk on Main Street, no rainbow flags. 

In 2007, a few years after Heat found success and people began frequenting the area in higher numbers, Cunniff acquired Luther’s at the old Texaco. The old eatery had fallen into disrepair, so he gave it a makeover and built it out, doubling it in size. A few years later, after San Antonio College saw what was happening to that stretch of Main Street, seeing it transform into a more “happening” area, they made an offer on Luther’s and converted the land into a mixed-use building, with student apartments and space for a new Luther’s. During construction, Cunniff temporarily operated Luther’s across the street, where Knockout is today. In 2012, Luther’s opened at its current location. 

Luther’s today/ Post-Covid world

Something Cunniff is steadfast about is the staying open late on weekends to accommodate bar traffic. Until 3 a.m., burgers, homemade fries, and bar snacks like crispy Southwestern egg rolls are available at the Luther’s bar. Given its walking-distance proximity to other gay strip offerings, Cunniff engineered it to be a natural destination for a post-Sparkey’s late night bite. 

Like any restaurant, COVID-19 was hard on Luther’s and Cunniff, the unofficial architect of the inclusive night-life corridor. 

More for you

“Believe me, it was not easy, and I was scared. But, you know, I couldn’t let the gay strip go during COVID,” shares Cunniff, who has been happy to see people steadily venturing back out. 

A few months back, Cunniff hired new manager Duane Adams to get the restaurant back on track. The regulars were quick to introduce themselves, says Adams, and those who had been previously burned by the restaurant under different management were quick to wish him “good luck.”

Adams, who moved here from Ohio for the job, was quick to observe how diverse the restaurant’s patronage is. 

“I’ve just noticed how Luther’s is sort of this place for everyone. Even in the gay community, so to speak. We have lesbians that come in, a lot of gays younger and older, we collect every demographic from within our community. And then outside of that, it mixes with the straight communities,” Adams says. ” Luther’s is like, the heart of the strip.”

Almost immediately after he assumed his position, Luther’s successfully took part in the first Main Avenue Pride parade after a two year COVID-19-related hiatus, and serviced more people than Pride 2019. Under Adams, the restaurant has also instated a new bar program, and added events to the calendar every night of the week to bring people in. The entertainment roster includes movie screenings on Mondays, video game nights on Tuesdays, karaoke on Wednesday, and drag dinners and brunch on the weekends. The drag shows are led by a local queen who goes by the name “Elizabitch,” who was unavailable for comment. 

The drag shows are a big draw across the spectrum of humanity, and really demonstrate just how inclusive a space Luther’s is. 

Patrons run the gambit, from elderly couples who have been lunching there for years to gay guys pre-gaming Heat, even straight guys (“not closet cases or down low guys,”says Adams) and family’s enjoying eggs benedict and chicken and waffles during drag brunch. 

“I get phone calls every week where people tell me that they need to come to the show. And then they bring their grandma or they bring their auntie and their children,” Adams says. ” The whole family comes for the show.”

Luther’s is open seven days a week. Sunday through Thursday from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., and Friday and Saturday from 11 a.m. to 4 a.m. Find it at 1503 N Main Avenue.