Half a century ago, one of the most popular restaurants in Memphis had a rather humble name. Owners called it The Stable, and I recently turned up an old menu for this interesting establishment — one of the earliest “theme” restaurants in our city.
In 1942, an enterprising young man named Allen Gary teamed up with an equally enterprising fellow named George Early, and they purchased a brick stable — a real one, apparently, that had been built in the mid-1800s — at 60 South Bellevue, just around the corner from Union Avenue. They cleaned the place out, put in a full kitchen, installed a Wurlitzer jukebox, added tables and booths, and hung a neon sign out front advertising “The Stable.”