- The Luau in 1972
Back in November, I ran a photo showing the interior of some tropical-themed restaurant in Memphis, and asked my half-dozen devoted readers if they recognized the place.
We went back and forth on it, fistfights broke out, beer bottles were thrown, and we finally agreed that oh, what the heck, it MIGHT be the Dobb’s House Luau, the restaurant on Poplar across from East High School, though I had my doubts, especially since no one could recall actually seeing a decent photo of the Luau interior. Mainly they just remember the giant head outside by the front door.
Well, I’m not trying to start any trouble here, people, but tonight I was scrutinizing my old copies of KEY magazine with a magnifying glass — doesn’t everybody do that? — and found a teeny-tiny photo showing the interior of the Luau, and if you compare the two images you’ll see that it is NOT the place I had shown you before.
The image is rather grainy, since the original photo was about the size of a postage stamp, but you should be able to see that the tables, chairs, floor design, and other details don’t match. Both places seem to have an arched ceiling, but even the slope of that is different.
Tally, Stein, and Ronnie, by the way, were a trio who performed at the Luau in 1972, but I don’t have the time or energy to talk (or type) about that right now.
