Blue Boar Cafeterias was a chain of cafeteria-style restaurants based in

Louisville, Kentucky Louisville is the List of cities in Kentucky, most populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, sixth-most populous city in the Southeastern United States, Southeast, and the list of United States cities by population, 27th-most-populous city ...

. The first Blue Boar was opened in 1931. Once a major presence in metro Louisville, it is still remembered for its old

downtown ''Downtown'' is a term primarily used in American and Canadian English to refer to a city's sometimes commercial, cultural and often the historical, political, and geographic heart. It is often synonymous with its central business district ( ...

location on Fourth Avenue near Broadway. During the 1930s, Guion (Guyon) Clement Earle (1870–1940) served as advertising manager. He was the brother-in-law of Frank Kennicott Reilly (1863–1932) owner of the Reilly & Lee publishing firm of Chicago. Mr. Earle was well known to the customers of the Blue Boar Restaurant through the witty jottings he created which appeared on the Blue Boar's menus. A decade earlier, Mr. Earle had served as the Superintendent of Loveman, Joseph & Loeb in

Birmingham, Alabama Birmingham ( ) is a city in the north central region of Alabama, United States. It is the county seat of Jefferson County, Alabama, Jefferson County. The population was 200,733 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List ...

, where he published a literary review entitled ''"The Bookworm"''.

Early history

The Blue Boar chain shared common ownership with Britling Cafeterias in Birmingham and Memphis, and B&W Cafeterias in

Nashville Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

. Blue Boar was the last of these chains to close. At one point, there were 21 Blue Boar locations in Louisville, Lexington, Memphis, Nashville,

Little Rock Little Rock is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Arkansas, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arkansas. The city's population was 202,591 as of the 2020 census. The six-county Central Arkan ...

, and

Cleveland Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–U.S. maritime border and approximately west of the Ohio-Pennsylvania st ...

. As with its corporate siblings, Blue Boar was a Louisville institution, best known for its downtown flagship location. In 1961, Blue Boar locations were targeted for sit-in protests in the civil rights movement to fight institutionalized

racism in the United States Racism has been reflected in discriminatory laws, practices, and actions (including violence) against Race (human categorization), racial or ethnic groups throughout the history of the United States. Since the early Colonial history of the Uni ...

. A historic marker has since been installed at the former location at 410 W. Walnut Street (now renamed Muhammad Ali Boulevard) as part of Louisville's downtown "Civil Rights Trail". The company expanded into suburban locations in the 1960s and 1970s, including a location in "The Mall", now called the Mall St. Matthews, which was the first enclosed shopping mall in the state. (This cafeteria later moved to Oxmoor Center, a newer mall just across the Watterson Expressway.) Another location was in the city of Shively, in the Southland Terrace shopping area, which was located on 7th Street Rd. There was also a Blue Boar cafeteria located on Euclid Avenue in downtown

in the 1930s. It is unclear whether there was any connection between that location and the Louisville company. According to one source, it was patterned after Louisville's Blue Boar.

Decline

Facing increased competition from

fast food Fast food is a type of Mass production, mass-produced food designed for commercial resale, with a strong priority placed on speed of service. ''Fast food'' is a commercial term, limited to food sold in a restaurant or store with frozen, preheat ...

outlets and changing lifestyles, the chain went into a decline, and gradually closed down. Many of its locations were near locally owned department stores, and faltered after those stores closed. In 1995, the chain closed its last remaining location outside of Louisville, in Lexington's Turfland Mall and in Clarksville, Indiana. It also closed its Gardiner Lane Shopping Center store in 1995, which had been open since 1959. After 1995, only four locations remained open. One of the final locations, in a shopping center at the intersection of

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and Preston Highway, closed in 1999. The last location in Louisville, in the Southland Terrace shopping center, closed in 2003.After 72 years, Blue Boar name will disappear; Owner switches cafeteria to Gilley's Grill; The Courier-Journal (Louisville, KY); July 24, 2003 Unlike Britling, it had stayed with the cafeteria format rather than converting to an all-you-can-eat

buffet A buffet is a system of serving meals in which food is placed in a public area where the diners serve themselves. A form of '' service à la française'', buffets are offered at various places including hotels, restaurants, and many social eve ...

format.

References

{{Reflist Restaurants established in 1931 Defunct companies based in Louisville, Kentucky Defunct restaurant chains in the United States Restaurants disestablished in 2003 Cafeteria-style restaurants 1931 establishments in Kentucky 2003 disestablishments in Kentucky