What's in a name? Well, a lot at least for those in Austins vibrant restaurant, live music andcondimentscenes.
Earlier this month,Stubb'sAustin Restaurant Co. settled a trademark dispute with McCormick and Co., and its subsidiary One World Foods, so that McCormick will be theonlycompany that can use the nameStubb's.
So now, the Maryland spice company that owns the Austin sauce company is no longer allowing the Austin barbecue spot and music venue to use the nickname of the man that opened the restaurant.
Perhaps anticipating that this might happen,the restaurant Stubb's filed paperwork to claim the name "Liberty Lunch," sending a collective record skip that could be heard all the way toAntones the record store, not the club. (Incidentally, the twoAntone'sbusinessesare owned by different companies.)
Stubbsregistering the name Liberty Lunch raised several questions like, "Can they do that?" and Will the new brand stick?
A brand is like a handshake. Its a promise," saidMitchBaranowski, a creative director and branding expert based in New York."Its a promise that youre going to deliver on a certain product, or service, or experience. And these days, what a lot of consumers really want is an authentic brand experience."
To get that authentic brand experience, he says, you need heritage, sincerity and quality.Stubbsis losing some of that heritage its namesake as a result of the lawsuit.
C.B.Stubblefieldloved music," Baranowski said. "His original West Texas restaurant was frequented by so many great Texas musicians, from Joe Ely, Tom T. Hall, many others."
It was in Elys house that Stubblefieldbegan to bottle his sauce for sale,accordingStubbswebsite the sauce company, not the restaurant.
"They used to jam at his place all the time and that continued when he moved it to Austin," Baranowski said. "So, the live music component, that part of the brand heritage will be called up when they move over to the new name Liberty Lunch.
A Dive
If that name doesnt ring a bell, here's a primer for those of you too young or too new to Austin.
Liberty Lunch was one of the city's storied live music venues. It hit its stride in the1980sand'90s, booking a whos who of music. Located in the middle of what are now high-rises and boutiques, Liberty Lunch thrived without anyaesthetics.
I think that was the beauty of the place," saidKUTX's Susan Castle, who says she used to go to Liberty Lunch two to three times a week."It was a dive, a complete dive. It had half a roof on. But they had so many big names come through before they got big."
Great music, I mean thats what it was known for, right? saidBaranowski, who lived in Austin while attending undergrad and graduate school at the University of Texas.So, youd go see Michael Johnson and the Killer Bees, or Twang Twang Shock-A-Boom or the Reivers.
TheReivers were regulars at Liberty Lunch. You may know the band by its original name, Zeitgeist, which it had to change after a lawsuit.
A lot of those times, back in those college days, we couldnt quite afford the cover charge, so we might sit out on the curb eating our beans and rice from LaZonaRosa," Baranowski said. "But as I started working more and more around town, I had the means to pay the hefty $5 to $6 cover. Great sweaty, rocking nights at the Liberty Lunch."
"You could go right up to the stage and get just washed over [by] the sound of the Funky Meters, Castle said.
It was one of those places that many who were in Austin at the time remember fondly. It closed in 1999 to make way for the new City Hall and two office buildings.
Liberty Lunch's last owners,MarkPratzand Jeanette Ward, were not all that fond of the weird name, according to The Austin Chronicle. And that may make you wonder how it even got the name.
A Lumber Yard
If you dont know what theoriginalLiberty Lunch was, here's a primer for those of you too young or too new to Austin.
The clubs original owners, ShannonSedwickand Michael Shelton, bought the lease way back in 1975 from a guy who was running an open-air bar.
[There were] pickled eggs on the counter, with one with a bite taken out of it and put back in. It was just pretty much a dive, Sedwick said. "It was funky, very, very funky."
Sedwickand Shelton have had a hand in the development of a number of Austin night spots, most famously Esthers Follies, which they still own. Back in 75, they brought music to Liberty Lunch, booking local bands likeBetoy LosFairlanesand The Lotions.
All the outside was still pretty much the way it had been from the early days when it was a lumber yard, Sedwick said.
Wait. Lumber yard?
A Burger Stand
So, if you dont know what the original, original Liberty Lunch was, here's a primer for those of you too young or too new.
At one time, Austins warehouse district was more than inexpensive real estate to start music clubs; the warehouses were usedto house wares.
CalcasieuLumber was one of if not the biggest building suppliers in Austin. If you live in an old home in town, theres a reasonable chance that there areCalcasieubeams somewhere in the structure.
Supplying lumber and hardware to much of Austin required a lot of warehouse space.
We had a window department, an appliance store, an architectural mill plant, the main office these were all in different buildings down there in theSecondandThird Street area. But our main office was onSecondStreet, said Nick Morris, the former president ofCalcasieu. His grandfather Bill Drake started the business.
The company owned much of the land around this one building without a roof.
I ate [in that building] all the time, but, no, that was not ours," he said. "That was a restaurant, and I had plenty of hamburgers there at Liberty Lunch. Idont remember how it got its name; I know that a blind man owned it. And if you went in there often, I dont know if he could detect your voice or your footsteps or whatever, but hed call you by name.
Now were getting to the bottom of it.
According to Sedwick, the Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired owned the space.
"They had named it Liberty Lunch and then painted over that part of the building," she said. "And so when we uncovered that paint on the front of the building, that name came out. We just discovered it by happy accident, and thats why we named it Liberty Lunch.
But thats where the origin story ends in a mystery. The Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired doesnt have any record of a program onSecondStreet. The school says official records of off-site programs go back only so far.
Back then, there was a federal program for the blind to be employed specifically in the operation of vending facilities, which included cafeterias, snack bars and, later, vending machines. It's possible that the burger stand was run by an individual in the program who could have had a hand in establishing the name.
Brand New
If you dont know what Liberty Lunch will be, youre not alone.
It just seems to me you shouldnt take somebodys built-up brand and utilize it again," Sedwick said. "I wouldnt like it if somebody tried to call something Armadillo World Headquarters, either. Those things are special. They should be special."
Thats why Im a little bummed thatStubbsmay get the name Liberty Lunch," Castle said, "because I want Liberty Lunch to bethat memory."
Will it be the same Liberty Lunch? No, it wont," Baranowskisaid. "But its in the same arena and hopefully, over time, the folks behind the new Liberty Lunch will create a similarly warm and inviting experience that can be part of the Austin culture for years to come.
This incarnation of Liberty Lunch will have barbecue but probably a different sauce.
Read more:
Liberty Lunch Might Be Coming Back, But Where Did It Come From? - KUT
