Allen's was a

hamburger A hamburger (or simply a burger) consists of fillings—usually a patty of ground meat, typically beef—placed inside a sliced bun or bread roll. The patties are often served with cheese, lettuce, tomato, onion, pickles, bacon, or chilis ...

joint and

nightclub A nightclub or dance club is a club that is open at night, usually for drinking, dancing and other entertainment. Nightclubs often have a Bar (establishment), bar and discotheque (usually simply known as disco) with a dance floor, laser lighti ...

Athens, Georgia Athens is a consolidated city-county in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. Downtown Athens lies about northeast of downtown Atlanta. The University of Georgia, the state's flagship public university and an Research I university, ...

. It was originally established in 1955 in the

Normaltown Normaltown is a neighborhood in Athens, Georgia, by the Athens Regional Medical Center and named for the State Normal School formerly located there. It was the first area of Athens to be wired for electricity after the completion of the Mitchell ...

neighborhood of Athens, but was later located at the corner of Hawthorne and Oglethorpe Avenues. It went out of business in November 2011.

History

Allen's was opened by Allen Saine. Saine later sold the business to Athens businessman Billy Slaughter. Slaughter hired Danny Self to run the business and eventually sold it to Self while keeping the real estate. Allen's got its "World Famous" nickname because of its proximity to the Navy Supply School. The student officers frequented Allen's. They wore Allen's T-shirts in ports all over the world. In 2002, Self died and Slaughter ended up with the business, eventually closing it in 2004 and later demolishing the building. In 2007, two

University of Georgia The University of Georgia (UGA or Georgia) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university with its main campus in Athens, Georgia, United States. Chartered in 1785, it is the oldest public university in th ...

alumni, Mark Hammond and Hilt Moree, III, acquired the rights to Allen's from Slaughter and re-opened it in a new location with much of the original memorabilia, recipes, and live music. It was located on Hawthorne Avenue, across the street from the Athens YMCA location but still on the edge of Normaltown. There were various pieces of local memorabilia framed on the walls. Allen's closed permanently on November 29, 2011.

Notable patrons and employees

Zell Miller Zell Bryan Miller (February 24, 1932 – March 23, 2018) was an American politician who served as the 79th governor of Georgia from 1991 to 1999 and as a United States senator representing the state from 2000 to 2005. He was a member of the Dem ...

worked there while attending the

before going on to become a Governor and later a

U.S. Senator The United States Senate is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and House have the authority under Article One of the ...

. Notable patrons of Allen's include the late writer Lewis Grizzard, professional wrestler

Bill Goldberg William Scott Goldberg (born December 27, 1966), often known Mononymous person, mononymously as Goldberg, is an American professional wrestler, actor and former American football defensive tackle. He is signed to WWE. He is best known for his ten ...

, lead guitarist/singer John Bell of Athens band

Widespread Panic Widespread Panic is an American rock band from Athens, Georgia. The current lineup includes guitarist/singer John Bell (musician), John Bell, bassist Dave Schools, drummer Duane Trucks, percussionist Domingo "Sunny" Ortiz, keyboardist John "JoJ ...

R.E.M. R.E.M. was an American alternative rock band formed in Athens, Georgia, in 1980 by drummer Bill Berry, guitarist Peter Buck, bassist Mike Mills, and lead vocalist Michael Stipe, who were students at the University of Georgia. One of the fir ...

lead singer

Michael Stipe John Michael Stipe (; born January 4, 1960) is an American singer, songwriter and artist, best known as the lead singer and lyricist of the alternative rock band R.E.M. Stipe was born in Metro Atlanta in January 1960. Due to his father's militar ...

, and

The B-52's The B-52s, originally presented as the B-52's (with an errant apostrophe; used until 2008), are an American band formed in Athens, Georgia, in 1976. The original lineup consisted of Fred Schneider (vocals, percussion), Kate Pierson (vocals, k ...

who namechecked Allen's in their 1989 single "

Deadbeat Club "Deadbeat Club" is a song written and performed by American new wave band the B-52's. The song was released as the fifth and final single from their fifth studio album, '' Cosmic Thing'' (1989). "Deadbeat Club" peaked at 30 on the US ''Billbo ...

": "Going down to Allen's for a 25 cent beer."

References

External material

*J.E. GESHWILER, November 13, 2002, PUBLICATION: Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The (GA), EDITION: Home; The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, SECTION: Metro News, PAGE: B7 *KAY POWELL, June 21, 2002, PUBLICATION: Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The (GA), EDITION: Home; The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, SECTION: Metro News, PAGE: C8 *SAEED AHMED, DATE: January 1, 2004, PUBLICATION: Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The (GA), EDITION: Home; The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, SECTION: Metro News, PAGE: D1 *PLOTT BRICE, DATE: November 28, 2003, PUBLICATION: Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The (GA), EDITION: Home; The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, SECTION: Metro News, PAGE: D1 *Plott Brice, DATE: April 8, 2001, PUBLICATION: The Atlanta Journal and The Atlanta Constitution, EDITION: Home; The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, SECTION: Metro News, PAGE: D4 *Rebecca McCarthy and Cat Mantione-Holmes FOR THE JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION, DATE: December 19, 1997, PUBLICATION: The Atlanta Journal and The Atlanta Constitution, EDITION: The Atlanta Constitution The Atlanta Journal, SECTION: SPORTS, PAGE: E7 *FOSKETT, KEN, DATE: April 30, 1994, PUBLICATION: The Atlanta Journal and The Atlanta Constitution,EDITION: The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, SECTION: STATE NEWS, PAGE: C/16 *Nelson, Don, November 19, 2003, Athens Banner-Herald *Moore, Jennifer, 2004, Athens Banner-Herald *Quigley, Rebecca, May 14, 2007, Athens Banner-Herald *Reese, Krista, July 2008, Georgia Trend Magazine {{Coord, 33, 57, 43.82, N, 83, 24, 48.98, W, type:landmark_region:US, display=title 1955 establishments in Georgia (U.S. state) 2011 disestablishments in Georgia (U.S. state) Restaurants established in 1955 Restaurants disestablished in 2011 Buildings and structures in Athens, Georgia Nightclubs in Georgia (U.S. state) Defunct nightclubs in the United States Restaurants in Athens, Georgia Defunct restaurants in the United States Tourist attractions in Athens, Georgia Defunct hamburger restaurants Hamburger restaurants in the United States