“We were on the fringe,” says owner Tom Garrison. He would have preferred to be on Knox Street or Oak Lawn Avenue, but what he could afford was $23,000 to spruce up a former pharmacy on Maple Avenue. Current-day Uptown Dallas is filled with skyscrapers and restaurants, but back then, it had gravel roads and a “counter culture” personality.
“If somebody was willing to pick up some garbage around here, we’d give them a bowl of lentils and maybe even an iced tea,” Garrison says.
Over its 50 years, the Stoneleigh P has been home base for a host of curious characters — real people with nicknames like Texaco Becky. It got a reputation for being a hole-in-the-wall with a great burger, and its patrons didn’t seem to care who was who. Journalists hung out next to millionaires. Celebrities ate here, too, like Lauren Bacall, Luke and Owen Wilson, and Kenny Loggins. It also hosted fundraisers for politicians Kinky Friedman and Jimmy Carter.