DALLAS — A hand-chalked sign regularly placed out front of the Stoneleigh P, the beloved Uptown Dallas bar, mostly tells the story of what this spot's experienced over the course of its five decades in operation.
"We've endured Nixon, hippies, Vietnam, fire, preppies, yuppies, Reagan, disco, Dallas politics, and insane neighbors since 1973," the sandwich board reads.
What that rallying cry misses, however, is a scourge "the P" (as it's known amongst its fans) has faced most recently -- landlords, specifically.
Earlier in the year, as the Stoneleigh P was gearing up to celebrate its 50th anniversary, word leaked that the bar's planned birthday celebrations were likely to be the final ones hosted at the 2926 Maple Avenue location it's for so long called home.
It was an unfortunate reveal; to hear Stoneleigh P founder Tom Garrison and his co-owner daughter Laura tell it, the bar's building was sold to new owners from Austin a few years ago during the pandemic, and despite the Garrisons' pleas, the new landlords weren't interested in re-upping the P's lease upon its expiration in April 2024.
As Laura explained to our "Y'all-itics" podcast over the summer, that sent the Garrisons into an active search to find a future home for their long-running establishment.
As the months passed, however, their search sputtered. They struggled to locate a venue close to their original home that also felt like it fit the part.
But no more: On Monday, Laura signed a 10-year lease for the Stoneleigh P's future.
At some point this spring, the Stoneleigh P will move to into the standalone building found at 4218 Lemmon Avenue -- most recently home to Eggsellent Cafe, but which previously housed operations including Tallywackers, Lolita's Mexican Cuisine, and Cafe Cancun.
"It’s pretty much move-in ready," Laura said shortly after signing the lease on the new space. "The plan is to pick up the P and put it over there. We just need to 'P' it up!"
The pool table, the jukeboxes, the magazine rack, the pharmacy cabinets (the "P" is short for "Pharmacy," as that's what occupied the Maple Avenue space before it became a bar, which also explains the soda pop jerk-like bar top layout) -- they're all expected to find a home at the new space, which is actually 1,000 square feet larger on its interior than the Maple Avenue location is, Laura said.
The Stoneleigh's open-late kitchen menu, including the P's legendary "Shrop" burger, will also remain, the Garrisons promise.
With the Maple Avenue lease set to expire in April, the Garrisons expect to keep the party going at their current location as long as they can, while slowly moving the bar's decor -- piece by piece -- to the Lemmon Avenue location in time for an opening at some point later in the spring.
The move, Laura said, will represent something of a "passing of the torch" in her family. For years, she's run the bar's operations -- but it's always been her father's place.
With her name on the lease, even with her father as a guarantor, it's a slightly different formula at play in the new spot, at least on paper.
"My dad says he's not going to be very involved in the new place," Laura said. "But I'll believe that when I see it."
At this point, the Garrisons are mostly just happy a plan is in place to keep their family business going.
"It’s just been such a long time coming, and now that it’s here, it’s just like, 'OK,'" Laura said. "We’ve been talking about it for so long, it feels like it’s already happened. But we’re glad it happened. We feel pretty relieved, but also just scared [expletive]-less. But I paid the deposit, so it's done!"
Still, Laura said she knows the new spot won't be exactly the same.
"I’m gonna miss all of the apartments around us [on Maple] with the younger crowd," Laura said. "But it’s still residential [over by Lemmon]. It’ll be more of a destination spot."
Her biggest hope, she said, is that the spirit of the old spot will follow along with the move to the new one.
"Hopefully the legacy lives on," Laura said. "That’s my goal. 10 years."
Then, upon hearing herself say that, she paused and laughed.
"Maybe 20 years."
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Editor's note: The following video initially aired on November 3, 2021.