Friday, January 16, 1998

Northern restaurant borrows name, Southwestern theme from Abilene

By BRIAN BETHEL / Abilene Reporter-News

Up in a land of ice and snow (well, compared to here, anyway), a second Abilene shines its lights and beckons passers-by with the sound of a blues guitar.

Naturally, we here in the original are a bit removed from our namesake -- Abilene -- located at 429 South Street in Philadelphia, Penn.

But owner Al Geary said he and his partner, Martin Shore, were impressed with the "beautiful sound of that name" and its meaning -- "a beautiful homeland."

So, when the pair decided to open up a restaurant featuring the hottest blues acts in the land with a Southwestern accent, the name was a natural.

And so, there are now two Abilenes steeped in Texas lore -- one here in the Lone Star State, the other "up north."

"My partner and I meet in Texas a couple of times a year," Geary said. "We wanted to open a great restaurant featuring Southwestern cuisine and blues music. Naturally, we wanted a unique name."

It turns out they wanted a Texas name. And it didn't take them long to settle on Abilene.

"It just sort of rolls off of the tongue, and it's an easy name to promote and market," he said. "We learned its meaning and thought it was perfect."

So now, visitors to our namesake in Philadelphia can enjoy succulent cuisine locals might find here at home -- and some they probably wouldn't.

"Our menu comes from a blend of dishes from Louisiana, Texas, New Mexico and Arizona," he said. "We have a lot of Cajun items on the menu."

But there are also some fairly common local items, too. Stuffed jalapeno, anyone? How about some fajitas?

The art inside comes from the same locations, and is described as "very authentic," Geary said.

"We've got steers' heads on the wall, some stuffed alligators," he said. "We have lots of great southwestern art we collected ourselves."

Hmmm. Steers, sure. We're not too sure about the alligators, though. Does the zoo know?

No matter, what keeps 'em coming in are the blues acts the restaurant manages to book, Geary said.

"I think we've had pretty much a who's who of blues musicians," he said. "We've had plenty of Texas artists, and lots of great players from all over."

Stevie Ray Vaughan, one of Texas' most famous and innovative modern guitarists, is referred to as "Patron Saint of Abilene," Geary said.

"That's the sort of music we play here -- kinetic, hard-rockin', hard driven," he said.

The restaurant and club is so popular that a second location is planned to open in suburban Philly soon, Geary said. And it even has a presence on the World Wide Web: http://www.abileneonline.com.

That site says Abilene (our Abilene, that is) embodies "the pioneer spirit of the Southwest" and abides "in a philosophy of tolerance, respect and dignity that has given rise to the world-reknowned 'Southern hospitality.' "

"We've been embraced by members of both communities," Geary said, saying that the local chamber of commerce was exceptionally helpful once the name was made known to them.

"We have your founding fathers gracing our walls," he said. "There's also a nice poster of the Abilene Railroad Festival ... When we open the second restaurant, we may invite some people up from Abilene for fun."

Hear that folks? Pack your bags, but dress warmly -- Pennsylvania gets cold this time of year.