Dobbs House had been operating as a steakhouse, but after the Dobbs family purchased the Luau in Atlanta, they were inspired to transform this Memphis location into a Polynesian restaurant. The transformation into Dobbs House Luau happened in 1959. Polynesian food was served buffet style, and a menu of tropical drinks was available -- but only if you brought in your own rum and stored it in your own rum locker at the restaurant, a typical practice of the time and area.
This landmark restaurant was particularly notable for the extremely tall, narrow concrete Moai in the parking lot.
This location closed in 1982.
Upon closing, the concrete moai head was moved to Tiki Pools, a shop on Getwell. When the pool business also closed in the 1980s, the head remained behind. One customer of the store, Bill Cunningham, bought it with plans to convert it into a barbecue pit that would smoke out through the ear holes. But it never happened. One day Cunningham brought over a big crane, and workers began to hoist the head onto the back of a flatbed truck but the head snapped in half and shattered during the attempt.
Other Dobbs House Luau locations were in Birmingham, Charlotte, Dallas, Miami, Orlando, Lexington, Houston, and Louisville.