Boots made customers feel at home
Wednesday, January 07, 2009
By STEVE DOYLE
Times Staff Writer steve.doyle@htimes.com
Ex-Tide player ran popular restaurant in city for 34 years

At about age 3, Alvie Ewen Ellett got a new pair of boots for Christmas.

The shoes made such an impression that the Owens Cross Roads boy refused to take them off. Not for baths. Not at bedtime.

Naturally, Ellett's parents nicknamed him Boots.

The single-syllable moniker served him well through his football-playing days at the University of Alabama and, later, as owner of one of Huntsville's finest dining spots, Boots' Restaurant on South Memorial Parkway. Specializing in prime rib and cheeseburgers, the eatery was a Rocket City fixture from 1961 until 1995.

"It was like Cheers," former Times food editor Mickey Ellis said Tuesday. "Everybody knew your name, and everybody knew Boots. It was just the place to go."

Ellett died Dec. 30, just two months after being diagnosed with Lou Gehrig's disease. He was 74.

He is survived by his wife, Joyce; son, Boots Ellett Jr.; daughter, Lynne Ellett; sisters, June Montgomery and Carline Kessel; and three grandchildren.

The oldest of three children born to Carl and Pauline Drake Ellett, Boots grew big - really big - working at his family's country store in Owens Cross Roads. By his senior year at Huntsville High, Ellett was an imposing 6-foot-2. He starred on the Panthers' offensive line and caught the eye of then-Alabama football coach Harold "Red" Drew.

Ellett arrived in Tuscaloosa in 1952, the same year as Bart Starr, and spent four years keeping the future NFL Hall of Famer safe from would-be tacklers.

In 1956, Ellett was drafted twice - by the Philadelphia Eagles and the Army. The Army won out, but he later resurrected his football career with the British Columbia Lions of the Canadian Football League.

Ambitious and hardworking, Ellett returned to Huntsville around 1960 with plans to open a clothing store. A local shop owner who didn't want the added competition convinced him to start a restaurant instead.

So began a Huntsville institution. Boots' Restaurant had a little of everything: tender prime rib and white tablecloths, but also three-napkin cheeseburgers and a lively bar.

Ellett, always dapper in a dark suit, greeted every customer personally. He committed people's names, favorite entrees and favorite drinks to memory.

"Dad was a workaholic," Ellett's son said Tuesday. "His dream was to be a successful businessman, and the only way he knew how to do anything was to pour his heart and soul into it. He used to always say that restaurants go in cycles, but business will come back around if you're consistent and predictable and don't try anything gimmick-wise."

He was right: Boots' restaurant survived 34 years and in the process became a beloved Huntsville gathering spot, the place to go before proms, after high school football games, for first dates and anniversary dinners.

"There weren't many chain restaurants in Huntsville then, so that's where you went for a spiffy meal," said Ellis, the food writer. "When I think of being young and having fun, I think of Boots'."

Ellett wasn't the type to boast about his Crimson Tide past, but customers knew. Auburn fans teased the gentle giant relentlessly after Iron Bowl victories, his daughter said, then celebrated with a nice meal.

"Dad used to say, 'I always want Alabama to win, but I make a lot of money when Auburn wins,'" she said.

In 1995, Ellett decided to call it a career. He went out in style, his son said, by inviting his most loyal customers for an open-bar bash.

"They had one hell of a party," said Ellett Jr., 37. "They opened up the bar and the cooler and said, 'It's all paid for, have at it.'"

A Hertz rental car office now occupies the former restaurant.

Huntsville Mayor Tommy Battle said he and Ellett were "kindred spirits" in the restaurant industry. From 1980-89, Battle ran Britlings Buffet at the corner of Memorial Parkway and Governors Drive, a short walk from Boots'.

"Many nights we'd close up and run over to Boots'," he said Tuesday. "Boots always had a kind word and was someone you felt like you could talk to. I think the whole essence of the place was Boots.

"He was just such a big, likable guy."

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