A document filed with the Office of the Secretary of State indicates that Stubb's Austin Restaurant Co. has applied to reserve the name "Liberty Lunch" to replace the title of their venue after reaching a settlement with a company that makes Stubb's-branded barbecue sauce.
According to KVUE's news partners at the Austin American-Statesman, Liberty Lunch was a legendary live music venue at 405 West Second STreet in Downtown that shut down in 1999.
The Statesman reported that Stubb’s Bar-B-Q will rename itself due to a settlement reached between the venue and One World Foods, the company that makes Stubb’s-branded barbecue sauces.
The lawsuit was filed by One World Foods about two years ago after the company was acquired by food industry giant McCormick and Co. as part of a $100 million deal, the Statesman reported.
According to the report, the dispute began when additional Stubb’s restaurants opened in Austin at Graceland Grocery and Lala’s Little Nugget. One World claimed those locations weren’t covered by an “oral license” that allowed for the operation of the original Stubb’s on Red River Street and a catering operation at Mean Eyed Cat.
The “mutually resolved” agreement will still allow the restaurant and venue to continue operating.
Austin Redditors were quick to catch on to the news, offering a few tongue-in-cheek name suggestions of their own, including S'tub's, Stubby Mcstub'n'face, Stupp's, Snubbs and St. Ubb's.
In a written statement provided to the Statesman, One World said that per the agreement, One World will have exclusive ownership and right to use the Stubb’s brand and Stubb’s Austin Restaurant Company will be phasing out its use and display of Stubb’s trademarks. One World said it will also be considering opening Stubb’s-branded restaurants of its own.
C.B. Stubblefield, namesake of the Stubb’s brand, christened Stubb’s Legendary Bar-B-Q in 1968 in Lubbock, Texas, after serving the U.S. Army as a mess sergeant, the Stubb’s website stated. There, he gained quite the following, including soon-to-be-famous musicians like Joe Ely and Tom T. Hall who would come in to “sing for their supper.”
He opened up his restaurant in Austin in the mid 80s, where many of the same musicians -- plus a growing list of celebrities and presidents -- have stopped by to feel the Stubb’s experience for themselves.
Stubblefield died in 1995, though One World told the Statesman that a number of his grandsons still contribute to their team to help continue his mission of bringing love and happiness to people’s lives.
