On the south side of Main Street, in the middle of the block next door to the Montevallo First Baptist Church, stands a two story building whose lower level has been the home to a cafe or restaurant for as long as any native would remember. The current occupant in 2019 is the El Agave Mexican Restaurant, but it’s known predecessors extend back well into the 1930’s, if not before.
Anyone who lived in Montevallo in the mid-twentieth century remembers this as the location of the popular Plaza Grill, operated from 1938 until sometime in the 1960’s by the Rotenberry family. Prior to the Plaza Grill, Jack Johnson’s Dining Room was the occupant until a transition to the Plaza Dining Room took place in March of 1937. Only a few months later, in September of the same year, new ownership took over the establishment and the name was now shortened to simply the Plaza Grill. This new management must not have been successful or ran into difficulties with the business, for Mr. and Mrs. F. W. Rotenberry, from nearby Six Mile in Bibb County, assumed ownership in May of 1938 and set to work making the cafe a landmark on Main Street known for good square meals and delicious homemade pies.
Thank you to Clay Nordan, Vice-President of the Montevallo Historical Society, for this information!
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