A.B. Cheatham’s Downtown Tavern seeks to revitalize Historic Martin TN.
Martin natives Myra Hoffman and her son Austin Emerson have revived what was formerly The Stables Tap Room to create a relaxed environment where families can enjoy home cooked meals and college students can have a good time with their friends.
“We are not a dive bar or a white tablecloth restaurant, A.B. Cheatham’s is a middle of the road place where people can come in at any time of day and feel comfortable” explained Austin.
The name A.B. Cheatham’s is inspired by Myra’s father, Arthur Boyd Cheatham, who was a skilled sportsman with a passion for training hunting dogs. Austin explained how his grandfather grew up hunting racoons, and after returning from World War II, he began to hunt fox. He was never in it for the kill; he just loved to watch his dogs run. This is reflected in their logo of a hunting dog chasing a fox.
The first public showing of A.B. Cheatham’s will be this Saturday, March 17 during the Martin St. Patrick’s Day pub crawl. While they will not be serving food, they will be giving away free Michelob beer glasses, and will be showcasing their wide variety of craft beer, as well as offering festive green beer for the event. Beginning at 6 p.m. they will feature two live musical performances followed by a local D.J. from 9 p.m. to close.
A.B. Cheatham’s official grand opening is Saturday, March 23. They will be open Tuesdays through Sundays from 10 a.m. to 2 a.m. and serve food until 9 p.m. each night.
From the menu Austin recommends their soup of the day or the Idgy Burger topped with a fried green tomato. All of their food is made from locally sourced ingredients and inspired by family recipes.
Their bar will offer 15 taps and an upwards of 20 different bottled beers. The taps and menu items will rotate regularly providing customers with an ever changing selection of food and craft beer.
When asked about their vision for the future of A.B. Cheatham’s Austin said “We don’t want to be a stand-alone business, we want to become a staple of Martin and work in conjunction with the other businesses downtown to create a community that we hope will help the town grow as a whole.”
