Britling Cafeteria

Britling Cafeterias was a chain of cafeteria restaurants, based in Birmingham. Most of its locations were in metro Birmingham, but the chain also had multiple locations in Huntsville and Memphis, Tennessee.

Little information about the beginnings of the company is publicly available, except that it was owned by Alfred Holcomb of Birmingham.

In their heyday, Britling cafeterias were a local institution in Birmingham and Memphis, particularly the downtown locations. The Highland Avenue location in Birmingham was a popular gathering spot in the 1940s and 1950s, even featuring live music and seating in a balcony overlooking the main floor; the two downtown Memphis cafeterias were similar. Sunday afternoon lunch at Britling's was a tradition in both cities.

One of the downtown Memphis locations is noteworthy not only as a local landmark of its era, but for one of its former employees: Gladys Presley, mother of rock and roll legend Elvis Presley. A display at Graceland memorializes the Britling Cafeteria and her work there.

The chain fell into decline in the 1970s, as fast food restaurants became increasingly popular and widespread. Britling tried to counter this trend by expanding into suburban locations in Birmingham and Memphis, a move that was successful for a time. In Birmingham, the chain had locations in popular shopping centers such as Eastwood Mall (two locations, one at each end of the mall), Western Hills Mall, a small shopping center in Hoover and Five Points West Shopping City. These eventually became the only locations, as the two downtown restaurants were closed in the 1960s. Memphis saw the company take the same action, with several locations in suburban shopping centers eventually replacing the downtown restaurants. As the company struggled against the competition, the remaining cafeterias were converted into all-you-can-eat buffets; this was done with at least three Memphis locations and the one remaining Birmingham-area store in Hoover in the 1980s. The measure was only successful in the short term, and Britling finally closed or sold off its Memphis and Huntsville locations. The Hoover location was sold and became Battle Buffet, which itself closed in the early 1990s.

The Briting chain, along with B&W Cafeterias in Nashville, Tennessee and Blue Boar Cafeterias in Louisville, Kentucky, were under common ownership in their latter years. Of all of those, only two Blue Boar locations in Louisville remain as of 2006.