WASHINGTON COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY (Washington County, Utah)
ANDELIN'S GABLE HOUSE RESTAURANT
St. George, Utah
LOCATION
206 E. St. George Blvd.St. George, UT 84770-2953
(435)673-6796
Around 1987, it moved to:
290 E. St. George Blvd.
St. George, UT 84770-2953
(435)673-6796
HISTORY
In the early 1970s, Mike & Doris Andelin passed through St. George on vacation and thought this would be a good place to raise their family. In 1974, they made the move from Hawaii.They also decided to open a classic restaurant and began the planning for that. They obtained a lease on a quaint old ivy-covered, tudor-style home on the southeast corner of St. George Blvd. and 200 East. Mike was joined by his father, Lavell Andelin, whose experience as a Disney set designer contributed to the atmosphere of the place.
Good food and atmosphere led to Andelin's Gable House becoming one of the finest restaurants in St. George. It was a favorite of both locals and out-of-town visitors, boasting many celebrity guests.
The Andelins's opened a shaved ice shack modeled after what they had known in Hawaii. As far as they know, they were the first to introduce the concept in Utah.
They also remodeled an old pioneer home behind the restaurant and decorated it as a Christmas Cottage. It was open for the holidays from October through January each year. This building was eventually moved to the Green Gate Village.
When the owner of the old home at 206 E. St. George Blvd. died, the Andelin's were unable to reach an agreement with the heirs on a lease. So Andelin's moved down the block to the former location of the Sugar Loaf Cafe on the southwest corner of St. George Blvd. and 300 East. The old home sat vacant for many years and was eventually demolished to make way for a Kenny Rogers Roasters restaurant. That was later replaced by the Iceberg Drive Inn.
After it went out of business in 2000, the building at 290 E. St. George Blvd. was used for Godfather's Pizza and later the Wagon Wheel Diner.
Mike Andelin, the creative genius behind Andelin's, died in 2006 from heart problems at age 60. His widow, Doris, went on to publish a cookbook with Gable House recipes in April of 2013.
PHOTOS
TBDREFERENCES
Andelin's Gable House Cookbookby Doris Andelin
A piece of history in recipes: Andelin's Gable House remembered through cookbook
by Brian Passey
The Spectrum, August 24, 2013
Andelin's Gable House advertisement
St. George Magazine, Fall 1984, p. 55