After 50 years of business, The Gables is calling it quits

Dinner at The Gables is more than a meal. From the dark wood paneling and crisp white tablecloths to the classic menu and well-stocked wine cellar, it's a step back in time to an earlier, more elegant era.

That era comes to an end Thursday, when the old-fashioned supper house at 1121 N.W. Ninth St. will serve up its last platter of prime rib and Danish whipped potatoes after a memorable 50-year run.

"We're going to retire the restaurant," owner Larry Hearing said Tuesday. "That's what we're calling it."

In business since 1958, The Gables has been a favorite "special occasion" restaurant for two generations of Corvallis residents who brought their families in to mark birthdays or anniversaries with a thick steak or platter of seafood.

Hearing and his wife, Helen, bought the place in 1966 and raised their own family in the peaked-roofed house out back that gave the restaurant its name. All three of their kids worked in the business at one point or another, and the youngest is still on the job.

"I've got my 80th birthday here in a couple days. My wife's 84, and we're thinking my God, it's probably time," Hearing said. "Our son Mike manages the restaurant, and he kind of feels the same way."

The Hearings had been quietly trying to sell the restaurant for about a year but couldn't find a willing buyer with enough cash to swing a deal. Now they think their best bet might be to sell the one-acre parcel in the heart of the Ninth Street commercial strip for redevelopment.

In the quiet hours before dinner on Tuesday, Larry Hearing sat in a booth in The Gables' dark and cozy bar and looked back on more than four decades in the restaurant business.

"For the first 10 years I cooked every dinner that came out of here," Hearing said. "We were pretty small then. We could probably seat around 50. Now, if you count the lounge, we can seat about 140."

The Hearings added onto the building several times over the years. As business grew, they also expanded the payroll, starting with four servers and a dishwasher and winding up with a staff of 25 employees, including a wine steward.

The competitive landscape changed as well, with old-time mainstays such as Wagner's, the Country Kitchen and Burton's giving way to new arrivals on the dining scene. The Gables adapted to changing times with a delicate balancing act, adding continental flourishes such as escargot and seasonal ravioli while keeping the traditionalists happy with filet mignon and lobster tail.

Michael Hearing, who spent 15 years in the kitchen before moving to the front of the house, deserves much of the credit for that, his father said.

"He might have been the best chef we ever had. He expanded the menu, got us out of the meat and potatoes stuff," the elder Hearing said.

Over the years The Gables developed a strong connection with Oregon State sports, becoming a hangout for coaches, a place to bring prospects on recruiting trips and a gathering spot for fans.

"Once in awhile you'd get a big win in athletics, and you'd sure feel it in the restaurant," Hearing said.

Perhaps the most memorable example was the Beaver football team's improbable 3-0 victory over top-ranked University of Southern California in 1967.

"When we beat USC; when they beat O.J. Simpson that year, (customers) were lined up out the door," Hearing recalled.

Hearing said he'll miss his longtime customers, many of whom have been coming to the restaurant for decades, but the time had come to retire.

"Somewhere along the line, you slow down a bit," he said.

At 49, Michael Hearing's still a long way from retirement age. But after working at The Gables for nearly 30 years, he's developed an appetite for something different.

"I was kind of ready for a change," he said Tuesday, rubbing spices into racks of baby back ribs ahead of the nightly dinner rush. "My kids are out of school. I've been here since '81."

He's not sure what that change will look like yet. He plans to take some time off and consider his options, which could even include reopening in a different location.

"We still have the name. We could still emerge someplace. You never know," he said.

But with The Gables closing Thursday night, he said, there's one thing he does know.

"It's the end of an era, that's for sure."

If you have a gift certificate

If you have a Gables gift certificate you haven't redeemed yet, there's still time. Michael's Landing and Iovino's have agreed to honor the certificates through the end of August.

Bennett Hall can be reached at 758-9529 or bennett.hall@lee.net.