Two familiar faces at the world famous Rendezvous barbecue restaurant in downtown Memphis will be hanging up their bow ties and aprons.
Robert Stewart and Percy Norris have been waiters and cooks at the Rendezvous for a combined 100 plus years.
“Well we’re like family, I mean we’ve been together nearly 50 years. We were closer to each other than our families,” said Norris.
Stewart a.k.a “Big Robert” was not at work the day we dropped by the barbecue mainstay. However, there’s no doubt Stewart is just as popular as Norris. He seemed to know everybody there. He should consider he’s walked the hallways of the restaurant for 48 years.
Longtime customer Louisa Allgeier says she and her husband have been coming to the Rendezvous for over 25 years and Percy was always there to greet her.
“It didn’t matter if it were several years coming back. He would see us and say, Louisa! How are you doing? And we started having kids, and he knew how many kids we’d have,” said Allgeier.
Norris is known for his incredible memory.
Norris’ last day will be next Friday when he helps greet and serve the teams at the Liberty Bowl.
It’s hard to believe that Norris stumbled into this job when someone didn’t show up to work a bartender shift. Since 1969, Norris has met numerous celebrities including Presidents, a prince and numerous athletes and actors.
Although Norris says he will come back to the restaurant from time, he says his body is telling him it’s time to call it quits. Norris is 68-years-old and battled prostate cancer ten years ago.
“There’s an old saying every road got to end somewhere and mine is coming to an end,” said Norris.
