Popular Montgomery restaurant owner dies at 74

Gail’s Down the Street Cafe on Zelda Road in Montgomery – Photo from WAKA Action 8 News

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (WAKA) – Gail Royal, the longtime owner of Gail’s Down the Street Cafe on Zelda Road in Montgomery, has died at 74.

Royal had been battling cancer and other health problems for the past year. She passed away on Friday morning.

She opened Gail’s Down the Street in 1993, and it has been a longtime popular meet-and-three restaurant, with the parking lot overflowing for lunch on weekdays.

The restaurant will continue to operate despite Royal’s death, opening as usual for lunch Monday at 11AM. Through her health battles, her longtime customers showed their support by continuing to pack the restaurant and to donate to a GoFundMe in support of her.

All of us at Action 8 News, which includes many longtime customers on our staff, send our prayers to her family, friends and employees.