Local sports eatery, Touchdown’s, closing after 23 years; new owners preparing hibachi & sushi jointThe miniature baseball bat that once served as the door handle for Touchdown’s will soon be removed and new owners hope to hit it out of the park with a completely transformed restaurant.Empty brew dispensers, bottles and remodeling tools line the bar that once catered to packed crowds watching football games and pay-per-view wrestling events.Decorative street signs and sports memorabilia that are aged and dusty from the 23 years of business lay on the only pool table left in the closed bar.“It was time,†said Larry Wilson, former owner of Touchdown’s. “Business just wasn’t as good as it used to be.â€Wilson, who also opened the Country’s Barbecue franchise on Opelika Road in 1990, said he opened Touchdown’s from scratch because it had always been his dream.“It was just something I always wanted to do, so I gave it a shot,†Wilson said.Wilson cites the change in city bus routes, the distance from campus and the economy as contributing factors of the restaurant’s closing.“It has been successful over the years, but the economy made it harder for us just like everybody else,†Wilson said.As a small team worked briskly to update ceiling fans and remove old décor, the new owner, Su Chong Cho, explained that plans for painting and updating the floor are soon to be underway.“We’ve got a lot of work to do to open our restaurant,†Cho said. “We’re opening a sushi and hibachi-style restaurant.â€Matthew Gogorth, sophomore in physics, said he was excited to see more asian-cuisine inspired restaurants.“The only other oriental restaurant I know of in Auburn is Seoul BBQ,†said Goforth. “So, I think a new hibachi-style restaurant will add a little variety.â€Fellow physics student Taylor Hall agreed and said Auburn needs a new place for dinner dates.“I think it would be nice to have a little bit nicer of a hibachi sushi place, because the only place I eat hibachi is at Hibachi Express,†Hall said.Cho said the restaurant will now be called Sushi Boy, and the sign will soon be erected out front.In the meantime, some of the sports and gaming décor that once filled the walls and surrounded the classic arcade games in Touchdown’s will be available for sale on eBay and craigslist.com, according to Wilson.Wilson said he also owns rental properties around Auburn and that after the transformation from Touchdown’s to Sushi Boy is complete, he will continue to maintain those as well as Country’s Barbecue.
Just another reason you better be learning Mandarin soon.
I never really got into the place. I did like it when they had the crawfish boils many years ago. Other than that, I just did not prefer it.
You must have heard they allowed blacks.
Terry Bowden loved that place...
I thought that pic was from the Supper Club?
Bottcher's, I think.Hell, that was such a wild night I can't remember the name of the Lewinsky look-a-like next to me.
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