Richmond Hill’s newest restaurant, Beef ‘O’ Brady’s, opened on Monday where Pogy’s used to stand. Owners Doug and Georgia Goolsby aim to have their "family sports pub" reflect the Richmond Hill sports scene in numerous ways.
The walls of the restaurant are flanked with a montage of Wildcat and other sports photos and memorabilia. Although not all the sports scenes are Richmond Hill-based, Doug is looking to gradually change that.
Doug encourages anyone reading this to contribute any Richmond Hill sports memorabilia they may have for display in the restaurant. He hopes to eventually incorporate banners hanging from the ceiling indicating future years that local teams have made it to the state playoffs, like you see in high school gyms.
As a former Richmond Hill Recreation Association president and coach, current Wildcat baseball booster president, and parent to several RHHS star athletes, Doug Goolsby has more than just a marketing interest in the restaurant’s apparent theme.
"It’s our lifestyle," said Doug. "This is what we’ve done as far as sports go and involvement in the schools. We’re just doing it in another capacity now."
The Goolsby children are staples on the Richmond Hill sports scene. 17-year-old Jeremy is one of the key players in the current success of the Wildcat baseball team, 15-year-old Melanie made a dramatic entrance into the Wildcat softball scene last year that few sophomores have made before her. In basketball, she went to state this past season. 19-year-old Justin was a starting lineman for the RHHS football team before graduating. He is now in his first year at GCSU. All grew up playing in the rec department, and even 5-year-old Mallory has joined rec soccer and T-ball teams.
"We’re going to be working a lot with the rec department, the schools, and even the YMCA," said Georgia. "We’re excited not just about opening our own restaurant but about all the community support that this is going to lead to."
The Goolsbys have plans to make Beef ‘O’ Brady’s a home base for a variety of fundraising events for local sports teams.
Doug cited a program he hopes to initiate within 30 days which entails a local sports team encouraging folks to come to Beef ‘O’ Brady’s after the game. Goolsby would then turn over 15 percent of the night’s sales to that team.
He spoke of turning over his facility to a community sports team that wanted to hold a benefit pancake breakfast. Goolsby also said that he would like to host team parties at the restaurant.
"For example, Richmond Hill just beat South Effingham in baseball for the first time in five years," Goolsby said. "This needs to be a place where everybody can come to and celebrate something like that after the game. The kids and the parents would have a good time, and that’s what we want to create here."
Doug said he recently talked to RHHS varsity football and JV baseball coach Brian Brocatto about hosting a potential local sports radio show from Beef ‘O’ Brady’s.
Doug said that the restaurant is geared not only to the local sports scene, but toward the community as a whole. Some of the policies that reflect this include a 50 percent dine-in discount for uniformed police, fire, and EMS personnel, military appreciation day on Sundays (military and family 15 percent off), and kids eat free on Tuesdays. He added he is looking to have someone do balloon and magic tricks on kids night.
Doug served as a regional vice-president for Cracker Barrel for 19 years, but this is his first venture at owning his own restaurant. The Goolsbys are optimistic about their restaurant’s future and feel confident that the community theme will hit a chord with Richmond Hill residents.
Their menu features a large selection of wings, sandwiches, burgers, salads and wraps with an average meal price of $10. Beyond the sports memorabilia, the restaurant features 27 televisions and a mini arcade.