This Florida-based sports pub chain has eyes on Columbus for expansion in Georgia

A Florida-based sports pub chain plans to continue its expansion into Georgia expecting to open new locations in four cities, including Columbus.

Beef ‘O’ Brady’s is a family-friendly restaurant founded by Jim Mellody and his wife, Jeanette, in Brandon, Florida in 1985. Georgia native Chris Elliott became CEO of Beef ‘O’ Brady’s in 2010, which now operates 140 restaurants in 21 states.

“What makes it unique is the quality of the food,” Elliott told the Ledger-Enquirer. “And we’ve really worked hard on providing high quality food.”

The casual family-oriented restaurants have a bar and good TV packages, he said. Each location has between 20 to 30 screens, he said, and customers can request a specific game to be put on if they’d like.

Some locations offer events like trivia and karaoke nights.

“So, there’s an entertainment element to it that you won’t see in a lot of other places,” Elliott said.

Its first Georgia locations opened in Thomasville, Athens and Jefferson, according to a news release. Beef ‘O’ Brady’s anticipates Georgia hosting at least 15 additional locations in the state with two locations potentially opening within a year.

The brand’s concept does well in small towns and mid-sized towns, Elliott said. There are a lot of cities and towns like this in Georgia, he said, and the brand would like to duplicate the success it’s had in its current locations in other cities.

The next Georgia cities the brand has set its sights on are Marietta, Columbus, Alpharetta and Macon.

“Columbus would be great because of its size, population and the business energy in the city,” Elliott said.

Both Macon and Columbus are large enough in size to support multiple Beef ‘O’Brady’s locations, he said. Columbus’ estimated population was about 202,000 people in 2022, according to the United States Census Bureau, and Macon’s estimated population was around 156,000.

“They’re both big enough for probably, at least, half a dozen,” Elliott said.

It could take about a year to 18 months to bring Beef ‘O’ Brady’s to Columbus and Macon, he said, and it’s still very early in the process. The company has to find the right franchise partner and go through the process of signing them up.

Afterwards, they’d need to find the right locations, negotiate leases and do the construction. The perfect fit for a Beef ‘O’ Brady’s location would be about 3,000 square feet at the end of a retail center with a patio, Elliott said.

“If there are any entrepreneurs looking to become their own boss in those markets … I think they should really give Beef ‘O’ Brady’s a good, hard look,” he said.

Elliott, who grew up in Tallapoosa and attended the University of Georgia, looks forward to growing Beef ‘O’ Brady’s where he has friends and family across the state.

“And it’s just kind of a cultural fit,” he said. “With the small town values, small town friendliness and sports orientation.”