Beef O Brady's Richmond Hill Ga

Doug Goolsby grew up in a small Alabama town where people got excited about Friday night football.

"If you rode through town you knew exactly what team that my high school was playing," said. "There were signs everywhere; there was black and gold, my high school's colors, all over town."

Since loosing his job with Cracker Barrel three years ago Goolsby has been working to create that small town atmosphere in Richmond Hill.

"After I lost my job I had a couple of job offers but I would have had to move or travel even more than I had with Cracker Barrel," he said. "My kids were in high school, so I didn't want to travel. My wife, Georgia and I decided we didn't want to move. We'd seen the Beef 'O Brady's concept in Florida and really liked the way it was centered on the community. I didn't think there is enough of that here."

Goolsby knew what he wanted to do with the restaurant when he before they opened.

"The concept was to make it a place for the community," he said. "We had kids who played sports and when their game was over the question was often where we were going to go eat. Somebody might want Mexican; somebody else might want something else. We tried to establish a business that makes that decision pretty easy. I think the community needed something like this, a place for kids to gather after the high school football game. I think Richmond Hill was missing that a little bit."

Today the walls, shelves and ledges inside the restaurant are lined with sports memorabilia, but so much Falcons or Braves. Alongside the college and professional things are hundreds of local sports items including photos of past Richmond Hill High School teams and coaches, jerseys and helmets worn by Wildcat football players and even a framed letter of appreciation from UGA soccer player Leslie McConnell to Goolsby. He was her first coach.

"When we open the doors to the business each day we try to establish that atmosphere. The end result is that this is the atmosphere we wanted to create - a family atmosphere. And we've done that while being able to sell alcohol, which has been somewhat controversial," said Goolsby. "Beefs struggles with that sometimes in the south, with the attitude that you can't sell alcohol and be a family restaurant. People look at you funny sometimes when you say 'family sports pub.' But that's exactly what we are."

Goolsby was instrumental in bringing Sunday alcohol sales to Richmond Hill, is on the board of the Richmond Hill Convention and Visitors Bureau, was named the Chamber of Commerce's Entrepreneur of the but says he wouldn't consider running for public office.

"Nope," he immediately replied. "I've really never thought about it. I have had a couple of people ask me about it but I don't really have the time right now. Maybe someday, Melanie's (daughter) graduating from high school this year and we still have Malerie, our seven year old at home. I'm just not interested right now."

Two other sons, Justin and Jeremy are in college.

But while a role in politics is not in the cards, at least for now, Goolsby has found and continues to look for ways to involve himself and restaurant more and more in the community. The Richmond Hill High School football team eats pre-game meal prepared by the restaurant. Numerous school and community organizations and teams have used to the restaurant to host fundraisers.

"We partnered with the Cub Scouts for Relay for Life this year," he said. "They did a lot of the work, but we had a fund raiser here for them and did the booth at the relay with them."

Goolsby said he is also looking into buying a golf cart to take to high school football games to ferry people from the parking lot to the stands, start a tailgate party before the games and sponsor softball and baseball tournaments.

"I'm trying to do that with the CVB, we want to bring business into Richmond Hill, we spend $4,000 a month on billboards," he said. "If you want something that's going to fill motel rooms, have a big softball or baseball tournament each year. Ten teams would bring in 1,300 people for a weekend. We've got the facilities to do it."

Looking ahead he'd like to see the Richmond Hill store thriving and for he and Georgia to be working less hours in a few years.

"One of us is here probably seventy percent of the time. We've got a kitchen manager and a couple of key people who will open or lock up for us but we're here probably seventy to seventy five percent of the time. That's the worst part of the job, the hours, it gets long."

The best part he says are the people he's met.

"Malerie and I stopped somewhere to pick up something to send to my sons in college. There were two little kids there who said, 'There's the Beef 'O Brady's man, daddy, daddy can we go to Beef 'O Brady's tonight?'. It's kind of neat that they know who I am, they like the restaurant, that makes me feel good."

Looking back he says loosing his job with Cracker Barrel turned out to something of a blessing.

"I got to see all of Justin's football games his senior year, all of Jeremy's baseball games and all of Melanie's softball games," he said. "Before, I missed a lot because I was traveling so much. The only thing I miss about the corporate restaurant life is the paycheck. Here if a piece of equipment tears up or business is slow it comes out of my pocket. With Cracker Barrel I got a check every two weeks regardless of what happened."

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Source: https://www.savannahnow.com/story/news/2009/05/14/goolsby-making-place-for-community/13736908007/

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