Josh Burmeister and Buff Teague of JLL represented the seller in the transaction. The property sold for $675,000, according to Teague. Ruby Tuesday closed in late May of 2012.
Cox owns five restaurants, including two Tropical Smoothie Cafes in Mobile and one in Auburn; an Island Wing Co. in Auburn; and Legacy Bar and Grill in Mobile.
The Coxes own the former Ruby Tuesday building outright. The managing partner in the Tropical Smoothie Cafes and Island Wing Co. restaurants is Nazmi Ozokur.
Tropical Smoothie Café was founded in Tallahassee, Fla., in 1997, and now has more than 360 stores in 36 states, with 40 new locations opening per year, according to the company’s website. The original owners of the chain sold the company to start the Island Wing Co. concept, said Cox, “and they wanted me to go in with them.”
The first Island Wing Co. opened in Auburn about 15 months ago and has been “wildly successful,” Cox said. In addition to the Auburn location, the corporate store is now in Destin, Fla., and there’s another location in Gulf Shores. A Tallahassee, Fla., location will open soon, according to the restaurant’s website.
Like Tropical Smoothie Café, which Cox describes as “a healthy alternative to fast food,” Island Wing Co. will offer a healthier version of chicken wings, the popular sports-bar staple, and baked French fries.
“They have invented a new way to make wings,” Cox said. “They’re not fried. They boil them, then flash-bake them, and they come out very crispy. They’re made to order.”
The wings are available “traditional” (bone-in) or boneless, in a variety of flavors and with several types of dipping sauces. In addition to wings, the restaurant offers an array of appetizers, sandwiches, salads, burgers, quesadillas, tacos and even five versions of macaroni and cheese.
“I never would have believed I would like a baked chicken wing better than a fried one,” he said.
Cox owns the franchise rights in Alabama, Mississippi and part of the Florida Panhandle, he said.
The Dauphin Street restaurant will be similar to the one in Destin, Cox said: a family-oriented, full-service restaurant, with 45 televisions on the walls as well as oversized booths that will seat six to eight people, each with its own TV and remote, and 40 to 50 craft beers.
“It’s a sports bar taken to the next level,” he said. “We offer a healthy alternative that’s a win for everybody.”
Cox considered a location in west Mobile, he said, and even had a letter of intent on a site near the University of South Alabama, but he “forfeited that and went to Midtown,” he said, because the restaurant is going to be “as much for families as it is for college kids.”
“I love the location,” he said of the former Ruby Tuesday building. “Midtown is desperate for quality food and quality lunch spots. I suspect we’ll be busy at lunch and dinner.”
Contractors have already started working on the interior of the restaurant, which will have an “island-y” look, complete with palm trees, said Cox. He hopes to open Island Wing Co. by Labor Day.
For more information about the restaurant, visit www.islandwing.com.