Julio Jones is getting into the restaurant business. The Atlanta Falcons wide receiver has entered into a partnership agreement with Latitude 360, a Florida-based dining and entertainment company. Jones will take a minority stake in future Latitude 360 locations in Alabama and Georgia. The first planned site is near the Mall of Georgia in Buford, Ga.
Julio Jones joins the risky world of NFL restaurateurs
The Falcons wide receiver will have a minority stake in future Latitude 360 venues in Alabama and Georgia. He joins a long list of NFL players who have attempted to enter the restaurant world.
Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports
Latitude 360, which currently has four locations in Jacksonville, Pittsburgh, Indianapolis and Albany, describes itself as the “next evolution in dining and entertainment.“ In addition to a full-scale casual restaurant, each venue features unique entertainment options such as luxury bowling, HD theater, arcade games, cigar lounges and live music.
Jones joins a long line of current or former NFL players who have branched out into the culinary arts. The legacy he must uphold isn’t too weighty -- most athletes seems to go the route of Ditka’s and offer meat and potatoes on a plate in various forms. Latitude 360 seems ambitious, at the very least.
Here now is a quick power ranking of some of the more unique restaurants and/or franchises associated with NFL players.
1) Short’s Burger and Shine -- Nate Kaeding
Yelp review: 4 out of 5 stars
Often athletes get into the restaurant business because their names are big enough to draw customers through the door before anyone has heard how the food tastes. Kaeding, however, is a kicker, and an only moderately successful one at that by NFL standards.
It makes sense, then, that he opened his restaurant in Iowa City, where he was born and later won the Lou Groza Award while playing for the Hawkeyes. Still, he doesn’t even have the temerity to put his name on the marquee -- instead, the food and atmosphere speak for him.
And by all accounts it’s a damn good burger.
2) Billy Sims BBQ -- Billy Sims
Yelp review: 3-4 out of 5 stars, depending on location
Sims has become perhaps the most successful post-NFL restaurateur, slapping his name on several dozen locations primarily in Oklahoma and Southeast Michigan. It isn’t revelatory food, but Sims worked hard as hell to get the business running.
3) Island Way Grill -- Mike Alstott
Yelp review: 3.5 out of 5 stars
Alstott gets extra credit for failing once in the restaurant business, then trying again and succeeding. A Chicago-style pizzeria called Mike Alstott’s A Train Pizza in St. Petersburg, Fla., went belly-up soon after it opened two years into his Buccaneers career. He came back with an even more ambitious joint venture that has become a fine purveyor of island cuisine with a “Pan-Asian twist.”
4) Brother Jimmy’s -- Jonathan Vilma, D.J. Williams, Jon Beason
Yelp review: 3-4 out of 5 stars, depending on locations
The three Miami linebackers have seen their barbecue chain spread out to 12 locations, including six in New York City and three in South Florida. They’ve been hands-on in the business, too. In 2012, commissioner Roger Goodell was reportedly banned from the restaurants. In 2013, Vilma openly feuded with the Miami Marlins over a poorly run Brother Jimmy’s food stand in their park.
5) Offerdahl’s Cafe Grill -- John Offerdahl
Yelp review: 3.5-4 out of 5 stars, depending on location
Offerdahl is one of the few professional athletes who focused on health food when he ventured into the restaurant world. The menu at his restaurant’s seven locations throughout South Florida includes vegan options and substitutions for its several sensible soup, salad and sandwich options.
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Somewhere low on this list) Papa John’s -- Peyton Manning
Yelp review: 1.5-4 out of 5 stars, depending on location
Manning owns 21 Papa John’s pizza franchises in Colorado. It’s Papa John’s.
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