Coach’s Corner will celebrate its 30th anniversary on March 13, and what a long, strange trip it’s been.
Coach’s Corner owner/operator John Henderson was only 22 years old when he, his father and brother began laying the foundation for what would become the home of sports in Savannah. His father used an American Express card to buy the equipment to start the restaurant, and the current structure on Victory Drive was built around a shack that had been a barbecue joint.
The beginning of Coach’s Corner humble – three televisions, a meat slicer and a hot dog warmer. But within a few weeks, the Hendersons bought a “Fry Daddy” deep frier to cook wings, and one “Fry Daddy” became 10 in seemingly no time.
Henderson still remembers buying the first 60-inch television for the restaurant on credit at Audio Warehouse. Now Coach’s Corner has flat screen televisions in every booth, a project screen at the back of the restaurant, an outdoor patio bar and Savannah’s premier outdoor concert venue, The Sound Garden.
Originally, the Hendersons planned to open a sports themed restaurant in City Market in downtown Savannah, but their proposal was rejected. Henderson says that’s the best thing that ever happened to Coach’s Corner, and his food, events to support community causes and concerts have become a staple on Victory Drive.
Along the way, there was a tee-pee erected during the baseball playoffs to support the Braves, there have been epic Super Bowl parties virtually every year, there have been fundraisers to support anybody in the community who needed help. And there have been wings … millions of wings.
Coach’s Corner wings are legendary in Savannah, with flavors ranging from honey dijon barbecue to Texas Pete and butter to the most popular wing in Chatham County – Tiger. When COVID-19 shut down most of the city in 2020, Henderson began serving takeout and the wings kept flying out the door.
Henderson likes to joke that he is an expert at making chicken soup out of chicken poop, and everyone who’s ever been in his restaurant knows that no two days are alike at Coach’s Corner. On March 13, Journey tribute band, Departure, will play a matinee show in The Sound Garden, and of course there will be sports, food and fun for everyone.
