Ker's WingHouse makes long-awaited Ellenton debut
ELLENTON
Ker's WingHouse, known for showing football games, major-league sports and pay-per-view sporting events, as much as for its wings and scantily clad waitresses, is opening a new Ellenton location on Monday.
Crawford Ker, former Dallas Cowboys and Denver Broncos offensive lineman who is from Dunedin, opened the first WingHouse in Largo in 1994. The chain has 24 locations in Florida and the 2015 60th Ave. E., Ellenton location marks the 25th.
Ker's took possession of the 60th Avenue building in January, said Arianna Marshall, director of marketing for WingHouse. The renovations took 10 months because the 9,000-square-foot building used to house a Bealls store. The building needed significant changes and additions to make it suitable for a restaurant.
The opening date was planned for July but got delayed partially because of the renovation process and partially because Third Lake Capital, a private equity company, acquired Ker's WingHouse last year. Ker, who earned the nickname Big Daddy when he played for the University of Florida, remains the chain's chief executive.
With the company "transition, they didn't get moving in time," Marshall said.
Over the weekend the Ellenton location held two private events on Friday and Saturday nights to help the 125-person staff prepare for Monday's grand opening.
"It's just kind of a run-through for staff and servers to make sure they know how to prepare food," Marshall said. The restaurant passed its health inspection Oct. 2.
The alcohol sales from the private parties were donated to the Toby Hall Foundation, a charity providing "financial assistance to families with disabled and special needs children to play in a non-competitive baseball atmosphere around the greater Tampa Bay area," according to the foundation's website.
Welcome mat in Ellenton
The Ellenton WingHouse plans to continue pairing with local charities after opening day.
"We are thrilled to open our doors in Ellenton and become an active member and supporter of the community," said Terry Ryan, chief executive officer of the WingHouse. "The Ellenton community has already welcomed us with opened arms and we couldn't be happier to feel so embraced. We believe that supporting our communities is vitally important and we look forward to doing our part in Ellenton."
On Monday, the first 100 customers to arrive at the Ellenton WingHouse will receive free boneless wings for a year. Winners will receive one free boneless meal per month between November 2015 and November 2016. Attendees on grand opening night can get autographs signed by sports stars such as Ker, former Tampa Bay Buccaneer Mike Alstott, former Tampa Bay Ray's catcher Toby Hall, former five-time boxing champion Antonio Tarver and Ultimate Fighting Champion fighter Javier Torres.
The Ellenton restaurant will be one of Ker's signature stores, Marshall said, and will have new design attributes on the interior. Some empty space is left in the building and the company hasn't decided if they will use it for retail or another purpose.
Janelle O'Dea, business reporter, can be reached at 941-745-7095 or follow her on Twitter @jayohday.
This story was originally published October 11, 2015 at 10:04 PM with the headline "Ker's WingHouse makes long-awaited Ellenton debut ."