VIDEO: The history of Masters staple TBonz Steakhouse
Harry Heath and Tyler Wiley, general managers of the Augusta and Evans locations, share the story of TBonz Steakhouse and its national success.
TBonz Steakhouse is a famous dining spot near Augusta National Golf Club, known for drawing crowds during Masters Week.The restaurant’s walls are decorated with memorabilia, including photos of famous guests like James Brown and autographed flags.Many celebrities, including golfers Phil Mickelson and Tom Watson, as well as Michael Phelps and Shaquille O’Neal, have visited.
Just down the road from the pristine grounds of the legendary Augusta National Golf Club is a local steakhouse that’s also famous for the crowds it draws during Masters Week.
TBonz Steakhouse opened about 40 years ago and has become a bucket list trip for visitors and golfers during Masters Week and locals throughout the year.
The walls of TBonz are filled with photos of famous guests, framed autographed Augusta National tee flags, and other memorabilia that offer a glimpse into its history. That includes a large booth with photos of the Godfather of Soul, James Brown, who was a regular guest.
“The story is he would come in here and eat and then go to Michael’s Piano Bar (then next door) and just hop on the piano and start playing and singing and just hanging out,” said Harry Heath, the general manager of the Washington Road TBonz.
During Masters Week, TBonz is known as a place to get a look at golfers and celebrities.
“It’s been built to the point where we have people who pretty much come every year who are in television or in the golf world who come in just because they want to be in the atmosphere of the tournament,” Heath said.
Heath and Tyler Wiley, the general manager at the Evans TBonz, rattled off the names of a few well-known golfers who come during Masters Week.
“Phil Mickelson comes in and always asks for (table) 93,” Wiley said.
Other celebrities who have dropped by TBonz during Masters Week include Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps, professional baseball shortstop Alex Rodriguez, ESPN sports commentator Scott Van Pelt, and former Masters champions Tom Watson, V.J. Singh, Ian Woosnam, and Trevor Immelman.
One year during the annual Peach Jam basketball tournament in North Augusta, basketball superstar Shaquille O’Neal came into TBonz. Where did the 7-foot-1, 325-pound former professional basketball superstar sit?
“He sat on the patio,” Heath said.
Heath and Wiley attribute the continued success of the restaurant to its founders, the late Mark Cumins in particular. His attention to detail, demand for quality, and his generous spirit have been the guiding force for 38 years, they said.
According to previous Augusta Chronicle reporting, Cumins, along with brothers Henry and Jerry Scheer, opened the original TBonz in Athens. A year later, in 1986, they relocated it to Augusta.
Soon, the Washington Road restaurant became known as the 19th hole when it became a hangout for Augusta National caddies, who would stop by after work.
“Throughout the years, the caddies kept coming back, and then the caddies kept telling their golfers, ‘Hey, you can get a really great steak at this place, ’” Henry Scheer had told the Chronicle.
Heath and Wiley said Cumins’ tradition of giving back to the community continued after his death. Camp Rainbow, Hope House, and Project Create Space of some of the beneficiaries of the restaurant’s gifts.
During Masters Week, both TBonz locations will step up their game with more expensive cuts of meat and special seafood they don’t have during the other 51 weeks of the year, they said. And, they add staff to give customers more individual attention.
“We like to say we’re a neighborhood restaurant first, who one week a year get to be fancy,” Heath said.