Bar-goers and weekend warriors will see a new option in the Cotton District, as the bar Champ’s celebrated its grand opening about four weeks ago and is located by the fountain in the Cotton District. The establishment replaces Sushi Martini and is the brainchild of business partners Amanda Pyron and Rick Welch (owner of Rick’s Café). 

Pyron said when she heard Sushi Martini was closing, she presented the idea of Champ’s to Welch. 

In order to find a niche in the saturated Cotton District bar scene, Pyron said Champ’s decided to differentiate itself by offering a sushi menu.

“The sushi sets us apart,” Pyron said. “We were also doing a late-night menu. The Bin does a late-night menu, but we had a completely different menu. Now we have combined our menus so we do sushi, pizza and wings all day.”

Champ’s attempts to offer bar-goers a sports bar environment that also focuses on serving a variety of foods.

“We really wanted to push our food and be a restaurant and bar instead of just a bar,” Pyron said. 

Pyron highly recommends patrons try the cheese wontons.  Champ’s also serves multiple varieties of pizza,  Surf-and-Turf is recommended. For sushi aficionados, Pyron recommends The Champ, a fried sushi dish. 

“It’s all good,” Pyron said. “Customers need to come back more than once and try everything.” 

Champ’s has all new bartenders, who Pyron trains. She said she invites customers to come with challenging drink orders for the bartenders to try to make.

“I’d like to have people come and throw out things for them to try, things for them to learn,” Pyron said. 

The bar works on offering daily specials on drinks in addition to its food options, including Whoop Juice, a house special that consists of three clear liquors, lime juice, sprite and cranberry juice, which Pyron said has been popular with the bar thus far. 

“It’s pretty stout, but it’s good. People like it,” she said.

When the weather warms, Champ’s plans on having live music outside by the fountain. 

Andrew Banker, senior kinesiology major, said he enjoyed his first experience at Champ’s.

“I went to their grand opening and had a great time. It’s new, and I liked the atmosphere. I can’t wait to go back,” he said. 

Pyron said weekends have been extremely busy for Champ’s, and she looks forward to watching the bar’s progression. 

“I’m excited about it. It’s going well, and I hope it continues to grow,” Pyron said. 

Alex White, sophomore kinesiology major, said the buzz surrounding Champ’s has put the bar on his radar and list of places to visit soon. 

“I hear they have really good food, and I’m super excited to try it,” White said.