New restaurant moving into former Guthrie’s location in Columbus

A new restaurant is moving into the former Guthrie’s location at 3527 Macon Road in Columbus.

Signage for a restaurant called Touchdown Wings has been put on the building. It’s unclear when the restaurant will open, but construction was ongoing inside when the Ledger-Enquirer visited Jan. 6.

Representatives of Touchdown Wings did not respond to the Ledger-Enquirer’s request for comment.

Touchdown Wings, headquartered in Atlanta, had more than 40 locations in the Southeast as of May, according to the Fayetteville Observer.

What happened to Guthrie’s in Columbus?

Guthrie’s, headquartered in Auburn, Alabama, serves fried chicken fingers as its main attraction. It had more than 70 locations nationwide as of January 2025, according to the Franchise Times.

Toby Hammer, the local Guthrie’s franchise owner, told the Ledger-Enquirer in a an interview last year that this closure is not signaling the end of Guthrie’s in Columbus. It’s a step toward growth.

“Guthrie’s is committed to the area,” he said.

Hammer said the closure was due to a new effort by the corporate company to remodel Guthrie’s locations into a new design. He explained that the Macon Road location was “difficult to transition” to the new standard.

“We are actively looking to relocate the franchise to a new Columbus location that will better serve our loyal Guthrie’s customers,” Hammer said. “The response to our Veterans Parkway location has been incredible. Our long term plan is to have three Guthrie’s in Columbus that look just like that one. This community demands that kind of quality, and as a local corporation we want to continue to be a good neighbor all across the city.”