A longtime fixture of the UT campus area closes its doors today. Players restaurant has served generations of UT students, state employees and others from its location at MLK and Guadalupe.
Today, the lunch rush felt almost like the receiving line at a funeral, as the string of people that stretched out the door and into the parking lot traded memories and said their goodbyes.
Mary Cox brought her family down from Georgetown. Players was the first place she ate when she came to UT. She and her husband went on dates there in the 1980s when they were students. She said part of the appeal of the restaurant is that it had not changed with the times.
“That’s the beauty of it. It’s exactly the same!" said Cox. "So that’s what makes it so sad. Because we were just looking down the street here. When we went to school in the ‘80s so much has changed and this is one thing that never had.”
The restaurant was the subject of controversy several years ago when UT tried to take the property through eminent domain. That effort failed. But the owners have now decided to sell to the University after 31 years in business.
