Ludacris Closes Straits to Focus On New Airport Restaurant
Rap mogul Ludacris announced today he was closing his popular Straits restaurant in midtown to focus on a new restaurant he’s opening inside Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson airport.
According to the AJC, Ludacris, whose real name is Chris Bridges, made the decision after winning a contract to open a restaurant — Chicken N Beer — at the nation’s busiest airport.
The new restaurant was inspired by the title of Luda’s third hip hop album, Chicken N’ Beer. The new restaurant will serve “comfort food” and beer created from “locally grown ingredients,” according to the AJC.
“As I continue to learn and evolve as a businessman, I am extremely excited to put my restaurateur footprint into a new venture inside the busiest international airport in the United States, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport,” Ludacris said in a release.
“Straits was a great segue into the industry and with Chicken N Beer I can create my own concept. I look forward to expanding my creativity and driving to a much higher plane.”
This post, originally written Jan 4, 2012 @ 2:07pm, was edited to reflect the following corrections: Straits received a score of 91 on its 2nd inspection. There was no 3rd inspection. And Chicken N’ Beer was Luda’s third album.
What He Said: Ludacris
LudaDay Weekend Celebrity Bball Game ft. Ludacris, Justin Bieber, La La & Melo Anthony
Despite Atlanta’s forecast which called for heavy thunderstorms, the rain didn’t put a damper on the LudaDay Weekend festivities. The biggest draw of the LudaDay Weekend, which ends today, was the celebrity basketball game held Sunday at Morehouse’s Forbes Arena. Pop star Justin Bieber, 17, and his blue team took on the red team of the Ludacris Foundation All-Stars, featuring NBA mega stars Chris Paul, Carmelo Anthony, Kevin Durant, John Wall, and singer Teyana Taylor, among others.
Even with all that star power on the court — Bieber and his team of unknowns still managed to eke out a victory in front of the capacity crowd at Morehouse. The final score was a close 134-132. All proceeds from the game will benefit the Ludacris Foundation which helps disadvantaged youth in the metro area. Luda later tweeted that the game raised $10,000!
Photos by ExclusiveAccess.net
Celebs Out & About: Ludacris, Ciara, La La & Carmelo Anthony, Chris Paul, Lance Gross
On Saturday Ludacris held his annual private dinner at his Straits restaurant as part of his LudaDay Weekend of festivities. Accompanying him was singer Ciara who dined with singers Estelle and Letoya Luckett; actor Lance Gross and reality tv personalities Meeka Claxton, Tika Sumpter, Keisha Knight Pulliam, and random NBA Players. Photo courtesy of Tami of Talkingwithtami.com blog. Visit her blog for more pics!
Ludacris and his fiancee Fab partied at Mansion Elan in Atlanta on Friday night. The party was packed to capacity and it was one of the many events featured as part of his LudaDay Weekend festivities.
LudaDay Weekend Kicks off in ATL with Ciara, LeToya Luckett, Keshia K Pulliam
Thursday marked the official start of the annual LudaDay Weekend in Atlanta which runs through Sept. 5th. Ludacris kicked things off with a roundtable discussion for Georgia Tech students. He then took 1000 local kids to watch the Braves play at Turner Field. Later that night, Luda hosted a Falcons afterparty at a local nightclub with celebrity friends Ciara, LeToya Luckett (original member of Destiny’s Child), rapper Lil Scrappy and actress Keshia Knight Pulliam, and more!
Keshia Kinight Pulliam, left, and LeToya Luckett (formerly of Destiny’s Child) came out to support Ludacris at the Atlanta Braves game at Turner Field. On Saturday, Ludacris will throw a block party at the AU Center with free food and drinks for neighborhood children. Then on Sunday is the big celebrity basketball game at Morehouse gym between Ludacris’ team, featuring Chris Paul and Carmelo Anthony, and Justin Bieber’s crew. Doors open at 2pm and tickets are $10.
Check DTPRecords.com for the full schedule of events.
Ludacris says this year’s LudaDay Weekend will be huge (video)
Ludacris stopped by the 11Alive studio to fill 11Alive viewers in on this year’s LudaDay Weekend from Sept. 1-5th. Ludacris says this LudaDay weekend will be the biggest of the past 10 years.
The most anticipated event is probably the celebrity basketball game featuring NBA stars Carmelo Anthony and Chris Paul, in addition to other local celebs. Luda’s team will take on Justin Beiber and his crew. Luda jokingly calls Bieber his “mentor” who he goes to for advice on women. Even so, Luda says he’s definitely not going to let Bieber win the game.
Tickets are $10 and the proceeds will benefit the Ludacris Foundation. Visit DTPrecords.com for a full schedule of this weekend’s events.
If you’re planning on attending the LudaDay weekend events, you will have to contend with near gridlock traffic in downtown Atlanta. Not only is this Gay Pride weekend, but there will be other conventions and professional sporting events competing for spectators this weekend as well.
Ludacris and Fab: ‘We’re not ready for marriage yet’
I bumped into rap mogul Chris “Ludacris” Bridges, his girlfriend, Fab, and her friend yesterday at Phipps Plaza in Atlanta. We had a long conversation about blogs fabricating stories about Luda and Fab. More specifically, about how my blog influences the things other blogs write about.
Luda made it clear that he expected way more from me because he and I go way back to the days when I was a photographer and he was DJ Chris Lova Lova on Hot 97.5 (now 107.9).
The bottom line is, Luda and Fab are not ready to marry just yet — and when they do get married, everyone will know. They simply refuse to allow outside forces to influence their decisions. Luda stressed to me that he LOVES Eudoxie very much, and he would do anything for her.
I was happy to meet Eudoxie for the first time. She cleared up a few things, such as her name: she goes by “Fab” because her middle name is Fabiola; and the fake Facebook page that everyone, including me, thought was her. She said “Agnan” is not her last name, and she has no idea who created the fake page.
Fab’s real Facebook page is in French, and it is private. She only has about 200 Facebook friends who are friends and family.
She was so sweet! She took out her cell phone to show me pictures of her childhood. Fab proudly showed me pics of her mom, Jermaine, holding her as a toddler in Gabon, in Africa! I asked her if she would send it to me, and I was surprised when she agreed.
Check out the picture she sent us Exclusively after the break!
