Gary Williams, Maury Povich and Tony Kornheiser Buy Friendship Heights Restaurant

Former Maryland basketball coach and TV hosts have purchased the Northwest D.C. bar Chads

Chads Chads on Facebook

Three area celebrities and a businessman have purchased the neighborhood restaurant and bar Chads in Friendship Heights.

Tony Kornheiser, host of the ESPN sports talk show Pardon The Interruption, announced on his podcast Tuesday morning that he partnered with former University of Maryland basketball coach Gary Williams, talk show host Maury Povich and Alan Bubes, a Washington socialite and former businessman involved with a number of charities, to purchase the restaurant that’s a block away from Friendship Heights Metro station in Northwest Washington, D.C.

Kornheiser admitted the four know “not much” about restaurants, but said they plan to spruce up Chads and add a podcast recording studio to it. Kornheiser’s son, Michael, said the glass-domed entrance to the restaurant could serve as a quasi-public space for the studio and make it a local attraction. Tony Kornheiser plans to record his weekday podcast at the restaurant. The restaurant remains open.

Kornheiser, a Chevy Chase resident, said the new owners plan to upgrade the beer and wine selection and at least add a cheese board from Calvert Woodley’s La Cheeserie to the menu. The owners have enlisted the help of local restaurateur Geoff Dawson—a co-founder of D.C. concepts such as Iron Horse Tavern, Ripple and Buffalo Billiards—to change the menu and help renovate the space.

“My goal would be to immediately affiliate with [The University of] Maryland and the Nats, make it a Nats place,” Kornheiser said.

The restaurant, formerly known as Chadwick’s, has been in business since 1982 and serves an American tavern menu. It’s long been popular with American University students and local residents, according to Kornheiser.

The new owners plan to rename the restaurant—and Kornehiser said he will solicit suggestions from his listeners. An employee at the restaurant Tuesday said the previous owner was Joe McGuinness.