LIVE TO EAT: Grand opening for Cox's Hot Chicken today, and good ink for Pints&union's food.

I meant to post earlier than this afternoon about the grand opening, but it slipped through the cracks.

Kindly note the change since earlier reports suggested the name "Big Four" would survive; the owner and namesake chose to identify the entire space as Cox's, with bar areas at both the New Albany and Jeffersonville locations to be branded with the Goodwood Brewing name.

I'm told the Cox's location in Jeffersonville eventually will feature Goodwood Brewing beers brewed on site, but I cannot verify this at present.

Cox’s Hot Chicken is latest in economic boom for downtown New Albany, by Rachael Krause (WAVE-3)

New restaurant in downtown New Albany marks homecoming for businessman

NEW ALBANY, IN (WAVE) - Big Four Burgers is out and Cox’s Hot Chicken is in.

The new restaurant is the latest in a string of recent businesses opening up in New Albany’s downtown.

“We found a niche and we think the area needed it,” Andrew Cox, owner of Cox’s Hot Chicken in New Albany, said.

There’s nothing like it in the community and the trending interest in the downtown area will serve him and his customers well, Cox believes.

Opening this restaurant has been a kind of homecoming for Cox. He’s opened around 50 bars and restaurants around the U.S. over the years, but said he decided to move back home to be closer with family.

“It’s really cool, just to have my family come -- my uncle’s eating lunch right now,” Cox said.

The new restaurant and take-out area will take over the former Big Four Burgers spot on Main Street. It’s the latest in a series of new shops and restaurants opening up downtown ...

Meanwhile Kevin Gibson (writing at Insider Louisville) and his friends enjoyed their meals at Pints&union.

Pints & Union has burst onto the local bar scene with a big buzz, and it has the market cornered on atmosphere with its quirky yet welcoming vibe, replete with antiques, taxidermy, vintage (and sometimes creepy) portraits and a European vibe.

Add to that a robust cocktail program and beer list that explores classic European styles built for the purest of purists, and you’re in pretty good territory. Now add a menu that features pub grub inspired by everything from European cuisine to American classics, and it adds up to, well, deserved buzz.

Chain newspaper surveys "Big changes coming to Big Four Burgers + Beer."

It's worth remembering that when Matt McMahan launched Big Four Burgers, the former South Side Inn footprint was an unusable wreck. Matt invested in the renovation, installed a restaurant (then expanded it), acquired the necessary permits and paperwork, and created value where there was little of it to be found.

Now Matt has sold this platform to Andrew Cox, who'll invest his own money, time and experience toward reshaping and enhancing it. New capital, new blood and new ideas; this is a classic process. Let's hope it leads to great things -- and not forget that it was Matt who got this ball rolling.

Big changes coming to Big Four Burgers + Beer, by Erin Walden (A Multiplicity of Mays)

Big Four Burgers + Beer will close Nov. 9 and reopen the 18th with a new look and a (mostly) new menu.

 ... At both locations, 114 E. Main St. in New Albany and 134 Spring St. in Jeffersonville, Cox is opening Big Four Brewhouse in the footprint of Big Four Burgers + Beers and Cox’s Hot Chicken in the footprint of District 22.

“It’ll look like a completely different place,” Cox said of the New Albany location. There, the interior decor will go from exposed wood and corrugated metal to a red-and-white paint job, iconic athletic jerseys will adorn the walls and a large graphic of the New Albany High School basketball court will be on display.