Former Alabama QB AJ McCarron is a part-owner of new sushi restaurant in Tuscaloosa

When in Tuscaloosa, go to AJ McCarron’s sushi restaurant.

That’s at least what the former Alabama quarterback hopes you do when you visit the city of his alma mater. The current Cincinnati Bengals quarterback is an investor in Ajian Sushi, a new restaurant opening in June.

According to co-owner Pete Zimmer, McCarron became an investor in the restaurant when Zimmer reached out to him after being in contact with Bengals defensive end Michael Johnson. From the Crimson and White:

“I ran into Michael while I was in Cincinnati, and he was really enthusiastic about my idea for the restaurant,” Zimmer said. “So I asked if he thought AJ might be interested in co-owning the place with me, and he went on to mention it to AJ at practice. The next day I had a text from AJ that said ‘I’m in, let’s do this.’”

The concept is a build-your-own sushi restaurant where patrons will get to custom-design their own sushi rolls. While we’re not restaurant entrepreneurs, we do think it would be wise to have some pre-made options in honor of Alabama football. Who wouldn’t want the Nick Saban roll, which is made via an incredibly intricate 10-step process and comes with a side of Little Debbie oatmeal cream pies? Or the McCarron roll, a solid-but-unspectacular option that would become one of the restaurant’s most popular items in the future due to its prominence on the menu?

McCarron was a three-year starter for the Tide and a Heisman finalist in 2013. Alabama won back-to-back BCS Championships in his first two years as the Tide’s QB.