The tiny waiting area inside is packed with five couples and their children. Coincidentally, they're all from either North Augusta or Aiken - and they all crossed the border with Washington Road in mind.

"There are a lot of big-name draws on this road," Aiken resident Paul Bodie said. "We go to T-Bone's, Lone Star, Outback, Shangri-la - it just depends on the mood. Whatever we feel like we can get it out here."

"You don't have to eat the same thing every time you come out here,"North Augustan Chad Guill said. "If there's a crowd at one place, you can go to the next. That's Washington Road."

The busy thoroughfare is miles of screaming neon, packed with restaurants, hotels and various retailers. It draws the single crowd as well as the families. It's Augusta's hotbed of consumerism. Whether seeking a new car or a cold beer, people in and around Augusta can find it on Washington Road.

Matt Smith (left) and Duke Wright are waited on by Jenny Brackett (left) and Ricci Rhodes at the Hooters Restaurant on Washington Road in Augusta. The thoroughfare is considered the city's hotbed of consumerism. MICHAEL HOLAHAN/STAFF

A few blocks from the Olive Garden, a table of Fort Gordon soldiers nosh on wings and beer at Hooters. It's their first stop of the evening. Smart money says their next stop - bar, club, restaurant or hotel - will be somewhere else on the strip.

"Everybody at Fort Gordon comes out here - that's where everything is," Pvt. Matt Wheeler said. "Come (to Hooters), go to clubs, get hotels - anytime we get some time off we come out to Washington Road."

Reach John Bankston at (706) 823-3352 or john.banks@augustachronicle.com.