Get To Know Auburn, Alabama | Listen

Explore traditional and reimagined Southern bites in this classic college town.

Auburn, Alabama, is best known as the home of Auburn University and its powerhouse football team. But the small town’s wins aren’t relegated to the fall sport. Much of its food buzz began in 2013, when Auburn alum chef David Bancroft opened Acre and earned multiple James Beard Best Chef: South semifinalist nods. Yet for decades before Bancroft, Auburn has played a role in Alabama food, thanks to innovations at the university’s renowned college of agriculture, which equips farmers feeding the state and beyond.

Now, the university is elevating culinary education and training the next generation of hospitality pros in its Tony & Libba Rane Culinary Science Center, where students learn via traditional classroom work and hands-on experience in its teaching restaurant and hotel. Add to the game plan its growing list of locally owned, diverse eating options—praised by Bancroft as “so many different foods telling so many stories”—and Auburn scores a taste touchdown.

Best Places to Eat and Drink

Best Restaurant: Acre
At Acre, peach and fig trees line a median, herb gardens grow by the front door, and silver queen corn rises beside the patio. These fresh picks find their way into chef David Bancroft’s fare. There’s equal emphasis on the sea, with Gulf fish featured in dishes like redfish on the half shell, with “deckhand butter” and crispy Brabant potatoes.

Best Brunch: Lucy’s
This bright, airy space proves an apt accompaniment for vibrant brunch dishes like lemon- lavender donuts with citrus sugar, and Lucy’s twist on eggs benedict spotlighting beloved Alabama products: fried chicken atop a waffle smothered with Conecuh sausage gravy, a poached egg, and a drizzle of Eastaboga wildflower honey.

Best Traditional Treat: Toomer’s Drugs
Get brain freeze at this century-old soda fountain downtown with a decadent brownie sundae, a thick chocolate shake, or its famed fresh-squeezed lemonade. The supremely sweet-tart sip can be enjoyed the traditional way or frozen and with flavor additions like blackberry, peach, or vanilla.

Best Barbecue: Bow & Arrow
Bow & Arrow’s name and lodge-like decor honors chef David Bancroft’s love of hunting. The
menu honors his heritage: South Texas-style ’cue, tacos, and enchiladas served with Alabama
comfort foods. Slow-smoked brisket, pork, chicken, and sausages are stars, but sides like sweet
corn rice and cheesy hashbrown casserole dazzle, too.

Best Southern-Asian Mix: The Irritable Bao
Asian fusion fans stand in lines, sometimes out the door, for The Irritable Bao’s soft steamed
buns stuffed with creamy, fiery buffalo chicken dip, fried-rice bowls topped with spicy-mayo-
slicked cauliflower, and Capri Sun-like pouches filled with housemade, fruit-infused jasmine tea.
@dumpslikeatruck_irritablebao

Best Burger: Sheila C’s Burger Barn

The seasoning mixed into this spot’s all-beef patties is a secret, but the mouthwatering result is
well known, earning the restaurant multiple “best burger” awards. Its all-the-way
cheeseburger—a juicy six-ounce patty made fresh daily and smothered in American cheese—is a
five-napkin affair. (334) 283-5200

Biggest Claim to Fame

Tony & Libba Rane Culinary Science Center
When classes began in fall 2022, Auburn University’s Horst Schulze School of Hospitality Management students got their first taste of the new Tony & Libba Rane Culinary Science Center, a massive, state-of-the-art facility serving up comprehensive, hands-on culinary and hospitality education via gleaming kitchen classrooms, a coffee roastery, a rooftop garden and bar (atop teaching hotel The Laurel), a food hall, and fine dining teaching restaurant 1856, where students work front of house and at cooking stations guided by each year’s chef in residence.

Where to Shop

Moores Mill Market
Moores Mill Market sells chips, peanuts, and 20-ounce Cokes, but shelves are also lined with
local honey and El Guapo cocktail syrups made by an Auburn grad, while coolers boast smoked
gouda pimento cheese and chicken salad from local caterer Bistro to Go.

Well Red
Snuggle into a velvet chair, flip through a just-released novel, nibble on a rich red velvet cookie,
and drink an iced latte at the combo bookstore and coffee café housed in a welcoming cottage.

Home + Vine
Find cocktail napkins and coasters, tea towels, charcuterie sets, and an Alabama artist’s gold-
rimmed concrete bowls at this boutique packed to bursting with kitchen gear, decor, and ladies’
clothing.

keep reading

On the Road

A Local’s Guide to Auburn

From game day haunts to Charles Barkley sightings in Auburn, Alabama, local chef David Bancroft (of Acre and Bow & Arrow) plots a tour of Tiger country.

In the Field

All in the Hall at Auburn University

Learn the ins and outs of Auburn University’s new culinary and hospitality school that teaches students about the industry through immersion

Partnered

Partnered

Botanic Offers Whimsical Dining Experience in Auburn-Opelika  

Botanic blends nature and cuisine into a whimsical experience. Enjoy fresh dishes, lush gardens, and inventive cocktails in a unique setting.