SEC college towns ...

[Ledbetter]

... can you recommend your favorite places to eat?

I know there is an On the Road thread, but I'm working on a story about places to eat in the SEC and who would know better than the many SEC regulars that hang around here.

What I'm looking for is the must-visit places, as much for their character as their food, and the places to get a damn good meal.

I'm from Athens and went to school at Ole Miss, so I pretty much got those two covered. Any help you guys can throw my way would be appreciated.

Thanks.

 

[Ace]

... can you recommend your favorite places to eat?

I know there is an On the Road thread, but I'm working on a story about places to eat in the SEC and who would know better than the many SEC regulars that hang around here.

What I'm looking for is the must-visit places, as much for their character as their food, and the places to get a damn good meal.

I'm from Athens and went to school at Ole Miss, so I pretty much got those two covered. Any help you guys can throw my way would be appreciated.

Thanks.

What woul be your pick in Oxford? Ajax Diner?

 

[slappy4428]

Oh, to be in Starkville now that fall is here...

 

[G-Spot]

Ajax, yes.

 

[Mizzougrad96]

I think after Athens and Oxford, there's a pretty big drop as far as SEC Cities...

 

[Del_B_Vista]

In Starkville, I always eat at Little Dooey. Great barbecue. I get either the pulled pork plate with two helpings of corn salad, or the large barbecue sandwich with hot sauce and slaw (slaw on the sandwich) and a side of waffle fries.

Herbstreit and Fowler made an indirect reference to the restaurant during last week's game. Fowler asked Herbstreit how many straight meals he'd eaten barbecue in Starkville. There are several pictures of Herbstreit on the walls there, some of him playing tennis with the owner. The walls are also covered with placemats colored by the patrons there. Lots of silly pig puns with good and not-so-good artwork. It's an old house that's got a winding dining room woven through it.

 

[Ledbetter]

In Starkville, I always eat at Little Dooey. Great barbecue. I get either the pulled pork plate with two helpings of corn salad, or the large barbecue sandwich with hot sauce and slaw (slaw on the sandwich) and a side of waffle fries.

Herbstreit and Fowler made an indirect reference to the restaurant during last week's game. Fowler asked Herbstreit how many straight meals he'd eaten barbecue in Starkville. There are several pictures of Herbstreit on the walls there, some of him playing tennis with the owner. The walls are also covered with placemats colored by the patrons there. Lots of silly pig puns with good and not-so-good artwork. It's an old house that's got a winding dining room woven through it.

Thanks, that's exactly the kind of input I'm looking for.

 

[G-Spot]

One thing that struck me about Oxford was the lack of truly good BBQ. All the restaurants try to copy Memphis dry ribs and fail miserably.

A good sandwich at Lil Dooey is about as good of BBQ as you're going to find in either town. Never had the ribs there.

 

[HoopsMcCann]

everyone talks about dreamland, and dreamland's great, but i gotta go with archibald's in tuscaloosa. get the half-and-half plate. half an order of ribs, half an order of sliced pork. oh, and get the small, unless you've got three people to feed

 

[Ledbetter]

Anyone got any Gainesville tips?

There's a good take-out burrito joint across the street from the Holiday Inn, with a Mellow Mushroom nearby, but I don't know of any other places. And I don't want to mention Mellow Mushroom because I want to keep this local.

 

[Del_B_Vista]

One thing that struck me about Oxford was the lack of truly good BBQ. All the restaurants try to copy Memphis dry ribs and fail miserably.

A good sandwich at Lil Dooey is about as good of BBQ as you're going to find in either town. Never had the ribs there.

A fellow hack I trust tells me the best BBQ in Oxford is at a little gas station right at the top of the Lamar Street exit off Hwy. 6: B's Hickory Smoked Bar-B-Q at the Shell station.

 

[Mizzougrad96]

I covered a Florida-Florida State game in the late 1990s and was stunned at what a ****hole Gainesville is.

I ate at the Swamp. It was OK...

 

[tyler durden 71351]

When in Baton Rouge go to Louie's, the Chimes or Ruffino's. Louie's is a greasy spoon right by campus and it has amazing hash browns. The Chimes is a college bar with a gazillion different beers on tap. Of course, it's PACKED on football weekends. Ruffino's is an Italian/Cajun joint, run by a former LSU lineman (it used to be Gerry DiNardo's restaurant) -- but it's way far from campus.

 

[G-Spot]

The chimes has Fat Tire, on tap if I'm not mistaken.

 

[hondo]

The best places in Gainesville are chains (Chili's, Applebee's, etc.) which speaks volumes about how crappy the food is there. And is it just me, or has every Applebee's I've gone into, no matter what the location, has sucked out loud for the last five years or so.
Obviously, Baton Rogue benefits from being close to New Orleans. More variety than other SEC towns (Starkeville, Tuscaloosa, etc.) which seem to specialize only in BBQ.

 

[Fenian_Bastard]

Toomer's Corners in Auburn, just for the lemonade.

 

[Donny in his element]

The Gainesville burrito place is Burrito Brothers.
There's Leonardo's on University, which is the pizza staple of the college crowd. But I've heard Satchel's is the best pizza in town.
There's the swamp, the uber-Greek hang out. Gator's Dockside a couple miles west of campus is pretty much the same as a BW3. It might even be a chain. I know there's also one in Jacksonville, so that might not even be on your radar. Same with Calico Jacks, which is quite popular.
There's a good, hole-in-the-wall patio-only Mexican place on 13th Street north of University called El Indio.
Downtown there's a Cuban place called Emiliano's.
43rd Street Deli is said to be good. As is Hogan's Heroes on 13th.

For BBQ: David's on 39th. The best, though, is Backyard BBQ in Newberry, 15 miles west of Gainesville.

That's a start for Gainesville. But Tallahassee, it ain't.

 

[Johnny Dangerously]

I second (or third) The Chimes on the edge of LSU's campus. Much better food than one would think from what on the surface looks mostly like a place to drink a wide variety of beers.

 

[Sxysprtswrtr]

http://www.sectalk.com/boards/showthread.php?t=2480

Wish I could add a few of my own suggestions, however, in the SEC towns I've been in - I've either eaten at chain places or the local ones I've dined in - I wouldn't recommend.

 

[Mizzougrad96]

When Chili's is your best restaurant, that says a lot...