Down in Oxford Town

There’s nothing like football season at Ole Miss. Plus: Five other SEC destinations within easy reach.

by

On seven Saturdays this fall, the population of Oxford, Mississippi, will swell dramatically. Some 27,000 people call the town home year-round. The head count almost doubles six months out of the year when 23,000 students attend the University of Mississippi. But on days when the Ole Miss Rebels football team play home games, up to 100,000 fans from all over the Southeast travel to this usually sleepy town. They’re there to root for the home team, party, and have a good meal or three.

The center of campus is the Lyceum, which dates from 1846. Named for the place where Aristotle once taught in Athens, the building’s facade of Ionic columns has long been the symbol of the school. It served as a Confederate hospital during the Civil War, and during the Civil Rights movement, it was at the center of the white supremacist riots that followed the integration of the school by James Meredith in 1962. A bullet hole is still visible in the facade from that time, and a statue of Meredith now stands nearby. Nowadays, the campus is renowned for its good looks; Ole Miss makes regular appearances on lists of the most beautiful campuses in America.

On football weekends, tens of thousands of fans converge on The Grove, ten acres of bucolic woods on the Ole Miss campus that’s been called the greatest tailgating spot in America. Starting at 7:30 p.m. on Fridays before game days, people rush in to claim their spots. A temporary tent city rises, complete with streets named for famous players, such as Deuce McAllister, the Ole Miss running back who went on to lead the New Orleans Saints to Super Bowl victory in 2009. These days, most tents are provided by professional vendors, who are experts at quickly creating the ideal party environment.

The festivities start early. Even for night games, The Grove is usually hopping by 11 a.m. The bacchanalia climaxes with the Walk of Champions, when the football team parades through The Grove on their way to face their opponents in 64,000-seat Vaught-Hemingway Stadium. The tradition began in the early 1980s. Legend has it that coach Billy Brewer, who brought the team back to national prominence after years of also-ran status, was fed up with his players’ rowdy behavior on the team bus, and made the driver drop them off at the Student Union building rather than driving up to the stadium entrance. The move didn’t work well as a punishment, but it worked wonders as a morale building exercise, when the team was greeted as heroes by revelers in The Grove. Since then, the route has been formalized with an arch, donated by alums from the 1962 team, who remain the only Ole Miss football team to end the season with a perfect record.

Beyond The Grove

Oxford comes alive on football weekends. Every Friday before football and basketball games, Visit Oxford runs tours of the town in a vintage double-decker bus. It’s a must for families of students and others who want to learn about the historic community.

The courthouse square is famous for its shopping, dining, and hotels. The Graduate, located at the corner of Lamar Blvd. and Jefferson Ave., is one of the newest hotels, dating from 2015. The rooftop bar, known as The Coop, is a popular gathering place which overlooks the Square.

The extremely competitive restaurant scene is epitomized by Ajax Diner. Named for owner Randy Yates’ grandfather, Ajax’s website claims more than 300 million butterbeans served over its 22-year history. That’s almost one butterbean for every man, woman, and child in America. The menu is classic meat-and-two, which means a heaping helping of protein with two fresh veggie dishes of your choice. Chicken and dumplings, country-fried steak, Mississippi pot roast covered in gravy, and tamale pie are only a few grandma-good choices on offer.

Visitors will discover unique shopping opportunities on the Square, such as Neilson’s, the homegrown department store that has been here since around the time the town was founded. Square Books is a two-story literary mecca founded by former Oxford mayor Richard Howorth. The original Square Books is exactly what you want in an independent bookstore — a twisty warren of shelves and alcoves where you can browse leisurely. And of course, there’s a coffee bar. The original Square Books was founded in 1979, and in the years since it has branched off into a kids’ shop, Square Books, Jr., and Rare Square Books, where expensive first editions and signed copies can be had by the discerning collector with some coin to drop.

Just off the Square on East Jackson Ave. is Saint Leo. Emily Blunt’s contemporary Italian restaurant is built around a huge, double-sided bar. Its cuisine is designed around a wood-fired pizza oven, with offerings that range from the familiar, like the Margherita pizza, to the exotic, like the bacon jam and Calabrian chili honey. The roasted mushroom pizza includes pecorino, an aged sheep’s milk cheese that adds a little zing. The craft cocktail menu is extensive and well considered. One of the more popular options is the Prosecco Pop, a glass of the fizzy drink served with an organic raspberry and mint popsicle.

The dining scene has outgrown the limited space of the Square. Just a little ways up Lamar is the Mid Town shopping center, home to several excellent eateries. The Snackbar’s main attraction is chef Vishwesh Bhatt, who won the 2019 James Beard award for Best Chef in the South. Bhatt — known to his co-workers as Vish — was born in India, but has been cooking in Oxford for two decades. His dishes tend to fall across the spectrum of the subcontinent’s flavor profile, even when they have French or English roots. One of his specialties is chaat, an Indian street food that originated in the northern province of Uttar Pradesh, which is traditionally a mixture of potato chunks, crispy fried bread, and chick peas, usually topped with a yogurt sauce. All sorts of regional variations have arisen over the centuries. Chef Vish’s chaats are ever-changing, depending on what fresh ingredients are available.

If chaat is the only thing you eat at Snackbar, you will be suitably impressed. But there’s so much more, such as Punjabi catfish bites coated in a thin, tempura-like batter with creamy chutney sauce. Fried catfish is a perennial Southern favorite, but the landlocked Punjab region of India loves the familiar fish as well, and Chef Vish knows how to make it sing. An incredible tandoori chicken sandwich also makes appearances on the ever-changing menu. There’s nothing like chicken slow-roasted in a traditional tandoor clay oven, and nestling it into a sandwich emphasizes the dish’s tender strengths.

Next door to Snackbar is its sister restaurant, Big Bad Breakfast, which is a production of chef John Currence, who started the modern Oxford food scene with City Grocery on the Square. Big Bad Breakfast has proved to be Currence’s most successful creation, expanding to locations throughout the South. If you don’t mind a wait, you can load up for game day with a Breakfast Crumble, two poached eggs, crumbled house bacon, and biscuits over grits covered in tomato gravy.

Those offerings only scratch the surface of Oxford’s vibrant dining scene. If you’re planning on going down to catch a game, patience and planning are necessary. With so many people making the pilgrimage, waits can be long. It’s best to check online or call ahead to see if the restaurant you’re interested in takes reservations. But don’t fret. There’s no shortage of places to raise a glass and toast to victory!

Tailgating in the SEC

If you’re up for a longer drive than Oxford, all the SEC schools have their own traditions of fan fun. For Memphians, here are five manageable SEC destinations.

Tuscaloosa, Alabama

The powerhouse Alabama Crimson Tide plays in one of the largest college stadiums in America, the 101,000-seat Bryant-Denny Stadium, named for legendary coach Bear Bryant and former University president George Denny. The tailgating spot to be is The Quad, the 22-acre centerpiece of the University of Alabama campus where the team played all their games before Denny Field was built in 1915. You can opt for help from a professional tailgating service, such as Gameday Done Right, or set out on your own to join the throngs in The Quad. Campus parking is impossible to come by on game day, so you’re better off leaving your car at the Downtown Tuscaloosa Intermodal Facility and taking the free bus shuttle to the game.

Starkville, Mississippi

The Mississippi State Bulldogs play in Davis Wade Stadium, a 61,000-seat facility that dates back to 1914. On the south side of the stadium is The Junction, named for a railroad station that once served the campus, where fans gather to live it up on game day. Unusual for most college stadiums, the outdoor party palace is directly adjacent to the field; fans greet the team, coach, and band two hours before each game in a tradition called the Dawg Walk. Nearby Harveys steakhouse is a favorite dining destination for locals and visitors alike.

Nashville, Tennessee

The state capital is home to Vanderbilt University’s Commodores, who play in a 40,000-seat on-campus stadium, the smallest in the SEC. The tailgating scene in Nashville is centered on Vandyville, located at the corner of Jess Neely Dr. and Natchez Trace. Since it’s the heart of a major city, there’s less room to spread out in Vandyville, so the nearby bars and restaurants, like the Whiskey Bent Saloon and the Corner Bar at Elliston Place, see plenty of action. For a little history with your drink, you can visit Springwater, which claims to be the oldest bar in Tennessee, and the immortal Tootsie’s Orchid Lounge, where the country music stars of old slaked their thirst between sets at the Ryman Auditorium.

Fayetteville, Arkansas

The University of Arkansas Razorbacks first played in Fayetteville in 1894. In 2018, the Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium was expanded to seat more than 76,000 hog-calling fans. Game day festivities take place all over Fayetteville. The center of attention is The Gardens at the corner of Razorback Road and MLK Jr. Blvd., but it’s a much more laid-back scene than you find at other SEC schools. The Powerhouse Seafood & Grill is a popular spot near the campus for libations and dishes that range from crab cakes and escargot to fried alligator and shrimp.

Knoxville, Tennessee

The University of Tennessee’s flagship campus is home to the Volunteer football team, who play in 102,000-seat Neyland Stadium, the seventh largest in the world. The city’s unique contribution to football fan culture is the Vol Navy. Neyland Stadium is located on the Tennessee River, and boaters crowd the waterway for “sailgating” before disembarking for the game at the Vol Navy Boat Docks. The tradition began in 1962, when radio broadcaster and boater George Mooney discovered that the aquatic route was the best way to avoid game-day gridlock. Nowadays, the Vol Navy even has its own flag. If you’re a landlubber, the Half Barrel on Cumberland Ave. is a favorite football hotspot.