War Eagle Supper Club reopens, serving up beer and Auburn nostalgia

There’s no plywood door with a hook-and-eye latch on the women’s restroom and no scent of stale beer and barf. There’s nothing sticky on the floor. No musicians have sweated or spit on this stage, which happens to be located on the rooftop of a five-story hotel rather than in a ramshackle building on an aging patch of uneven pavement.

In fact, the “reimagined” War Eagle Supper Club – an Auburn icon that met its demise in 2015 after more than 70 years – is sparkly and new and pretty much perfect. Too perfect to be the dive bar generations of students frequented, way out on South College Street past the Walmart.

But this new Supper Club, which was christened with a launch part Friday, Sept. 27, 2024, is not meant to duplicate the physical building. It’s meant to evoke a feeling, one so many of us experienced on those carefree nights of our college years.

That’s why original club’s well-known motto appears twice in the new club, above the bar and on a mirror in the lobby: “Cold Beer, Hot Rock, Expect No Mercy.”

Visitors will still find plenty of cold beer and hot rock (or country) but they will hardly be asking for mercy in the beautiful and cozy surroundings filled with memorabilia – which includes a framed, fading recipe for the club’s once-famous pizza.

The War Eagle Supper Club was so named because, throughout much of its history, it was a “private club” – at least by letter of the law. This gave the club’s owners privileges other college bars didn’t have. The Supper Club could stay open and serve alcohol until 5 a.m. and serve alcohol on Sundays.

READ MORE: See inside Alabama’s first Graduate Hotel

The new club plans to keep that vibe and continue providing live music and beer while offering guests a more upscale experience, from the orange-and-blue tile floors, rich wood paneling, stained-glass lighting, cast-brass accents and stunning views of the campus. Click here for hours of operation.

The exclusive launch party featured a concert by country artist Jake Owen, who is a Florida State University alum. Owen told the crowd he was visiting Auburn for the first time and he played “My Home’s in Alabama,” originally released by the band Alabama.

“I love Alabama,” Owen said in an interview before the party. “A lot of my friends and family went to Auburn.” Owen said he was invited to play at the launch party during a break from his tour and before performing Oct. 5 at the Talladega 500 NASCAR race.

Owen helped launch the new club on a stage set up near the bar, which is located on the roof of Alabama’s first Graduate Hotel. A Hilton chain, The Graduate Hotels are located in college towns and decorated in the school’s colors and all kinds of symbolism. The Graduate in Auburn, located on Magnolia Avenue on the former site of Anders Bookstore, features plenty of orange-and-blue, eagles, tiger print, Charles Barkley and Bo Jackson.

A statement from The Graduate says: “Located on the hotel’s roof, The War Eagle Supper Club is an indoor-outdoor rooftop bar and restaurant that blends Auburn University’s history with a modern and lively dining atmosphere.”

The space is split by a large bar, half under a roof and half open to the sky. A cozy room inside provides a quiet place to order dinner or, on the weekends, brunch from the club’s restaurant. Or guests can eat and drink on the outdoor patio.

Each of The Graduate Hotels’ rooftop bars features some kind of sculpture that is an homage to the area, often relating to the local school’s mascot. The Supper Club’s sculpture is a beautiful, oversized eagle’s nest woven with lights, providing the perfect photo opp with Jordan-Hare Stadium in the background.

At the launch party, several people lined up for photos in the nest with Steve Wallace, a former Auburn offensive lineman who went on to have a stellar NFL career with the San Francisco 49ers and the Kansas City Chiefs. Wallace played for Auburn in the 1980s and blocked for Bo Jackson, with whom he stays in touch. “When you block for somebody for four years, they’ll always buy you dinner,” he quipped.

Wallace was enjoying the ambiance and said that, like most former students, he’d spent his fair share of time at the original Supper Club. “You knew when you went there, you were going to have some kind of time,” he said with a laugh.

One of the best nods to Auburn history debuted Saturday morning: the brand-new War Eagle Supper Club “slush bus.” The converted school bus was used at the original club to ensure students got safely home after a night of imbibing. Riding it was a rite of passage for many students. The interior of the original bus was covered in student graffiti so Hilton representatives were on hand Saturday morning to let Auburn fans sign the new bus.