Right now, a Friday evening walk down College Street feels almost roomy. Toomer's Corner has the usual foot traffic, but sidewalk tables are open, the light on Gay Street stretches long, and you can still get a seat at the bar without a wait. Six Fridays from now, that changes. Auburn opens at home against Southern Miss on Sept. 12, and the entertainment district switches on for Come Home to the Corner, held Friday evenings before AU home games.
The interesting thing about this particular late summer is what's arriving in the gap. Three additions to the downtown food-and-drink lineup either just opened or are landing in time to be part of the fall rhythm, and each one sits on a different block. If you already live here, the payoff for mapping them now is simple: you get first crack before the visitors do.
Olivine, and what happens on Gay Street after nine
Olivine sits at 146 N Gay Street, with soft lighting, neutral tones and a bar that leads out to a rooftop patio overlooking downtown. The rooftop is the piece worth flagging. Downtown Auburn has plenty of ground-floor bars and patios, but an actual second-story terrace with a view of the surrounding blocks has been rare.
The rhythm inside is also worth knowing before you go. The space transitions from dinner service to a more relaxed rooftop environment as the evening progresses, and the dining room closes earlier in the night at around 9 PM on weekdays and 10 PM on weekends. That means if you want the full dinner menu you time the reservation before nine, and if you want the rooftop-for-drinks version, you show up after. It's the same address running as two different restaurants depending on when you arrive.
The old Tiger Theatre becomes a hot chicken counter
The most visible change on College Street is one you can't eat at yet, but you can already see the construction. Hattie B's Hot Chicken will open in summer 2026 at 121 N College St, taking over the former Tiger Theater building across from Toomer's Drugs. If you've watched that facade sit for a while wondering what it would become, the answer is Nashville hot chicken with a menu that runs from mild to a level called Shut the Cluck Up.
The scale of the buildout is bigger than most downtown restaurants. The Auburn location will span 3,685 square feet with the 2,923 square foot dining room offering 72 indoor seats, while the 762 square-foot covered patio at the entrance will seat an additional 52 guests. A 52-seat covered patio directly across from Toomer's Drugs is going to reshape how that corner reads on gameday. It's also a third Alabama location for the brand, joining a nine-year-old in Birmingham and a soon-to-be-opened location in Huntsville, so the operational pattern is already tested elsewhere in the state.
Worth noting for anyone who cares about the streetscape: the plan is not a gut-and-replace. Hattie B's is keeping the original theme of the Tiger Theatre landmark while giving it a new purpose.
A small-plates room from a familiar team
The third arrival is quieter and easier to miss in the news cycle. The Hillmont at Remedy Supply Co., from the founders of The Pour Choice, is a restaurant that emphasizes shared small plates and a beverage menu that includes cocktails, beer, wine, and coffee. If you've spent time at The Pour Choice, that lineage tells you most of what you need to know about the sensibility: a bar-forward space where the food is designed to be picked at across a longer sit.
Small plates fill a specific gap in the downtown lineup. Auburn has strong entrée-driven rooms already, from The Depot's grilled gulf-coastal brasserie with a globally inspired menu to The Hound's over-the-top American classics, top shelf bourbon and 28 craft beers on tap, with bacon from heritage breed pork. What's been thinner is the go-with-a-group, order-eight-things, drink-forward format. Hillmont is aimed at that.
Six Fridays that change the walk
Here's the calendar residents are actually working around. Auburn's 2026 home schedule at Jordan-Hare, per Auburn Athletics: Southern Miss (Sept. 12), Florida (Sept. 19), Vanderbilt (Sept. 26), LSU (Oct. 24), Arkansas (Nov. 7) and Samford (Nov. 21). Every one of those Saturdays has a Come Home to the Corner the night before.
| Home game | Date | The Thursday–Friday before |
|---|---|---|
| Southern Miss | Sat, Sept. 12 | First activation of the season |
| Florida | Sat, Sept. 19 | SEC opener weekend, biggest early-season traffic |
| Vanderbilt | Sat, Sept. 26 | Overlaps with Homecoming Parade on Sept. 25 |
| LSU | Sat, Oct. 24 | Highest-demand mid-season Friday |
| Arkansas | Sat, Nov. 7 | Cooler weather, patio season shifting |
| Samford | Sat, Nov. 21 | Lighter crowd, easier walk-ins |
The pattern to notice is the September stack. Three home games in three weeks, with the Auburn University Homecoming Parade on Sept. 25 falling on the Vanderbilt Friday. If a rooftop table at Olivine or a first-week seat at Hattie B's is on your list, September is the month where availability tightens fastest. The LSU Friday in late October is the other pinch point, and after that Arkansas and Samford loosen up considerably.
A resident's shortlist for the next four weeks
If you want to spend the pre-season window efficiently, the practical order looks something like this:
- Olivine, 146 N Gay St. Go before the dining room closes at nine, then move to the rooftop for the second half of the night. Easier on a Wednesday or Thursday than a Friday.
- The Depot. Located in a historic train depot in the heart of Auburn. A quieter brunch here on a non-gameday Saturday is a different experience than during the season.
- The Plains Taproom. Auburn's first self-serve establishment, with over 40 taps offering craft beers, ciders, seltzers, wine, wine cocktails and even kombucha. Low-commitment stop that works well as the middle leg of a walking evening.
- Auburn Draft House. A pub-style restaurant in downtown Auburn AL providing 47 craft beers and American inspired favorites.
- The Hound. Reserve now if you want a table on a Friday in September.
- Hattie B's opening week. Whenever the doors open in the coming weeks, expect a line. The 52-seat covered patio helps, but the first two weekends will be tight.
A note on Cheers on the Corner if you missed it this year: the July 24 sips-and-bites trail pours small tastes paired with a savory bite from restaurants like The Hound, Acre, Draft House, and more. It's a good template to keep in mind for next summer, and it's a fair preview of how the downtown restaurants coordinate when they want to.
What this actually means if you live here
Downtown Auburn is not adding one new place. It's adding a rooftop, a hot chicken destination in a landmark building, and a small-plates room from an operator locals already trust, all inside roughly a year. That changes the shape of a Friday evening walk in a way that's easy to underestimate until it's the second weekend of October and you can't find parking within four blocks of College Street.
The window between now and Sept. 12 is the last stretch where you can test-drive the new places at your own pace. After that, you're sharing them with everyone in visitor red-and-white for six Saturdays.
If you're thinking about how your own address fits into the downtown walk, or whether a move closer in makes sense before the fall gets going, Carter Pair is happy to talk through what's on the market and what a shift toward downtown actually looks like in day-to-day terms. Contact Carter when you're ready.
