9 years later, Auburn’s legendary War Eagle Supper Club re-opening (2024)

The closure of the War Eagle Supper Club in 2015 brought a wave of regret and nostalgia for Auburn University students who had been frequenting the notorious watering hole since the 1960s. One of those students, Vince Thompson (AU Class of 1984), had a different thought – someone needed to reopen the iconic club …and why not him?

Nine years later, Thompson’s dream is coming true – the War Eagle Supper Club is set to re-open in September. Of course, it won’t have the layers of rocker sweat and spilled beer of the old club because this one will be housed in a brand-newbuilding adjacent to campus. The original ramshackle building on South College Street, which was built in the 1940s, was demolished after it closed.

READ MORE: Readers share memories, photos from original War Eagle Supper Club

Thompson, CEO of MELT Atlanta, a sports and event marketing agency, hopes to bring back that Supper Club feeling by creating a replica of the Club’s Slush Bus and reviving its motto: “Cold Beer, Hot Rock, Expect No Mercy.” Thompson bought the trademark to the name in 2020.

Thompson wrote on Instagram: “The WESC [War Eagle Supper Club], for decades, was a rite of passage for tens of thousands of Auburn alumni. This included cold beer, a secret recipe pizza, great music, plenty of heartache and our ‘Uber’ was an old school bus! I’m proud to say we will open this 200-seat bar in early September! The view from the outside rooftop bar overlooking Jordan-Hare Stadium will be the most beautiful view in Auburn.”

The new Supper Club is a roof-top bar atop the Graduate Hotel. According to a spokesperson for Hilton, the new Graduate by Hilton Hotel in Auburn and the club are set to open in early to mid-September 2024.

The new club has risen in the place of another Auburn landmark, Anders Bookstore on Magnolia Avenue, which closed in 2022.

History of the original Supper Club

The War Eagle Supper Club was so named because, throughout much of its history, it has been a private club – at least by letter of the law. This gave the club’s owners privileges owners of other college bars didn’t have. The Supper Club could stay open and serve alcohol past 2 a.m. – often until 5 a.m. – and serve alcohol on Sundays.

John Brandt, who bought his interest in the club from previous owner Hank Gilmer in 1985, said the building dates to 1937. That’s the date Brandt used to celebrate the anniversary of the Supper Club. However, Gilmer said the original building on the property burned in the 1940s and the current building took its place.

In1961, H.H. Lambert purchased a private club license. At the time, the Alabama Beverage Control board allowed white business owners to circumvent the law by purchasing a private club license. The owner then issued memberships for a nominal fee. The Supper Club charged $1.

Gilmer purchased the club in 1977 along with his father, although Gilmer was managing partner. Within a few years, Gilmer began providing live entertainment to draw more students.

In the 1970s, before an onslaught of development, students would leave campus and drive several miles down the isolated portion of South College Street to arrive at the club. Because it stayed open so late, students chose it as the last stop of the night, often not getting in line outside the doors until after 11 p.m.

Gilmer said he was alerted to the fact that law officers would be watching for drunken drivers.

“There was nothing between the Supper Club and town so the officers knew nine out of10 people headed to town came from the Supper Club,” he said in the 2011 book “Hidden History of Auburn.”

Gilmer bought an old school bus to drive students home. Riding in the “slush bus” would become a rite of passage for thousands of Auburn students. In 2007, the retired “slush bus” was attached to the back of the original building and made into a shot bar, one of the businesses’ four bars.

Thompson said the original bus could not be repaired so he created a replica. He plans to use the bus for promotional activities, according to Gulf Shore News.

A few famous names

The music scene at the original club was legendary. Actors Lou Diamond Phillips and River Phoenix performed with their bands. Popular groups Widespread Panic, Drivin’ and Cryin’ and the Zach Brown Band played in their early days at the club, as did Taylor Hicks from “American Idol.”

Kenny Chesney once played a benefit concert there and David Allen Coe performed his famous song, “You Don’t Have to Call Me Darlin, Darlin’.”

Darius Rucker, former front man for Hootie and the Blowfish, played on campus and stopped by the Supper Club afterward. Larry Linville, Frank Burns from M.A.S.H., once took the stage to play tambourine along with Telluride.

Famous athletes such as Charles Barkley and Bo Jackson also have frequented the bar, but usually after their careers at Auburn had ended.