The Auburn University fine-dining restaurant 1856 – Culinary Residence has been named the best new restaurant in Alabama in Southern Living magazine’s list of The Best New Restaurant in Every Southern State 2024.

A teaching restaurant where students in AU’s Horst Schulze School of Hospitality Management work with visiting chefs to prepare and serve an à la carte lunch menu and a tasting menu for dinner, 1856 is in the Tony & Libba Rane Culinary Science Center on the AU campus.

Named for the year Auburn University was founded, 1856 opened in September 2022. Revered Atlanta chef Ford Fry is the restaurant’s 2024 Chef in Residence.

Here’s what Southern Living had to say about 1856 – Culinary Residence:

“It might seem odd to go to a college campus for a high-end meal, but not if you’re at 1856 — Culinary Residence at Auburn University’s new Tony & Libba Rane Culinary Science Center. The ‘teaching restaurant’ where students work under chefs-in-residence (currently Ford Fry) and a chef de cuisine (Thomas Baco-Wang) to create a sophisticated environment for lunch and dinner, with dishes like tagliolini with scallops, toasted garlic, parsley, and lemon.”

To read the full list of Southern Living’s best new restaurants, go here.

1856 — Culinary Residence is at 205 South College St. in Auburn, Ala. For more information, go here.