Last weekend our road trip to Oxford, Mississippi served two purposes.
Our primary goal was to complete the Rebel Man triathlon. Being a sprint distance triathlon, it was a good introductory race of the season, a primer if you will. The course was comprised of a 400 meter swim, 21k bike, and 5k run.
It was also my first trip to Oxford, MS; home of Ole Miss and the Grove, retired Colonel Reb, and a mention in The Heartbreak Kid (a disappointing Ben Stiller comedy). Ole Miss talk dominates during football season in SEC land, the recent mascot hoopla, and it’s the beloved alma matter of nearly every 1 out of 2 people I meet.
Discovering the best local food was the second goal, and after a little pre-trip research, I came up with a small but decent list. We managed to hit Bottle Tree Bakery for lunch Saturday, Proud Larry’s for dinner Saturday night, and attempted Big Bad Breakfast for post race brunch on Sunday, but ended up at Old Venice Pizza.
Bottle Tree Bakery was the only place I whipped out my camera. We ordered a cup of white bean and bacon soup, the curried chicken salad special, a Van Buren sandwich (turkey), and a mini key lime pie to go. Everything was fairly good, the bread was excellent (thankfully, we were at a bakery after all), and the mini pie was an adorable size but overall a bit too tart.
We had pizza twice, both at Proud Larry’s and Old Venice Pizza. Although we ordered different toppings on our pies, Old Venice was the clear winner to me. The toppings were fresher, the dough more substantial and the flavors more clearly defined. I could hardly distinguish any flavors on the Proud Larry pizza, but they do have a pleasant herb crust.
At Proud Larry’s we also split orders of toasted raviolis, I couldn’t resist! I was excited to see a familiar St. Louis staple down South, but they weren’t nearly as good. They were somewhat soft and hardly seasoned, but should have been crispy and full of Italian flavor.
The menu at Big Bad Breakfast looked incredible, but it could have also been the post-race hunger. We went, put our name on the list, and were told the wait for two would be 45 minutes. Boo.
Apparently there are no alcohol sales allowed in Oxford on Sundays and most restaurants close. The pickins’ are slim if you want to eat out, so the few restaurants that are open are packed. Even so, I can’t imagine why it wouldn’t be profitable to be open to serve food, but maybethere are other restrictions involved.
Nearly every restaurant we ate at is located at “The Square” in the center of town and near campus (pictured above). If we had more time, I would have like to hit up Old Taylor Grocery, notorious for their home cookin’ and catfish.
Bottle Tree Bakery
923 Van Buren Avenue
Oxford, MS 38655
(662) 236-5000
Old Venice Pizza
1112 Van Buren Avenue
Oxford, MS 38655
(662) 236-6872
www.oldvenice.com
Proud Larry’s
211 South Lamar Boulevard
Oxford, MS 38655
(662) 236-0050
www.proudlarrys.com
Old Taylor Grocery
4-A CR 338
Taylor, MS
662-236-1716
www.taylorgrocery.com
Big Bad Breakfast
719 North Lamar Boulevard
Oxford, MS 38655
(662) 236-2666
www.citygroceryonline.com
Lady, I live in Oxford MS now but I’m ORIGINALLY from Missouri and I have NO IDEA why you think toasted ravioli is “a St. Louis staple” As far as I know ravioli (toasted or otherwise) is ITALIAN and to my knowledge there isn’t exactly a noticibly large Italian population in St. Louis. Obviously you aren’t exactly a foodie nor were the people that talked to you or you list would have comprised of Snakbar (James Beard Award winning restaurant) Yockna in Exile (people have wet dreams about their Yockna sauce) and Taylor Grocery Catfish on Sunday if you couldn’t get in to BBB. The fact that you gave OLD VENICE the highest marks is, quite frankly, grotesque since it is a FRANCHISE not a local business and everything you ate was frozen, defrosted or boiled and taken out of a bag. GROSS
Posted by Jess | March 17, 2011, 9:11 pmDear Sir,
In my family (and to many others) toasted ravioli is a food synonymous with St. Louis. You are correct in saying ravioli (toasted or otherwise) is first Italian, but St. Louis is also home to a fairly well-known area called “The Hill” with a high concentration of Italian restaurants, some of which are credited with creating toasted ravioli.
National Geographic: St. Louis’s Toasted Treat
In regards to your comments about Oxford eating…I have been to Oxford once and the focus of the trip was to compete in a triathlon. Although I did have a list of places I wanted to eat, there are occasions when you just don’t get your way, especially with a group of people. I am glad to have your suggestions if I ever go back.
Posted by Gidget Eats | March 17, 2011, 10:35 pmWow. Nice snark. Kindness counts on the internets too, Jess.
Old Venice was founded in Oxford and has 4 locations. Not your typical FRANCHISE.
I’m with her on toasted ravioli=St Louis. As is Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toasted_ravioli
You also misspelled “Yocona”. Your dreams can no longer be fulfilled since it closed in a few months ago:
http://www.yocona.com/Menu/index.htm
Finally, you misspelled “Snackbar”. How long have you been in Oxford?
Posted by gregg | March 18, 2011, 3:22 pm