New restaurant, Rob’s Ribs, opens in downtown Auburn

Outside Rob'S Ribs
Outside of Rob’s Ribs in downtown Auburn. Photo via Emilyn Hamn for the Bama Buzz

Auburn has always been full of amazing restaurants, but we (and I can confidently speak for the community as a whole on this one) will gladly make room for more any day! Lucky for us, a new barbeque restaurant has recently opened up right in downtown Auburn. We have found everything you need to know about Rob’s Ribs, including our recommendations.

All About the Road to Rob’s Ribs

Mark and Anna Coxwell opened up Butcher Paper BBQ in 2018, after a few years of catering for the community out of their famous food truck. The restaurant is located in a small home in Opelika—and they built their very own smoker from scratch!

In 2019, the duo had a new dream to expand into the Auburn community with BBQ specifically cooked on a brick pit. This new dream would be called Rob’s Ribs! Although the global pandemic was a large obstacle, they continued forward against all odds.

In 2020, an old building which used to host Mike and Ed’s Barbecue became available, and the team was able to purchase it. They honor the old restaurant’s rich history by using and remaking some old signs, photos, and memorabilia. The restaurant is named after the manager, Rob Goodwin.

Late this March, the Butcher Paper BBQ truck started parking outside of the soon-to-be Rob’s Ribs to sell lunch every Friday. By the end of April, Rob’s Ribs was open for lunch and dinner dine-in! As of right now, they are in finally in full swing for lunch and dinner—with plans for opening for breakfast soon. (And hey, it looks like they are hiring, with open interview times from 2-4PM if you are interested).

What You Can Expect

Inside Rob'S Ribs
Inside of Rob’s Ribs. Photo via Rob’s Ribs Facebook 

You can expect great things from Rob’s Ribs! A huge thing (at least for me) is the amazing outdoor seating with cute string lights and covered areas. They also have a full bar and—of course—the classic BBQ-style indoor setting.

If you’re familiar with Butcher Paper BBQ, you’ll feel right at home at Rob’s Ribs. They offer baby back ribs, beef short ribs, various salads, BBQ nachos, classic side options, many different alcoholic beverages and so much more. Check out their full menu here.

Rob’s Ribs is currently open from 11 AM to 9 PM on weekdays. They have been closed the past couple Sundays, (despite what their website says) so keep most up-to-date on their Facebook page. There is plenty of parking available on site, so don’t let the words “downtown Auburn” scare you away, parking wise.

Our Recommendations

You really can’t go wrong with ordering anything here. Our top pick for food is the smoked sausage and pimento cheese sandwich on a hoagie. A close runner up would have to be their Boston butt, which is slow smoked for 10 hours. Now that your mouth is watering… lets move on to drinks.

In a collab of the century, Rob’s Ribs offers spirits from John Emerald Distillery. We recommend that you grab an Esmeralda Margarita. Lastly, if you stick around for dessert, be sure to try their homemade peanut butter pie. You will not regret it, I promise.

Did we miss anything about Rob’s Ribs? Let us know @TheBamaBuzz and be sure to follow us to see more stories like this.

Emilyn Hamn
Emilyn Hamn
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