Mississippi is known for its fattening southern comfort food, but its soul food of burgers and other American cuisine is just as popular in Oxford, Mississippi. Most would think Oxford is too small to have competitive burger restaurants, but trust me we do. Some of our top restaurants in the Square, or our student cafeterias, or our restaurants off of Jackson Ave. (our main road that leads to campus) sell the best burgers that no other school can compete with.
1. Bouré
Photo courtesy of Boure on Facebook
Bouré is one of the five restaurants owned by John Currence, a major influence of southern cooking in the Oxford area. When a restaurant has his name on it, you know it’s going to be good. This burger is better than good- its deadly. When you bite through the fried pickles, lettuce, tomato, and blue cheese topped off with bouré special sauce to top it off, your mouth with forever thank you. Its perfectly juicy, the bun is fluffy and crisp in right ways, and is only $11. Definitely worth it.
2. Phillips Grocery
Photo by Ally Langston
This place is off the Square on Lamar Blvd. and looks like a casual local hangout, but inside they’re cooking mean burgers any style. They come with any side of your choice- curly fries, hand cut fries, fried okra, corn nuggets, spicy fries, onion rings, or a salad. They know how to fry food and cooking burgers is their specialty. Aside from all of their options I got the cheeseburger with cheddar cheese instead of the chicken sandwich, or chili burger that are also famous. The burger is thick enough that you don’t have to stretch your mouth too far and good enough that you’ll want a second… or third.
3. Lamar Lounge
Photo courtesy of Lamar Lounge on Facebook
Five or ten minutes off campus, Lamar Lounge is located on Lamar Blvd. Their specialty is barbeque, but that doesn’t mean they can’t have a killer burger either- for only $10. The original lamar burger is pilled high, thick, and has a kick, if you add jalapeños (which you should). You can also add mushrooms and bacon too for a $1 and choice virtually any cheese your heart desires. They also have a chiliburger that is equally amazing, and a hickory and onion burger.
4. Lenora’s
Photo courtesy of Pinterest for Lenora’s
This American-Italian restaurant has a lot of specialties, but their burger is definitely one of them. Their Kaiser roll is what makes it better than most, but their patty is just the right size- not too thick, not too thin. It’s a little pricier than the others, especially for a college student, at $16. Its such a different burger though because of the brown mustard they use; it’s a must try.
5. The Grille at 1810
Photo courtesy of hottytoddy.com
This is on campus and it somewhat considered a cafeteria, but don’t let that fool you. The Grille is a special cafeteria for athletes, cheerleaders, and rebelettes after their practices to go eat healthy well-balanced meals. They cook everything from pasta to Asian food to burgers, including turkey burgers, and their menu changes everyday. The burger is always there though because it’s so good. It’s thinner than the restaurant burgers I listed above but it you put the works on it, lettuce, tomato, mayo, mustard, maybe ketchup if you like a lot of condiments- this burger is for you.
Oxford may be a small southern town, but we here know how to cook up some good food, burgers being a prime choice.