Taylor Takes a Taste » what i take will make you hungry

Masthead header

College Town Tour

I am on a quest to find the best college food town. I went to the University of  Wisconsin, so naturally I think that Madison is THE BEST COLLEGE FOOD TOWN IN THE COUNTRY! I am going to see if I can prove myself wrong.

WHERE I HAVE BEEN

Madison,WI

Clemson, SC

Athens, GA

Austin, TX

Oxford, MS

Chapel Hill, NC

Boulder, CO

Fort Collins, CO

Lincoln, NE

Iowa City, Iowa

Berkley, CA

September 13, 2010 - 6:54 pm

A Visual Tour of Tailgating in the Grove - [...] covered. Taylor visited 10 schools last year and is hitting up 12 more campuses this year on his college town tour. Hopefully, every trip is this [...]

September 14, 2010 - 3:14 pm

Annie - Love your site and pictures!! Come to Brown — we have GREAT “college town” food: pizzas, falafel, Indian, Greek, Japanese, awesome sandwich shops, breakfast places….I could go on for a while :)

September 18, 2010 - 1:45 am

Angelina - What? No Tuscaloosa? I guess you are afraid to visit a real football town…

September 18, 2010 - 11:41 pm

Taylor - I will be in Tuscaloosa in November for my college tailgate tour, any suggestions?

September 21, 2010 - 5:41 pm

Jung-Ah - Berkeley – Zachary’s, CheeseBoard, ICI, Top Dog, Chicken and Waffles (Oakland), Chez Panisse ($$$$), not the best but nearby in emeryville and great views of the city is Hong Kong East Ocean Seafood.

Also feel free to check out Yelp.com, its heavily used out here and pretty much anything with a lot of votes and over 3.5 stars is legit!

October 1, 2010 - 7:24 am

James - This blog makes me hungry.

October 11, 2010 - 2:46 pm

Abby - I am seriously so bummed I didn’t know when you were going to be in Boulder. Isn’t it incredible!?!??!?!!

October 14, 2010 - 10:29 am

MDZ - Great website – very cool photography and excellent coverage of the tailgating experience. While IU tailgates are no Ole Miss and the football is not so good, the town is great. So, if you’re in Indiana, you may as well head down to Bloomington. Beautiful college town and great restaurants. Very picturesque.

October 21, 2010 - 4:56 pm

Rich - You have to make Greenville, NC one of your stops at some point. I promise it would be worth your time. Travel safely and Go Pirates!

November 20, 2010 - 11:25 pm

Mary Ann - Think you could swing Bowling Green, Kentucky? Yuki has the best sushi I’ve ever had (now, granted, I’ve never been to Japan or San Francisco, but the “back room” is constantly packed with bourbon-swilling, chain-smoking Japanese businessmen and it has a certain Blade-Runner-in-Dixie sort of ambiance). We have a TON of Japanese-owned factories in and around our little college town (Western KY Univ, Bowling Green population 60K).

November 20, 2010 - 11:28 pm

Mary Ann - Oh, and if you want to “tailgate” while you’re here, I think we’re ranked either last or next-to-last (whatever position 78th is)–2 wins in 3 years, Go, Hilltoppers!! :-P

December 15, 2010 - 9:25 am

Jay - How can you skip Ithaca, NY?? The quintessential college town!? The movie Road Trip chose it as the best setting for their movie after they researched the most quintessential college towns in the country. Though the “Ithaca University” depicted in the film is fictional, I would highly recommend a tour of Cornell’s gorges, a hockey game at Lynah rink, and a concert at Ithaca College (great music and arts programs). Of course, the city of Ithaca has all the great things you’ve come to expect from college towns (awesome college bars, greasy food, ethnic food) as well as the liberal society (think retired hippies and vegan entrepreneurship) you see surrounding large, elite, research institutions (Madison, Boulder, and Ann Arbor are other examples). I went to law school at Ohio State (I found your site via your great pictures of “The Game”), and I love Columbus for a lot of reasons, but for a COLLEGE town tour, I would recommend skipping it in favor of Ithaca.

Your photos are great regardless, though!

December 19, 2010 - 11:34 am

Brad - Very Cool Blog! I love college football and all of the pageantry that goes into a gameday. You have to make a stop in Fayetteville, AR at some point and experience the most loyal Hogwild fans in the country, I mean it they are crazy! I have been to Oklahoma, Oklahoma St, Alabama, Ole Miss and LSU and none compare in my opinion. If you haven’t been a part of the 76,000+ “hog call” inside Donald W Reynolds Razorback Stadium you are really missing out on a fantastic tradition. The University of Arkansas is the flagship of everything in Arkansas, literally almost everyone in the state are Razorback fans. Not to mention all of the trouble you can get into on our famous Dickson St. I hope you get a chance to experience the Razorback Nation!

I love the photos!

February 21, 2011 - 9:11 pm

Zach - Awesome blog and photos! You should try stopping by New Brunswick, NJ for a fat sandwich at the grease trucks and a boli from Stuff Yer Face.
You can also check out tailgating at a Rutgers game at the Birthplace of College Football! We’re not Ole Miss, but we can still tailgate decently.

February 22, 2011 - 10:05 am

Mary - What an interesting website to come across! If you’re looking for a college town with incredible food, check out Charlottesville, VA. I’m back in D.C. now (a place with an incredible selection of great food) – and I STILL find myself craving food that is in Charlottesville. Great photos and fun concepts.

Mary

February 22, 2011 - 10:18 am

Taylor - Thanks Mary! I have heard great things about Charlottesville and definitely want to make a trip! Glad you liked the site.

February 22, 2011 - 10:19 am

Taylor - Thanks Zach. I have seen the food trucks before and would love to try their sandwiches! Hopefully I can make it up there for a tailgate soon. Thanks for stopping bye!

March 1, 2011 - 11:16 am

Lin - I have to agree with Jay… Ithaca, NY cannot be missed! It is rumored to have more restaurants per capita than NYC! There is an exciting collection of college spots, dives and some spectacular beer on tap.. you cannot go wrong! :-)

March 1, 2011 - 12:15 pm

Taylor - Thanks Lin, I will definitely try and make it there soon!

March 3, 2011 - 12:10 pm

Sarah - Hey, my brother went to UW-Madison and was on the FB team. What years were you there? I love Madison!

March 3, 2011 - 1:52 pm

Taylor - O cool, I love Madison as well! I swam there Fall of 2004-Spring of 2007 Graduated in Spring of 2008.

March 18, 2011 - 7:34 pm

Samantha P. - You should come over to Auburn sometime:) I would recommend Niffer’s Place. They have some amazing corn nuggets and i haven’t been able to find anything on the menu yet that i dislike.

March 18, 2011 - 7:53 pm

Taylor - Thanks Samantha! I didn’t eat at anywhere in Auburn, But i did have a blast tailgating! http://taylortakesataste.com/this-is-what-auburn-does-with-toilet-paper/

April 3, 2011 - 9:40 am

Icouldeatahorse - Great site, Taylor! Really enjoyed it. Can’t stay too long it makes me hungry! UW grad too but from a different time, most restaurants not there anymore. Tastes change I guess. Keep up the quest!

May 4, 2011 - 2:24 pm

Heather Harley - You went to Clemson and not Columbia? Come to the University of South Carolina, and we will show you what a true college town in South Carolina is like! :D Some of the college favorites include Pawley’s Front Porch and Yesterday’s Tavern.

May 5, 2011 - 10:54 pm

steph - BURLINGTON, VT! Five colleges and universities in Vermont’s Queen City can only mean great food. Sweetwaters, Ri Ra’s, Leunig’s Bistro, Nectar’s, and a dozen other cafes and coffee shops. Visit in the summer to see Btown’s real appeal- restaurants start using all local food.

June 3, 2011 - 1:23 pm

redraven - Why not come to Northern Arizona University, in Flagstaff, Arizona, we would love for you to come and join us.
Take care, and lots of blessings to all, redraven, O MY CUPCAKES!!!

June 27, 2011 - 2:27 pm

Flo - I’ve seen your Baton Rouge – LSU’s pictures. Fantastic and the best you’ll ever find. Great people and great food. Could you please publish it
again, so I can send it to some other folks that I’m sure will enjoy . I’ve been there, and you described it just the way it is-FABULOUS!!!!

June 30, 2011 - 8:26 am

{ Kaileen Elise } Make Every Day Extraordinary » Blog Archive » Delish Guest Post – Taylor Takes a Taste - [...] site you will find recipes, special projects on Fridays celebrating the National Food of the Day, a college town food tour, a tailgating tour (I went to 14 college games in 14 weeks across the country last year [...]

July 13, 2011 - 8:36 pm

Vanessa - Come to Knoxville Tennessee to expierence one of the best college towns in the country! You have to eat at Calhoun’s. It is located right down from Neyland Stadium and is right on the river. They have been named one of the best places to eat in a college town by many different publications now.

September 15, 2011 - 1:07 pm

Kaitlyn S. - You should make your way to Flagstaff, Arizona! Home of Northern Arizona University. A college town filled of delicious restaurants! My favorite is Big Food BBQ Located in the basement of most of the downtown shops :) .

Your email is never published or shared. Required fields are marked *

*

*

There was an error submitting your comment. Please try again.