Bow & Arrow has opened a second Auburn restaurant, a two-story spot called Bow U at 2298 E. University Drive that seats 240 guests and comes with its own grab-and-go market and cabana bar attached. The new location sits in the former Vintage 2298 building near the Auburn Mall, giving chef David Bancroft's barbecue and Tex-Mex concept a much bigger footprint eight years after it first opened on Samford Avenue.
According to The Auburn Plainsman, Bancroft said the new location lets the restaurant dream bigger and offer more hospitality to guests. The timing of that opening has been a moving target: oanow.com reported earlier this year that Bancroft hoped to open in July, while a separate report from Nation's Restaurant News pointed to a mid-August target. The restaurant ultimately opened September 8, according to The Auburn Plainsman.
Two Floors, One Big Bet on North Auburn
Bow U spans two floors and seats 240 guests, with the upstairs level adding more seating, its own bar and dedicated event space, per Nation's Restaurant News. The restaurant is attached to Bluebonnet Market, a grab-and-go shop, and adjoins a cabana bar where guests can order cucumber-jalapeño Gun Slinger margaritas, according to Garden & Gun.
Bluebonnet Market takes its name from the Texas state flower, a nod Bancroft explained was meant to tie the shop's branding back to the Lone Star State roots of the Bow & Arrow concept, per the same account. The market stocks prepared meals and barbecue products to take home, including enchilada casseroles, smoked bacon and brisket, mac 'n' cheese, taco kits, pimento cheese and sauces, as well as house-made beef jerky sliced to order and wrapped in butcher paper.
BBQ Mex Keeps Drawing Crowds on Samford
The original Bow & Arrow on Samford Avenue, which Bancroft introduced in 2018, still commands two-hour waits on Friday nights, Garden & Gun reports. That demand helped push the restaurant toward a second location rather than simply expanding the first. The menu at both spots blends slow-smoked barbecue with Tex-Mex staples, a combination Bancroft calls “BBQ Mex,” according to Nation's Restaurant News, and includes brisket, ribs, tacos, enchiladas and fajitas alongside house margaritas.
Bancroft has said he considered Opelika, LaGrange and Columbus, Georgia, before settling on north Auburn for the second location, according to the Auburn Villager. The Villager also reported that the redevelopment was estimated to require $1.9 million in capital investment and was expected to create upwards of 44 new jobs, with the city agreeing to remit certain sales and use taxes for the project under an incentive program capped at $475,000 over a 10-year period.
A Chef With Texas Roots and a Beard Award Résumé
Bancroft was born in Alabama and raised in San Antonio, Texas, according to Bow & Arrow's own account of his story. He opened Acre with his wife, Christin, in 2013 before introducing Bow & Arrow on Samford Avenue five years later. Along the way he's been named a James Beard Foundation Best Chef: South semifinalist five times and won Food Network's Iron Chef Showdown in 2017.
Bancroft has framed the two Auburn locations as something of a test case, telling Nation's Restaurant News, “This is our ultimate proving ground, and we're optimistic that Bow & Arrow has the potential to travel well beyond Alabama.” For now, though, the focus is on University Drive, where diners can split time between the main dining room, the upstairs bar and event space, and the cabana bar and market next door.
