Bow & Arrow — Restaurant in Auburn

Love Texas-style BBQ, but don't feel like driving to Texas? Then Bow and Arrow is your place! Easily as good as what I get when I go to Austin. The brisket is amazing, the pork bbq is good, the sides are good, especially the tater tot casserole and memaw's eclair cake! Newly added meats (sausages, turkey legs, etc.) are great too. It's a nice break from the usual Auburn-area bbq (Price's BBQ House - sadly RIP, Chuck's, Mike and Eds, that all parent back to the Smokey Pig in Columbus - the standard mustard-style bbq sauce, shredded pork/chicken, etc). They also serve ribs. 1/2 bone chicken on Saturdays.

I'm a brisket fanatic, thanks to my travels to Texas. My go-to meal is a full moist brisket, creamed corn, mac 'n cheese, cabbage corn slaw, butter beans, and memaw's eclair cake. Go with a few packs of homemade tortillas, and eat brisket tacos for days. (I purposely over-buy so I can have tacos for lunch for the next few days).

Setup is simple, take a tortilla, take some brisket, ladle over some cabbage corn slaw, and then pour over some Alabama white bbq sauce. Amazing!

Some changes to the sides?

Maybe throw some fresh chopped jalapeno into the creamed corn - their creamed corn is good, but the stuff I get at Rudy's in Texas is just a bit better - I think just adding a bit of fresh jalapeno for a little kick would be just the ticket. Or maybe put some on the condiment bar, to mix in when eating.

The potato salad? It's good, but could be a little more interesting. Maybe some jalapeno in there? Maybe a little more mayo, to make it creamier? My favorite place in Duluth, GA (Tipsy Pig BBQ) adds green olives, diced fine. It gives a funky, unique, but highly addictive flavor. You sit there and wonder 'what is IN this stuff...'. I add some diced pickled jalapeno, dukes mayo, and diced green olives to the potato salad I bring home (any brand, not just Bow and Arrow) and it jazzes it up great for me. Your mileage may vary, so set yours up accordingly.

Don't know if they have a fryer, but fried okra or fries would be nice. Baby steps, I know. But fries and fried okra in white bbq sauce are amazing. Are you sensing a theme here, yet? :-)

Let's talk about the condiment bar. It is quite overwhelming, considering the multiple sauces, chow chow, and other condiments you can add. I'd recommend adding a sweet thick red sauce, just to have something for everyone.

Let's face it, BBQ is like religion. Thank God we live in the Bible Belt. And, thank God we have Bow and Arrow, so I don't have to travel to Texas or smoke my own to get my brisket fix on...

Dining is casual, line looks daunting but it moves fast. Just find a parking place, or if driving by and you see open spots, pull in, and grab some grub.

They also have a call-ahead pickup window, for if you absolutely have to have some but don't have time to sit inside. You'll want a few containers of white bbq sauce to...

Been here several times, used to be one of my favorite places in Auburn. Haven't been in several months and finally got a chance to go back. I'm heartbroken. I'm not sure what happened, budget cuts or what, but something changed, and it is definitely for the worst. My friend ordered queso, which has always been good, thick, and flavorful in the past. It came out split, broken, and curdled. It was so watery that it wouldnt stay on the chips. There were white chunks/lumps of curdled milk pervading the whole bowl, with an occasional waterlogged jalepeno flake floating around. When we told our server, they literally just brought a new bowl of the same substance. We kind of thought the kitchen would care that it was curdled and could not be called queso by anything more than the loosest of definitions, but apparently they lack the pride to just stop serving it. The server did not stay to ask if it was better, and did not ask later. They used to have the best Mac n cheese in Auburn, and I sat down SO excited to reunite with it. I swear to god, I would bet my whole paycheck they served me Kraft deluxe mac n cheese. Four dollars for a tiny scoop. A whole box is $2.69 at the grocery store. I couldn't even force myself to eat it knowing the stomachache the fake, processed liquid "cheese" would cause. Brisket beans used to be thick and delicious, this time they were watered down, one-note, and barely had any brisket at all. Ordered brisket as my main because it has always been delicious. It was a fatty, disgusting lump on my plate. It looked roughly close to the canned food I feed my dog. I kindly requested to switch to turkey which I also have always loved. Got three very thin, dry, underwhelming slices of turkey. Nothing like what we used to get, and half the old portion. Had to request to get the bread and sauce supposed to come with my meal. Not that the one thin slice of untoasted, unbuttered, no effort two cent white bread would have normally been necessary, but the tiny portions and inedible mac n cheese had me worried I'd leave hungry. When the slice of bread came out so stale I couldn't eat it, I knew all was lost.

The bathroom doors also no longer completely close for either men or women, neither the doors nor the stalls, and were very dirty like they aren't regularly cleaned, gunk all around the faucets and trash on the floor. It seems like the place overall has just declined in the care and effort they used to put in. It's very sad. Hopefully they go back to their old standards, but I'm not one to want to sacrifice another 30 dollars for seven bites of dry turkey just because it's the only edible item on the table...

First visit to Bow and Arrow. I was surprised their was a 25 minute wait on a Saturday afternoon, but the wait was worth the experience eating well prepared food. My server was Taylor and she provided my table the best service. Five stars to Taylor, she was awesome. As far as the food, I started off with the three amigas, excellent appetizer. I had the brisket platter with brisket beans and macaroni and cheese. The brisket was smoked to perfection, beautiful smoke ring around the brisket, and tender to slice with a butter knife. The macaroni was recommended by Taylor and wow, she knew it was the best side. I think Chick-fil-A has good macaroni, but Bow and Arrow has great macaroni. The macaroni and cheese ranks in my top three of macaroni I’ve ever experienced. Topping off my delicious brisket platter, I made room for the eclair dessert. Wow, I was shocked again at the quality of ingredients in this dessert. Also, the rib sauce and the homemade pickles were a perfect addition to the brisket. Five stars! Definitely recommend this establishment.

Update (2nd visit): I’m visiting the area and before I departed, I wanted to experience Bow and Arrow one last time. My original review was from my experience on Saturday, 19Jun, and today’s review is on 22Jun. My first visit on 19Jun was excellent, however, my visit today was subpar to my initial visit. I ordered the brisket with macaroni and cheese and green beans. The brisket today was good but had more fat on it and the meat was not very lean. The green beans were okay, nothing special and I’d stick to ordering the brisket beans. And then there’s the Mac and cheese. I raved in my initial review the Mac and cheese was one best dishes I’ve ever tasted, but today’s experience made me second guess my initial review. The Mac and cheese was made earlier in the day, appeared to have sat in a container a while before being served to me, and the temperature of the side was barely warm. Hostesses were awesome, polite and courteous. Server was the bartender, not sure his name but he attempted to crack jokes that weren’t funny. I’m here to eat Texas bbq, brisket to be exact, not here for the entertainment. Finally, memaw’s eclair made the second visit worthwhile. Today’s visit changed my review from 5...