On Nov. 21, locals flocked to the Railroad Avenue Historic District in downtown Opelika to enjoy the final Food Truck Friday of the 2025 season. The event featured over a dozen food trucks with a wide variety of different cuisines, giving visitors the opportunity to both try new foods and support local businesses.
The event has become a staple for the Auburn-Opelika area, offering local vendors the opportunity to showcase their food and drinks on select Fridays. Food Truck Friday also offers family-friendly fun, demonstrating the beauty of the Opelika community where there truly is something for everyone.
This iteration of Food Truck Friday also included a large screen playing the highly anticipated football game between Auburn High School and Opelika High School. Guests laughed and cheered as their respective teams fought for the semi-final game win.
The event didn't just benefit the food trucks, visitors and high school football fanatics. Local businesses with permanent locations in the area also received an influx of business, as Opelika came to life to celebrate the close of the Food Truck Friday 2025 season.
The downtown Opelika area was covered in lights and decorations for the upcoming holiday season, as visitors explored all of the nearby businesses. Children laughed and played in the open field areas. Some people even brought their canine companions to enjoy the fall festivities with them.
Turn & Burn is run by two best friends in the Auburn and Opelika area and attend Food Truck Friday on Nov. 21, 2025. They are known for their fresh and locally sourced food such as their burger buns being from Stinson Breads LLC.
The event had positive reviews from the local business owners operating the food trucks. The event gave them publicity and business, while allowing them to cement their place in the Auburn-Opelika community.
Opelika native Dylan Weaver is one half of the best friend duo that owns and operates Turn and Burn, a food truck that prides itself on making food with almost exclusively locally-sourced ingredients. He described how Opelika has developed a great night life scene while remaining a hidden gem.
"I think, for better or for worse, it's a well-kept secret, but I almost think the word needs to get out more," Weaver said. "It's a really, really good thing for the town."
Weaver described further how Opelika has worked tirelessly to have more events, like Food Truck Friday, to unite the Auburn-Opelika community and showcase all of its beauty and talent.
"For us who come from Opelika, and this was not here when we were kids, it's really cool to see," Weaver said.
Guests of the event shared similar positive sentiments about the Food Truck Friday.
One happy guest to the event was Isaac Hayes, a local musician with the Auburn-based band, "Brunch with Rosie." Originally, the band was supposed to serenade Food Truck Friday guests, but rain made equipment set up impossible, so they moved the music inside of the John Emerald Distillery. After finishing playing, Hayes decided to check out his first Food Truck Friday and get a post-performance meal.
"I've never seen this many people out here in Opelika," Hayes said, regarding the turnout for the event.
Hayes also expressed excitement about the quantity and quality of food trucks available to guests.
"It's more than I've ever seen," He said. "Most of these [food trucks], I've never seen before, so I think it's great for people to get to try different things. There's a lot of different cultural variety too."
Olivia Ray, a junior at Auburn University, also decided to spend her Friday night trying new food. During her time at Auburn, she has become one of the many regulars to Food Truck Friday. She highlighted why the event has quickly become one of her favorites.
A family stands in front of a food truck named "Let's Shake on it Milkshake" during Food Truck Friday in downtown Opelika, Alabama on Nov. 21, 2025.
"I love the vibes. I love that everyone comes together for events like that," Ray said. "I think that's something really special about the Auburn-Opelika community, especially downtown Opelika. Every single time I come here, it's a very different atmosphere from downtown Auburn, but I really love that you get so much community coming together."
Two friends studying at Tuskegee University, Eden and Jaina, enjoyed going to Food Truck Fridays in the past so much, they had to come back for more. They detailed how they appreciated the clear efforts from event organizers to refine and enhance guests' experience.
"We came last year, and we liked it, so we wanted to come again and get some good food," Jaina said. "It's a different layout which is nice. I like this layout better."
"And a little bit different selection," Eden added. "I'm happy with what's here."
With events like Food Truck Friday, locals to the Auburn-Opelika area have much to look forward to in the coming years and have even more of a reason to check out downtown Opelika.
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