What started as a brothel in the mid-1940s transformed into a club for generations of Auburn students to enjoy. After closing in 2015, War Eagle Supper Club has been reborn as a restaurant on the rooftop of the Graduate Hotel.
In 1937, South College Street was lined with farmhouses and cotton fields, instead of bustling businesses. However, one of the few businesses, which was then on the outskirts of Auburn, was the site that would one day be known as the War Eagle Supper Club. Originally serving as a brothel, the building burned down in the 1940s and was replaced with Stoker's Steak and Seafood Restaurant in 1953.
The business was co-owned between H.H Lambert and Homer Stoker, but when Stoker left Auburn in 1957, Lambert changed the steakhouse into a pizza joint. In 1962, when Lambert purchased a private club license, War Eagle Supper Club was born. The membership for students was one dollar but was only available to white male students.
In 1977, Lambert sold the business to the Gilmer family, consisting of Hank, his brother Jeff and their father Henry Jr.
“When we first took it over, the place was doing absolutely no business at all the two years prior to us taking it over. It did $38,000 in total sales in ‘76 and $42,000 in 1975. Probably six years later, we had it doing close to a million in sales,” Hank said.
For this transition, the Gilmers enacted several changes to the Supper Club, including making the membership available to all students regardless of race or gender. At the time, the Supper Club was also the only nightlife in Auburn.
“We brought something to town that didn’t exist yet, which was good, high-quality entertainment. We were able to stay open late at night, and we provided a good, fun atmosphere,” Gilmer said.
The live music made up a large part of the Supper Club’s identity. Throughout the years, musical artists, such as Kenny Chesney, Zac Brown Band and Widespread Panic, all performed at the Supper Club.
However, the Supper Club eventually started having issues with transportation. Because of the distance between the Supper Club and Auburn’s campus, patrons often drove, which led to an issue with drinking and driving. Without the help of modern transportation apps like Uber, the Supper Club solved the problem in a creative way.
“We bought an old school bus and painted it white, orange and blue and started running a shuttle that we didn’t charge money for. We would pick you up and take you home anywhere,” said John Brandt, employee and co-owner of the Supper Club in the '80s.
The shuttle became a symbol of the club. It was a way to prevent driving under the influence while also fostering a sense of community amongst patrons. Once the original bus was too old to use, it was replaced with an airport bus. The original bus was parked in the back of the Supper Club and converted into a bar.
When the Gilmer family decided to sell, they chose someone who already knew the ins and outs of the Supper Club. Brandt had started working at the Supper Club in 1980, rising through the ranks from working the door to management. In 1985, Gilmer sold Brandt his interest. For the next thirty years, Brandt and two business partners ran the Supper Club until the landlord of the building decided not to renew their lease. With less than a year's warning, the Supper Club shut its doors for the last time on Dec. 31, 2015, ending their reign with a New Year's Eve show from the band Telluride.
“We were known for a lot, so a lot of bands came back to play one last time, so that last year was really good. It was a lot of good memories,” Brandt said.
That is not the end of the Supper Club’s story, though. At the height of COVID-19 in 2020, Auburn alum Vince Thompson lost a lot of work at his sports marketing agency. It was during this time that he came up with the idea of reviving the Supper Club in an entirely different way.
“I had stayed in some of the Graduate Hotels and learned that they were going to hopefully develop a hotel in Auburn. Upon further investigation, I learned that they always put a famous, local, legendary bar on their rooftop, which is kind of their trademark and signature. So, I pitch them about working together,” Thompson said.
With Brandt’s blessing, Thompson trademarked the Supper Club and began the planning process. Brandt donated memorabilia from the original Supper Club, such as posters and their famous pizza recipe.
“It’s hard to communicate the emotional passion and connectivity of the Supper Club to the community and what it meant to alumni,” Thompson said.
Today, War Eagle Supper Club serves its guests from the rooftop of the Graduate Hotel in downtown Auburn rather than from a dive bar on South College Street. Though the restaurant is vastly different from the Supper Club that most Auburn alumni knew, the goal of serving the Auburn community remains the same.
“Same spirit, different environment for the times,” Thompson said.
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Layla Hyatt, sophomore double majoring in journalism and public and professional writing, is from Mobile, Alabama. She has been with The Auburn Plainsman since the fall of 2025.
