Alabama football wins, but so does the tailgating: Top 5 Tuscaloosa tailgate parties
Call it the pregame warm-up.
Tailgates can take as much preparation as players for a major college game. And in Tuscaloosa, home to 18-time national champions Alabama football, the pre-game meal for fans is as crucial as the play on the field.
The term tailgating is believed to date to the 1930s, when station wagons became popular and tailgates were folded down to serve picnic food, though the art of hosting an outdoor spread before an event dates back centuries.
The university offers some 800 reserved tent spots for tailgating on its historic Quadrangle lawn at the center of campus and just down the street from the 100,077-capacity Bryant-Denny stadium. There are hundreds more spots for tailgaters and motorhomes around town.
Narrowing down the top five tailgates in Tuscaloosa is perhaps a bigger challenge than winning a national football championship, but here are five contenders:
No. 1: “The Goode Boys”
Try attending a “Goode Boys” tailgate and not run into a former NFL player, Crimson Tide player or even the occasional Hollywood star. Brothers Chris, Kerry, Pierre and the late Clyde Goode III all played for Alabama, as did their cousin, Antonio Langham. Kerry, Chris, Pierre and Antonio all went on to play in the NFL.
Chris and Kerry started the tailgate after their NFL careers ended, thinking it would be a fun way to gather with their Alabama teammates. They started with one 10x10 tent. Now they host in an inflatable custom tent that holds 50, with four more smaller tents for grills, smokers, tables and chairs.
Kerry did much of the cooking before he was diagnosed with ALS, but each of the brothers contribute, preparing side items the night before. The menu changes each game, with entrees like burgers, hotdogs, chicken, ribs, fish, low country boil or brisket. There’s breakfast for early games.
They call it a B.Y.O.B & C. affair: bring your own booze and chairs.
Regardless of game time, they set up at 7 a.m. to make sure the food is ready to serve no later than three hours before kickoff.
Guests who drop by include former Alabama football players and coaches as well as some of their former NFL friends who played for the Alabama opponent in college. Comedians Tommy Davidson and Rickey Smiley have been among their guests.
Besides the food, the “Goode Boys” serve up entertainment. There are TVs to watch other games in progress, cornhole for the kids, and it’s not unusual for a card game to break out. Attendees even partake of a Bama football team tradition: When there’s a win against Tennessee, they return to the tailgate and light up a celebratory cigar.
No. 2: A Taste of Home
It’s not a trip that can be easily made on a weekend. For Alabama students from the Cincinnati area, home is an eigh-hour drive away. But when those students crave a taste of home, the CrimsonAti, an Alabama alumni chapter from the Greater Cincinnati area, come to the rescue for those 80-or-so UA students.
This group’s tailgate drew 300 at the 2023 Texas game. Its guest list includes chapter members as well as current and future UA students and their families. Producing UA alumni is at the heart of this gathering. The chapter endows two scholarships each year, and if food is the way to the heart, this is a road well-travelled.
Anchored by an inflatable houndstooth tent, their spread features food and beverages from the Cincinnati area. Among the offerings are Skyline chili and Coney hot dogs; Grippo’s BBQ potato chips; Graeter’s ice cream; peanut bars from Newton, Ohio; Rhinegeist beer; Taft’s Brewpourium’s Frish’s pumpkin pie ale; March First Brewing’s seltzer; and, for those under 21, Ale8 soft drinks. There’s a bartender along with TVs, couches and cornhole games.
Former Cincinnati Bengal and Tide quarterback AJ McCarron and his co-partner, Cincinnati native Pete Zimmer, have been known to bring Tuscaloosa flair to the menu with food from their restaurant, Ajian Sushi.
Students help set up tents, and supplies are stored in Tuscaloosa. A 30-seat charter plane from Cincinnati flies in members and food.
No. 3: “The World Famous Crawford’s Corner on the Quad”
Kevin Crawford has been hosting a tailgate on the Quad since 1998, but “The World Famous Crawford’s Corner on the Quad” was born in 2002 when he moved locations to under a giant oak tree. His daughters, Kaci and Kara, then 6 and 3 years old, started the tradition of kids climbing that mighty oak. He named it “World Famous” because, among the hundreds who stop by, it draws students and guests from all over the world. It’s been featured on ESPN. Burgers, hot dogs, soft drinks and TVs have been part of his spread, but the main attraction is his décor that takes three hours to set up. It’s a selfie lover’s dream with inflatable UA football helmets and Big Al, the more than 300 discarded car flags he lines up, banners with coaches Nick Saban and Paul “Bear” Bryant, and the fan favorite: tombstones featuring the score from each Alabama win.
No. 4: “Kapstone’s Most Wanted”
A 1,600 square-foot, dome-shaped, crimson-colored tent with the Kappa Alpha Psi logo is hard to miss, and some 2,000 from the “Devine 9” Black fraternities and sororities and Black organizations on campus converge for the annual gathering that is a highlight of Black Alumni Reunion weekend. The food and drinks are free, with catered ribs, fish and wings being menu staples. No one – including opposing fans – is turned away. The Kappas originated the event around 2011 with one tent and hundreds of visitors, and it was such a success that it became a combined event.
No. 5: “Those People”
Their motto, printed on T-shirts and koozies is: “We tailgate harder than your team plays.” Their banner reads: “Those People: Tailgating Like a Champion.” They’ve had “Those People” printed on M&Ms and the gathering featured on ESPN. It’s a motorhome armada that started on campus in 1996 and grew, moving off-campus in 2012. The fun starts on Friday and continues until the last RV leaves on Sunday. Krispy Kreme chocolate-glazed, sprinkled donuts – “because sprinkles are for winners” – are served for breakfast on game day. Opponents have been matched with the meal, like pork for the Arkansas Razorbacks, gator bites from an alligator one of the participants caught for the Florida Gators, low country boil for LSU, and, in a wink, “chicken” wings for Tennessee. Golf carts do victory laps around the parking lot after an Alabama win.
This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: Alabama football: Top 5 tailgating parties at Crimson Tide games
