Oxford’s Famous Big Bad Breakfast Coming to Downtown Tuscaloosa

A beloved breakfast concept from a James Beard Award-winning chef in Oxford, Mississippi is coming soon to downtown Tuscaloosa.

John Currence opened the first Big Bad Breakfast in Oxford in 2008, where his focus on true southern cooking has made it a staple there.

"More than anything, I wanted to recapture the flavors of my childhood memory. Things don’t taste the same now with the degree of processing and preservatives/stabilizers added to food,” Currence said on the BBB site. “I wanted people to taste the flavors of my grandfather’s patty sausage and my great-grandmother’s biscuits. So that’s exactly what we did.”

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Although its roots are in Mississippi, the restaurant has exploded in popularity and spread to 20 locations in eight states including Alabama, where it has opened operations in Homewood, Huntsville, Mobile, Hoover and Florence.

In October, a business license was issued by the city of Tuscaloosa for Big Bad Breakfast to open at 520 19th Avenue, where renovations are underway not far from Mellow Mushroom and the Fitts Agency downtown.

The holder of the new license declined to comment for this story, but job listings have been posted both externally and on Big Bad Breakfast's website hiring staff for a Tuscaloosa location.

Tuscaloosa has also been listed as a location coming soon on Big Bad Breakfast merchandise as far back as this summer.

When it opens, patrons can expect a huge variety of scratch-made breakfast options including buttermilk biscuits, omelets and other egg dishes, pancakes, waffles and a smattering of options featuring Gulf seafood.

They're also open for lunch with fried chicken sandwiches, smash burgers and other handhelds on offer.

For more on this Oxford institution finding a new home here in the Druid City and for other exclusive stories on restaurant and retail development, stay connected to the Tuscaloosa Thread.