Oxford Pub Guide

As of 2024, my friend Rob and I have been to all 94 pubs within the Oxford ringroad. We’ve attempted to rate every single pub on a 5-star scale, as well as provide other useful information.

Pubs are assessed on a number of traits, primarily range and quality of drinks, decor, and ambience. Some may have unique features that set them apart, such as historical significance, great food or a stellar beer garden (some of these are marked with ‘USP’ in the table).

The ideal pub will be attractive inside and out, and will have a pleasant ambience conducive to a good time with friends, a wide and rotating range of real ales, and if you’re feeling especially greedy, a fireplace.

The table below is sortable and searchable, and includes some features such as food, seating etc. (e.g. search ‘beer garden’). It is a work-in-progress and we hope to continue updating it regularly.

We gratefully acknowledge the pioneering work of Martin, the author of oxfordpubguide.co.uk, which is, for my money, the perfect pub guide. Unfortunately, it has not been updated since 2013; even more unfortunately, dozens of the pubs reviewed since he began the project in 1998 (the year I was born — Christ) have since closed down. Many more have undergone significant changes in the years since the site last updated. It is my fervent wish that this guide serve as the spiritual successor to Martin’s seminal online opus.

Notes

• The table can be a little temperamental on mobile; it can be accessed directly, and less problematically, here.
• Pubs not yet visited, or unknown fields, are marked with ‘n/a’.
• In the Area column we distinguish between ‘Cowley’, beyond Temple Cowley, and ‘Cowley & Iffley Roads’, the area just beyond Magdalen bridge, as both are often referred to as Cowley.
• There are more than 94 entries as some pubs have permanently closed since the beginning of this project, and others are outside the ringroad (though still in the surrounding villages).