The Fun Person’s Guide to Oxford, UK Bars
There is a spot for every eventuality, and whatever you feel like you can find something to suit your mood. For a very sophisticated, elegant evening out Raoul’s offers smart surroundings and an older, more affluent clientele that tend not to drink as if their life depended on it. If you feel like drinking as much as you can handle and then dancing till you feet fall off, then either try Maxwell’s or the OFS, or wait in the long lines for the Purple Turtle after the pubs close!
Listings
Bar Baby
213 Cowley Road
01865202506
Out of all the cocktail bars in Oxford, Bar Baby was the first and finest of its kind. The Cowley Road is full of fun but average bars that are always fun to make your way through on a lazy Thursday afternoon bar crawl – as long as you always make sure you end up at this cute little haven at the end of it! Filled with plush leather and a sexy, 30-something crowd, the cocktails are to die for (try the Dublin Peach!) and somehow the more you drink the better you seem to look as you catch sight of yourself in the myriad mirrors that line the venue. Just be careful – Cowley is not very close to the city center, and not always safe at night – make sure you catch a black cab home!
Baby Love
3 King Edward Street (Off the High)
01865200011
Oxford’s coolest bastion of chic. A celebration of kitsch, erotica, and all things heart-shaped, Baby Love is a fun and unusual place to spend your Friday night. The bondage-style bathroom accessories always incite admiration, and girls – a warning! Careful walking across the entrance floor in a skirt, as the glass is transparent and you can be sure every man in the room below is craning upwards to try and catch a glimpse! The cocktails all have a lustful theme, but are so well-made and so potent that you can almost forgive them the silly names. The giant screens playing arty films of giant flaming hearts, and the sexy leather couches, will make it hard to resist the sweet-faced, floppy-haired, all-too-innocent-looking clientele – but don’t be fooled, they know exactly what they are doing, and everyone is out for a good time!
Escape
9A High Street (Market Avenue 1),
01865248480
A new face on the high street, Escape is a welcome addition to the ranks of Oxford bars due to its late opening hours (until 5am), its sexy Moroccan style theme, and the amazing ability to hold (and hear!) conversations even over the loud music and dancing students, due to the strategically placed tables and excellent acoustics. Sumptuous leather seating interacts with cunning use of light and space to create a really pleasant area, and although the drinks are nothing out of the ordinary, this is the kind of place where you always know you will have a great night out, whether you want a quiet night with friends or a crazy night on the dance-floor. Versatility is the name of the game here!
The Living Room
1 Oxford Castle
08701662223
The Living Room is a cool, airy piano bar & restaurant in earthy tones, which aims to provide quality without exclusivity, and high levels of service without high prices. One would think this would make it popular with students, but in actual fact they seem to prefer a livelier atmosphere, and this place is a welcome relief to go for a nice, well-
Maxwell’s
37 Queen Street
01865242192
If brightly colored drinks and a bar noisier than kids at a birthday party is what appeals to you, then Maxwell’s should be right up your street. The long bar and cute red booths are always filled with a fun, young, friendly crowd always eager to mingle. The bar does great drinks specials every night, and even though they may sometimes charge a minimal entry fee (usually around Ã?£2) on busy nights, you will still always get great value for your money. The also do typical fried bar food, and of a higher standard than most late night places – check out the huge onion rings!
cooked meal and a good bottle of wine. The atmosphere is fun, relaxed, and friendly, and on weekdays they often have live jazz in the main dining room.
The Old Fire Station
40 George Street
01865 297190
A cool, laid-back club in the heart of Oxford, seldom frequented during the day but with great club nights every evening, from international to pop to hiphop. Drinks specials are on every evening but be warned – they get very irritated if you take your glass bottles onto the dance floor. The best gay club night in Oxford is Flirt, at the OFS every Monday – make sure you dress up or they might not let you in!
Purple Turtle
Frewin Court (off Cornmarket Street)
01865247007
This incredibly individual venue is the official club attached to the venerable Oxford Student Union, and exists in its basement. However, you don’t have to be a student to get in, they just charge a nominal fee to those without Union cards. The interior is cosy, cave-like, and bright purple – sort of like being inside a giant grape – and the bar serves the most inventive shots in Oxford! Although they have a juke-box, foosball table and pinball machines to attract daytime drinkers, this place really comes alive after 11pm, when everyone pours out of the pubs and bars and down the tiny flight of stone stairs into the bar. Queues can be long at weekends, and if you don’t like fraternizing with drunken students then avoid the ‘PT’ like the plague – but if you want to get a real Oxford nightlife experience (and perhaps get friendly with some real Oxford students!) then this is the place for it. Avoid the tiny, cramped dance floor and instead take over one of the very cool booths along the mirror-lined middle room, and watch the people sway by.
Raoul’s Bar
32 Walton Street
01865 553 732
This is probably the most charming bar in Oxford. Located in the trendy, expensive Jericho area, it is decorated in a sophisticated retro fashion with lots of smooth brown leather and geometric patterns. The cocktails are among the best in the city – they make especially good Blackberry Collins, and Mint Juleps. The crowd is smooth, sexy, and sophisticated, and even the students in here are well-heeled and well-behaved – there is no raucous behavior allowed! They do excellent champagne deals, and the bar staff are friendly, expert, and relaxed. The best place for a chilled night out in the city!
So there you have it, all you could possible want for a great night out – who ever said Oxford was boring! Be careful to drink safely, and have a fabulous time!
