The Best Cafes In Oxford 2021

If you’re making plans to head back into Oxford soon for shopping, sightseeing or to get your cultural fix (we loved the Pre-Raphaelite exhibition on at the Ashmolean at the moment!), you’ll no doubt need a caffeine fix to help fuel your day.

We’ve put together a list of our favourite Oxford independent cafes who make great coffee, so you’ll never have to settle for a underwhelming coffee from an boring chain cafe ever again!

Colombia Coffee Roasters

Colombia Coffee Roasters are speciality, single-origin coffee roasters born and based in Oxford. They are part of a generation of coffee growers in Colombia with a strong focus on delivering high-quality coffee and education, whilst supporting Fair Trade conditions to ensure their coffee is sustainable and ethical. Find their cafes in The Covered Market and in Summertown.

Celia’s Cafe

Celia’s Cafe are the UK’s only mobile cafe bakery, specialising in Dutch baked treats. Travelling around Oxfordshire in Cora the Coffee Van, and currently set up at Harcourt Arboretum, they’re the place to be if you want to treat yourself to something Lekker. Using local businesses such as Jericho Coffee Traders, Jeeves & Jericho, and Team Tea for drinks, you can celebrate the best of Oxfordshire with a taste of Netherlands on the side! You can also find Siobhan at East Oxford Farmer’s Market.

Coffeesmiths

Coffeesmith’s little shop is in a beautiful 12th century building in the Golden Cross, slightly off the beaten track in the heart of Oxford, a perfect spot for coffee, cakes and pastries. They are passionate about serving quality speciality coffee and their house blend, Resolute by Origin. Coffeesmith Oxford is the second location in their family run business, with their first in Witney. Their friendly team always provide a warm welcome, alongside great coffee and great food.

Horsebox Coffee Co

Horsebox Coffee Co. is a small, independent coffee roastery based set up by Emily Stewart, on a quiet working farm in South Oxfordshire. Emily sources carefully and sustainably cultivated green coffee, through a transparent and ethical supply chain. Find the Horsebox outside the Natural History Museum, perfect for fueling up for a day at the museum or University Parks adventures!

Jericho Coffee Traders

Conceived in 2012, Jericho Coffee Traders has evolved from the back of a Vespa tricycle into a roastery and a speciality espresso bar in the heart of Oxford. Run by New Zealander James and Devonian wife Lizzie, JCT is now also supplying a number of Oxfordshire’s best cafes and restaurants with their coffee and has an ever expanding list of home and office coffee subscribers. Check out their Espresso Bar on the High Street, or their roastery on Osney Mead.

Skogen Kitchen

Skogen Kitchen is a  Scandinavian café nestled amongst the beautiful Oxford colleges in the heart of the city on King Edwards Street. It’s warm and welcoming with fantastic speciality coffee and delicious cinnamon and cardamom buns that are made on the premises every day.

Society Cafe

Society Café are an independent speciality coffee shop in the heart of Oxford city centre. Their focus is on making great coffee sourced directly from the best coffee producing farms in the world and roasted by the best roasters in the world. They always have two espressos from different farms and roasters, as well as 3 choices of filter on any given day.

Tap Social

Tap Social’s new venue on Abingdon Road, the Whitehouse, has been fuelling South Oxford residents throughout lockdown with coffee, sweet treats and donuts served from their horsebox cafe. Still going strong, you can grab a coffee and a fresh donut every Saturday morning.

The Handle Bar Cafe

The Handle Bar Cafe & Kitchen pride themselves on only using sustainably sourced ingredients to ensure the best tasting food and drinks that you can enjoy totally guilt-free. Whether you’re looking for an organic vegan breakfast, a locally sourced dinner, fancy grabbing a quick coffee, or want to try one of the finest cocktails in Oxford, The Handle Bar has something for you.

The Jericho Cafe

The Jericho Cafe are an independently owned, family run, friendly and unpretentious neighbourhood licensed bistro, minutes from the city centre yet tucked away in fashionable, bustling Jericho, with delicious home-made food served by warm, welcoming people from early ’til late.

The Missing Bean

The Missing Bean is an independently owned and run espresso bar, set up to bring artisan Antipodean style coffee and a laid back cafe atmosphere to the heart of Oxford. Set up in Autumn 2009 by Ori and Vicky, who had just returned from Sydney, the Missing Bean quickly established a reputation for great coffee with a relaxed and friendly environment. Visit their Roastery in East Oxford to see how they roast their own coffee.

Waste2Taste

Waste2Taste offer a bespoke catering service with a vision towards a vibrant, healthy and sustainable food culture, committed to packaging and food waste cuts. Fighting climate change by reducing food waste and using high quality food surplus. They are a fabulous team, made up of two friends, who in March 2017 decided to put together all their food knowledge and skills to show the world that magic can be made with surplus food, creating fantastic healthy and super tasty dishes!

Yellow Submarine Cafe

Often rated #1 for coffee and tea in Oxford by TripAdvisor, 70,000 customers each year visit the Yellow Submarine cafés because of the quality of the coffee & food. It just ‘so happens’ that they may leave with a different perception of ‘disability’ too: their two social enterprise cafés are co-staffed by trainees with learning disabilities – Yellow Submarine believes people with learning disabilities and Autism deserve to live life to the full. Find their Oxford cafe on Park End Street.

Check out more awesome indies right across Oxfordshire in our Independent Oxford directory.