Oxford has a great range of restaurants, with cuisine from all over the world. It’s a great city for solo travellers, as there are so many restaurants that are welcoming to solo diners. Here are my top 12 restaurants in Oxford for solo diners.
1. ASK Italian
The first of my top 12 restaurants in Oxford for solo diners is ASK Italian. This friendly, informal Italian restaurant is a great option for solo diners. The staff are really friendly towards solo diners, so you’ll feel comfortable dining here along. And you can sit next to the window and watch the people pass on busy George Street as you eat. There’s a great range of pasta dishes on the menu, with some seasonal specials as well. And make sure you stay for desert as well, with some great dessert options.
2. Six by Nico
One of my favourite restaurants in the UK is Six by Nico. There are branches in several cities in the UK, including Oxford. This restaurant offers six course tasting menus, with unique and artistically-presented food. It’s a fine dining restaurant, but it’s relatively informal and the staff are friendly. It’s definitely a friendly restaurant for solo diners – there were several tables occupied by solo diners when I was there. The menu changes every six weeks, so you can keep going back to try new food. They offer the option of wine pairing as well, where you can have a glass of wine with each course that’s selected to complement the flavours of the food.
3. Franco Manca
It can be hard to find great pizza outside of Italy, but Franco Manca is close. There’s a branch in Oxford on George Street, near the Oxford New Theatre. So this restaurant is a great choice for a pre-theatre meal. The sourdough base of the pizza really nice, and there’s a wide choice of different toppings.
4. Gourmet Burger Kitchen
If you’re looking for a great burger restaurant in Oxford, I recommend Gourmet Burger Kitchen. The burgers here are huge and have great flavours. There’s a choice of beef, chicken and vegetarian options as well. You can choose different sides – the onion ring tower is my favourite.
5. Wagamama
Another of my top 12 restaurants in Oxford for solo diners is Wagamama. This Japanese restaurant offers great food and speedy service. The restaurant is arranged as long tables with benches, so it’s easy to fit in as a solo diner. The food is cooked fresh and brought to the table quickly. My favourite meal here is the chicken katsu curry. The yaki udon noodles is also great.
6. Pieminister – Covered Market
Set in the Covered Market in Oxford is this great little pie shop. They serve a great selection of pies, with a choice of sides. My favourite is the beef and blue cheese pie, with sides of mash, mushy peas and gravy. If you’d like a healthier option, you can also try their range of filo pastry pies with vegetables. The service at Pieminister is really quick, and it’s a friendly, informal and affordable place to eat.
7. The Mission Burrito
For the best burritos in Oxford, check out The Mission Burrito. It’s situated just off Cornmarket Street, near to the Oxford Union. It has a great range of fillings for the burritos, and you can choose exactly what you want inside. The burritos are huge, and messy to eat – so it’s a good place to eat when you’re on your own and don’t have anyone watching you eat!
8. The Alternative Tuck Shop (and river picnic)
Oxford is a beautiful city, with lots of great picnic spots. I love walking through Christchurch Meadow to the river and eating a picnic next to the river on a sunny day. The best place to get picnic food is the Alternative Tuck Shop. Situated on Holywell Street, near New College, this small shop does the best sandwiches and bagels in Oxford. There’s often a queue outside, but the staff are so friendly and impressively quick that the queue moves quickly. The smoked salmon and cream cheese bagels are my favourite.
9. Thaikun
Back on George Street near the Oxford New Theatre is the Thai restaurant called Thaikun. It’s a large restaurant with a really impressive, ornate interior. So many of the dishes here are delicious – it’s definitely worth coming back here several times to try lots of different things on the menu.
10. Popeyes
If you want a fast food meal, but want something a bit different to the usual chains, I recommend trying Popeyes in Oxford. It’s a fried chicken fast food restaurant, a bit like KFC, but quite different. It’s Louisiana friend chicken, not Kentucky. As with any fast food restaurant, it’s really easy for solo diners to eat here. The chicken sandwiches are the main item on the menu, and you can choose how spicy you want it.
11. Fudge Kitchen
The Fudge Kitchen isn’t really a restaurant – it’s more somewhere to go for dessert after visiting one of the other restaurants. It’s a small fudge shop in the Covered Market, with some amazing fudge. There’s a selection of flavours, and they give big pieces. It’s so good.
12. G&Ds, Oxford
The last of my top 12 restaurants in Oxford for solo diners is G&Ds. This independent cafe in Oxford is super popular among the students of Oxford University. It offers a range of sandwiches and bagels. But the real highlight here is the ice cream, and the desserts. They do amazing waffles, and also chocolate brownies. You can choose from a range of flavours of ice cream for a delicious, indulgent treat.
Hope you enjoy the top 12 restaurants in Oxford for solo diners! Oxford is a great city to explore, and you can check out the top things to do in Oxford, as well as the top alternative things to do in Oxford and the top photo spots in Oxford. If you’re looking for more restaurant recommendations, you can also check out my top 12 restaurants in Bristol, another great city in the UK.
