8 places · every place verified by us
Old inns on Parsons Street, a canalside food hall, a craft beer bar and a board game café, most of it within a short walk of the station. Good for a pint and a plain meal; for an ambitious kitchen, drive out to a village.
8 places
Cafes and tearooms · Banbury
A board game café at 64-65 High Street, Banbury, that calls itself the town's first: a large library of games, staff who explain the rules, drinks and simple food, event nights, and tables to book online at £2.50 an adult an hour.
Verified Nov 2026
Restaurants · Banbury
A canalside food hall and independent market at Castle Quay in Banbury: sushi, pizza, burgers, pasta, crepes, afternoon tea and a bar, with small shops alongside. Dogs on leads are welcome.
Dog-friendly · Family-friendly · Car-free
Verified Nov 2026
Pubs · Banbury
Banbury's specialist craft beer bar and bottle shop on Butchers Row, run by Rob and Karen since April 2019, with twelve changing keg lines, comedy in the Atic and live music. No food.
Dog-friendly · Car-free
Verified Nov 2026
Restaurants · Banbury
A café, bar and restaurant in a restored former church hall of 1905 on North Bar Street, Banbury, open all day from coffee to steak, with walk-ins welcome and room for events of up to 150.
Verified Nov 2026
Pubs · Banbury
A Hook Norton real-ale pub on Butcher's Row, just off Banbury's Market Place, in the Good Beer Guide from 2022 to 2025, with a courtyard garden, Sunday roasts and booked afternoon teas.
Car-free
Verified Nov 2026
Restaurants · Banbury
A town-centre pub and grill on Parsons Street, Banbury, cooking over charcoal: wood-fired Neapolitan pizza, dry-aged steaks, wings and fajitas, with food served from noon every day.
Car-free
Verified Nov 2026
Pubs · Banbury
A Grade II listed 17th-century inn, partly thatched, on Southam Road, Banbury, with real ales and ciders, a courtyard, Smash Cow street food from Thursday to Saturday and three en-suite rooms.
Dog-friendly · Car-free
Verified Nov 2026
Pubs · Banbury
A Parsons Street pub that dates itself to 1570 and calls itself Banbury's oldest, a Hook Norton house with the panelled Globe Room of the 1630s, serving food every day from noon to 9pm.
Car-free
Verified Nov 2026
Banbury is a town for a good pub and a filling supper more than a special dinner. All seven places here are a walk from one another, and most are about half a mile from the station. If you have one meal, go to the Reine Deer on Parsons Street, for Hook Norton ale and a panelled room of the 1630s.
Parsons Street has the Reine Deer and the Old Auctioneer, which grills over charcoal, fires pizza and suits a group that wants a proper feed. It is priced as a restaurant, and its menu adds a discretionary 12.5% service charge to every bill. The Church House, a restored church hall on North Bar Street by the Cross, is the easy all-day stop, from coffee to steak, and takes walk-ins.
Lock29 at Castle Quay is the answer when nobody can agree: independent traders under one roof beside the Oxford Canal, with sushi, pizza and burgers a few steps apart. Each trader keeps its own hours, so check if you are coming for one stall. It suits a family, and dogs on leads are welcome.
The Apothecary Tap on Butchers Row is the place for anyone who cares what is in the glass, with changing keg lines, comedy and bands. It mentions no food, so eat first, and children may stay only until the early evening. The Three Pigeons, a thatched inn on Southam Road at the top of the town, is more a drinkers' pub with a street-food kitchen late in the week, and its courtyard is used in all weathers.
Good Game on the High Street is a board game café, and a fair answer to a wet afternoon. Come for the games, and book a table online first, since its own site gives no opening hours.
There is no kitchen in the town to compare with the Duke of Cumberland's Head at Clifton or the Duck on the Pond at South Newington, so drive out for those. For a Sunday roast close to town, try the Plough at Bodicote or the Roebuck at Drayton, both just outside. Our pub guide has the rest.
Do not plan your visit around a Banbury cake. Our story on how it disappeared explains why there is no local seller now. For food to carry, the charter market has bread, cheese and hot food on Thursdays and Saturdays.
Most of these go without a car: parking has the charges if you need it, and a traveller's evening on foot puts a meal into a walk from the station.
The first choice for a pub, a group, a family and a drink.
All places
Pubs · Banbury
A Parsons Street pub that dates itself to 1570 and calls itself Banbury's oldest, a Hook Norton house with the panelled Globe Room of the 1630s, serving food every day from noon to 9pm.
Car-free
Verified Nov 2026
Restaurants · Banbury
A town-centre pub and grill on Parsons Street, Banbury, cooking over charcoal: wood-fired Neapolitan pizza, dry-aged steaks, wings and fajitas, with food served from noon every day.
Car-free
Verified Nov 2026
Restaurants · Banbury
A canalside food hall and independent market at Castle Quay in Banbury: sushi, pizza, burgers, pasta, crepes, afternoon tea and a bar, with small shops alongside. Dogs on leads are welcome.
Dog-friendly · Family-friendly · Car-free
Verified Nov 2026
Pubs · Banbury
Banbury's specialist craft beer bar and bottle shop on Butchers Row, run by Rob and Karen since April 2019, with twelve changing keg lines, comedy in the Atic and live music. No food.
Dog-friendly · Car-free
Verified Nov 2026
Restaurants · Banbury
A café, bar and restaurant in a restored former church hall of 1905 on North Bar Street, Banbury, open all day from coffee to steak, with walk-ins welcome and room for events of up to 150.
Verified Nov 2026
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If you have one pub in town, make it the Reine Deer on Parsons Street, a Hook Norton house with the panelled Globe Room of the 1630s. Ask whether the room is free before you order.
The Old Auctioneer suits a group after pizza, steak and wings, and has function rooms. Lock29 works when everyone wants something different, since traders sit side by side under one roof.
Yes. The Apothecary Tap and the Three Pigeons welcome dogs, and Lock29 takes up to two on leads. Booking sites list the Three Pigeons' rooms as taking no pets, so ask if you are staying.
The Church House on North Bar Street is the handy one, open all day from coffee onwards, with walk-ins accepted. It is a stop while you see the town, more than a special journey.
North Oxfordshire's working market town, on the River Cherwell and the Oxford Canal, about an hour from Marylebone. Come for the Cross, the Thursday and Saturday market, the old inns of Parsons Street, the free museum and Tooley's Boatyard.
What is on, what is new and what is in season in Banburyshire, in your inbox about once a month.