I mean why not? This place has some of the best food Oxford has to offer. It is one of the most gourmet restaurants in town - and of course one of the most expensive ones as well - but there is a portion of the menu for the casual guest for an average price of $15 per person. The place is located on the Oxford Square sandwiched between Old Venice Pizza and Square Books on the Southwest Corner.
City Grocery is now 20 years old, opened in 1992 and has served Oxford well for all 20 of those years. It has become one of the most popular restaurants to go to during a football weekend (and last weekend was no exception). For this place to be open for as long as I have lived in Oxford, I have never been to this restaurant. I had to go and check this place out.
For one, I probably should have dressed a little nicer before heading into this place (I came in a soccer T-shirt and sweatpants - silly me) but no matter, they still treated me like any other customer and the waiters/waitress' were very kind. No matter what you decide to order, you get a complimentary pair of cornbread with a side of butter along with a glass of ice cold water when you sit down (there is a reason the prices are what they are here).
There is a wide variety to choose from on the menu, and most of it is nice dishes you would normally see on the Food Network. Their menu changes from season-to-season, because most of the ingredients they receive are from local products from around North Mississippi and are grown during different parts of the year, so their menu is not the same year-round. For the most part, their menu is consistent where they have a choice of "Small Plates" (Prices range from $9-$13 per plate), "Leafy Plates" ($8-$14), there is usually one Soup choice involved ($5-8 dependant on season), Sandwiches ($10-$12), a "Large Plates" menu ($14-$19), and finally a Desserts menu ($7-9). Among the beverages, they do serve Coke products and a wide variety of beer choices to go along with the Ice Water I fore-mentioned that is given to you whatever you want it or not. Outside of normal drink choices, they serve a LARGE selection of wines. You can order wine by the glass (ranges from $5-$12 per) which they come from all over the world (mainly they have wine from California and from France, Spain, Italy and New Zealand). Or you can get them by the bottle (They will range anywhere from $20 to as much as $165 a bottle - of course that is dependant on what type of wine you want). There are also dessert wines by the glass. If you want a more formal dinner, expect to pay at least around $25 per person. If you are looking more for a meal that won't break your budget, about $15 is about average if you want a drink outside of the Ice Water they give. |
I was able to purchase a meal that did not kill me in my wallet for lunch but it is hard to pull off (I wound up not ordering a soda drink and simply had the Ice Water that was given to me). This is certainly a place to go to if you want to take someone on a date or reserve for a special occasion. If you plan on pigging out, you better have the money to pay for it all. This place certainly should be on your bucket list of restaurants to go to if you plan to visit Oxford - or if you are like me, a place you should check out at least once.