Students At Brothers2

Welcome students, both new and returning! Here’s our bespoke guide giving you all the best tips and tricks for getting the most out of your Covered Market experience…

Student Traditions

Being in the heart of Oxford college land for 250 years, The Covered Market has certainly shaped many a student tradition over time. Here’s a whistle-stop tour of just some of our iconic places:

  • Garden and Jemini Flowers are a traditional haunt for exam carnations. Students order their white, red or pink carnations in advance or pick up on the day.
  • The Oxford Cheese Co. have an incredible selection of cheeses including lots of vegetarian options being a keen interest of theirs. It’s also been a firm favourite for many years for Uni cheese and wine socs to stock up.
  • You can’t get more Oxford than May Day. Brown’s café is a traditional haunt for over 100 years now for that hangover busting 6am breakfast. Their special May Day breakfast is so well loved you can now it all year round.  On the day itself, lots of our cafes now join Browns in opening up super early to offer that much-needed morning pit stop.

Students At Brothers2

Covered Market Nights

Every Thurs – Fri  you’ll find a selection of our traders opening later into the night.  Think alternative takes on the traditional bar concept. These include the first ever bar to open in the market Teardrop’s nano bar, plus  The Market Tap by Tap Social, Neapolian inspired il Corno, The Market Cellar Door for wines and bookshop Gulp Fiction all serving fine specialist craft beers, wine, and other treats as well as delicious hot drinks.  Be sure to get there before 7pm if you want to try the oh-so-delicious stone ground pizzas by Sartorelli’s.

There’s also a whole array of events in the market – many are free – including live music, poetry, cultural talks, comedy, a book club, and the new regular open mic night “A Night of Music”. The Woolhound also host most of their craft classes and socials in the early evenings and daytimes too.

If you see a closed entrance after 5:30 and it’s a Thurs, Fri or Sat, don’t give up! We only open two entrances on High Street, and two on Market Street.

8 images of people eating and drinking at various shops in the market, also one musician playing guitar, two people holding wool up for craft classes

Oxford Covered Market

Fancy a cuppa?

There’s all kinds of tea and coffee haunts throughout the market. Colombia Coffee Roasters grow their own coffee in Colombia, alongside buying from other growers local to their Colombian residence. They then roast the coffee here before selling it in their stylish shop. You can’t get more direct to cup than that and they’re super ethical about their sources! It’s a great place to sit and watch the world bustle by.

For espressos, Brown’s cafe serve the delicious Delta (Ouro) coffee (meaning Gold) famous for being Portugal’s No1 coffee brand and a rare find in Oxford. For Brown’s filter coffee they buy a specially made blend of Italian dark and mocha mix from Cardew’s opposite.

Gulp Fiction serve up coffee by locally-owned Jericho Coffee Traders. Sofi De France brew Italian Pascucci, Taylors serve illy and Brother’s serve Italian Caffee Diemme. Cardew’s also offer a huge range of fine coffees and teas to take home and make a fine brew with. Established in 1945, Cardew’s are the oldest supplier of specialist tea and coffee in Oxford – just walking into the shop is an aromatic sensation of its own.

The Market Tap by Tap Social Movement serve a tasty brew along with their mouth watering pastry offerings from their own bakehouse Proof Bakery. The Market Tap and Gulp Fiction open into the evening Thurs – Sat. So you can still get your coffee fix then too!

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Shopping for formals?

Get that posh outfit from, Goodies, Leonard Jay and Next to Nothing. Accessorise with Nothing, Pingui, Fedele, John Gowing and Y.O.U. Don’t forget to wash behind your ears with Oxford Soap Company’s hand-made aromatic 100% natural soaps too.

Quiet Time

Relax and soak into a book with a fine cuppa, or indeed a pint, at Gulp Fiction – many don’t realise it also has a wonderful upstairs with a lovely sofa. Georgina’s café is the only other place where you can go upstairs. It’s been a traditional hideaway for students. There you can enjoy great Greek home cooking too. Not as quiet but fun to watch everyone else buzzing about – we have benches in both the central squares where you are welcome to take food from any of our traders to eat. There’s also seating tucked in a corner just outside iScream near the bike racks.

Fancy browsing the tranquility of crystals, the Covered Market have that covered too with Crystal Spirit Emporium. The stunning aromas of their huge range of insense also makes the shop very difficult to leave.

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Where to get a full English breakfast…

Partied hard the night before? We have a huge selection of cafes in the market. Most famous for its traditional greasy spoon English breakfast, is Browns Café. Family-run Brown’s has been operating for over 100 years, it’s also been featured in Morse and Endeavour! You can also enjoy a hearty breakfast at Brother’s, Taylors and Sofi de France. Most offer tasty breakfast baps for takeaway too, including mouth watering bagels from Colombia Coffee.

Exam-busting healthy eating

No time to cook but want to eat well – look no further than Alpha Bar. They cook delicious locally produced organic salads and hot meals. It’s fast food bursting with vitamins, and all in eco-friendly packaging. Their open times are Monday to Friday, 11am to 3pm. There’s also superb Greek home cooking as we mentioned earlier from Georgina’s, plus fantastic wraps from Rozanna.

Grab a tasty handmade pie or pasty from David John’s butchers – they also do vegetarian options and their pies come in paper bags. Right beside the butchers, you can stock up on those vital vitamins and minerals from Bonners delicious fresh fruit selection, also all served in paper bags.  Not long ago we’ve also just welcomed a Sushi Bowl to the market.  Freshly made sushi on site, it’s quickly become a firm student favourite.

Oxford Covered Market

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Socks, gloves, and everything in between

We’ve quite literally got you covered in the market – ahem, sorry can’t resist! For stunningly creative threads, jewellery, bags, gifts, hats, pins, gloves and socks we have vintage and preloved clothing with Again Garments,  Next to Nothing offer up a cheekie line in t-shirts, as well as ethical clothing brands, Goodies are specialists in mens clothing from casual to formal, Nothing Boutique run along one side of the market packed with all sorts of accessories, and Next to Nothing offer up t-shirts, and eithical clothing brands. For super-high-end jewellery and watches there’s John Gowing. John Gowing have been supplying engagement and wedding rings, watch mending and much more for over 74 years.

If you love your quality underwear, Y.O.U. are the perfect choice. They have a huge selection of ethically-made underwear and homeware. For more bags, we have Pingui who also specialise in luggage, and Fedele, who supply high-quality leather bags. For men’s accessories head to Leonard Jay and again to Goodies. Is your head spinning yet, ours is!

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Shopping with a conscience

The Covered Market is packed with traders that offer a huge range of ways you can shop more sustainably and ethically.

From clothing to coffee the market offers locally made products, organic products and careful paper packaging choices. Many of these traders have always operated this way.

It’s such a strong theme of our market that we’ve created a dedicated sustainability page.

Find out more

Insider knowledge

Did you know…?

1. You can buy food from anywhere in the market and eat it not only on our central picnic tables but also sit back and relax in Teardrop Bar, Market Cellar Door, The Market Tap or Gulp Fiction, along with one of their tasty tipples.

 

2. Many people don’t realise Gulp Fiction has an upstairs. It’s perfect for cosy gatherings of 20 or less or hire it for your student soc gathering? Just ask direct.

3. The Woolhound run lots of regular knitting and crochet classes, some paid for some free including their free regular Social Stitches. Just head to their events page.

4. You can have any topping you like added to your Sartorelli’s pizza, for a small charge of 50p per topping. You can also add toppings from other traders in the market including cheese from Oxford Cheese Company, delicious cooked meats at David John and a vast selection of vegetables at Bonners, or bring your own.

5. Stuey at Market Cellar Door used to be the head catering honcho at Worcester College, so he really knows his wines. Ask him to pair the perfect wines with whatever you’re bringing to eat there. He’s a genius and very easy-going. He generally works on Thursday and Friday.

6. Goodies sell this brilliant guide to male fashion. Ask Matt the owner to have a look at a copy. It’s well worth the read if you fancy giving yourself a bit of a makeover.

7. The Market Barber often opens late for men’s haircuts. So if you feel you need a quick spruce Thurs – Saturday before a formal dinner or other night out it’s well worth heading there.

8. Ben’s Cookies isn’t just any Ben’s Cookies in the Covered Market. It’s the first ever one AND it’s in the original unit where it all started.

9. Graham at iScream loves it when his customers come in with a supply of fruits from their gardens. In return he gives them a litre of his homemade gelato using their fruits. So you can’t get more home grown and hand-made than that!

10. If you get to Ben’s Cookies before 11am, there’s a chance they’ll have boxes of discounted yesterday’s cookies! These cookies last for a while so they’re a great way of buying them.

11. Brown’s delicious Portuguese Pasteis de Nata are made fresh every day and they’re a traders favourite. Come in around 9.30am and you’ll be in for a treat baked fresh out the oven!

12. If you like to keep squeaky clean, Oxford Soap Company run soap making workshops. Ask Vini or Andy who are there most days, they’ll give you all the info on booking a session.

13. Teardrop Bar owner Luciana makes the best Caipirinhas. They’re off the menu, but as long as you are there when Luciana is working, they’ll be available. Choose any fruits from Bonner’s to add an extra twist.

14. You can enter the market to walk on the moon! Yes, we’re not joking. Head to The Space Store to find out exactly how.

15. If you are hunting for that special piece of vintage clothing chat to the lovely staff at Again Garments and they’ll keep a look out for you when they’re next out buying stock.

16. Zero waste shop OxUnboxed are run by volunteers. If you fancy doing your bit of the environment and getting involved in the very sociable market community, contact them for some shifts.

There’s many more exciting things to discover in the market but let’s just leave you on a, err, high…

Student Discounts

Here’s a quick guide to all the places in the market that currently offer student discounts. Do remember to keep your student card to hand:

BROTHERS CAFE – 20% off

COLOMBIA COFFEE – 10% off coffee

LEONARD JAY – 10% off all clothing

TEARDROP BAR – Beer tasting £7.50 per flight of beer plus free snack bowl

MARKET CELLAR DOOR – Wine tasting £12 per flight of wine plus free snack bowl

iSCREAM – 10% off everything

WICKED CHOCOLATE – 10% off everything

JEMINI FLOWERS – Student loyalty card

PIEMINISTER – Student discount on all food

TAYLORS – start of term 50% off hot drinks until 12midday, and 20% off hot pasta during term

MARKET BARBER – 10% off

SPACE STORE – Student £30 Mission to the Moon VR experience for up to 4 people (Usually £24.99 per person)

The Woolhound - 10% off except for classes