Head of the River Restaurant in Oxford

I visited this pub today with two friends whom I hadn’t seen in a year. I chose this place because I had enjoyed it during previous visits, and I thought it would be a great spot to catch up, especially with its lovely outdoor area. However, my experience was disappointing. Upon arrival, I found myself standing around tables, unsure of where to check in. The staff passed by without acknowledging us, and there was no service as I had experienced in the past. We ordered starters and mains, only to be told there would be a 45-minute wait and that all dishes would be served at the same time. While the food was good and the view lovely, the poor treatment from the staff was unacceptable. I left feeling very dissatisfied.

The rooms are beautiful & clean, good for couples or families. Nice smelling products, good shower, comfortable bed & quiet. Good air conditioning, quiet & well located in Oxford. Staff were superb, very helpful and food service very efficient. Breakfast was nice, Sunday roast even better.

I recently stayed for one night at this venue and must say it was a pleasure, the location food and drinks were all very good, but for me the most important thing was the friendliness and helpfulness of the staff, they were all excellent and made my stay a very pleasant one.

Tasty food. A little overpriced. Reasonable service although abrupt when sorting bill. Hidden service charge, beware; check bill closely before payment.

Great place to go for a drink. However, the food menu is very small and overpriced. Went for sausages and mash and the food was horrendous. Sausages tasted like they were cooked 2 days ago. Would not recommend food here.

This pub is well known for its location and acknowledged as the best place to have drinks in city centre Oxford. We visited this place just for drinks and food. They got indoor seating and outside seating overlooking the river. Outdoor seating gets full really quick especially seats near the river. I will recommend booking outside seating in advance if you want to enjoy the view of the river. They do have a good selection of drinks and food.

You can get your order without drinks. Then, you can ask for drinks and you can wait another 40minutes... 🙈🙉🙈

Had to wait 15 minutes for our drinks to arrive after ordering through the QR codes. The outdoor seating is really nice on a sunny day.

Had the luxury to enjoy this pub river sitting every evening and an amazing Sunday roast too

Pub. Fuller's beer is good, not the best, but good. I had some chips here. It's was as if they were from the bottom of the fryer or fried the times. Not good chips. This pub has a great location. It's spacious too. The service is a little impersonal and can be a queue at the bar at busy times. However, the pub itself and its location mean that it's worth the wait.

There was a really cute pub at the entrance to Oxford so we had dinner here. The location was great, and we could see the Thames, boats, flowers, and lots of wild birds. I enjoyed the beer while watching the view from the terrace. For the meal, the three of us shared FISH & CHIPS and lamb. The quantity is sufficient. The sauce that came with the cod was delicious. Some of the store staff were kind. We forgot something, but they chased it and delivered it to us. Also, the chocolates you receive after paying the bill were really delicious! If you want to enjoy a quiet atmosphere, you may want to take a walk here.

The only thing this pub has got right is its location. Service isn’t only bad it’s non existent. We waited for our order to be taken, gave up. Ordered from the bar. Our food was eventually brought over, no eye contact dumped on the table. Wasn’t asked if we needed anything. Wasn’t asked if everything was ok. Food, vegetables weren’t cooked on one meal. Fish was overcooked on another, and another had clearly been left stood waiting for the others. This pub obviously lives off tourists that do not return so they are not bothered about returning customers.

The food is great for breakfast, lunch and Sunday Roast! The staff are expertly trained and attentive. They have a great beer selection including gluten free beers and it's all extremely well priced! The hotel is a gem. The rooms are recently renovated and updated and it's our go-to place when visiting Oxford.

The hotel was amazing and so dog friendly we are staying here for two days. The staff on reception very friendly and so were the breakfast staff. On both nights we have tried to eat and drink and just left. We were just disappointed with the lack of service. Even though we were staying and spent £600 to stay, some tables were getting table service while we got told just order at the bar. For food priced £20 a meal and wine cheapest bottle £30 I do expect a bit more. I was surprised at the uncleared tables many staff on but appeared that service wasn’t there priority but talking was. Great location and stay amazing but wouldn’t stop to eat there. The folly similarly priced but amazing service.

It is a very exquisite and cozy hotel, the breakfast is great, and the bed in the room is so comfortable that you can sleep until dawn!

One star for rooms, we didn't stay, just visited. We love the pub, lovely location, had a boat trip and then food n drinks. Lovely staff, especially Connor who went the extra mile, even down to pouring my London Pride! It tasted even better (if that is possible) with his enthusiasm. Thanks Connor and of course, the rest of the team. Well worth a visit if you're in Oxford. Especially if, weather permitting, you can sit out by the Thames, the narrow end!!!

It's had a refurb..looks amazing. Fabulous veg breakfast with orange juice. Lovely staff. View to look at all day long. Perfect. No stars for rooms as not slept here. I'm sure they are fab too. Got to be good looking at everything else

Very bad place and rude staff. Avoid it. Manager is the worst person I’ve ever met. I can’t explain why it seems to be a 4 stars hotel but it’s a very cheap place.

We had a lovely stay here. The customer service was excellent, and the rooms were clean and lovely. We had a river view room which was perfect as a social occasion for my partners 40th. A special thank you to Jade who helped make the stay so lovely, and to Sophie E who looked after us for dinner on the Friday night.

The fish and chips were delicious. Nice staff. Great place to sit near the river.

Great food, great location, helpful and friendly receptionist.

Beer is over priced, run by students, and it has a chain pub character but lovely beer garden

Stopped at the Head of the river for 2 nights. Very well situated, 2 mins walk from the Redbridge park and ride bus stop and 10 mins from main high street and shopping centre. Definitely recommend the park and ride (hotel did through email contact) room was cosy, any noise was well deadened by the secondary glazing. Towels were large and fluffy, bed comfortable and good rain forest shower head. Breakfast was good, service good so overall very good and will be back. We had issue with the hot water which was sorted and followed up on.

Lovely location. Oxford personified!

Superb spot by the river, excellent local cuisine, respectable variety of beers on tap . my dog loves it, nuff said. Restaurant review.

We didn't stay here but had a fantastic meal. We managed to get a table next to the river and it was a beautiful setting. The service was excellent and the food really good. The small plates really are small, but that's fair enough and for Oxford we thought the prices were about right and reasonable for the setting, service and quality of the food. We would definitely recommend and would come back if we return to Oxford one day

Average food for inexcusable prices. Guest ales nearly £7.00 a pint! The only reason why it is so expensive is because they are exploiting tourists as this area of Oxford with the river is a tourist trap. Lovely setting and plenty of seating outside. Nicely decorated inside. This being the only reason for two stars.

would like to say a massive thank you to the head of the river team.I booked as a surprise for my parents 75 Birthdays .The staff could not do enough for them and upgraded them to a river view room.After a tough few years for both of them this was really appreciated and they had a wonderful stay.

Fab place to stay for three nights. We had 4 rooms and they were all unique. My room had its own entrance from the garden and was so spacious with a wet room. The king size bed was so comfortable. I’m an early riser but slept through in this bed. The breakfast was great with so much choice to accommodate everyone. Location wise you could not ask for better. We parked at Redbridge park and ride which is a short bus journey to hotel. 5 min walk to the main shopping street.

Food is excellent and location is lovely, staff are not too involved but its ok. You order and pay online and can enjoy a view of the river. The ploughmans platter was an excellent sharing choice!

Superb location, did not stay here. Just had a drink. Best seating outside, possibly best pre book. Still good anyway.

Location is amazing. Food is fine. Just a bit slower in service. Great location. If you have the time and need a good pint - you could do much worse.

We arrived at The Head of the River and found a table covered in glasses, after a short while someone came to take the glasses but made no attempt to clear the table or speak to us. We ordered the nachos and a couple of drinks the food arrived in reasonable time, but was put down with no cutlery, napkins or comment. The nachos were woeful especially for the price of £13.95, just some shop bought guacamole, sour cream and some salsa and the measiliest amount of grated cheese. Not even any beans added. This should cost about £6, if it had chilli/beef added it would be different!

had a great meal, had nachos here and had a drink, the view is very nice

Amazing riverside pub/hotel with boutique rooms and amazing food and service

Nice view, but the vegetarian options are limited and they're very inflexible about booking and seating: no booking on the day, you can't move chairs around, you can't stand at the back outside and watch sports. Beer is also very expensive.

Mediocre food, not great for large groups, bad vegetarian options, uncomfortable seating.

Rating the pub here and not the hotel (for some reason, the two are crammed together on Google Maps). We had an underwhelming experience recently and I wanted to share it. The pub is very nice in the summer, with a lovely outside area right next to the river. The drink and food selection is ok but certainly on the pricy side. Unfortunately, the service wasn’t up to standard. We just wanted to have a drink but when we sat down outside and scanned the QR code to order, there was a message that it is busy and they encouraged to order directly at the bar. Ok, no worries! I went to the bar and wanted to order a coke and a beer. However, this took forever even though there were only two patrons in front of me. It took at least 10 minutes, maybe 15, until I was served, so one of the slowest processes I have witnessed in a pub. Moreover, I ordered and paid for a pint of coke and they instead gave me a small Pepsi. Unfortunately, we only realized too late that this was a much smaller glass than it should have been for the price. If you go there, make sure to double-check that the order is correct. Otherwise, they might scam you for a smaller size than you paid for. I also wonder why they have Pepsi and not Coca Cola with these high prices.

The single worst dining experience I have ever had. We waited an hour and a half for food which never came because the staff "forgot" - including the olives! I was prepared to forgive the complete disarray, general filth, and poor excuse for food. I was willing to accept that the flies crawling all over the tables and milling on the knives, and even the stale bread and watered-down juice were just consequences of a busy restaurant. But The Head of the River managed to take my leniency and throw it in my face by failing to serve us any food at all! The drinks came half an hour after we ordered and only after we prompted the waitress, who put it down to "being busy". Mind you, we ordered a beer and two bottled drinks. The bread came after and was woefully bland. During this time we were forced to constantly wave flies and ants away from our cutlery. Another hour passed. We watched another table be served the olives we had ordered, while we were left with nothing. We asked again whether there was hope of our food coming at all, and received no answer. We went inside and asked again and was informed the restaurant had forgotten our order and had not even started preparing the food! We observed that patrons who had arrived 40 minutes later than us had already been served their mains. The restaurant's staff somehow selectively forgot to serve our table - despite us being seated smack dab in the middle of the yard! You should be endlessly grateful that we paid for our drinks and bread and left. I shudder at the thought that twenty pounds of our money went into feeding such a horrendously run restaurant. Upon closer inspection all the good reviews of this establishment seem to be of the hotel and not the adjoining pub. Patrons of the pub seem to have left similarly disappointed reviews. I'm inclined to think this is some kind of purposeful gerrymandering in order to keep this poor excuse of a restaurant open. Please clarify this for me: Was this racism, or is the entirety of your service staff so wildly incompetent that you would somehow selectively overlook our table in the very centre of the yard? Please answer so I can clarify which type of flagrant abuse other potential patrons should be wary of. (To other Asians and people of colour - avoid this place like the plague!)

What a wonderfully friendly and very helpful staff. The room was fantastically themed with William Morris wallpaper and prints. Lovely touch. My children had ordered a bouquet of flowers for our wedding anniversary and it was such a surprise to see them in the room when we arrived.

Very nice and typical restaurant. Very good food and very friendly service.

The food was abysmal. I got a Sunday roast and half of my roast was too fatty to eat. It was also supposed to be pink in the middle but there was not even a hint of pink and it was rather though. After our amazing waitress left, the rest of the waitstaff was very inattentive and more focused on joking with each other than on waiting on people. Noone even asked if we needed anything or how the food was. The room on the other hand is absolutely amazing and the view is unbeatable.

Not to be missed pub whilst in Oxford. On the very banks of river thames. The view is to die for while enjoying your poison.

Lovely outdoor terrace with a view of the river and reasonable prices

Beautiful rooms with gorgeous views as shown below. Such a treat. Delicious breakfast. Eggs Benedict and the avocado toast were both excellent. Quality teas as well. Such friendly service. Try the fish and chips here. Very tasty.

Gorgeous pub, great food and great service. I’d like to give a special mention to Ben Desmond. When I visited, he was always asking if my table needed anything, with a great big smile on his face. He has made my experience at the Head of the River one that I will never forget, and I will keep coming back here to enjoy his unrivalled, top tier service.

Last visited this pub over 30 yrs ago. Little bit more commercialised these days but I guess that's progress. Bar staff really pleasant and spent a couple of rounds in the garden...very relaxing. Top end prices...2xgin & Tonic, 2 x beers £32 🍻

Only arrived for food and drink for a business meeting. Food was lovely with an interesting twist here and there.

Expensive but you expect that in this sort of location. What you don't expect is incredibly slow service, grumpy staff, pints consistently pulled very short and to be repeatedly moved off tables as they decide they want to put someone else on them. Not worth the hassle. Plenty of better places to relax in Oxford.

Great hotel in Oxford. Comfortable rooms very recently renovated, comfortable and spacious. A very decent breakfast, with good quality products, highly recommended. It's really close to everything. And it has a great little bar with good beer.

Decided to visit here with a few friends to watch the England Euros game. Lovely location but after spending a load of money between us on drinks were met by incredibly rude staff who kept moving us on every time we tried to settle/stand somewhere to watch the screen all because we hadn't paid a £10 fee each (which was not advertised anywhere) in order to watch the football (which is broadcast free on the BBC!!) and despite not being in anybody's way.

Had pancakes for breakfast, it was OK but not great but the staff appeared to go out of their way to put us on a table we didn't want to go on, when the breakfast room was nearly empty.

Great by the river. Need more/ better staff

Absolutely awful. Rude staff, no people skills, No communication. Total shambles for a pub with their reputation. Given a menu. No food available from that menu. Told to hurry to order as large party arrived. Would need to eat quick and leave if we did order as only have table 2 hrs. Rude bar staff inside when looking st the Gin. Booked for 6 but they wanted one of our chairs for another booking. Not made to feel welcome at all. It was all very much muddled and messy.

Absolutely fabulous! The steak was to die for. Staff were wonderful. Attentive but not to the point of annoying. Helpful when leaving and arranging a taxi. So pleased we stumbled across such a wonderful pub.

Rude staff and manager. Average food. Great location.

Came by and managed to get a table. Really good food and service with great river view.

Lovely riverside pub. Pint of coke and crisps after a boat house visit. I will pop in again.

Very disappointed with the poor, and frankly impolite service that we received today. We waited an hour for our food, which never got delivered due to a staff error. Then we spent another 30+ minutes trying to get a refund. We are still struggling to get a refund for an additional order that has come off our account, that apparently never displayed on the order system. Our calls to the restaurant are redirected to a call service which tells us to call the restaurant directly. This is still unresolved. Very frustrated and unhappy. This experience ruined what would have been a nice morning out.

Beers and chips what's not to like

Great location. Not the same for service and food that was completely burnt! Bill was expensive especially considering the bad experience we have had!!!

I have been to this pub several times, I really like the location, especially in warm weather, when you sit on the terrace, you can admire the wonderful views of the Thames. Portions are large, tasty. Football is also being broadcast now

Amazing location but very bad food and service not that great!

Always a pleasant experience, quick service and beautiful views 👏🏻🥳 Can’t say anything about the rooms as I was just visiting the pub

Don’t order anything from the grill menu. Portions are ridiculously small. Ordered the BBQ Chicken and Mediterranean salad. What I got was two small skewers probably about the size of small chicken breast. The salad was an absolute disgrace, a few rocket leaves, a couple of cherry tomatoes, smattering of Orzo, one crumbled piece of feta and not a single olive. All this for a bargain £18. Credit crunch, if only my salad had some.

The venue is very nice by the river, however I was enjoying my drink solo and hoping to order dinner for myself. I was asked by a waitress to leave as someone else had apparently reserved the table I was at. There was no reservation notice on the table, and I wasn’t given any warning before being told new guests had arrived and wanted the table. I was only halfway through my drink and so I asked if I could sit somewhere else or what time the new guests were arriving. I was told the booking had already arrived and that the other tables were full. I left and when I walked past 15 minutes later there was no one sat at the table I had just been asked to leave from. I did not feel welcomed and feel like I was asked to leave because I was dining solo, I was embarrassed that this happened and I don’t want to go back.

Came for my birthday- the sun was out so the terrace was a great vibe overlooking the river. Service was great, very attentive and helpful. Food was delicious.

This review relates only to food and drink. Came here for impromptu supper with a group of six visiting French friends. What struck me most was the very warm welcome and friendly attitude of the young man who served us. The contrast with the off-hand service at our lunch venue was marked. We all had fish and chips and the fish was well prepared. The drinks are on the expensive side, though.

Nicely refurbished but expensive even for Oxford

Excellent they made you very welcome

The food is very good... but the beer is quite literally the most expensive I've EVER seen anywhere in the UK. A pint of Asahi is £7.70! ... That's more expensive than any pub I've been to ..... including any pub I've visited in London. This type of price is not "competitive" ... It's exorbitant.

We have been going to the Head of the River for more than 35 years and have had some good times there. We considered it to be one of our favourite establishments in Oxford. We were therefore exited to see what they had done to the place following the recent refurb. The reality is that, in our opinion,they have destroyed the sole of the place in their pursuance of profit. The segregation of eating and drinking areas is out of balance and clearly wasn’t working on the day we were there. This, coupled with aggressive and poorly trained staff, unfortunately means I will have to go to the Bear to get my pint of Fullers in future. We wish the the Head of the River well, we think you are going to need it once the tourist’s have gone.

I visited for a drink on a Saturday afternoon. Affordable beers and plenty of tables available. Great location.

"Terrible experience. The drinks were overpriced and watered down. The beer was flat, and the cocktails tasted like they were made with the cheapest ingredients. To make matters worse, the staff was very rude. Definitely not worth the visit."

Beautiful new refurb inside and out, wonderful setting. Unfortunately food was a let down. Ordered the barbecue chicken kebab with Mediterranean salad - dish needs to be rethought or taken off the menu.

Great pint. Great food. Ideal point before or after walking by the river and meadow.

I used to go here a lot in my youth....and 30 years on it's changed a bit, it's totally food orientated now which is not a bad thing, with a lovely outside set up, we had the fish & chips, it was nice but nothing outstanding for the price....it was good to see it again and on a sunny day it's a nice place to take a break from an Oxford tour.

So disappointed with the food. Chose the chicken barbecue kebab and came with a side of Mediterranean salad which sounded delicious. What arrived was probably a two tablespoon portion missing the tomatoes cucumber and feta (well did get one tiny cube of feta). Hard to tell from the photos but at £18+ it was shocking. This was a birthday treat too. Such a shame as lovely staff and location. Can’t really tell from the photos but have added anyway - look at what was advertised. If 3 of the 5 ingredients are missing and portion size is tiny I paid£18 for two mediocre skewers.

Lovely and quaint pub, although fairly expensive and posh.

At first we couldn't get a seat on the terrace... when we indicated that people were just leaving, it was possible, after some doubt with the woman who assigns your seat. When it turned out that we only came for something to drink, we had to order it ourselves at the bar. Very expensive, so we left again. Not worth the walk.

Stopped for an impromptu lunch after a river cruise. We hadn't booked but the warm and welcoming staff quickly accommodated us in the beautiful garden with fantastic views of the river. Several of the 'crew' served us with Callum as our main host. All were charming, friendly and very helpful, anticipating our needs. We chose the beer battered fish finger sandwich with fresh tartar sauce. It was absolutely delicious and the generous portion size meant we didn't need dinner. The ladies washroom was very clean with lovely hand cream. We'll definitely visit again and stay in the hotel. We'd highly recommend if you're in Oxford.

Great location in Oxford, a nice view of the river and great food and drinks.

Check your arrival time, the dining room closes during lunch and the cathedral closes in the afternoon on some days.

Great location to be by the river. Service was excellent and the food was lovely. Book because it is very popular!!

Excellent lunch, great options from the menu and super friendly staff!

My daughter still thinks about the chicken schnitzel she had a few weeks ago. Great good. Great location.

The room was shabby and needs a re-dec. Water was hot and bed comfy . Good location although the closest carpark was half a mile away. Staff were not very attentive but reasonable.

We stopped for a well-earned drink in beautiful surroundings

Nice view of the river. Good service. Food was nice too.

It's how an Italian imagines a hotel in Oxford. An old pub with rooms upstairs. It seemed authentic to me.

This may be a well located, nice pub. But unfortunately at £7.15 for a pint of cider on tap I won't be revisiting anytime soon

Nice pub, friendly staff, awesome atmosphere, enjoyed the experience very much

Having often seen the Head of the River as we drive by, we always reflected on the beautiful setting next to the river. It is usually quite busy. So on a lazy Friday holiday, we planned to go there for breakfast and coffee. Service was impeccable and the views delightful. If you're looking for a storybook Oxfordshire setting next to the Thames, to muse on the beauty of this historic area, then this is it. Whether you're a tourist or a local, do take an old English novel and get carried away to times gone by.

Food was very good, varied menu, service was slow - we had to get our own menus and put our own order in at the bar even though it was a pretty quiet night

Fantastisch abgeschmeckt. Wir waren super zufrieden. Unerwartet ein kulinarischer Höhepunkt unserer Reise. Etwas kühl in den historischen Gemäuern. Aber das hatten wir in Britain häufiger.

I would have given a higher score for the food and service but the service charge at the end of the bill annoyed us as this was not pointed out anywhere and we did nt get a choice if we wanted to pay this i would have minded less if the charge was 10 per cent but it was more than that, luckily we saw the charge before we were going to tip the waitress,,,,we do always leave a tip but thats at my choice and what I want to pay,, so I would not return again.

Went this morning for some brunch with a group of family and friends. Location is nice. We chose what we wanted from the menu on the table and my wife went to order. Our 2 children wanted a Sausage Sandwich. When my wife tried to order she was told she couldn’t order from that menu because we were not residents. Staff refused to have any flexibility and said we could not order the sausage sandwich because it was not on the “non residents” menu. After ordering a full English for them to share the kitchen forgot to put the sausage on. Then the sausage came out on its own on a plate, showing that the world will not implode if a single sausage is provided for a non resident. A bit of flexibility would have gone a long way in this situation and provided a paying customer with what they wanted.

Have had several meals here Next to sons uni accomodation this year Great outside seating and location on river Had half chicken with aoil chips and partner and son had trout Very good quality and prompt service Only negative were average Deserts which were expensive £9 for a sliver of pre bought treacle tart not even warmed Shame as only had positives previously Will use again though Recommended

A great spot with a wonderful outlook and ample outdoor seating - albeit there is absolutely nowhere nearby to park. The service was willing but very slow; we gave up on dessert because it was going to take too long, having waited more than an hour for the main courses. The wine glass was none too clean and there was a general air of needing to be a bit cleaner. The Sunday roast beef looked good and I was sorry I had not ordered that instead of the shepherd's pie I had, which was tasteless mush. Shared starters of meze and ciabbata were Ok. Quite expensive for what it is, though average for gastropubs.

The return of the weekend sun, meant a return to the Head of the River in Oxford. It is such a lovely place to relax and watch the river and have a few drinks. We have been many times before and staff are unfailingly fabulous! Jade is just so lovely and so friendly - she always makes us feel so welcome. The food is fab so what’s not to love!