The Mad Hatter in Oxford

Heard good things about this place and decided to pop in today on a whim with my girlfriend. Was a lovely, and unexpectedly well themed place to go to. Our bar tender, Jack, was great fun and set the tone for the rest of our night. Staff and establishment was lovely. Recommended as one of the ‘lesser known must visit establishments’ in Oxford.

A great place to spend an evening in Oxford. The atmosphere is a perfect mix of stylish and eccentric, there is a good range of drinks, and the bar staff are friendly and welcoming. It is also the best place for karaoke in Oxford, no question!

enjoyed a nice karaoke night 🎤 we also stayed at the Mad Hatter hotel upstairs above the bar and couldn't hear any music coming from downstairs 👍

Amazing night at the Hatter! Me and some Friends booked a private karaoke room upstairs on Saturday the 13th of April and then we went downstairs for more Karaoke. Range of songs was great, service was very friendly and the coctails unforgettable. We will definitely go back for more similar nights. I tried the food on another occasion and it was very tasty and well made.

Great first experience at the Hatter, cool ambiance, fun karaoke and really friendly staff. Will go again soon :)

Quirky place,we were at a private party great atmosphere.

Brilliant service and wonderful room. Great place highly recommend it... A must see in Oxford

The drinks were good, but the service was slow. The atmosphere was just okay.

Me and My Friend went to Karoake Night Here.The Staff was Very Friendly.and a member of Staff comes over to you to tke your Order for Drinks.

We went there for a cocktail masterclass and it was entertaining as well as delicious. Enthusiastic staff, lively quirky place and very decently priced cocktails. What's not to love?

We stayed in the hotel for valentines day, amazing decor in all the rooms super unique and amazingly helpful staff - we had to change our date and they did it with no problems. they also gifted us a bottle of prosecco for our stay. wish we couldve stayed longer and enjoyed the wacky cocktails. we must stay here again.

Quirky place. Our room was beautiful, the bed was super comfy and the decor was awesome. Had drinks in the bar and the staff were great. We had a young lad newly started serving us and he's a real asset. I'd definitely stay here again.

went for karaoke night and it was fabulous! love the decoaration, the poeple, the vibes :) just so all round lovely! my parents had food and it must have been delicious because that ate t uo very quickly recommend! and will be going again!!!

The cocktails, food and vibe of the place was great. Karoke was fun. The place however seemed understaffed as service was very slow and you could only order at the bar. The staff aswell did not seem very pleased to be working there. So that could really improve to make the overall experience great.

No worth it. I recently gave a second chance to this place (long time ago I decided to no come back again since I had a very bad experience celebrating my birthday back in 2023), sadly I got the same bad time again, service is horrible and it feels like they just want you to leave. I’m not planning to come back again.

Good place, good food, good drinks but it is unacceptable that a place like this deliberately leave the door open (and block it) when outside are 2 degrees. Before with the 'excuse' that they need to pass with 2 pizza trays (you don't need to leave 5 minutes the door open for that) and then with no reason if not pushing customers out around 11h20 while the place has to close at 1am. In this last occasion there was the door open, they shut the TVs, they start cleaning the tables leaving dusters on the tables. Zero care of customers, details make the difference.

The place used to be so unique. Now’s it feels like it is just your normal local pub down the road… it really lost its character

I have been coming here for years for cocktails and it's always been great until my experience of dining here for a friend's birthday. My drink was forgotten to be delivered to me. I had to go to the bar to get it after waiting 15 minutes with no sign of it after the waiter took the order. Then after nearly 1 hour, the waiter took our food order. When it arrived, the burger was difficult to cut with a dinner knife. So it looked like it was over cooked on one side and lacked flavour. So I went to the bar to complain about it. The staff took it away and the chef came out to talk to me. This shocked me as I had never spoken to a chef about my food before in any restaurant I ate in. He explained to me the chicken burger was cooked perfectly and doesn't understand why I am complaining. I asked if he could bring the burger back so I could show him physically what I was complaining about. But he said it was put in the bin because he thought I didn't want it. So I asked what can be done about it now as I am still hungry and wanted to eat something. He replied back saying if I don't like the way he cooks, what else he can do about it. My friend overheard this and was applauded by the way the complaint was dealt with. After discussing this matter with the chef for over 5 minutes, he said we could talk to the manager. The manager apologized and offered a different dish. I have never experienced anything like this in all my years of going out to eat and was so disappointed as it was my friend's birthday celebration. I didn't want it to taint her day but at the same time I wasn't prepared to buy 2 meals as it wasn't cheap, I already spent over £15 on something I only had one small mouthful of. I hope their customer service will be improved as I wouldn't return back after being a customer for many years.

I recently attended a works Christmas party at Mad Hatter, and it was a fantastic experience! The karaoke was absolutely amazing – such a fun atmosphere with everyone getting involved. The staff were incredibly lovely and attentive, making sure we had everything we needed to enjoy our night. The food was delicious. Overall, it was a brilliant night out, and we’ll definitely be back next year! Highly recommend this spot for anyone looking for a great party venue.

I shared a big birthday here we did cocktail making and karoke. WOW and OMG what an absolutely fantastic day and night. The cocktail making was so much fun the bartender was brilliant, fun, knowledgeable and such a laugh. The karaoke room was so much fun such a laugh. The DJ in the bar made a brilliant end to a great day and night. Would 💯 recommend this venue will def b back!!

No one especially available to respond to any requests, no room to store luggage on the day of departure, incorrect entry code provided, noisy

We were there for karaoke evening and had a lot of fun. As the name suggests, the furnishings are a bit weird and mixed up, but it actually looks pretty cool. There are cocktails in small cups which is pretty cute. We were "intercepted" at the door by an employee and had to solve a little puzzle to get in. That was a good start. The colleagues behind the counter seemed a bit overwhelmed, so I ordered a cocktail without alcohol. I got one and immediately asked for one without alcohol. Unfortunately the reaction was a bit annoyed and I found that quite a shame. But I would still go again.

Location was very central to Oxford University and the city centre more generally. The staff were very helpful on arrival and during my stay. The team onsite arranged for me to drop off my suitcase prior to formal check in, and even took it to my room, some 4 floors up, remembering there's no lift! The team were also super responsive to messages via the Booking.com app. I would recommend this hotel to other travellers. Room was 'Alice in Wonderland' themed, and very funky, see photos. If you're being picking, the absence of a lift when you have heavy suitcases is a 'downside', but this isn't uncommon in the UK, and definitely not unique to this accommodation.

Good karaoke bar. Mostly western music so don't expect Korean/Japanese music. There was a really good deal with entry and two drinks, and we had a great time. When your time is up/ 1 song left they will let you know.

A riddle to get in, cocktails in teapots and karaoke, what more could you want. Private karaoke rooms are great, extensive song selections and order to rooms is perfect. They are also air conditioned so you don't overheat.

We went for cocktails. It has a fun quirky atmosphere, with good affordable cocktails, and some good pizza options for food.

The rooms are very nice and stylishly furnished, but: I expect accommodation to be quiet at night. Unfortunately that wasn't the case here. There is a bar directly below the rooms where there was a karaoke night and it was just loud in the room until late into the night and I heard people singing strangely. At this point I understood why there were oropaxes/earplugs in the room, but I don't want to have to sleep with oropaxes in a hotel. Unfortunately a no go that was not apparent when booking.

We had a great time here the other day doing karaoke. Good value for money and lots of fun. Thankyou!

Amazing, quirky cocktail bar. Staff were really friendly. We did a cocktail masterclass and I would highly recommend, it was lots of fun!

Awesome karaoke bar. We hired a private karaoke room for a hen do at £17.50 pp for 1.5 hours. It was great fun and a highlight of our evening!

We hired out one of their karaoke rooms and had such a good time! The drinks and food were brought to our room and were super quick.

Have been wanting to try this place for a while and I am definitely glad I did. We tried all of the specialty cocktails, both sliders, as well as both desserts, and I can say we thoroughly enjoyed it. Although we had to order at the bar they brought all the food and drinks to us and it came quickly. The cheeseburger sliders were well cooked and tasted great especially with ranch. The white rabbit is a favorite cocktail of mine, and is especially great for people who like sweeter drinks. The mad hatter is also delicious. This place is great 10/10 recommend. It may seem expensive compared to other places but you get so much food for the money and it is so delicious.

Whatever you do don’t bother coming here! Our drinks were wrong, cocktails with 2 thirds fruit and very little liquid and the food took the night from bad to worse. Oh and my little ketchup pot that had to be requested twice until it came was very obviously used. Our pizzas didn’t have half the ingredients but apparently that is how they come… until I read the menu out and explained that a pizza w/ chilli should actually have chilli on it. What a shame. 😳

Would not recommend, the staff members seemed miserable and the service was very very slow, to the point that my partner had to go and collect our drinks from the bar, with the staff members not even aware that my partner had already paid. Although we were offered free food for the slow service, the atmosphere felt very negative and we left as soon as possible. A really big shame as this was a place I have always wanted to visit in Oxford.

Very nice karaoke bar. Perfect for a night our to have fun.

What about a dueling piano bar! That would be great

The main draw of this place is that it's an opportunity to do karaoke in a private room, so if singing in a crowded pub isn't for you then this is a good idea. The Mad Hatter concept is a bit thin - you get asked a riddle as you enter and the staff are hatted - and the rooms/decor are all a bit tatty. Felt a bit more like a student houseshare than a trippy wonderland. The karaoke machines in the room work well and there's a great range of songs. There's even options to change the key and tempo - just don't tell everyone in your group or there'll be chaos! QR code lets you order drinks directly to your room. We were there on a Saturday night so it sometimes took nearly 30 minutes for drinks to arrive. In all we had a fun night, but it's an expensive option compared to finding a pub that does karaoke. The staff are very friendly and helpful.

It was a fun work night out. Good value for money.

Loved it. We (13 of us) had a great time. Only (minor complaint) issue was setting up the kareoke machine. But otherwise we had a great time and will want to book again!

Absolute shambles went with a group of 11 people, the staff were so rude to us giving the vibe of not wanting us there. A male staff kept coming into the room rushing us out as if they just wanted us gone. We are a group of young 18-19 year olds but this was just so unfair how we were treated. Also the price just isn’t worth it per person for the state the building is in I would prefer for some alcohol/drinks to be included for the price we paid. Over £100 for a small run down room with a camera staring at you, staff acting weird, and to be rushed out. This isn’t karaoke it’s a room with a tv, loud speaker and two mics. No crowd or any vibes in this place it’s weird

Really cool hotel and located very centrally; everywhere is walkable. The rooms are amazing, innovatively decorated and superbly clean.

What a brilliant venue with amazing staff and fab cocktail menu (check out the lemon meringue cocktail) Dj was excellent too! Great night!

Riddlle me this, riddle me that, who's afraid of the big bad VAT

Doesn't look much from the outside and they were a little disorganised but the rooms were great and it's a really good location for access to the city. We grabbed a few drinks in the bar and the cocktails were very nice! Couldn't hear any noise or music from our room, which I was a little worried about when we booked. Would definitely recommend!

Oddball experience. Very hot when crowded. Cocktails were good however.

This is a lovely little cocktail place. The staff are fun and friendly and you have to answer a riddle to get in. The masterclass was running a little behind but thats a tiny issue so we were happy to wait. The masterclass itself was fantastic and great fun making our own cocktails as well as drinking. We would have loved to stay drinking there however we were not informed that if we wanted to stay later than our masterclass we would have needed to book a table in advance. This may be because the masterclass was a gift voucher, however we were not notified when booking the requirement of booking a table to stay on a bit. We only found out when we had our food delivered , and were politely notified they were fully booked from about a half our later. That did spoil the rest of the night. We will now for next time!!!

Although a little tired, it's a fun venue. Went for a hen party so we were a (aptly) little bonkers. Lovely afternoon tea with karaoke.

The last time I've had a pizza this good was in Napoli Italy, the ingredients the dough freshness caused me a massive party on my palette. Highly recommend 👌

Fantastic cocktail making session. Super cocktails and atmosphere.

Needs to update website!! Turned up and turned away as bookings only yet this was not on website and also stated not to busy on Google.

Food is like home made, prices are good. But bar slowly killing you when you end up waiting for pint of beer nearly an hour. Went there twice both time were the same.

Awful experience. Had to stay in the queue for 1h because "there were too many people" when I know for a fact the place was empty because my friend was there. I definitely do NOT recommend this place. Worse place in Oxford. Do NOT go.

I like this place. I haven’t tried the food yet. The only inconvenience I found about this place is the small space inside and the lack of seats, especially when events are happening.

I was lucky enough to meet Kai and Ethan who introduced me to this fantastic venue. One of the best night of my life, facilitated by the kindness and banter of these two bar tenders. I will certainly be attending her again as soon a possible!

Went there with a school class-more space or a table for possible supervisors would have been great. Everything else was impeccable

We had a great time at our cocktail class, staff were knowledgeable and fun and we made some delicious cocktails! I love the theme, we even had to solve a riddle to get in.

Fantastic little bar and great selection of karaoke! Very accommodating staff and we really enjoyed our visit

Fab mixology class for a Hen Do I was at! The cocktails were very tasty and the staff did a brilliant job. We all had a great time!

Excellent experience at The Mad Hatter for my hen do recently. We did a cocktail masterclass and karaoke after. Cocktails were delicious and Zach was excellent in conducting the class, a true expert! Karaoke was extremely fun and would definitely return!

Quirky place with great cocktails

excellent time here staff were super friendly, only docking a point as service is slow.

Great interior, great cocktails and the staff is very very nice! Like it so much!

I found my experience to be a bit of a let down which I’m sad about! Staff were a little moody behind the bar, some of the cocktails our table ordered barely tasted of anything and I felt that the decor was a little bit run down, which is a real shame as it could be so magical! There was also a DJ but the music was pretty rubbish and it was far too loud! All in all, it was alright for a couple of hours but I wouldn’t bother coming back.

A really good experience here, we went to a gin sampling event (virgin experiences) the barman was very good (sorry, I'm useless with names) explained the history of gin and was a good laugh and personable. Some of the gins were lethal! 🤣A good night out, well done to all

Great place to have fun, large choice of cocktails. Loved it

Quite night....not! Colleague's birthday celebrations 🍾 (on a school night)!

Worst service in living memory. Ruined Chloe’s birthday, it took that long to get a Prosecco. Bar staff not even acknowledging the fact they’re taking 15/20 mins to serve. Hopefully Chloe’s birthday next year is better

We celebrated a birthday with friends and we had an amazing time. Maisie was a fantastic host and we were taken care of very well. I would suggest this place for anybody who likes nice cocktails and a great atmosphere.

Came here for a cocktail masterclass - what an amazing experience! Zac the bartender was so professional and showed us how to make the classics!

Fantastic! Went for a cocktail masterclass for 2 people, made 2 cocktails each and had a 3rd one too. Each one was unique to the Max Hatter and one of their creations and each one was really delicious! We did it as a couple from a Virgin voucher we received as a birthday present, we had lots of fun and highly recommend !

Great atmosphere on a Friday night. £3 to get in. Bar service was fairly quick.

Disappointing. The website sounded and looked so fun. Sadly the lighting was bright, the staff looked unhappy to be there and the place lacked energy. The cocktails had too much ice and many of the ones we wanted to order didn’t have the ingredients. We paid for two sessions however the DJ did not even appear for the 10pm session. This won’t be a place that we will return to.

Fun bar if you can get in but more often than not I've/we've been turned away citing a "private party" as the reason. They have a lot of private parties, that's all I'm going to say

We hired the kareoke room for two hours. Great choice of music, good fun and reasonable.

Good karaoke bar but service is quite slow. Also they used to do food but currently food is not available as their chef has left

Had a go at making cocktails behind the bar experience once we managed to crack the riddle on entry friendly staff and very informative on the cocktail course very quirky pub well worth a visit

Love it but one small suggestion - dimmable lights, it's a bit bright for a late night bar

Not at all friendly at all, avoid...

Extremely slow service. Booked out a kareoke room, took half an hour to deliver a round of drinks each time, the microphone was broken and took almost an hour to fix it. On top of that half the menu was mot available. Would not reccomend.

Popped in for a quick drink after punting, on the way back to the park and ride. We nearly managed to get the riddle at the door. All the staff were friendly and accommodating. It was fairly busy at the time due to a cocktail making class taking place. It is very compact inside with lots of interesting Alice in Wonderland themed decor. I will definitely go back and stay longer.

The cocktails I have tonight are out of this world. Every one of my favourites the bartenders can make better. The best bar in Oxford!!!

Very nice themed cocktail bar. Had live music while we were there. Cocktails weren't cheap but definitely better than you'd get at a more generic chain cocktail bar. Friendly staff and good service

Amazing cocktails and fun karaoke rooms!

If you can guess a riddle you can get in. If you can't, well you can still get in but not quite as smug. Quite a nice place, usually booked well in advance. Very accommodating bar staff and not busy in the evenings which is wonderful since I do not particularly like places where you can not walk or stand without bumping into people. If you are an Alice in Wonderland fan, you must visit!

Great staff and karaoke! Would definitely come again

Amazing hidden gem. Fantastic night with amazing friendly staff. This is a 6 star venue

Love the quirkiness of this place. Beautiful deco. the bartenders know their cocktails. only one thing I will ask...…MORE KARAOKE NIGHTS with a drag host again. That was Amazing.

Loved it here. It is something completely different and all the staff get involved in the theme. Cocktails are amazing and have a unique twist. The theme of the venue starts at the front door where you need to press the bell and then get asked a riddle if you would like one. Highly recommend here and it will be a regular haunt every time we visit Oxford from now on.

A party of family & friends visited The Mad Hatter Saturday 7th May 2022 for my daughter's hen do. Lovely building,food & drink,never thought I would be served cocktails in tea pot,cups & saucers. Everything was delicious & staff were excellent. I would highly recommend this experience 100% Thank you all for lovely afternoon/ evening xx

Great fun afternoon making cocktails

Decoration inside is very cute, some choices for mocktails. It was weird that we couldn't get in because the door was ?locked. Not sure. The staff was not very chatty but still was friendly enough. Interested in the karaoke rooms! Unfortunately we were only there for a night. Overall I would recommend this bar, we will likely come back again on a more lively night when in Oxford again.

The best Italian pizza in Oxford!

Amazing interior and great cocktails

The Mad Hatter is a fantastic place for a night out! I have gone there with groups of around 10 people on several occasions and had an absolute blast. The cocktails are great, the music is always different and amazing, and the staff is incredibly welcoming and fun. My friends and I absolutely loved their themed parties. The good vibes just keep coming!!!

It's okay. The staff behind the bar are more interested in having a chat which really had an impact on our experience here. The drinks are amazing though and the private hire karaoke was a lot of fun (the room was small for 12 of us)

Absolutely gutted. Lived in Oxford for nearly 6 years and my friend and I realised that we’ve never been to this place. We were really excited to have a fun night here last night, but unfortunately it was a complete disaster. Ordered a sharer cocktail which took 20 FULL MINUTES to get to us. After 15 minutes I had to go to the bar to ask where the heck it was. Bar wasn’t busy but there was a hen party who seemed to command the whole venu’s attention. After another 5 mins it came to us, but the whole thing was filled with ice and I kid you not, we had 2 small teacups of the cocktail each. This thing was £22 but had the contents of a single goblet of gin?!? We planned to stay and order lots of cocktails and food, and maybe use the karaoke but left immediately after the cocktail was finished. 25 mins in this place in total. Also we had to wait outside until another punter let us in, 10 mins waiting because they wouldn’t answer the door bell. All in all it was just a horrible experience - We went to Kaz bar instead which was awesome.

Nice food and drink but literally no customer service and awful atmosphere with a screaming hen party at tea time. Go to Oxford Blue 2 mins away instead!

A fun place to check out, I like how we had to do a riddle at the front door! Fun atmosphere inside with a friendly staff. The drinks were very sweet and tasted a bit just like juice.

When you collect food, as a rider they ignor u in front of guests even if the guests say u were first . Scum staff all treat riders with Contempt, two faced the public will find out and the place will go under.

Amazing Karaoke booths! Downstairs bar isn't quite as good but still an enjoyable place!