Megan's by the Spires Oxford: Countdown to a New City Centre Home

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Megan's by the Spires Oxford is now less than a week from opening its doors, and the building on the corner of George Street has waited a long time for this moment. For seven years the large unit off George Street sat empty, its windows dark, its history unresolved. On Monday, August 17, that changes.

Megan's is a restaurant chain that began in London in 2002 and has since grown to twenty sites across and around the capital, including Parson's Green, Wimbledon, Fulham, and Windsor. Oxford is its newest home, and the chain has chosen a site with a complicated past. This was once the location of Jamie Oliver's Jamie's Italian, the very first restaurant in that chain, which opened in 2008 and closed in 2019 after the business went into administration. Before that, the building housed the Cock and Camel pub, with Avid Records operating next door until it shut in the same year Jamie's Italian opened.

A New Restaurant in Oxford City Centre With a Layered History

Buildings like this one carry memory whether or not anyone intends it. Oxford residents who walk past George Street will recognise the shell of Jamie's Italian even as the interior transforms into something new. The city council spent £770,000 on repairs to the Gloucester Street unit in 2023, addressing roof leaks and structural issues that had accumulated during the years the space stood vacant. That investment mattered, because a building left empty too long becomes harder, and more expensive, to bring back to life.

Contractors working on behalf of Megan's have spent months rebuilding the interior, and the restaurant is now days from welcoming its first customers. The chain announced the news on Instagram with a simple line that captured the moment without overselling it: "We've built a home in Oxford. Megan's by the Spires 17.08.26."

Eastern Mediterranean Flavours Meet a Neighbourhood Feel

Megan's built its reputation on Mediterranean dishes and cocktails, and the Oxford site is expected to follow that pattern while adapting to its new setting. In a statement, the chain described what guests should expect across a full day, not just an evening. "Looking for brunch, dinner and drinks in Oxford city centre? Megan's by the Spires is opening soon, bringing our much loved neighbourhood home, with a lively twist, to the heart of Oxford."

The daytime identity leans into comfort and routine. "By day, expect our famous brunch in Oxford, from pancakes and shakshouka to fresh coffee and long, lazy catch ups," the statement continued. That kind of language matters because it signals a restaurant designed for repeat visits rather than one off occasions, the sort of place a regular might return to weekly rather than once.

From Daytime Brunch Spot to One of the Best Bars in Oxford

As the day shifts into evening, so does the atmosphere. "As the day rolls on, the lights dim, the music turns up, and Megan's becomes one of the go to bars in Oxford," the chain said. With two large cocktail bars planned for the site, the restaurant is positioning itself for a broader range of occasions than a typical brunch spot, from after work drinks to student nights and weekend celebrations that stretch late.

Megan's has also leaned into its location. Sitting close to Oxford University, Oxford Playhouse, New Theatre Oxford, and Cornmarket Street, the restaurant is positioned at the intersection of the city's academic, cultural, and retail life. "Just moments from Oxford University, Oxford Playhouse and New Theatre Oxford, and close to Cornmarket Street, our newest home is perfectly placed for everything from daytime plans to late night drinks," the chain noted, adding that the site suits everything from pre theatre cocktails to nights out with friends.

A Dog Friendly Neighbourhood Home

Despite the scale of the brand, Megan's has been careful to frame the Oxford opening in local, familiar terms rather than as a corporate expansion. "We're still your neighbourhood home too, serving Eastern Mediterranean sharing plates, cocktails, wine and good times under the fairy lights, and yes, we're dog friendly," the statement read. That detail, small as it is, tends to matter to the people who will actually walk through the door on a Tuesday evening rather than the press covering opening week.

The full news of the opening was first reported by Oxford Mail, and readers can follow the site's own updates directly through Megan's official website, where the Oxford location will join the chain's existing London and Windsor addresses.

What Oxford's Hospitality Scene Gains and What It Reveals

The return of activity to this particular unit says something about the wider pressures facing hospitality operators in university cities. A prime site can sit empty for years even in a location as busy as central Oxford, not for lack of footfall but because the economics of a large restaurant unit, staffing, rent, and renovation costs, have grown harder to justify since the pandemic reshaped dining habits across the country. Megan's decision to commit £770,000 worth of council backed repairs and months of contractor work into this address suggests confidence that Oxford's mix of students, academics, and visitors can sustain a brand built around long brunches and late cocktails in equal measure.

That confidence is not unique to Oxford. Operators across the country have been testing similar bets on long dormant sites, weighing local character against national brand recognition. A comparable story has played out south of Oxford, where the opening of Hickory's Smokehouse near Abingdon reflected the same pattern, a hospitality group choosing to invest in a market it believes has been underserved, rather than simply following where demand already exists.

A Building That Finally Gets to Be Full Again

What happens on August 17 will be judged, as every opening is, by the food on the plate and the mood in the room. But there is something worth noticing before a single brunch is served. A building that stood empty since 2019, carrying the weight of one high profile closure before it, is about to be occupied again, not quietly, but with fairy lights, cocktail bars, and a promise to become part of the neighbourhood rather than simply pass through it. Whether Megan's becomes the kind of place Oxford returns to for years, the way it clearly hopes to, will depend less on the announcement than on what regulars start to say about it once the doors have been open for a while.