Neighborhood Business Highlight: City Grocery
One of Oxford’s most well-known chef and restauranteur, John Currence, opened City Grocery in 1992. This fine dining experience is “the best of the best” on the Oxford Square and brings locals and visitors alike through its doors each week. I mean, who doesn’t love having a cocktail or glass of wine on the City Grocery balcony followed by a fantastic meal?
City Grocery was opened in 1992 by John Currence (who also owns Snackbar, Boure and Big Bad Breakfast). Currence’s first restaurant job was washing dishes at Bill Neal’s Crook’s Corner. He worked his way up through the Crook’s kitchen, and after three years, returned to New Orleans to open Gautreau’s as sous chef. After several years, Currence moved on to the Brennan family of restaurants to help open Bacco before settling in Oxford, MS, and opening City Grocery after seeing a need for a restaurant of this caliber.
John Currence, Owner
Jennifer Nelson Pascoe is the General Manager, with Assistant Managers Locke Phillips and Halie Johnson. Chef de Cuisine is Eric Tait and the Lunch Chef is Jon Davis. We recently asked Jennifer to describe the cuisine and she shared, “Our cuisine is a little bit of this, a little bit of that–calling back to John’s roots in New Orleans with touches from many different parts of the world.” See the menu here (it’s updated each “season.”)
We ask our Neighborhood businesses how the Oxford and Lafayette county real estate market affects them. Jennifer shared, “Every year we get an influx of students–and their parents who are looking for that weekend home or a place for their kid. We try to reel them in during school visits or Orientation and showcase our town and restaurant and why it’s a great place to live and eat! Every year at Graduation we have so many tables of parents and their graduate who have dined with us all four (or five) years their kid has been at school. Conversely - The housing market boom does make it difficult for full time Oxford residents to find affordable housing which can affect our ability to find long term staff. Our community needs to find a better balance between the part time residents and those of us who live and work here all year round.”
We are so thankful City Grocery is here for our Oxford fine dining needs and for providing one of the best balconies on the Square. You can always schedule a reservation online here (football reservations can be made 30 days in advance and a credit card is required to hold these reservations) or call 662.232.8080. City Grocery is located at 152 Courthouse Square and they are open for lunch Monday-Saturday 11:30 am – 2:30 pm, dinner Monday-Thursday 6:00 pm – 10:00 pm, Friday-Saturday 6:00 pm – 10:30 pm and the upstairs bar is open Monday-Saturday 4:00 pm – Until.
Neighborhoods close by: Harrison Square, Van Buren Village, 619 University Avenue, Belle Maison, Tyler Place, The Ice House, The Van Buren, The Inmon House
