Neighborhood Business Highlight: McEwen’s

Lee Cauthen knows a thing or two about running a successful restaurant on the Oxford Square. Before opening McEwen’s, he managed the popular Downtown Grill (where Boure is currently located). Lee’s cool, calm and kind demeanor are rare to find in a restaurant owner, but it’s what keeps his staff consistent and happy – and that consistency in both staff and delicious food is what keeps McEwen’s one of our favorite Oxford restaurants!

Bert Smythe and John Littlefield opened the Memphis location first and when Downtown Grill closed on the Oxford Square, Lee Cauthen joined the two and opened the Oxford location in July 2011. The restaurant specializes in Upscale Southern American cuisine, seasonally changing the menu, but always keeping a few of its staple dishes, like pan-seared Chilean seabass, on the menu. Thanks to Executive Chef, Paul Tatum, for creating seasonal new dishes and Bar Manager, Aaron Hamilton, for keeping the drink menu unique! The restaurant has been managed by Tyler Sneed for 11 years and Taylor McHugh has been the assistant manager for 5 years. This “family” is Lee Cauthen’s favorite part of his job. He shared, “My employees are incredible. It’s easy to come to work every day and enjoy this business because of them. The restaurant world can be very stressful, but when you have been working with the same people over the years, you become a family and it makes those stressful days less stressful because you have consistency in your employees.”

Lee also loves having the restaurant on the Oxford Square. Lee shared, “I mean, it’s the Square! Everyone loves coming to the Square. We are very fortunate to have a spot here. We get lots of foot traffic and it’s very convenient for people to pop in.”

Taylor McHugh, Tyler Sneed, Lee Cauthen, Paul Tatum, & Aaron Hamilton

With football season in full swing, McEwen’s does take reservations on gameday weekends. Reservations for Friday nights opened up June 1st, so it may be hard to find one for Friday night, but Saturday reservations do not open up until the game time has been announced, which is usually about 2 weeks before a game. You must call to make a gameday weekend reservation – 662-234-7003. Other reservations can be made by calling or using their online system here.

We ask our Neighborhood businesses how the Oxford and Lafayette county real estate market affects them. Lee shared, “We cater to an older crowd. We’ve been fortunate to live in a small college town with great alumni that buy second homes. Athletics are also a huge draw – when sports do well, our economy does well. When our economy is booming, real estate does well.”

We are so thankful for McEwen’s consistent and delicious food and fun cocktail menu. McEwen’s is located at 1110 Van Buren Avenue. They are open Wednesday – Friday 11:30 am -2:00 pm (Lunch) and 5:00 pm - 9:00 pm (Dinner). Saturday 5:00 pm - 9:00 pm (Dinner) and Sunday Brunch 10:30 am - 2:00 pm.

Neighborhoods close by: Van Buren Village, The Hamilton, 619 University Avenue, Belle Maison, Tyler Place, The Ice House, The Van Buren