Grapes

An intersting pub in the centre. Not much occurring. Aircon best feature on a hot day. 7 cask beers and upto 10 kegs feature. Nice decor. Lots of West Berkshire beers as they own it... good brewery especially the Maggs Magnificent Mild.

This place looks old inside, but as Imdownthepub explains, it s totally renovated. I had a new beer from Animal Brewing at my visit, good service, and nice enough

Visited with OGJ and EE on tour to 22 southern counties with 03.01.19. Quiet during daytime. Newly refurbished. Eight ales on cask, all served without sparkler.

Decent pub with three new cask ales for me including two from Animal (XT Brewing). Nothing too exciting, so just a quick stop for the ticks.

Visited the place in November 2017. Large and loud place. Not really a large selection (12 taps and14 bottles) and also on the dull side. Good service but not my place, more like a large cocktail bar.

Oct '23 complete change of ownership, not anything like the old stage door pub but certainly a fresh look and lots of beers on offer. Busy, popular, glad it's back. Feb '20 Rating = 62. There has been a gradual improvement here over the last year. Guest casks now on and tap take overs on the keg. A lot of work on the beer front and more reasonable pricing. May '19. Rating = 40. Re Opened by West Berkshire Brewery in May '19. Smartened up once more, more of a modern feel however the pricing is now extremely excessive, £4:90 for a standard bitter, so no more visits from us. Sep '17 Rating = 54. Re opened back as the Grapes in Sept '17. Much neater and tidier inside than it was as the Beerd, however the beer range is pretty dull now under the City Pub Company. May only visit this occasionally now as nothing really to bring us back. Feb '14 Rating = 80. We have visited this a few times now since Bath Ales took over with mixed results. It had always been the Theatre pub and used to have posters all over the walls, these have gone now. The one constant is that it is always very popular and quite difficult to get served in the tight bar area. The seating is comfortable and plenty even if sharing with diners. I am not over enamoured with the beer range, they could do with a guest offering I believe. It is however a good addition to the Oxford scene, so worth a look. Ever improving since my last review. The guest beers, both cask and keg are becoming more prominent and interesting. Quickly becoming a favourite.

Never had a bad experience here. Lovely selection of well kept ales. Food is tasty but the main attraction will always be the beer. Sometimes a little cramped as very popular with locals and visitors alike.

A decent addition to the Oxford beer scene with a number of guest beers complementing the range from Bath Ales. Very centrally located so handy if you’re seeking a bit of respite whilst your wife shops!

Update cycled into Oxford Sunday 3rd August 2014 Still the best pub in Oxford on current form. Choice still very good today though perhaps a little more limited today than on some occasions, but if this is the case then the bottled selection usually offers something from Wiper & True, Weard Beard, Kernel etc. James is perhaps the most approachable and friendliest landlord in Oxford. Score still 88

Update 20th May 2014 Easily the best pub in Oxford from a beery perspective. Expect to see frequent ’meet the brewer’ events, in recent months Weird Beard, Siren and now Brains Craft are due. There are always decent beers from the likes of Siren, XT, Tiny Rebel, Magic Rock etc to compliment the regulars from Bath ales. James the Manager is also a really top bloke, food is great, the pies in particular are huge and really decent.

September 16th 2012 I have been in this pub many times over the years however for quite some time it has been something of a disappointment. However now it is certainly much improved with 8 handpumps on all serving Bath beers, and whilst this seems quite a choice I recall at least 2 of these were repeats.

We went here Friday 14th September 2011 I had a Bath Summers Hare which was pretty good. Bath ales never usually jump out at me, much like Vale, Hooky etc however they are usually pretty decent and this one was no exception. It was fairly quite when we were there approx 9:30-10pm but I guess it will steadily start to pick up. This street of all streets in Oxford is crying out for a place to get a dependable pint of real ale and with a JDW (not to everyone’s taste admittedly) and now this, things are starting to look up.