Celebrations with friends. Special occasions with loved ones. Or simply a place to press pause. To savour the moment and enjoy food made with love. At The Folly, our aim is simple: to give you the time, and the space, to let the everyday slip away. We think that spending time together matters. Allow us to make it special.

The Folly relishes its status as one of Oxford’s few independent, family-owned restaurants. We strive to offer an excellent dining experience in a unique location as well as providing wonderfully unusual experiences such as our Cruise and Dine package, Afternoon Tea parties, and year-round outdoor dining on our floating pontoon.

Whilst we are proud of our AA Rosette and Tripadvisor Travellor’s Choice Award, for us, what makes us stand apart is our belief in genuine hospitality. We have created a special place for our diners where our goal is for you to enjoy a real treat.

The site of our restaurant is a key part of Oxford’s history, providing the location for the birthplace of Alice in Wonderland. The book’s author, Lewis Carroll, was a mathematics don at Christ Church College and enjoyed a close friendship with Alice Liddell and her sisters, the Dean’s children.

Carroll would regularly bring Alice and her sisters down to the site of our restaurant on Folly Bridge and hire a small rowing boat to explore the waterways around the city.

It was on one such trip on the 4th of July 1862, that, to entertain the rather bored children, he began a story beginning with Alice pursuing a white rabbit down a hole in the river bank. The rest of course is history…

We strive to be a sustainable business and offer a constantly evolving seasonal menu to take advantage of the freshest glorious local produce that is right on our doorstep, and to reduce ‘food miles’ as much as possible. We have active programs to reduce our energy consumption and dispose of our waste in the most environmentally sensitive manner.

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