Circle Bar

Matt Strouble

6 years ago

The original Townie bar. Darryl is an institution and it is a comfortable oasis from the students.

Alex C. Moreno

9 years ago

The secret bar/pub for locals. Good drink specials and the have DARTS!!! real metal ones!

Lexi Valentine

4 years ago

Very chill place. Looking for a townie/dive bar that welcomes students this is it! Great staff

Brad Mueller

8 years ago

Great low-key location with great prices and good drinks. Small but it does the job! One of my favorites!

Zacchary Townsend

8 years ago

Honestly my favorite bar in town. It's a small out of sight hole in the wall, that let's you side step the loud and obnoxious groups for a (usually) quiet drink with a friend.

JR

9 years ago

Ask for a White Russian if Darrel is working. Best Russians in town. Good quiet place where the college students are not rude, the floors and bar are clean, and the booze is cheap.

Mark George

7 years ago

The Circle…The Way I Remember It… The Circle Towne Tavern, or The Circle for short. It’s located in an alley, and it doesn’t have a sign, no indication that it’s even a bar. Half the mystique of the place is that lack of signage, the other half is discovering it and, once you’ve been there, keeping quiet about it. It’s the first place I really drank alcohol, so of course I have fond memories of it. I discovered it in the Summer of 1983, I think someone drug me over there after we had been at Mac-n-Joe’s. To get into the bar you had to climb a short flight of concrete steps that were barely noticeable when you went in, but could become a real obstacle upon your egress. The jukebox, yes, an actual juke box that played 45 rpm records, had a wide variety of music on it, including Jimmy Buffet and Billie Holiday. The proprietor, Jay Harris, hand-picked those 45s from his own collection, and he was usually on hand, drinking his usual diet coke and rum. I only remember a couple of the crew from those days. There was Chuck, with his smartass empty pitcher remark, and Lonnie, who was drop dead gorgeous, but tough. The manager always kept the happy hour shifts for himself. Good money, that. Then the second tier was always the women bartenders. They do make more money. I can’t tell you the number of times someone would come through the door with a big smile on their face only to have it turned upside down when they saw that the bartender on duty was a guy. I bartended there years later, and I never made much money in tips, but I was always Johnny-on-the-spot. At that time, back in the 80's The Circle was as close to a public house as we’d get here in Oxford. Of course, you don’t see real families coming in to the bar, but the regulars are a family of sorts all their own. More than one family in Oxford has found itself playing second fiddle to The Circle. I remember it as a melting pot of souls. The regulars were mostly blue collar during happy hour, but later t

Brenda Fox

2 years ago

Absolutely loved this Barham so much fun

Daniel Stanescu

8 years ago

Amazing secret little bar. Not advertised or known about anywhere. You will go in circles looking for this place (get it). Once your in its a the perfect little chill bar. Great for a couple beers with guys after work to just hang out and BS. You can order steinkeller or mac and joes and they will deliver to your table. Overall a really great little place that nobody knows about!

Faysal “Friya” Haque

5 years ago

The weirdest thing is that it is unmarked. If it was not pointed out to me by a frequent member, I would not know that it exist at all. I have been there two times at the time of writing this review and both times they had a full bar and they made every cocktail we ordered. Just an FYI, the White Russian had too much dairy in it -- to the point that it was just milk -- a nice health drink. The bartender(s) are really nice and have people skills that set them apart. They have dart 🎯 board but you have to bring your own darts. The place is not frequent by undergraduates/young people, which makes it a best place for people who want a quiet place to hangout with friends over a drink or older people for same purpose.