Facebook Group Lists Oxford Restaurants Opening Dining Rooms

By Alyssa Schnugg
News editor
alyssa.schnugg@hottytoddy.com

As of 8 a.m. Monday, Oxford restaurants were allowed to throw open the doors and allow customers to dine inside for the first time since COVID-19 forced the town to shut down.

However, many restaurateurs are choosing to take things slow and are sticking with curbside and/or delivery service.

Melanie Addington, director of the Oxford Film Festival is in the high-risk category for being susceptible to the virus. After the Oxford Board of Aldermen voted Saturday to allow restaurants to open Monday, Addington decided she was not comfortable with ordering food from restaurants that were opening their dining rooms.

She found she wasn’t alone with her concerns.

“Many others spoke out and that led me to build a list in the Restaurant History (Facebook) group of who is doing what so people can decide what restaurants to support based on what is comfortable to them during the pandemic,” Addington said. 

The list also allows those local citizens without health concerns to know which restaurants are opening so they could dine-in and support local businesses as soon as possible. 

“I don’t want this to be a ‘this is good or this is bad’ list. Just based on my family’s plan for the pandemic, do I want to go eat out or focus on those only remaining delivery?” Addington said.

The list on the Restaurant History of Oxford, Mississippi Facebook page – dubbed “Support Oxford Restaurants: Who is Doing What During the Pandemic – growing by the minute and is updated by page members and administrators.

Ajax, Proud Larry’s, St. Leo and City Grocery are some of the more than 10 places keeping their indoor dining areas closed.

Huddle House and Oxford Grillehouse are among those who have announced they will be opening today.

Some restaurants said they were expecting to open sometime this week after they redesign their floor plans to meet the requirements set by Gov. Tate Reeves in his Executive Order 1478 and the Oxford Board of Aldermen phase one of the city’s “Serving Oxford Safely: A Plan for Recovery.”

Summer is a traditionally slower time in Oxford, so some restaurants have stated on social media they will take time to clean, upgrade, paint and maybe renovate before opening their dining rooms.

Visit Oxford has also been keeping track of retail stores that are open and restaurants offering curbside/delivery options.