‹ 25 small cities with big food › No. 11
Small city, big food · No. 11 of 25
Oxford, Mississippi
Photo: Wikimedia Commons (check the file page for author and license)Faulkner's town and Ole Miss, with a Square that John Currence turned into a destination. Southern cooking in a grocery-store booth or a white-tablecloth room, often on the same block.
Shrimp and grits and a biscuit
Where to eat in Oxford
1A photo like it
City Grocery
Get: Shrimp and grits
John Currence's restaurant on the Square since 1992; MICHELIN-recommended. (guide.michelin.com)
2A photo like it
Snackbar
Get: Oysters on the half shell, then a masala pot pie
Vishwesh Bhatt's brasserie since 2009; MICHELIN-recommended. (guide.michelin.com)
3A photo like it
Big Bad Breakfast
Get: Cathead chicken biscuit
The Oxford original of John Currence's breakfast chain. (hottytoddy.com)
4A photo like it
Taylor Grocery
Get: Fried catfish
An old store just outside Oxford; MICHELIN-recommended. (visitoxfordms.com)
Plan the trip
- When to go
- Spring and fall; book well ahead on football weekends.
- Getting there
- Memphis (MEM), about 75 minutes by car.
More for Oxford
Why it's on the list
Newsweek's No. 1 small city for foodies, 2025.
- Newsweek Readers' Choice 2025: Oxford No. 1 (Oxford Eagle)
- Travel + Leisure America's Best Small Towns 2026 (Luxury Travel Magazine)
Next small city
Places checked November 14, 2026; hours and menus change. "A photo like it" is the same kind of food, not from that place. Nobody pays to be on our lists.
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