Colin Smith, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Eat and drink · Charlbury
The Bull, Charlbury
An inn on the corner of Sheep Street in Charlbury, there since the early 1500s by its own account, with a dining room built around open-fire cooking, vegetables from its own market garden, rooms, and breakfast for anyone from 8am.
Dog-friendly · Car-free
Charlbury's destination pub: a menu cooked over fire, vegetables from its own market garden, and the station eight minutes' walk away. Breakfast needs no booking. Dinner does.
- Good: Open-fire cooking from its own market garden
- Good: Breakfast for anyone, 8am to 10.30am, no booking
- Good: Dogs welcome in the pub and dining room
- Good: Eight minutes on foot from Charlbury station
- Worth knowing: Rooms not suitable for children, except Loaf Cottage
- Worth knowing: Groups of 12 or more book separately
About
The Bull stands on the corner of Sheep Street in Charlbury, where, the pub says, it has been since the early 1500s. It is first a local pub serving good beer, and behind the bar is a dining room built around cooking over an open fire. Upstairs and in Loaf Cottage are bedrooms with freestanding baths. Rooms 7 to 10, which look over the garden, take dogs at £25 a dog a night, and so does Loaf Cottage, which sleeps four; Rooms 1 to 6 take no dogs. In 2025 it was named pub of the year at the National Pub and Bar Awards and best pub for food at the Great British Pub Awards.
The menu changes constantly with what the farmers and growers bring, and much of the veg comes from the group's own market garden at Bruern Farms. Expect oysters, devilled kidneys, game terrine, a Bull pie, fish, lamb and a rib of beef to share. Breakfast is served to anyone from 8am to 10.30am, with no need to book, and bar snacks run from noon to 9pm every day.
Lunch is from noon to 2.30pm on weekdays and to 3pm at weekends, and dinner from 5.30pm to 9.30pm every day. Book online. Groups of 12 or more go through the private dining team. Dogs are welcome in the pub and the dining room.
Charlbury station is eight minutes' walk away, so the Bull works without a car. From the town the Oxfordshire Way follows the Evenlode in both directions.
Opening hours and season
Closed, opens Mon 9, 08:00
| Mon | Opening | Breakfast | Restaurant | Bar |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monday | 08:00 to 23:00 | 08:00 to 10:30 | 12:00 to 14:30, 17:30 to 21:30 | 12:00 to 21:00 |
| Tuesday | 08:00 to 00:00 | 08:00 to 10:30 | 12:00 to 14:30, 17:30 to 21:30 | 12:00 to 21:00 |
| Wednesday | 08:00 to 00:00 | 08:00 to 10:30 | 12:00 to 14:30, 17:30 to 21:30 | 12:00 to 21:00 |
| Thursday | 08:00 to 00:00 | 08:00 to 10:30 | 12:00 to 14:30, 17:30 to 21:30 | 12:00 to 21:00 |
| Friday | 08:00 to 00:00 | 08:00 to 10:30 | 12:00 to 14:30, 17:30 to 21:30 | 12:00 to 21:00 |
| Saturday | 08:00 to 00:00 | 08:00 to 10:30 | 12:00 to 15:00, 17:30 to 21:30 | 12:00 to 21:00 |
| Sunday | 08:00 to 23:00 | 08:00 to 10:30 | 12:00 to 15:00, 17:30 to 21:30 | 12:00 to 21:00 |
Breakfast: No need to book.
Bar: Bar snacks.
The details
- Food
- Modern British · Grill and steak
- Serving
- Breakfast · Lunch · Dinner
- Booking a table
- Booking recommended
- Features
- Restaurant · Bar · Private dining · Dogs inside
- History
- On the corner of Sheep Street since the early 1500s, the pub says
- Without a car
- Charlbury station, on the line from London Paddington, is an 8-minute walk, the pub says.
Photos
By the fire 
A bedroom 
The courtyard 
The dining room
Location
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Nearby walks, places and things to do
- Amarelo Apartments 0.0 km away
- Charlbury Museum 0.0 km away
- The Rose and Crown 0.0 km away
- The Bell at Charlbury 0.1 km away