Welcome to Cafe Tarifa

Cowley Road’s newest and coolest drinking establishment. Live music, palm trees, great atmosphere!!

Café Tarifa is the latest venue from the group that brought us Café Coco, and Kazbar, and this place more than lives up to its sister restaurants’ already glowing reputation. At Café Tarifa, the focus is on live music as well as fantastic food, and the atmosphere is even more laidback than at its sister eateries.

The truly unique design, inspired by the beach bars of Tarifa in southern Spain, transports you to warmer climes and a sunnier disposition – the worries of life will simply melt away. Café Tarifa is part beach, part Fez and part cave, with organically shaped walls and low seating, and is layered with Persian carpets, driftwood and Moroccan furniture. Out back there is a wonderful surprise – an oasis of tranquillity in the heart of Oxford. This walled garden is one of the hottest sun spots on the Cowley Road. Shade is provided by huge palm trees, which had to be lifted in by crane. The walls are washed with Mediterranean colours, and curvy stone seating, climbing jasmine, potted agapanthus and driftwood complete the faraway feeling.

Brunch is served all day at weekends – a sure sign of the levels of relaxation you’ll be treated to here – and you can choose from a tempting selection of bar snacks in the evenings. This is a perfect meeting point for diners moving on to Café Coco and Kazbar, and it is the ultimate ‘icing on the cake’ of the variety available for drinkers and diners at this vibrant end of Cowley Road. Run by passionate music lovers, Café Tarifa is ‘the’ place to see local musicians performing, and occasionally even bigger names who like the idea of an impromptu acoustic set and an intimate audience.

Food & Drink

Two of us were with a friend, who was going to have a birthday drink at Tarifa’s. What a brilliant find and agreable surprise that turned out to be! The welcome was friendly as was the efficient service. The atmosphere in this cafe is so relaxed and chilled, forget needing to go on holiday. On that particular evening, they had a flamenco dancer strutting her stuff followed by some live music. We had a fabulous time and will certainly be going back.

rita maria