Brothers Cafe

The mocha iced coffee was truly
disgusting, with a thick layer of sugary syrup collecting at the bottom of the
glass. I asked to exchange it for a regular iced coffee but was refused by both
the counter staff and the manager. The manager just looked at me and told me I
should stir the syrup in!

Literally the brother to the upstairs Georginas, this place is a bit disappointing in comparison. The staff barely acknowledge you and I hear they put the newbies downstairs. The food is a bit pricey compared to the sandwich places around it. And it doesn’t justify the price one bit. My full English was mediocre and served without beans.
There is more seating than its sister upstairs and is generally fairly empty, and especially devoid of students. However, you occasionally get a famous writer or elderly don sitting there and jotting away.
I find this place nicer for a coffee and some baked goods. It’s quiet and you can enjoy the view of the bustling market through the large windows while enjoying your space.

A café with a nice, relaxed atmosphere in the Covered Market. For some reason it’s not massively popular with students, so the clientele tends to include fewer loud teenagers and more friendly old people: no bad thing. The décor is nice and there’s plenty of seats, with low-​volume chilled classic pop music in the background. I’d go there more often but frankly the sandwiches and paninis are very overpriced. I love the hoi sin duck baguette but it’s not significantly better than the Oxford sandwich chains to justify the extra pennies (indeed quids). The coffee is also very standard old British caff fare when compared to some of the newer espresso-​based chains.
The manager is a friendly guy. On balance I’d say the staff were more friendly than not and better than much of central Oxford. The poster below who moaned about not realising it was counter service comes across a bit silly really, though of course the waitress’ reaction doesn’t smack of customer service excellence. Still, perhaps he should’ve asked on the way in? It’s the Covered Market, not a Roman terrace…

I am an Oxford alumni from Wadham college and visited Oxford last weekend with my wife and two children. On Monday morning 21 Feb 2011 we decided to go for breakfast in the covered Market. we were going to Georgina’s but decided to try the Brothers which is down stairs and offered a more traditional full English breakfast. On entering the restaurant the three girls behind the counter barely acknowledged us. We found our own table and cleared it putting the cups on the counter without acknowledgement and were slightly disturbed by the restaurant smelling of bleach. After waiting for five minutes without being offered a menu or being told that service was at the counter only we got up to leave. On leaving I mentioned to one of the girls that it would be helpful to be given a menu and to be told it was counter service only. Her response was «Why do we need to do that? «Clearly yet another member of today’s younger generation who has not grasped the concept of customer service and that there is competition for customers parting with their hard earned cash! We went upstairs to Georgina’s with excellent service and great
food !

great place to eat! the staff are friendly and polite. i should know i go there everyday as i work in the shop across the way. the paninis are amazing!

Brothers is one of my favourite places to go for a coffee while shopping in Oxford. It has a pleasant atmosphere, a good range of drinks and cakes (nice chocolate and walnut brownie), and I like the look of the many different sandwich/​panini type lunches, though haven’t tried those as yet. It gets busy, so you’re sometimes searching for a seat. There’s usually newspapers to read, and though there’s background music, it’s not intrusive.

Popular coffee shop which offers big interesting range of sandwiches/​baguettes and soups etc. It’s in the famous Oxford Covered Market which is a tourist attraction in itself and Brothers is a great place to stop for lunch. Can recommend the smoked salmon and cream cheese bagel and the brie and mango baguette! The coffee is good too.
It’s a comfortable café, and I love the décor; hand painted coffee-​related murals with written descriptions/​information. Some «outdoor» seating (still under cover). In my opinion, Brothers is better than Morton’s café directly opposite.