Food

Supermarkets

Sainsbury's supermarket on Magdalen Street.There are five main supermarkets in central Oxford:

• Sainsbury's, located in the Westgate Centre: this is probably the most convenient and affordable grocery store in the centre of town. It is open 7am–8pm Monday to Saturday and 11am–5pm on Sundays.
• Sainsbury's Local, located on Magdalen Street right next to Borders bookshop: it is open daily from 9am until 11pm, except on Sunday when it has shorter opening hours from 10am until 5pm. It is convenient for a spot of last-minute, late night shopping for basics or snacks. However, it does tend to run out of many standard items, including bread, early and is more expensive than the main Sainsbury's in the Westgate Centre.
• Tesco: located away from the city centre on Cowley Road, this is another big store. From Monday through to Friday, it is open 7am–midnight. On Saturdays it is open 7am–10pm and Sundays 10am–4pm. It is convenient for late night necessities and tends to be a bit cheaper than the main Sainsbury's. If your accommodation is centrally located, then it is quite a walk to get there; so, you may want to consider taking your bike or a local bus.
• Marks and Spencer: located on Queen Street, is probably the most expensive of the supermarkets in the city centre, but it has a nice selection of items, most of them gourmet.
• Co-op: if you live in Jericho this store on Walton Street may be more convenient than walking to the city centre. It is a smaller supermarket than Sainsbury's and Tesco, but well-stocked in basics and open until late.

If you live in Summertown, you may want to shop at the Somerfield's or Marks and Spencer located on Banbury Road. In addition, there are a number of convenience stores or corner shops scattered throughout the various neighbourhoods of the city, and a couple of truly big supermarkets in the outskirts of the city for those who want to stretch their pennies further.

Covered market

The Covered Market.The Covered Market is located just off Cornmarket Street, but it also has a number of entrances on High Street and Market Street. It houses a number of sandwich shops, many of which also serve salads, jacket potatoes and soups, making it a convenient spot for lunch. In addition, you can buy fresh produce (including fruits, vegetables, meat and fish) as well as specialty foodstuffs here. For example, you can purchase speciality chocolates at Chocology, fresh bread at Nash's Bakery, or indulge yourself at Ben's Cookies!

The Covered Market also houses a variety of small shops, selling items such as shoes, greeting cards, jewellery, clothing, leather bags and flowers. There are cobbler and key-cutting services to be found here as well, making it a good place with which to become familiar.

Speciality stores

For specialty foodstuff, you may want to investigate Cowley Road. It is home to a number of shops, selling items from Asia, continental Europe and elsewhere. Not far down from the roundabout, Tahmid Stores sells a variety of Indian spices, lentils, pickles, and other foodstuff. There are similar shops further down the street. These also stock a range of items from the Asian sub-continent which may be harder to find or more expensive in the main supermarkets. There's a shop selling Greek foodstuff right next door to Tahmid's. A Russian deli is further down the street, as well as an Italian delicatessen. And many more! There are several halal butchers as well on Cowley Road.

For East Asian food, you may want to head to the Lung Wah Chong Supermarket located on Hythe Bridge Street (close to the train station).

Open market

Every Wednesday there is an open market at Gloucester Green selling fresh produce and a number of other items like watches, toilet paper and sweeties, among many others. The food isn't particularly cheap, though.