A new McDonald’s has officially opened in Oxford city centre – but unlike the branch it replaces, it will close at midnight each night.
The fast-food giant opened its new restaurant at 44–46 Cornmarket Street on Thursday, 27 March, taking over the former site of healthy food chain Leon.
The four-storey venue includes a kitchen in the basement, customer seating across the ground and first floors, and staff rooms above. It also features a separate entrance for delivery drivers collecting online orders from platforms such as Deliveroo.
The new site replaces the former McDonald’s at 57 Cornmarket Street near the Clarendon Centre, which operated until 3.00am but has now closed. The new premises is notably larger, offering improved seating capacity and a more spacious layout compared to the mostly standing-room-only setup at the old branch.
Oxford City Council granted a premises licence for the new restaurant to serve hot food and non-alcoholic drinks until midnight daily. The decision was made at a meeting of the council’s licensing and gambling committee on 4 March.
Thames Valley Police initially raised concerns about the wording of the operating schedule in McDonald’s application.
A spokesperson said:
“The challenges of Oxford’s night time economy have evolved over the years and with that the duty under the four licensing objectives that a licence holder is expected to meet.
“I have noted the hours which are much more reasonable than the current site and to that end, having spoken to the area commander, we are more comfortable than we would have been had another 3am licence been applied for.
“However we have noted the operating schedule of the application and we do have some concerns around not all the topics having been identified and the wording being a bit ambiguous.”
The police objection was later withdrawn after McDonald’s agreed to the proposed amendments.
The licence application followed the city council’s earlier refusal to allow the new branch to open from 6.00am to 3.00am. That bid was rejected due to concerns it would cause “unacceptable noise impacts to the potential detriment of the amenity and quality of life of nearby occupiers”. Officers concluded that a midnight closing time would be more appropriate for the location.
Although the new restaurant was originally expected to open in early March, final works pushed the launch to late in the month. Staff at the former Carfax branch had been made aware of the transition, and contractors at neighbouring NatWest were seen updating signage ahead of the opening.
Local franchise owner Joanne Jones, who now owns and operates 14 McDonald’s restaurants in Wiltshire, Gloucestershire and Oxfordshire, said:
“We are delighted to be opening another brand-new McDonald’s restaurant on Cornmarket Street in Oxford and can’t wait to see local customers, both new and old, enjoy our services on offer.”
