Rafters Bar And Grill

Such a pleasant surprise. We went down to the Square for lunch on Thanksgiving thinking we would go to Boure', but the line outside was half a block long. City Grocery had no reservations until 6 p.m. We drove down Jackson Ave. from the Square and saw that Rafters was open, had never been there, so why not? They were severely short staffed and very apologetic about it, but we ordered a drink at the bar, grabbed a table, and settled in. Really appealing layout with a few tables outside, windows looking out onto Jackson Ave., excellent bartenders. Our drinks were very good and we got our food order in perhaps 30 minutes after being cautioned it might be almost an hour. My wife's cheeseburger was enormous and delicious, as was her side salad. My shrimp poboy and fries were excellent as well. Prices are reasonable. We really liked this place!

Shameful.Burgers are some of the best out there and the servers have been hard working all 4 times we have been here the last 2 weeks.We were "hit up" for a $20 per person cover charge at 12.15 pm on a Saturday while visiting for lunch (Tulane 7pm game day)We politely told bouncers out of their minds , they agreed and told us they were just radioed to start charging a cover. As we walked away they ran us down and said we could come up, "we're just radioed to forget the cover charge." Seriously??? We went up for food and place was 60% or so capacity. We immediately placed drink and food order. Minutes later told Dr Pepper not working, got warm sweet tea instead. Minutes later told Diet Coke not working, received warm unsweetened tea instead.35 minutes later asked where our food was, told soon. 25 minutes later (1full hour after ordering) asked waitress what is going on? She said kitchen backed up. My wife got up, walked full restaurant and no one had food/ was eating. Pointed this out and waitress and no explanation. We walked out 1 hour and 15 minutes after order placed, pissed and starving. My only guess is they had no cooks, why not be honest so you don't waste our limited time?Full circle to the "cover charge " situation.So I experienced what a bakers dozen current and past Ole Miss students have told me, area cover charges are constant and over the top, rafters is the 1 name always thrown out there as the worst offender by a large margin, have been told height of Pandemic was over $50. Parallel behavior to a New Orleans gas station charging $50 for a gallon of gas or a bag of ice after a hurricane , why not, right? Athens, GA bars and restaurants-$0Auburn, Al-$0, Etc, etc. Ask around any kid from any other SEC school and this type of behavior is unheard of, exclusive to Ole Miss and word is spreading pretty quick giving the campus and town a black eye.Not many places to hang in Oxford for the kids who make this town and local economy, ripping them (and others) off does not sit well with me.The Oxford community is pretty unique and tight (Boosters, residents, parents, Alumni)This place needs some forceful guidance, new ownership or competition.I for one am running some numbers and will file a few pieces to the IRS to make sure all of that cash is being accounted for.(talking many, many thousands $ per night cash)If you do visit this joint, ask 2 simple questions "will I have to wait an hour for food? & " you still ripping off the kids?"

A nice venue with a good atmosphere Rafters is by no means fancy, but is a very good volume bar and has a underrated kitchen. I've lived here for 5 years and I think it's one of the most low key burger joints around. Some of my favorite burgers are at this bar and grill. They also have great Cajun pasta, and gumbo. Their brunch is also really good and affordable. Later at night and during the weekends when it's mainly a bar, it handles large crowds well. (What I mean by a volume bar) They don't carry beer on tap. Everything is bottled. Making for quick service on those busy game weekends. Definitely recommend coming here at some point in your life.

It looks nice here and they have a decent number of televisions for viewing sports. I asked for a beer menu and they don't even have prices listed on the drink menu (isn't there some kind of law that they must post their prices?). The beer selection here is paltry and after getting a verbal price explanation when the menu failed I discovered beer is broken down into the the Buds, Millers and Coors for $4 and everything else being $5. No beer on tap and I find the beer prices to be ridiculous especially as I used to be able to pay $5 for all I could drink beer around the corner at Lafayette's back in the day. Gentrification encouraging rip off pricing really has to be killing the volume in Oxford these days and I'm not paying more than $4 for an import/craft beer or $3 for the Buds of the world. The business rule of volume is where you make money is what the bars in Oxford seem to have forgotten as I'm going to drink a whole lot more beer and spend more money in the bar on beers at $2 to $4 range than any rip off pricing of $5 and up. As it stands now in Oxford I drink most of my beer before going to the bar and might buy one or two of their rip off price gouging beverages. Slow disengaged bartenders playing on their phones instead of serving customers also seem to be an epidemic in Oxford these days so the volume of sales suffers from that as well. I don't know how college kids afford Oxford anymore and all the alums seem frustrated by the slow bar service.

Rafters is a great addition to Oxford. It's large windows and great views on the second floor bring in tons of natural light. They feature live music on most nights and have a good crowd on the weekends. However, I recently went for lunch and it was a great surprise.The menu is well put together and has a good cajun offering. The food was surprisingly delicious. I tried the fried shrimp poboy and it was a great; featuring fresh Jumbo shrimp that was lightly breaded with Leindenheimer Bread from New Orleans. I suggest asking for the Cajun Ranch on side for the poboy. It comes with well seasoned fries and hushpuppies. The grilled shrimp with barbecue butter sauce as an appetizer was also delicious.I would have to say this is probably some the best food for a bar in Oxford. Also, on Sundays they feature brunch and offer bottomless mimosas for 10 bucks. 4 stars for the food and the great atmosphere.

Rafters has always treated me well for lunch. Lots of good Cajun options. It is also my favorite brunch spot in oxford. Amazing vibrant atmosphere atmosphere full of young adults. The bottomless mimosas are always coming. For food I'd recommend the chicken and waffles or biscuits and gravy. Delicious and a great portion size.

Delicious burger and chicken sandwich. Had a wonderful wafers and overall good experience. We miss the bottom of the noses on Sunday but we continue to come at other times.

Good service, food was very disappointing. We all ordered burgers, somehow everything served to us tasted bland or like nothing, the only exception is the ranch and fried mushrooms. BURGER meat tasted like it was washed with a strainer under tap water. My burger was supposed to have bacon on it, what I got was an excuse for bacon, it was old, dry, overly crispy and flavorless. I got homemade chips that tasted like potato skin and oil. Somehow even the cheese was bland. Five star service, 1/5 food.

Don't get the catfish. The drinks are good. Normal college bar drinks, and the food is decent. Just no catfish.

Went there for brunch/lunch. The bartender/server was great and super apologetic. Took the kitchen two hours to get food out. Unacceptable!