The Royal Oak

Walk into The Royal Oak and you've landed in the kind of pub that makes you understand why locals defend their spots so fiercely. It's the Woodstock Road institution that's somehow managed to stay unpretentious while the rest of North Oxford got all fancy—think dark wood, the sort of bar where staff remember names, and a crowd that ranges from retired academics to students who've discovered something genuine. The food is honest rather than showy: proper pies, decent fish and chips, the kind of thing that justifies lingering over a second pint. There's real ale on tap that actually changes, and the sort of atmosphere where you can either join in or sit quietly with your paper without feeling weird about it.