Oxley Tavern and Grillery

McFadden’s, Kildare’s, now Oxley.
It is amazing how certain places on campus can find it difficult to gain traction. This location is not the exception. The South Campus Gateway has struggled over the years, excluding Ugly Tuna* and Mad Mex which have seemed to find their niche. It is the hope of the SCG and the owners that they can create more thriving experiences in this area.
Oxley may or may not be that answer.
It was just average when we were there on an «early» 10pm Saturday night. I have experienced the other two ownerships and this felt kind of similar. When you walk in you immediately head upstairs hoping for something better. When you go up the winding wooden stairs you find much more of the same boring atmosphere that was present on the ground floor. I don’t know what it is and it is hard to say why only this location lacks in terms of environment.
Oxley tried to rejuvenate in terms of eliminating the Irish Pub feel but there are still old dingy pub ghosts that live here for me.
Besides my bias I did not have a great experience to rid me of my past nightmares. The bar was pretty dead and it was relatively early like I said but I was unable to get any service at the bar. There were perhaps 4 – 5 people waiting around the bar and only one person bartending. She was not really concerned with the other people waiting. It was really strange. They had 2 – 3 male bar muscle. Is that what you call them? Dudes cleaning drinks up and moving bottles around. All this staff but no one to really serve.
There were no drink specials, no excitement, nothing enticing. Just average.
I can only hope for the best.
*reviews are not great here but they have managed to stay in business

McFaddens 3.0…as perhaps the only Irish-​style, Guinness-​serving pub on campus, I grant them an additional star… they also make a mean Bloody Mary on football Sundays

By randomness and happenstance, I found myself at Oxley. The interior hasn’t changed much from the old Irish pub that was here — pretty much a turn-​key entry into this space.
Being near campus, the Oxley menu comes on an exam «bluebook». This brought back horrible memories. This bluebook, unlike my old ones, isn’t filled with wrong answers and rambling thoughts, but consists mostly of sandwiches and burgers (a few salads thrown in for good measure).
The sandwiches come on thick, soft Italian bread with fries and slaw on top. Anyone familiar with P’burgh will have visions of Primanti Bros. dancing in your head right now. Of course, that’s a very tough measuring stick. The bread — not quite as good; the fries — not quite as good; the slaw — not quite as good. You get the picture. That said, the sandwich I had (corned beef) was quite tasty and reasonably priced.
While we’re on the «reasonably priced» motif — the $ 5 draught beer in a tiny plastic cup was not «reasonably priced» (especially considering this is a «campus» bar).
Anyway, the food was A-​OK and worth a try. I’m sure I’ll be back.