Montana Original · Businesses
The Oxford Cafe
Somebody's been counting the chicken fried steaks.
The Story
The Ox has been on the corner of Higgins and Pine since 1883, and it doesn't close. Burgers, chicken fried steak, and coffee for whoever in Missoula is still up.
Downtown Missoula's all-night kitchen since 1883. Locals shortened the name to the Ox a long time ago, and nobody has needed the long version since.
Corner of Higgins and Pine. It doesn’t close, and that has been the arrangement since 1883. Locals shortened the name to the Ox a long time ago. Saves time in the middle of the night.
The menu is the kind people measure a night by: half-pound Ox burgers, rib-eye dinners, and chicken fried steak with JJ’s special gravy. Somebody has kept count. More than 200,000 orders of that chicken fried steak have gone out since the gravy hit the menu in 1986. The gaming machines run all week, same as everything else.
The crowd is whoever is still awake in Missoula. People getting off a shift. People finishing a night. People who just want coffee at an hour when the rest of downtown has locked up. The Ox never got around to locking up.
Next time you’re downtown late, you know where the light’s on. Get the chicken fried steak. You were going to anyway.
Featured in: What are the oldest bars in Montana?
Still Here.
- Address
- 337 N. Higgins Ave., Missoula, MT, 59802
- Phone
- 406-549-0117
Sources
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While You're Here
Remember This? · Missoula · '80s
Remember This? The Merc, The Bon, and the Drugstore That Outlasted Both
The Missoula Mercantile sold wagons, groceries and furniture, then became The Bon, then Macy's. The lights went out in 2010. Somehow the old pharmacy corner made it.
Still Old School · Missoula · Before '50
Still Old School: The Oxford Cafe Never Got Around to Locking Up
On the corner of Higgins and Pine since 1883, and it doesn't close. Still pouring coffee and plating chicken fried steak with JJ's gravy long after downtown locks up.
Back When · Missoula · '90s
Growing Up in Missoula in the '90s, With Your Math Teacher in the Next Aisle
Higgins Bridge, a university town that still acted like a town, and Friday plans that didn't need a group chat. Also, your math teacher in the grocery aisle.
Been Here Awhile
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