Restore Garden Café

I love coming here, it is a very nice relaxing place to be and serves good food at reasonable prices. Restore as a organisation supporting people living with mental health issues are doing fabulous work, so it's great that you can also support people by coming here and having a coffee 😊

An absolute gem in East Oxford. Lovely, home cooked food and hand made gifts. The garden is a calm oasis and the cafe has such a warm and welcoming atmosphere.

Nice place however I asked if the soup was vegan. After some umming and then asking the chefs I was told yes. After a bout of stomach cramps I can guarantee the soup wasn't vegan. Lactose intolerance isn't a choice. You can guess which room in the house I'm writing this review from....

Restore is an Oxfordshire mental health charity and the Garden Café gives people with mental health problems the opportunity to learn new skills. The café is light and airy with outdoor seating in the delightful garden. The food is inexpensive and served between 12noon and 2pm. There is Wi-Fi, disabled access and toilets. There is no parking but there is a bus stop approximately a minute away which is served by many, frequent buses.

They call the people with mental health users who work there 'members', not workers and pay them nothing, whilst they pride themselves on paying the staff there a good wage.
It is rare anyone goes on to work after being a member here and if they do, its a minimum wage job in care or in a supermarket. This is despite the fact that many members have high levels of qualifications, gained before they became ill. The time spent in Restore simply eliminates any previous qualfications or work experience and puts them on the bottom rung of the job market.

Pure exploitation of members to pay the staff's wages.

really lovely little cafe and garden, gave me a free tea because their card machine wasn’t working and i didn’t have cash. really kind :)

Nice calm and quite cafe with good range of options for vegan and gluten free

Previous review of Restore's payment of workers do not understand what Restore's function is. The workers are part of a recovery plan and work as volunteers with an aim to help them gain confidence and get into employment.
That said I use the Garden Cafe on a weekly basis and love the place.
You can eat in or takeaway if you wish. There is an outdoor marquee if you prefer to lunch outside.
Pop in and enjoy yourself