Beefy Boys Oxford: Founders, Menu and Rooftop
Four Hereford friends, two World Food Championships runs and an Oklahoma onion smash burger: what Beefy Boys Oxford serves on the Westgate rooftop.
The Beefy Boys Oxford is the rooftop burger restaurant at Westgate Oxford, run by four childhood friends from Hereford: Anthony ‘Murf’ Murphy, Daniel Mayo-Evans, Christian Williams and Lee Symonds. It soft-launched on 8 September 2025 and opened officially on 9 October 2025. It seats 100 and serves smashed and thick patties made from grass-fed Herefordshire beef. The signature is the Oklahoma Onion Boy, an onion-smash burger the brand calls award-winning. If you want a smash burger in central Oxford, this is the newest serious option, and the only one I know of in the city with a World Food Championships record behind it.
Beefy Boys Oxford at a glance
The Beefy Boys Oxford sits on the rooftop level of Westgate Oxford, between Six by Nico and Sticks ‘n’ Sushi. Here are the practical details. Every line comes from the brand’s site, the launch press release or the Westgate listing.
| Detail | Beefy Boys Oxford |
|---|---|
| Address | 310 Rooftop Terrace, The Westgate, Oxford OX1 1PG |
| Phone | 01865 965683 |
| Covers | 100 |
| Soft launch | 8 September 2025 |
| Official opening | 9 October 2025 |
| Beef | Grass-fed Herefordshire beef, ground fresh daily |
| Buns | Demi-brioche, baked daily |
| Price band | ‘£25 and under’ per person (OpenTable band) |
| Group site number | Fifth, after Hereford, Shrewsbury, Cheltenham and Bath |
Sources: The Beefy Boys official site, Oxford launch press release, 9 October 2025, OpenTable listing and the Westgate Oxford event page, all checked on 13 October 2026.
Map of The Beefy Boys Oxford at Westgate Oxford, 310 Rooftop Terrace, OX1 1PG, a short walk from Carfax and the colleges. (Map: OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL, https://www.openstreetmap.org/copyright)
Who are the Beefy Boys founders?
The Beefy Boys was founded in 2011 in Hereford by four childhood friends: Anthony ‘Murf’ Murphy, Daniel Mayo-Evans, Christian Williams and Lee Symonds. None of them started out in restaurants. It went barbecue first, then competitions, and only four years later a dining room.
From a back-garden barbecue to King of the Grill
The Beefy Boys began as a back-garden barbecue in 2011. Dan Mayo-Evans asked Anthony Murphy to help him cook for his partner, according to The Staff Canteen. The four kept cooking and started entering contests. Their first big win was a cheeseburger: ‘King of the Grill’ (Best Burger) at Grillstock in Bristol.
The 1.6 m bronze Hereford bull statue in High Town, Hereford, the founders’ home town, where The Beefy Boys started with a back-garden barbecue in 2011. (Photo: Jim Linwood, CC BY 2.0, https://www.flickr.com/photos/54238124@N00/7849482272)
Two runs at the World Food Championships
The Beefy Boys came 2nd at the World Food Championships in Las Vegas in 2014. Ten years later they went back. At the 2024 edition in Indianapolis they finished 4th of about 50 competitors and took the Judge’s Choice Award, according to Restaurant Online. The burger was the ‘Bouje Boy’: dry-aged grass-fed USDA prime rib, black truffle mayo, bone marrow and miso onions, and champagne-pickled gherkins. That was a competition build. The restaurants stick to Herefordshire beef. The group also won at the National Burger Awards in 2023.
From Hereford to seven restaurants, with Cambridge next
The first Beefy Boys restaurant opened in Hereford in 2015 with 220 covers. Shrewsbury followed in 2021 (80 covers) and Cheltenham in 2023 (160 covers). Bath came next, then Oxford, announced in June 2025 as the fifth site. By October 2026 the group runs seven restaurants (Hereford, Shrewsbury, Cheltenham, Bath, Oxford, Nottingham and Exeter) plus two food trucks. An eighth, on Bene’t Street in Cambridge in a former BrewDog, is planned for winter 2026 (Restaurant Online, 7 October 2026).
Beefy Boys timeline: 2011 back-garden barbecue in Hereford; Grillstock King of the Grill; 2014 2nd at the World Food Championships, Las Vegas; 2015 Hereford restaurant; 2021 Shrewsbury; 2023 Cheltenham; Bath; 2025 Oxford; Nottingham and Exeter; Cambridge planned for winter 2026. (Table: Burger Breton, CC BY 4.0, data from Restaurant Online (2024, 2025, 2026) and The Staff Canteen)
Covers per Beefy Boys restaurant: Hereford 220 (2015), Shrewsbury 80 (2021), Cheltenham 160 (2023), Oxford 100 (2025). (Chart: Burger Breton, CC BY 4.0, data from Restaurant Online and the Oxford launch press release)
Why Oxford?
The founders say Oxford had been on their wish list for years. ‘Oxford has always been high up on our list of dream restaurant locations. It’s a city full of culture, energy, and food lovers…’, Anthony Murphy said when the site was announced (Restaurant Online, 11 June 2025). The Westgate rooftop is a few minutes’ walk from Carfax and the colleges. For a group that grew up in market towns, it is the most central address they have.
What is the Oklahoma Onion Boy burger?
The Oklahoma Onion Boy is The Beefy Boys’ Oklahoma-style smash burger: thinly sliced onion pressed into the patty on the griddle. The brand calls it award-winning. None of the sources I checked say which award, so I am not naming one. It was on the line-up announced for the Oxford opening.
What an Oklahoma onion smash burger is
An Oklahoma onion burger is a smash burger cooked with a heap of thin-sliced onion pressed into the raw beef. The onion caramelises on the hot griddle and fuses with the crust. Anthony Murphy has a firm view on it: ‘The Oklahoma smashed patty is far superior to a smashed patty,’ he told Restaurant Online in December 2024.
Thinly sliced sweet onions ready to be pressed into the beef for an Oklahoma onion smash burger. Illustrative photo, not taken at The Beefy Boys. (Photo: Kevin Dooley, CC BY 2.0, https://www.flickr.com/photos/12836528@N00/54326960176)
Four patty styles at The Beefy Boys
The Beefy Boys cook four patty styles, and smashed patties make up about 70% of orders, according to Murphy’s interview with Restaurant Online.
| Patty style | How it is cooked |
|---|---|
| Thick | A classic thick patty |
| Double smashed | Two thin patties pressed flat on the griddle |
| Oklahoma-style smashed | Smashed with onion pressed into the beef |
| ‘Animal style’ | Fried with mustard |
The Beefy Boys Oxford menu: burgers and sides
The Beefy Boys named about ten burgers and three headline sides for the Oxford opening, veggie and vegan options included. Menus change, and Oxford’s may not match the group menu, so check the live version on the official site before you set your heart on one burger.
- Beef: Oklahoma Onion Boy, Dirty Boy, Peanut Butter and Jelly Boy, The OG Beefy Boy, Pastrami Boy, Pizza Boy, Hell Boy 2.0
- Chicken: Buffalo Chicken Boy
- Vegetarian and vegan: Beanie Boy and Leafy Boy
- Sides: pastrami fries, millionaire fries (truffle oil, parmesan, chipotle mayo), mac and cheese balls
Where does The Beefy Boys’ beef come from?
The Beefy Boys uses 100% grass-fed Herefordshire beef, which the group says comes from one farm and one butcher in Hereford. The Westgate Oxford listing adds that the beef is dry-aged and ground fresh daily, and that the demi-brioche buns are baked daily. Hereford is the founders’ home town, so here the supply chain and the brand story are the same thing.
Hereford cattle grazing by the Shobdon Arches in Herefordshire, the county The Beefy Boys say their grass-fed beef comes from. Illustrative photo, not The Beefy Boys’ supplier farm. (Photo: Amanda Slater, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://www.flickr.com/photos/15181848@N02/22115167626)
Is Beefy Boys Oxford worth a visit?
Yes, if you want a technique-led smash burger in the city centre. Few UK burger groups can match the founders’ competition record. This is a profile, not a scored review: Burger Breton only gives a rating after a dated visit with a receipt. Here is what the evidence supports so far.
- For: four patty styles built around smash technique; traceable Herefordshire beef; a rooftop setting at Westgate; veggie and vegan options; World Food Championships results in 2014 and 2024.
- To check before you go: item prices and opening hours, which I could not confirm from any published source. The current Oxford menu may also differ from the opening line-up above.
- Diner feedback: OpenTable showed an average of 4.8 from 296 reviews on 13 October 2026. That figure moves, and it is an aggregate of diners, not our verdict.
My advice for a first visit: order the Oklahoma Onion Boy. It is the style the founder argues for in public, and it is the hardest one to fake on a griddle.
Best burgers in Oxford: where The Beefy Boys fits
The Beefy Boys is the newest name in a city that already has loyal burger crowds, chiefly at Atomic Burger, Big Society and CRAFT Burger. Atomic Burger on Cowley Road is an Oxford institution, known for The Johnny B Bad and The Dead Elvis (Daily Info). CRAFT Burger is up in Headington. What The Beefy Boys adds is a smash-burger kitchen right in the centre, aimed at Westgate shoppers and visitors. For every verified address, see our guide to the best burgers in Oxford.
Shops on Cowley Road, Oxford, in July 2013. The street is home to Atomic Burger, one of the city’s long-running burger institutions. The photo does not show the restaurant itself. (Photo: David Hallam-Jones, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cowley\_Road,\_Oxford\_-\_geograph.org.uk\_-\_3587615.jpg)
| Restaurant | Area | Known for |
|---|---|---|
| The Beefy Boys | Westgate Oxford rooftop, city centre | Smash and Oklahoma onion patties, Herefordshire beef |
| Atomic Burger | Cowley Road | Long-running Oxford institution; The Johnny B Bad, The Dead Elvis |
| Big Society | Oxford | Regular on Oxford burger lists |
| CRAFT Burger | Headington | Burgers outside the city centre |
The Beefy Boys is one of several British burger businesses that grew under their founders. For a sister story, read my profile of the founders of Original Patty Men in Birmingham. Coming up from the capital? Compare with our best burgers in London guide, or browse every city in the Burger Breton restaurants section.
Clarification: Paul Welburn and The Oxford Kitchen
Paul Welburn never owned or founded The Oxford Kitchen, and it was never a burger restaurant. The two names still come up together in Oxford burger searches, so here is what the record shows.
- What it was: The Oxford Kitchen, at 215 Banbury Road, Summertown, Oxford OX2 7HQ, was a fine-dining tasting-menu restaurant. Its owners were Samantha Wilson and Stephen Quinn, founders of the school caterer Cucina (The Caterer).
- Welburn’s role: he joined as executive chef in 2017, after being head chef of Rhodes W1 in London. The restaurant held a Michelin star in 2018 and 2019, Oxford’s first since Raymond Blanc’s Petit Blanc in 1996 (Oxford Times).
- What happened next: in July 2020, after the pandemic closure, it relaunched as 215 Kitchen & Drinks, with set menus at £35 for two courses and £40 for three and no burger. Welburn announced on 29 September 2021 that he would leave at the end of that year (The Caterer). Harden’s now lists 215 as closed.
- Where Welburn is now: he became chef patron of The Swan Inn and its Cygnet restaurant in Islip, Oxfordshire (Cygnet launched in December 2022). He left in February 2025 for Cornwall and published the cookbook ‘Evolve’, with 55 recipes, in summer 2025.
FAQ: Beefy Boys Oxford
Who owns The Beefy Boys and where did they start?
The Beefy Boys is owned by its four founders, childhood friends Anthony ‘Murf’ Murphy, Daniel Mayo-Evans, Christian Williams and Lee Symonds. They started in 2011 with a back-garden barbecue in Hereford and opened their first restaurant there in 2015.
Where is The Beefy Boys in Oxford and do you need to book?
The Beefy Boys Oxford is at 310 Rooftop Terrace, The Westgate, Oxford OX1 1PG, on the Westgate rooftop between Six by Nico and Sticks ‘n’ Sushi. It takes bookings through OpenTable and by phone on 01865 965683. With only 100 covers, book ahead for weekend evenings.
What is the best burger at The Beefy Boys: Oklahoma Onion Boy or Dirty Boy?
The Oklahoma Onion Boy is the signature, described by the brand as award-winning, and it is the patty style Anthony Murphy says he prefers. The Dirty Boy is on the same Oxford line-up. We have not scored either one yet.
What is an Oklahoma onion smash burger?
An Oklahoma onion smash burger is a thin patty smashed on a hot griddle with sliced onion pressed into the beef. The onion caramelises and becomes part of the crust.
Where does The Beefy Boys’ beef come from?
The beef is 100% grass-fed Herefordshire beef from one farm and one butcher in Hereford, according to the group. The Westgate listing describes it as dry-aged and ground fresh daily.
Is The Beefy Boys Oxford expensive? How much is a burger?
OpenTable places The Beefy Boys Oxford in its ‘£25 and under’ per person price band. I could not verify individual burger prices for the Oxford menu, so check the live menu before you go.
Does The Beefy Boys have vegetarian or vegan burgers?
Yes. The Oxford opening menu included the Beanie Boy and the Leafy Boy as veggie and vegan options.
What happened to The Oxford Kitchen in Summertown, and where is Paul Welburn now?
The Oxford Kitchen became 215 Kitchen & Drinks in July 2020, and that restaurant has since closed. Paul Welburn, its executive chef from 2017, left at the end of 2021. He led The Swan Inn and Cygnet in Islip until February 2025, then moved to Cornwall and published his cookbook ‘Evolve’.
What are the best burgers in Oxford besides The Beefy Boys?
The best-known alternatives are Atomic Burger on Cowley Road, Big Society, and CRAFT Burger in Headington. Our Oxford burger guide lists them with verified details.
Sources and methodology
This profile is built from the restaurant’s official sources, trade press and local Oxford media, all checked on 13 October 2026. It is not a scored review: we only rate restaurants after a dated visit. Main sources: Restaurant Online, 11 June 2025, Restaurant Online, 6 December 2024, Restaurant Online, 7 October 2026, The Staff Canteen, Westgate Oxford, the launch press release, Experience Oxfordshire and, for the clarification, The Caterer and the Oxford Times.
