Oli’s Thai, the massively popular Oxford restaurant whose closure in early 2022 upset its legion of fans, reopens today – on its original site in Magdalen Road.
Owners Rufus & Ladd Thurston closed the business after a nine-year run, replacing it with Elle’s Deli to improve their work/life balance – in particular, to spend evenings with their children, Oli and Elle. The restaurant was hailed in the 2020 Harden’s guide for unusual cooking that was “packed with flavour” – much of it from Ladd’s family recipes.
Announcing the comeback, she said: “We want to go back to our roots. The kids are older now and will be helping out and working here from time to time, so it will be much more of a family affair. It just feels like the right time and it’s what we love to do, so we’re really excited about re-opening Oli’s Thai.”
Rufus added: “It seemed like the right time to make the change. We’ve loved running the deli but in the current climate it’s hard to make it work with rising prices and competition from supermarkets. So we are streamlining everything and focusing on Oli’s Thai – serving the same excellent, high quality food that everyone loves.
“The new Oli’s Thai will definitely have a different feel and while you will still get all the classics, there will be some new items on the menu. We don’t want to be restricted by how Oli’s Thai was before. We want to keep things fresh.
“We just hope it will be as busy as it always was. We know the die-hard regulars will be back, but we also have a whole new client base at Elle’s, so hope to encompass the two. I still meet people all the time who say they never got to try Oli’s Thai because they couldn’t get a booking, so now is their chance.”
It was always notoriously difficult to secure a table, and that does not seem likely to change. The couple looked into finding a bigger site but ultimately chose to stick with the original 28-seat venue, with a few spots at the bar and outside tables for walk-ins. And they still put a high premium on family life, only opening for five services a week: lunch on Wednesday and Friday, and dinner on Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday.
Every seat for the first three months has already been snapped; so fast-movers should book now for December.
