Barefoot North Parade

Barefoot North Parade may be the smallest of the Barefoot cafés, but it leans into that compact charm rather than fighting it. Set on pretty North Parade in Oxford, it serves individual mini cakes, cupcakes, doughnuts and the bakery's much-loved brownies, including the award-winning salted caramel version, so the counter sounds dangerously persuasive from the outset. Dogs are welcome inside, which means no pavement waiting while someone else faces the brownie decision alone.

When the road is closed there is outside seating, while indoors stays cosy and compact, which suits the branch's neighbourhood-café feel. The street itself adds to the appeal, with shops, pubs and a regular market giving the area an easy browse-and-bite kind of rhythm.

It sounds like one of those places that turns a quick stop into a small event, ideal for coffee, cake and an only-in-Oxford little wander with a hopeful nose in tow.