Readers are now being asked to vote to help us to find the best cafe in Oxford.

Cafes across the city are competing to win the title Oxford Mail Best Cafe 2022.

A shortlist of 10 cafes has been drawn up and readers are now being asked to nominate their favourite.

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The latest cafes to be highlighted are run by Taylors, Oxford’s own gourmet sandwich and deli company.Oxford Mail:

The cafes on the shortlist are close to each other in St Giles and Woodstock Road, and there are five other Taylors shops across the city.

CEO Juri Vahala said he was delighted Taylors’ large deli on St Giles and the nearby cafe were both on the shortlist.

He added: “These are both flagship shops and we trial new concepts here.

“We also have a shop in Elms Parade, Botley, in the Covered Market, in Summertown, and two in High Street.

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“When the Westgate Centre was revamped and reopened in 2017 we were approached several times and invited to go into Westgate but as one of Oxford’s largest independent businesses we were insistent that it was right for us to be in the Covered Market.

Oxford Mail:

“We remain family-owned and have been for 30 years - we are not part of a big corporation.”

Mr Vahala added that most of the company’s staff lived in Oxford.

He said: “Pre-Covid we had about 95 staff and at the moment we have 75.

“Like everyone else at the moment we are a little short staffed.

Oxford Mail:

“We recovered well from Covid thanks to support from people in the local community. We have signs up in our shops thanking people for their support.

“It has been incredibly hard for us to get through Covid but we are now in a good place.”

The popular Fasta Pasta concession continues at a number of its cafes, including the one in Woodstock Road, and the coffee supplier is Illy.

“It’s a superb quality coffee,” added Mr Vahala.

“And we source fruit and veg, eggs and meat locally.

Oxford Mail:

“Our customers include office workers, students and local residents.

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“We like to say we have been serving town and gown since 1991.”

Taylors’ beef and chicken is British reared while ham, bacon and pork is from locally reared British pigs.

Sandwiches, soups and baguettes are made fresh on our premises each day, and the company’s website says staff are ‘passionate about serving the finest teas, coffee, gourmet sandwiches and little delicacies’.

It added: “You’ll find our outlets all over the city - open from pretty early until reasonably late.

“So, whether you’re visiting, working, coffee-ing, lunching or evening cramming you know that there is always a place that you can come for good quality, great value fare and ambience."

People can nominate their favourite cafe on a coupon in the paper and send it in.

The closing date for postal entries is Sunday, June 26, and the winner will be announced on Thursday, June 30.

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This story was written by Andy Ffrench, he joined the team more than 20 years ago and now covers community news across Oxfordshire.

Get in touch with him by emailing: Andy.ffrench@newsquest.co.uk

Follow him on Twitter @OxMailAndyF