It’s not every day that you turn 30. And it’s not every day, that a restaurant makes it to 30 years, but City Grocery can boast of that achievement.

City Grocery, founded by James Beard award-winning chef John Currence, has served up the finest food in the region for three decades and has become a highlight in the Oxford dining experience.

In celebration, the acclaimed restaurant will host a Dirty Thirty Homecoming Party at City Grocery on Saturday, June 18, at 2 p.m. Guests can enjoy musical performances from Davis Coen, Rocket 88, Jack Sonni & Leisure Class, Blue Mountain, and End of All Music DJ and the restaurant’s special menu and a full bar.

The public can advance purchase tickets for $20 or pay $25 at the entrance.

Operations Director Meghan Scott Anderson has worked for the City Grocery Restaurant Group since she was a junior in college. Anderson joined as an employee of Big Bad Breakfast when it opened in 2008 and has worked with the company ever since.

To Anderson, it feels great to be a part of a huge milestone for CGRG.

“It is an amazing honor to be able to celebrate this historic event,” she said. “Right before I made the transition from BBB/Snackbar to City Grocery, I was lucky enough to help with the 20th-anniversary celebrations.  Even though I had not yet had the opportunity to work at the ‘mothership’ as we like to call it, I was honored to participate then and even more so 10 years later for this anniversary.”

Many consider City Grocery to be instrumental in Oxford’s reputation as a “foodie” town. Through their menu, Currence and chefs, Nic Swogger and Eric Tait, elevate Southern food, by taking the familiar and incorporating culinary influences from Louisiana, Italy, France and Mexico to name a few.

“There is no denying that City Grocery started something great and that over the years, many locations have helped build that reputation and we continue to work hard every day to bring exciting new items to our menu and to encourage the best service possible to everyone who walks through our doors,” Anderson said.

Anderson credits the chefs and restaurant’s dedicated team for their success and stability. However, she said the community and the restaurant’s guests deserve as much credit for City Grocery’s success over the years.

“Our people [do] not simply include our staff over the years, but our guests and our friends,” said Anderson. “We are lucky to have seasoned staff who teach from experience, all the while we’re seeing a rotation of new and young faces who bring a fresh perspective to everything we do. Our Chefs continue to find inspiration from their personal experiences and the greater world around us. We have first-time visitors and daily regulars mingling within our dining room day in and day out.”

City Grocery has achieved a great feat and the restaurant’s team is going to keep doing what they do best.

“We take pride in providing a unique experience to each member of our staff and our guests while getting to know one another,” Anderson said. “We very much become a family and that doesn’t happen by mistake. We work hard, we play hard, and we love hard.”

For more information on City Grocery, visit its website at www.citygroceryonline.com/city-grocery. Tickets for the celebration are on sale now and can at Eventbrite or here. Any further questions or concerns, please contact: chefjohncurrence@evins.com