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The Excelsior stood empty from 2014 while it was completely refurbished. The iconic shopfront was completely destroyed and replaced with metal shutters.
==1961-2014==
The Excelsior 'greasy spoon' cafe was a Cowley Road institution which closed in 2014, as [http://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/11371061.Closing_time_for_cafe_after_53_years_of_froth_and_stir/ reported by the Oxford Mail].
A memorable [http://www.classiccafes.co.uk/excelsior_special.htm review by Robin Mackay] described the atmosphere (evidently predating the 2007 smoking ban):
''"No sooner has one entered this place than one is entirely overcome by an almost toxic metaphysical gloom, way beyond what might be causally explained by the miasma of budget cigarette smoke streaming constantly from the antediluvian countenances of the regulars... "''
[[File:250CowleyRoadByKamyarAdl.jpg|frame| Legendary proprietor Costas photographed in the Excelsior in 2005, by Kamyar Adl on Flickr. The original analogue till was just as famous.]]
