The first English coffeehouse opened in <answer>Oxford</answer> in 1650. Brian Cowan said that <answer>Oxford</answer> coffeehouses developed into "penny universities", offering a locus of learning that was less formal than structured institutions. These penny universities occupied a significant position in <answer>Oxford</answer> academic life, as they were frequented by those consequently referred to as the "virtuosi", who conducted their research on some of the resulting premises. According to Cowan, "the coffeehouse was a place for like-minded scholars to congregate, to read, as well as learn from and to debate with each other, but was emphatically not a university institution, and the discourse there was of a far different order than any university tutorial."
Where did the first English coffeehouse open in 1650?
Oxford