When coming back to Birmingham, a friend and I, always have lunch and a few beers. The location…read morechanges, but the story stays the same. This has been one of our locations three times now, and I'm beginning to wonder why it's not been more. Service during the day is casual, sit where you like, here's a menu, back in 5. The food selection is BBQ tastic, and is served very similarly to the big states places, on a little red tray. Nice but small craft beer selection, nice range of cocktails and spirits. There's even PBR if you're looking for the complete USA experience. My friend always goes for the Buffalo Black burger, which I have to say is phenomenal. I've varied and gone for the brisket one, and the pulled pork meal. Sides include "loaded" chilli cheese fries - which deserve a mention on their own. Burnt ends (side of more meat please!) and 'slaw. It's all been good, I've not experienced a bad bit of food there. Price isn't bad, for two of us last time it was £45. That was for the two burgers, burnt ends, mac n cheese, chilli cheese fries, and four beers. I'd like to see something like a Nashville hot chicken plate on the menu with the BBQ stuff, but other than that, this place is wonderful. It sells all of the things I like. Bravo. I didn't even notice it was a Bitters' and Twisted place until I read it here..

Another completely unique venue for Bitters and Twisted. Buffalo & Rye is new to the Bennetts Hill…read morescene, and a few doors down from sister venue Bodega. This place generated a ton of buzz before the doors were opened mid November, so naturally I wanted to try it! After stalking their Facebook, it seemed the best time to grab a table and avoid long waits was right at opening. My dining partner and I turned up shortly after noon on a Saturday and were seated immediately. The first thing i noticed is how intimate the venue is. There really is only a handful of tables. We opted for our own high top table as stools aren't the most comfortable seating. The menu is simple and specific. I'd check it out ahead of time so you know what you're in for. I thought the servers were great. Timing of food, not as great. They were rammed but we were the first people sat for the afternoon so I'd expect less of a wait than 25 minutes for starters. We shared some wings and beef chili cheese fries. Now, I am from Buffalo, NY. The chicken wing capitol of the world. We invented and perfected chicken wings. Its hard to compete with our wings in this country. Back to the review, here the wings were left still attached which I kinda liked. Usually you find the drums and flats separated so this was actually a nice change up. I do think they needed more sauce. Ours were nice and crispy but dry. Overall they were a nice choice for a starter. Ooh and the cheese fries are lovely and served in a little baking tin. As for my main, I had a buttermilk chicken sandwich which was juicy and crispy goodness. The roll was a bit too hard for my liking. I left most of it on my plate. But the chicken was amazing. Random fact about me: I love pickles or gherkins as you Brits call them. It's always a nice surprise to see a place over here serving pickles. I asked for some on my sandwich and only got one tiny piece. Step up your pickle game Buffalo & Rye! I almost forgot to mention the cocktails!! Such wild and crazy concoctions here. I tried a grape fizz and red kool aid inspired drink. Grape fizz blew me away. Kool aid was a bit uninspiring. Not as sweet or flavorful as I imagined. There's also milkshakes that looked wonderful. Sadly I was too full for one. I really liked this place. Although I can't see myself visiting it as often as the other BnTs, it's still worth a pop in. Plan accordingly. It's busy!

Sichuan dreams come true. I've been crying for a good Chinese place (with reasonable prices) since…read morewe moved here and finally found it in BBQ Village. We walk by BBQ Village ALL THE TIME when exiting New Street toward South Side and finally made up our minds to give it a go. I'm so glad we did. The restaurant is decorated so nicely. The outside doesn't give a proper impression of just how pretty the restaurant is inside, with beautiful wallpaper, pottery koi, and beautiful paintings on the walls. We were seated at a hotpot table, which has a steam plate in the middle for sharing a big bowl of hotpot and heating pads at each seat for keeping your hotpot warm once served out. Next time, I am ordering hotpot because that seems to be the specialty of BBQ Village. I ordered Sichuan chicken and dim sum soup with chicken broth. The Sichuan sauce was properly spicy. SO good! It was practically swimming in chilis, but also balanced with vegetable oil and vinegar - just the way I like it. The soup was so flavorsome. I could swim in it. The seasoning was absolutely perfect. This will be a soup I crave and would imagine it would be the perfect remedy to a cold. I highly recommend the green tea, which is accented with the perfect floral notes. No sugar is needed for such a delicious tea. We shared a pot and it held plenty of tea to drink all throughout our meal. My goal for the next visit is to ask for the Mandarin menu, which in reading the Birmingham Mail, I understand has more menu items.

I mean how can you not give this place 5* .....not because it's actually that good food wise but…read morebecause it's a Birmingham institution!! Located near Arcadian and hurst street mr egg has been there as long as I can remember selling all your usual take away foods until late late. Back in the day the shop was double the size with a huge egg muriel on the roof.....legendary....but this has now sadly been taken down and the place is now smaller but I'm happy to say still frying up Some late night fuel for party goers of the area. This is one of those places that's just loved by locals....it's not going to give you a gourmet burger and fries....it's a classic greasy spoon style burger and tray of chunky chips for you....but it's from mr egg.....so it's amazing

MR EGG HAS RETURNED and is a shadow of his former self at only half the size of the original…read more Gone are the grubby seats and the weird, egg parachute thingy on the ceiling. The food is still cheap, there's no doubt about that, but can you still "eat like a queen for £1.50"? That's what I want to know... I had some chips. They were ok. Something put me off ordering egg though. I'll have to psych myself up for it next time and report back to you.

I went here with a group of friends for Sunday dinner. We just had to check out the American themed…read moremeat joint. The decor is straight out of the opening credits for Fresh Prince of Bell Air - photos of celebrities line the walls and are covered in bright colored tags of fun phrases like "YOLO". There is plenty of seating, perfect for a pair or large groups. I wasn't very hungry, so I ordered the appetizer salad with pulled pork BBQ on top and shared a side of fried pickles. I was a little disappointed in the pulled pork. Being from North Carolina (home of pulled pork BBQ in the states) and eating at a place with smoke in the name, I was expecting smoked BBQ. The pork is just roasted like what you'd expect to come on a bap and lacks the tenderness that comes with slow smoking. The BBQ sauce at the table has a nice smoke flavoring added, so I was able to drown my salad in that for an approximation of the smoky flavor I craved. The salad portion is very generous and uses fresh veg. The fried pickles need a little tempura batter mixed in with the corn meal and maybe a little more time in the fryer for a better texture.

A group of us went here as we wanted to check out the newest 'American' BBQ joint in Birmingham…read more Based on reviews of The Smoke Haus' other locations, I was pretty excited. First of all, this restaurant is HUGE. Incredibly big and spacious, with an assortment of booths and tables and a huge bar. The decor of the place is awesome-- fun pieces of americana all over the place and funky graffiti all over the walls. But the highlight of every place is the food, and well, the food was just OK. I opted for a pulled pork sandwich, and a side salad instead of fries. The pork was good (mostly because they have a fantastic BBQ sauce) but definitely didn't taste slow-cooked. The salad was served without any dressing which was a bit weird, since it was huge and mostly lettuce. By the way, portions here- GIGANTIC. Come with an empty stomach! Neat selection of American beers. I don't know. I wasn't incredibly impressed, but my meal was satisfying, and the BBQ sauce is tasty. I'll have to try a few more things on the menu...

I'm not a massive pool shark but, thanks to Rileys' 24 hour license and abundance od tables, it's…read morealways an available option when you're not in the mood for going 'out out' or simply sitting around drinking. Of course, a bar is available (of course!) but tee-totallers who enjoy a game of pool are sure to be entertained with over 20 tables available to punters. Unfortunately, as with most pool halls I've encountered (a lot of them that have been Rileys, in fact) it does seem a bit dark and dingy in there - and, given the nature of the place, it does attract large groups of males. I've never encountered trouble in there but a couple of times have received looks off the kind of naughty boys mommy warned me not to play with. Still, people generally keep themselves to themselves and the bar staff are friendly - reasonable pint prices too, so a more than decent way to kill an hour or two when the city's more visceral thrills don't appeal.

I had no idea that 24 hour pool places existed! What an experience on the early hours after closing…read moretime in the nearby Arcadian bars. We had lots of fun, although it was very random! There was a complete mixture of people in there, as you can imagine at 4am in the morning. But random none the less, we had a few games of pool, a couple of drinks and had a really good time. I won't pretend and say that I'm a regular pool player as I'm not. In fact, I'd probably go as far as saying that the only time I'm any good is by fluke. The pool tables seemed good condition but again, I'm not a pro! Even though it was very early in the morning, the staff were all chirpy and seemed happy to have such a lively crowd in!

We came here for lunch and was impressed by the colorful atmosphere. Service was a bit slow but…read morepicked up once we got our food. Menu is a mix of latin dishes, Spanish style rice with prawns, corn and beans was flavorful. The nachos were different than expected with thick tortillas topped with salsa, guacamole and pulled pork. A nice kick with jalapeños as well. The fish tacos were dry. No salsa just a square breaded chunk of fish atop cabbage. Average. The Michelada was ok. You can choose your beer and then a little tomato juice, lots of chili salt and lime juice is added. I think the food and drinks here are hit or miss. Would ask for extra hot sauce or salsa on the side to spice up the dishes.

Use to love going here, but since the tacos went Gluten free they are very mid now. Cola wings are…read moreawesome though. And the vibes are always good in there. Need to fix them tacos though!

Looking for some American diner style breakfast/brunch spot, Seth S. and I decided to check out…read moreCelebz since another brunch place was closed. The Celebz concept is based on a kitschy stereotype of Americana with quintessential foods like burgers, waffles, fries and milkshakes. I love a good bit of kitsch but Celebz seemed to hit all the wrong notes. The blaring music, loud colors, and cold interior left me feeling like I was on Sunset Strip after a late-night bender in search of greasy garbage to cure my hangover. The vibe, encouraged by Rhianna screaming "bitch better have my money," was starkly contrasted by a grouping of families with small children. Womp womp. When placing our order we learned that the milkshake deal (+£2) advertised with the burgers only applies to the burger meal, requiring you to spend £9 for a sandwich and milkshake, with or without fries. Seth S. got the burger but skipped the milkshake and I decided to get some pancakes and twisty fries instead. Seth's burger and my fries were delivered to the table fairly quickly, but we were almost finished eating before my pancakes arrived. I was disappointed that the pancakes were crepes not American style pancakes in an American themed restaurant, but that's neither here nor there. The twisty fries were perfect - just like some of my favorite from a greasy spoon in NC. The crepe presentation was nice but the flavor underwhelming. Too much egg was used in the batter, and the egg flavor overshadowed the Belgian chocolate drizzle and strawberry filling. If you're in search of an authentic Vegas hangover cure, this is the place for you!

I am big fan of reviewing places on what they are and as an independent American diner I have to…read moregive this place five stars. Located over by Aston uni campus this place is a bit out of the way but when looking for a late night sweet myself and a friend took a wonder over here to see what it was all about. Now I know this place will not be for everyone, it's loud and in your face in terms of design with pictures of the USA and celebrities on the walls. The menu is made up of a range of popular American classics like burgers, milkshakes, pancakes, cookie dough and ice cream. We decided to go for nachos and a cookie dough dessert to share which were both surprisingly good. The nachos had the guacamole and salsa on the side instead of being all over top which is great for a condiment lover like me! The thing that I love about this place is you can easily sit a chill for a few hours eating and drinking on a quiet weekend night off the booze (dry Jan seemed like a good idea at the time) if you are looking for a place to get something sweet with a good range of options this is a great option in the city centre.

So let me preface this review with, I am an American. In fact, I am from Dallas, Texas which is…read moreknown as a burger heaven. I am used to so many great burgers as such affordable prices (even cheap in some places) With that said, Five Guys is quite average. Even in the States, Five Guys is generally not on my radar as a quality burger place I would consider. The other thing that puts me off is the fact that it is so expensive. £15 for a burger, fries, and a drink! What a rip off. Paying a price like that, I would expect a gourmet hamburger that is plump and juicy, not skimping on the size and cooked to perfection. But alas, even though it comes with two patties, it's honestly not much bigger than a McDonald's double. But despite all this, there is something will probably keep me coming back here from time to time - it's the only thing that tastes like an American burger around here. I guess they have that going for them.

There isn't much that will get you out of a grey day feeling like a huge, tasty and cholesterol…read morefilled Burger. And that's what Five Guys delivers. Roll back to October last year and I was in London with the Yelp guys figuring out what to eat. As you can imagine, London has attracted many of the American burger bar chains, so you're pretty spoiled for choice in the Cap City. On our last day in London, we decided to grab an unhealthy lunch to keep us fuelled on our trips home. On recommendation, we tried Shake Shack, but I had also wanted to try 5 Guys (having heard several of my colleagues raving about their wares). This is why I was pleasantly surprised to hear that we were getting our own branch of 5 Guys in Birmingham. Being based in the Bullring means I was a little wary about how busy it would be of a lunch time, but at around 12:30 (when I had scheduled lunch with Elite Yelper Libby D.) it was pretty empty. The building is pretty massive and filled with booth and table style seating. It's decorated in white and red and has a proper "taste of the States" feel to it. The playlist is pretty good too! Everything from The Verve to Foo Fighters with plenty of "Long distance American Driving Music" chucked in for good measure. After perusing the "not so big it's confusing, but lots of choice available" menu, I opted to go for a cheeseburger whilst Libby went for a hamburger. Now, the nice gimmick of Five Guys is that you can have as many of the free toppings as you like (which, to be honest, makes the £8 price tag for a cheeseburger a little more bearable). Of course, I had to go "All the way" and try a burger with ALL of the toppings. We also went for a side of fries (Cajun for me and Five Guys Fries for Lib) and a couple of refillable sodas. Once you have placed your order and paid, you join a second queue which looks into the kitchen. The production line style kitchen is a joy to watch! With about 8 fryers, huge burger grills and watching everything be constructed; it's pretty impressive. I could tell when mine was being made as it barely fit into the foil they package in! Every burger has 2 patties as standard and you can opt to go bunless if you want to avoid the additional carbs. We received our order within a couple of minutes of paying and grabbed a booth to enjoy our lunch. My burger was a treat! Loaded with gherkins, cheese, onions, mushrooms and the obligatory tomato and lettuce; it was a total beast. The fries were pretty good too, although a little salty for my liking and just thrown in the bag rather than being served in a receptacle. The soda machine is an experience in itself! All sodas are refillable and there are 127 different types of fizzy drink to choose from! I went for grape Fanta (which I had never seen before) and Libby opted for vanilla cherry Coke. There are also complimentary monkey nuts of offer (if you have the smallest amount of room after your ridiculous burger). I was definitely impressed. The price for mine and Libby's meals was £24, which was quite steep for burger, fries and soda, however I wasn't then hungry again until around 10pm. I would definitely recommend a visit if you have a hankering for unhealthy, but I don't think it will be -too- regular an experience for me.

I met my sarcastic twin! Love love love!…read more Bob, Madame is here for it! I was kind of discouraged when he told me that I was not allowed to take a seat where someone else was sitting... that doesn't make the game fun! We chatted a bit and I settled on the berry, um yes please!!!! I walked in hoping for some supper and a drink, as I passed it on my way from the train station, and it looked so cool! Unfortunately they do not serve food, however, if you want to bring in hot food, you are welcome (as long as you give them the rubbish so they can keep things tidy). The ambiance is a super pub! Cool vibe and I adore this place! I'm sad I'm only here for one night, as that would definitely be a regular spot! To find a person to soar with you, JACKPOT! HIGHLY recommend!

I went here after a networking event - for more networking. The decor is amazing, and it's a very…read morecomfortable atmosphere. The combination between dark Victorian and late 90s goth decor was awesome. I was served my mocktail by a male-presenting bartender who I could have easily clubbed with in the early 2000s (in style; he was much too young for us to have actually clubbed together!) The temperature was comfortable and there were multiple areas to sit. We sat in the back by a fireplace, and it was cozy. It was a nice place to get some alone-time together. It was also very clean. The rating loses 1 mark for the length of time that it took to make the mocktail. The process was so lengthy that it became the joke of the group. (Although it was delicious.) And, also, the music turned on while we were in the back-room and was so loud that it was difficult to hear each other. That was a shame.

Had a late night donair that was delicious! Very friendly service in a clean, busy place.read more

Between this place and Pit Stop a few doors down, I prefer the Food Republic. They don't mess up…read moreyour order and they actually listen to your entire order. I have never had to interrupt them or remind them of what they are forgetting or what they are messing up. I also think the guys who work here are courteous and friendly which can go a long way when you have so many competitors nearby like they do on Broad Street.