Power tip: quaint pub with an adjoining burger and fries stand. Good bacon burger, and both the…read morespiced and Alabama fries were tasty. Staff were friendly

Built in the 1920s by the Mitchells & Butlers brewery this large, Grade II listed pub in the middle…read moreof the Birmingham suburb of Stirchley is something of a hidden treasure, despite being situated in plain sight along the busy Pershore Road. You step across a small car park and into the public bar, which is a large open space that can often get busy when there are sporting events on the big screen, but venture past this and The British Oak slowly starts to reveal its many charms over a series of side and back rooms, and an extensive garden. You may think that the place looks big when viewed from the front, but this really only tells half the story. When the pub was originally built, and for many years that followed, the side rooms were variously 'The Gents' Only Lounge', or 'The Smoke Room', but in 21st Century, smoke-free Britain these are now simply extra rooms within the same pub that offer quiet places for customers to drink, eat and talk, away from the bustle of the main bar. Move towards the back of the building and you could almost be in another pub entirely as you enter the small and cosy back bar, more than likely stepping over a sleeping dog or two in process. With an open fire and the genuine feel of a small, country boozer, this snug space is particularly welcoming on dark and damp Winter afternoons. To the side of the back bar there is yet another room, the last of the 5, which is variously used as a venue for family parties (particularly at weekends) or for any number of events promoted by Stirchley's burgeoning creative community, including film screenings and a comedy night. Whilst the 5 interconnecting rooms of the main building offer an impressive array of different pub experiences under the same roof, it is only once you move outside at the back of the pub that you really get a sense of the size of the place. The back door opens onto a large, covered area containing leather sofas and long tables that offer a rare chance to drink and smoke in comfort, before leading you down the steps into a seriously huge garden that is also the perfect afternoon sun trap. The garden has a slide and various other play equipment for the kids (and big kids) and even when busy, as it often is during the summer months, it never feels too crowded. Further still, and at the very back of the garden, there is the quintessentially English site of a manicured bowling green and wooden clubhouse, for this is the home of The British Oak Bowling Club. Listen to sound of polite applause and muted cheers drifting across the garden on summer afternoons and you will be a million miles away from the slow drudge of the Pershore Road. The British Oak is child and dog-friendly and offers a decent selection of wines, spirits and lagers, as well as a range of cask ales sufficiently varied to make it one of CAMRA's 'Real Heritage Pubs'. The food an offer ranges from good, honest pub grub - the gammon, egg and chips is particularly fine - as well as bar snacks, such as bowls of chips, sandwiches, pizzas and hot pies. In an age of homogenised chain pubs and regenerated urban boozers that often try too hard to impress, The British Oak is a welcome change to the norm. It's a traditional pub that is moving with the times but doing so at its own pace, thank you very much, and therein lies its charm. If you are looking for a place to sit and read a newspaper over a pint, or for somewhere to take family or friends, in summer or winter, I recommend a visit.

This is pretty much the only pub in Cotteridge and it's not a great one, I'm afraid. This is a…read moreshame as the building itself is a great looking, traditional urban pub that could be so much better if a bit of time, love and cash went into the place. That said, these are tough times for pubs so it is perhaps understandable that The Grant Arms is a little run down I've only been in the main bar and it's fairly poorly furnished and not all that welcoming. There are a handful of locals propping up the bar and the rest of the place is fairly cavernous. I'm also always wary of pubs that only seem to sell Carling or Stella, both of which are awful beers. I'm not expecting every pub to become gentrified, far from it in fact, but a wider selection of ales would not go amiss. If you're in the area and in desperate need of a pint then you could drop in for a swift half (any port in a storm, and all that), but I wouldn't recommend it.

I'm a fan of traditional 'old man' boozers but Grant Arms falls a bit short. Maybe it's because…read moreit's so huge and it's such a good looking pub that it just seems like a wasted opportunity. Since The Breedon Bar burned down years ago it's pretty much the only pub in the immediate area (you need to go for a walk towards Stirchley before you come across the next one) so it kind of has the local market covered. Also, as I mentioned, it's a huge old boozer, it really looks great from the outside too. It has a really big car park (a real bonus in this day and age) so to me all of these things should add up to a good traditional pub. But it doesn't. It's not very well kept (that part doesn't bother me too much) but just a little bit of love and it could be great. Whenever I've been in it's not too busy, another good thing in my opinion, but with the size of the place it gives it a real derelict kind of vibe. It doesn't have a very good selection of drinks and the locals who drink in there (at least the few times that I have been) haven't been the most welcoming bunch. The Grant Arms is an ok old pub when it should be a really great one.

Tucked away at the end of Stirchley in a location you cannot see from the main road, neighboured by…read morea canal and a venue for children's parties, you cannot help but wonder how The Roadhouse has managed to exist for so long as a venue. I played here with one of my old bands about seven years ago and it seemed to have been around for ever then. My sporadic visits since have revealed The Roadhouse to be a friendly enough venue with the ambience set to old school/biker . A good sound system and a fairly standard but well priced bar make this a good place to see a band. The schedule seems to consist of a mix of up and coming indie/rock acts and tribute acts of classic rock bands with acoustic nights on a thursday. They also offer music tuition services but I can't comment on these as I haven't had need to use them. The venue side of the business I can recommend, providing the style of act playing that night is to your tastes.

This venue is part of the newly revived and thriving Birmingham (Brum) scene. Entrance is cheap,…read moreusually only a few quid, and the drinks are student prices, which is fortunate considering most of the clients. This venue is big on Folk, acoustic and rock. A place to check out the local talent in all it's various forms. The doormen are laid back and friendly. The staff rather new wave and hippy nice. A good laid back venue for a chilled out evening. Tune in and tune out.

Smoking food and music…read more The Dark Horse is a quintessential Moseley pub, full of the friendly bustle that you can expect from the area. The venue itself is a welcoming space with plenty of seats both inside and out, there's a full bar on offer with a variety of spirits that I'd imagine will have something for all tastes. Food is tasty BBQ style smoked meat and pizzas made in the pizza oven sitting roaring away in the back. I had the smoked meat platter and everything on offer had a deep smoky flavour with plenty of "narl". The Dark Horse lives up to it's name however by having a large space upstairs that they use when the night gets later and everyone gets their dancing shoes out, we had a great night listening to the house band and the DJ after that.

You guys rock, Atmosphere 10/10, Service 10/10, Food 10/10, We can find no fault here at all. Ok,…read moreif you really want fast food, then go to McDonalds. The Dark Horse they take pride in their food, service and presentation. We came here for Sunday lunch recently and we got tons of food. We were both extremely surprised and very happy with the amount and quality for the price we paid. Nothing is too much trouble, the staff are always lovely and friendly. Food allergies? no problem here at all as any questions can be asked and answered quickly and helpfully. The aroma when the smoker door opens is amazing and the stone pizza oven produces fantastic pizza too. What more can I say except, you guys really do rock.

Despite being gifted with a great frontage, a lovely garden and smoking area, as well as a…read morespacious open plan interior, the Three Horseshoes miserably fails to be anything more than average. It's rare for me to be so negative in a review, especially in the opening sentence but I really do struggle to find much positive to say about the place - the drink selection and the food are nothing unusual, the music that is played is soul crushingly bland as well as seeming to repeat every hour. The staff try their level best which I always appreciate but there's very little that can be done in this situation to elevate the experience to anything special or unusual. When I go out, the aim is to enjoy myself and usually I succeed. Unfortunately, I couldn't quite manage that in The Three Horseshoes.

I'm not a huge fan of this place, to be honest. Even though there are only a handful of pubs in the…read morearea - and that one of them is The Hibernian, which also isn't great - this pub would be the last one I would chose. As is often the case with a less-than-great boozer, it could be so much better. The building itself is a great, traditional pub and the location is superb - right in the middle of the gateway to Stirchley - but unfortunately the pub lacks any kind of soul. This might be to do with the fact that it is quite large inside, but there are plenty of big pubs that manage to retain a welcoming feel. In fact, it's hard to put your finger on what exactly is wrong with the place, but it just doesn't feel right to me. A shame, and perhaps it will change in time, but at the moment this place is just not for me.

I eat here often, the steaks are tasty and the prices are good.read more

A cosy little indie bar on Stirchley's main thoroughfare, The Wildcat Tap is a beer lovers must…read morevisit. It's a single room for the bar and the cellar, which means you pick your beers as if you're at a festival (unless you read the blackboard, but where's the fun in that). A good (rotating) selection of cask ales is balanced with some excellent craft keg and bottled beers from around the globe, but the selection of non beer drinks is only adequate. But with such limited real estate to play with, they've gone with what they know and do it damnably well. The small nature of the bar means that seating is limited and it's often impossible to get a table for group; so thank goodness that it's located in one of Birmingham's friendliest suburbs and you're pretty much able to get in on the conversation wherever you end up. All in all a wonderful place for a quiet couple and a great place to meet ale lovers.

Visited the Camp Inn pub for the first time in years. The atmosphere was welcoming and the…read moreManagement lays on regular entertainment in the forms of Discos and Karaokes and even has occasional live bands. The pub is an old building but it is clean. The women's toilets need some work as the one of two cubicles door did not lock. We returned on the Sunday as we were recommended the lunch and we were not dissapointed. There was a choice of 3 meats and a vegetarian option. My hubby had the minted lamb shank and I chose the brie,mushroom & cranberry Wellington. Because we had to wait for the wellington we were informed we would have to wait for 20 minutes. I prefer fresh food and never mind a wait and wow it was worth it. The wellington was the tastiest I have ever had and alongside was fresh veg and roast potatoes and parsnips. And all this for a tenner for the 2 meals. Will definately be returning!!

This pub is a bit of a disappointment really - it's on the rather picturesque Kings Norton Green,…read moreit's obviously quite an old pub and has some lovely tile work and the potential to be a decent place but unfortunately it just isn't very welcoming or fun to be in. It does have its plus points - the food is incredibly cheap, they have a nice garden and they seem to like children - the last few times I've been in there have been 'babbies' running around all over the place, which I thought was quite sweet. However, the minus points are the slightly grumpy staff, the grumpier still regulars and the general ambiance - its the sort of place where everyone turns round to gawp at you (unless the footballs on and then I'd avoid it altogether).

The Bulls Head is not the greatest place to go with friends and family as it's more of an elderly…read moremans pub and bar. You will most likely find football hooligans and great supporters of football drinking and ranting in there amongst their other male companions. However, the bar and staff members are very friendly and helpful. The food that they cater are not of superb or quality value but I would say is reasonable for the prices they charge for their meals. The Bulls Head also supply a hired venue at the top of the pub which is very spacious and large enough to hold parties of at least one hundred guests. Their hired venue also provides a private bar for members of the party. I would most likely attend the Bulls Head if there were an event being held rather than going there for a drink with friends.

Yuk, yuk, yuk…read more This has got to be the dirtiest pub in the whole of Birmingham and the most revolting aspect about it is the staff simply do not care! I used to go in here when I was a kid because they have never really cared about age laws as long as they're getting the money, but hadn't visited for years when me and my fella popped in for a quick drink the other day as we were early for an appointment. The first thing that hit me as I walked in was the smell of dirty toilets, not as an overwhelming smell but as an undercurrent to the very stale air in The Woodpecker. It was enough to make me want to turn and leave if I'm honest, but we decided to have one drink and take it outside into the fresh air. This is where the problems began. My partner ordered a pint and I had a Malibu and Coke, the sullen woman behind the bar looked a bit peeved that we'd disturbed her from reading The Sun and banged her way around getting our drinks. As soon as I went outside I noticed my glass was filthy and I don't mean they'd missed a smear of lipstick, it looked like it hadn't been washed for a week and was almost opaque with grime. Straight back in to complain, the woman huffed and puffed and then grabbed another glass and instead of pouring me a fresh drink simply dumped the Malibu from my dirty glass into the 'clean' one. Outside I noticed this one was equally dirty so this time sent my fella in with the instructions to ask her to pour me a fresh one this time. I was outside having a cigarette but he came back out absolutely fuming and said the woman had taken one look at the glass and said it was perfectly clean. Oh yes, but he'd then showed her the film of grease which was forming on the top of my drink - she still thought this was fine but as a 'goodwill gesture' poured me a fresh one into a marginally cleaner glass. Goodwill gesture, it's hardly a goodwill gesture to actually get your job right in the first place is it??? Anyway, the thought of the lack of hygiene in the pub totally put me off my drink so I poured in down the drain outside (poured it away as I didn't want the grubby staff to attempt passing it off to someone else!). My fella said his pint was 'alright' but didn't go in for anothe which kind of says it all really! While walking through the pub to the (revoltingly filthy) ladies toilet I noticed The Woodpecker serves food. Personally I'd rather pull out my own fingernails than eat in a dirty pub like this so didn't spend much time looking at the menu other than a cursory glance while waiting at the bar to get my drink changed. If dysentry is your cup of tea then you can get a meal in here for around £3.99, or sandwiches and crisps are available cheaper. Never again!