So, having had luck with recommendations from Ben C before, I thought it best I check this place…read moreout on a day in Kings Heath. Now, I was meeting Ben for lunch at Veg Out (see http://www.yelp.co.uk/biz/veg-out-cafe-birmingham?hrid=GgI2cmA6RaEsO8pLKdk1Aw), I didn't actually eat here - I just grabbed a coffee to visit and soak up the ambiance (being your intrepid Yelp Community Manager). Al's Diner is just off the main stretch of Kings Heath and opposite York Road. It's easy to spot, with it's American vibe and bright red exterior. As you might guess from the name, it's got a bit of a "happy days" vibe to it. From the red and white patterned work surfaces to old school Americana prints and design touches, it's all very sweet. As I say, I just popped in for a hot drink - but I will definitely pop back in for a burger at some point! The burgers looked huge and were priced around £2.50 (without fries) making it a bargain! They also had a great selection of sweet treats on the menu at similarly reasonable prices. My coffee wasn't the best (it was served with UHT milk), but that's not why you would visit normally. I grabbed a coffee and a can of cola and I believe it came to around £2.20 - which is a bit of a steal really. I was served with a smile and felt welcome throughout my whole visit (despite taking up a whole booth just to drink my coffee and do some work). I probably wouldn't travel all the way to Kings Heath to visit, but I urge you to pop in if you are based around here. If I was down here for the day, I would 100% make a date with one of their calorific treats for lunch or dinner.

At one time I counted 12 places that you could get chicken and chips from between The Sun at The…read moreStation and The Pear Tree. It doesn't take much imagination to offer something original in the ways of fast food. Al's Diner have spotted a niche in the market and jumped right in. They serve burgers, hot dogs, milkshakes and deserts in such authentic US surroundings, (NYC print wall paper, state-side memorabilia authentic shake-bar stools) that you half expect Arthur Fonzarelli to enter stage right with a 'Hey!' and start asking 'bout Richey. This place is very popular with tweens, who have claimed it as their own space to meet, hang out and gaze out of the window while supping a shake. Others like to drop in for a pre-pub snack before hitting the High Street. Families are catered for too, and on a Friday evening they take time out from busy schedules for some quality informal dining time together. Those who believe that 'It's Dork To Eat Pork' can join in as the hot-dogs here are made with beef. In fact, the whole menu is Halal. Service with a smile comes as standard, and they'll tweak meals to suit you. There's a level of community and philanthropy going on here which is hard to beat. If you haven't got an Uncle Sam then you can find a surrogate family member in Al.

Currently sat in 3 Threes working away so thought why not add a review. This place is a vegan's…read moredream! The cafe is situated in Martineau place which has been a bit deserted recently so its great to see new places opening up in here. The cafe itself is a lot bigger than I was expecting with loads of table which is great for the busy lunchtime trade and people like me that want a good place to work from day-day. i decided to go for an americano which was served with almond or soya milk at no extra charge....love that! Given the vibe of the place I went soya and really enjoyed it! The coffee tastes great, the staff are friendly and as a venue it caters to pretty much everyone....ideal! The food here looks amazing......i'm coming back to lunch later this week so expect an updated review :)

Had my first ever taste of soya milk here with dan. Nice place, lovely staff, great for an easy…read morecoffee which tastes top. Didn't try the food but cakes looked good and ill be back for the vegan hot dog!

Prince of Wales.... How I love thee... Let me list the ways... So, Prince of Wales is a gem of pub…read morein Moseley. It's pretty hard to miss, with it's name festooned on the exterior and with it's location being a gateway to the area. It's large looking from the outside, but you might be mistaken for thinking it was a bit of an "old man pub" venue... Oooooh... how wrong you would be. When you first enter the pub, you end up in a traditional pub area (with little stools, wooden tables and lots of people nursing pints of ale). The ale selection is plentiful and the staff are more than happy to give you a recommendation and a taster (if you aren't sure). So far, traditional pub, right? Well... let us continue. The pub bar opens into a hallway with several different directional choices. We WERE headed for the indoor cocktail bar, but this had been reserved for a Christmas gathering (so unfortunately, I cannot give you any idea of what this is like). If you head straight down the corridor, that's where the magic happens... So, the garden immediately hit me as a) Massive and B) Rammed. On our left was a cigar vendor and a smaller (heated and covered) seated area with comfy armchairs and lots of people enjoying a cigar. Just to the left is the "Wine bar", a wooden shack with everything from a very fine red, Champagne to mulled wine offerings. Further on from that is the huge decking area. Lots of warm heaters, tables, chairs and a "Beer festival" feeling, even though there were hundreds of people out there (no joke), there were still seats to be had. Attached to the decking area was a hot dog bar (I know, A HOT DOG BAR!) and a TIki cocktail bar. This HAD to be our destination. We opted to go for Zombies (£7 each - about average for a cocktail bar in Birmingham) and were suitably impressed when the server had finished pouring, tore open a packet of Angel Delight (with gusto), sprinkled over the cocktails and set them alight to a mighty "POOF"! With drinks firmly in hand, we went to find somewhere reasonably quiet we could have a chat and a contemplate on the venue's we had been that evening. This was when we found my favorite spot in the whole pub. The sanded, covered beach area. Who would have thought there would be a beach in Moseley? With Bamboo walls, lit up tiki masks adorning the interior and plenty of chairs and tables, it nailed it's place as my favorite pub of the night. This is the kind of venue you will go for 1 and end up having at least 3.

The PoW is the Moseley pub for all seasons- Grabbing a…read morerestorative lunchtime pint to breakup springtime Farmer's Market visits... Long summer evenings in the beer garden, IPA and hot dogs... Cosy cocktails & tasting sessions at the Tiki bar see you through autumn... Tuesday nights of winter spent enjoying traditional Irish music in the bar with a drop of the dark stuff. You should go.

This is a breakfast review:…read more Its a well done out American diner, with suitably attired staff and cooks. I took my seat and ordered my Full English, (no extras). It came with a couple of sausages, (chipolata - so very small), a cored tomato, (nice touch), a hash brown, flat mushroom, toast and bacon that I imagine must have been shaved from the thickness of it. The eggs were solid, so I got them changed to runny ones. Its really weird seeing all the deliveries coming in to the place through the restaurant - I found it weird, anyway? The server was lovely, (Twinkle was on her name badge). I found the soundtrack though very original sounding, also quite annoying. If you go here and are buying into the American theme, I imaging that you would love it. I was there just for the breakfast - it wasn't bad, (called The Full Ed's).

Went shopping after work with my friend and couldn't decide what to eat, she didn't want noodles so…read moreas we were walking into Selfridges I mentioned this place and that I had a voucher for free burger or hot dog. So we got a table. We had a bottomless drink which my friend said we should share one and the waitress was fine with that. I checked that the £6.59 on the ed's diner app could be used and she said they deduct the amount off but I'll still get points from today. She said I could save up all the points to pay for whole bill on future visit. I had chilli hotdog which was good but not hot in temperature but dunno if it was because we were photoing the food ha ha my friend said her burger was hot. They do sell the burger or hotdog solo, on its own or as ed's plate which means u get fries coleslaw and onion rings. We did both so we shared the chips etc. So our bill was about £13! Cheapskates lol

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!

The Woodman is recently refurbished, but still very 'proper pub' in look and feel, plus a good…read morerange of real ale and ciders. They have a 'real ale of the week' offer for £2.70 a pint. Yes, you heard that right. So, the prices are really good. I popped in to sit by the fire and drink some tea whilst waiting for the other half to arrive. It was pretty quiet on a February lunchtime so I was totally unhurried. After that we ordered some food- you can eat well here for under £6, and the good is genuinely good. Very pub style in terms of hot dogs, burgers, sandwiches, jacket potatoes and good sized salads. My crayfish salad was a good size, and I love that they went for crayfish over prawns- so much nicer. They're very kid friendly, with a colour-in kids menu and crayons provided. That all went down very well with a four year old, and the staff couldn't do enough. They were great. It's in a great location for Millennium Point, particularly as the area isn't exactly crammed with eateries and pubs. It's a good place to visit from ThinkTank- especially as ThinkTank provide wristbands, so you can leave it and come back in the same day. I wouldn't trek across town to come here, but I'll definitely come again when in the area. Such great value and lovely people, just a shame that it's sometimes a bit quiet.

The freelancer I'm working with put his tools down and declared time for lunch. The selection of…read moreeateries around where we are based are not worth it. Water bottle is £1.35! So I was really happy when he said lets go to the pub! I'm down with that! It only took about 10 mins to walk over, food was prompt ( pub wasn't busy) and tasted delicious. I had a light lunch which for £4 did the job. Good selection of the usual and also some nice alternative editions of you don't fancy pizza, burgers, hot dogs I.e pub grub. I loved the fact the woman behind the counter knew what drink my co-worker has! That's a sign of good experience although he felt like a bit of an alchi! This place is great as there's a bit of free parking about and really clean. I'm not OCD but I do like to see clean areas and can safely report the toilet was spotless. In aston I have the Barton Arms, over in Digbeth / East sides I now have The Woodman. Good times!

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...

DDC's just awesome. The original and best weekly street food event in Brum. Mercifully now 2 days a…read moreweek (Friday and Saturday) to allow more opportunity to enjoy some of the vendors amazing grub. It's set out the back of Spotlight & Mama Roux's under a large canopy. There's normally 5 or 6 vendors, and it's generally a good mix of different cuisines - always one burger joint (the best being Flying Cows and Meat Shack, now OPM have their own digs), normally something Asian (either Thai, bao or Vietnamese), sometimes Mexican, BBQ (Andy's Low n Slow is there regularly) desserts (crepes, pancakes and so on), wood-fired pizzas and loads of other stuff. Drinks are inside Spotlight, full bar with craft beers, cocktails and everything else you'd want. Always a great vibe with good music in very 'Digbeth' surrounds. Well worth your time of a weekend!

It's a place I got dragged to, yet I ended up enjoying myself more than expected. I highly…read morerecommend.

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.

Seeing as the market is the biggest German market outside of Germany I wasn't as impressed as I…read moreexpected to be. There were duplicates of lots of the food/drink huts and I expected a wider range of huts selling goods like toys and decorations. It felt very sparse compared to what I'd seen in previous year's photos. We checked the map to make sure we hadn't missed a section but I'm guessing they maybe took a hit post-covid because it just didn't hit the mark for us. Beautiful to walk around at night but very expensive, especially for the food options.

The smell of mulled wine and sausage cooking on the streets of the city centre can only mean one…read morething......the Christmas market is back! This is a yearly addition to the city centre with stalls selling festive treats ranging from chocolate and tasty treats through to toys and ornaments. The real thing people go here for however is the food and even more importantly the drink. This is the one time of the year that Birmingham city council lets allows people to drink on the street (in designated areas) and people 100% take advantage of this! The bars and stalls are always full with people enjoying a range of mulled drinks and beers. I am a big fan of this market and even though it can be a little pricy at times its a welcome addition to November/December in the city. Go get yourself an oversize glass of festive cheer and welcome the Christmas market back to Brum!