City Guides
Birmingham
Pubs and Bars
With more than sixty pubs and bars in Birmingham city centre alone, the city is home to a vibrant nightlife and wide selection of nights out. Visitors can choose from traditional real ale pubs, chain bars and franchises, up-market cocktail bars, and unique drinking establishments.
For connoisseurs of real ale, Birmingham CAMRA recommend sixteen pubs in the city. Voted CAMRA’s Pub of the Year in 2005 and 2006 was The Wellington on Bennetts Hill in the city centre. The bar boasts a selection of more than two and a half thousand different ales, and special ales can be brewed on request. The bar is open plan, but the structure of the chic, white, modern building allows for separate seating areas. The bar is open until midnight every night, and customers are welcome to bring their own food.
The Bartons Arms, on High Street, and The Anchor, on Bradford Street, have both also been recommended by Birmingham CAMRA.
The Living Room is a chain of cocktail bars with branches in all the major UK cities, including Manchester, London, Oxford and Edinburgh. The Birmingham bar is located in the spacious top floor of Regency Wharf 2 on Broad Street, and affords panoramic views of the city centre. The bar has the brand’s usual relaxed yet prestigious ambience, with chillout music and ‘lounge’ seating, and tends to attract a middle-aged, professional clientele. There is also a restaurant, serving meals and snacks, with seating for almost two hundred people.
The bar has been open since 2001 and was recently awarded Retail Brand of the Year at the Flavour Bar Awards. The Birmingham branch is open until 2am from Wednesday to Saturday, closing an hour earlier on Mondays, and open until midnight on Sundays.
Zinc Bar is a chain with other branches in Glasgow and Manchester. The Birmingham branch is found on the increasingly fashionable Broad Street, with a designer minimalist interior and a spiral staircase leading from the DJ area downstairs to the cocktail bar on the upper floor. Zinc prides itself on a wide selection of traditional and unique cocktails, and creates drinks to order. Prices are higher than the average, but with waitress service and an impressive drinks menu, this is not proving to be a problem!
The Old Inn is a fourteenth-century, Grade II listed, public house based on High Street, just ten minutes walk from the Bullring shopping complex. As the oldest pub in the city, reputed to have once been owned by King Henry VIII, the bar offers a slice of history alongside quality pub food, traditional English dishes in its adjacent restaurant, and a broad selection of beers, ales and wines. The owners pride themselves on a warm, traditional atmosphere and their welcoming staff.
The S’oak is a popular pre-club venue on Bristol Road, a short taxi ride from the city centre. Located close to the university campus, the bar is very popular with a student crowd.
DJs play in the bar on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights, and there are a variety of quizzes, live acoustic and jazz nights and pay-per-view sports matches hosted throughout the rest of the week. The bar is open-plan, with contemporary décor and a state of the art sound system. Meals, cocktails, wines and coffees are also served.
For connoisseurs of real ale, Birmingham CAMRA recommend sixteen pubs in the city. Voted CAMRA’s Pub of the Year in 2005 and 2006 was The Wellington on Bennetts Hill in the city centre. The bar boasts a selection of more than two and a half thousand different ales, and special ales can be brewed on request. The bar is open plan, but the structure of the chic, white, modern building allows for separate seating areas. The bar is open until midnight every night, and customers are welcome to bring their own food.
The Bartons Arms, on High Street, and The Anchor, on Bradford Street, have both also been recommended by Birmingham CAMRA.
The Living Room is a chain of cocktail bars with branches in all the major UK cities, including Manchester, London, Oxford and Edinburgh. The Birmingham bar is located in the spacious top floor of Regency Wharf 2 on Broad Street, and affords panoramic views of the city centre. The bar has the brand’s usual relaxed yet prestigious ambience, with chillout music and ‘lounge’ seating, and tends to attract a middle-aged, professional clientele. There is also a restaurant, serving meals and snacks, with seating for almost two hundred people.
The bar has been open since 2001 and was recently awarded Retail Brand of the Year at the Flavour Bar Awards. The Birmingham branch is open until 2am from Wednesday to Saturday, closing an hour earlier on Mondays, and open until midnight on Sundays.
Zinc Bar is a chain with other branches in Glasgow and Manchester. The Birmingham branch is found on the increasingly fashionable Broad Street, with a designer minimalist interior and a spiral staircase leading from the DJ area downstairs to the cocktail bar on the upper floor. Zinc prides itself on a wide selection of traditional and unique cocktails, and creates drinks to order. Prices are higher than the average, but with waitress service and an impressive drinks menu, this is not proving to be a problem!
The Old Inn is a fourteenth-century, Grade II listed, public house based on High Street, just ten minutes walk from the Bullring shopping complex. As the oldest pub in the city, reputed to have once been owned by King Henry VIII, the bar offers a slice of history alongside quality pub food, traditional English dishes in its adjacent restaurant, and a broad selection of beers, ales and wines. The owners pride themselves on a warm, traditional atmosphere and their welcoming staff.
The S’oak is a popular pre-club venue on Bristol Road, a short taxi ride from the city centre. Located close to the university campus, the bar is very popular with a student crowd.
DJs play in the bar on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights, and there are a variety of quizzes, live acoustic and jazz nights and pay-per-view sports matches hosted throughout the rest of the week. The bar is open-plan, with contemporary décor and a state of the art sound system. Meals, cocktails, wines and coffees are also served.
Entertainment