The Birmingham food and drink scene is expanding at an amazing rate. We welcomed a lot of new restaurants and bars in 2017 but there is so much more to come! There are lots of plans in the pipeline but the list below are the ones we can definitely get excited about.
From Cuban bars, an upmarket brasserie, a martini haven and an Indian restaurant from a Michelin starred chef, we bring you what’s new and what we expect to open in 2018.
Revolucion de Cuba
The cocktail bar and restaurant chain, which has 13 restaurants all over the UK including Manchester, Aberdeen and Cardiff, has lodged plans to renovate empty premises at 8 Temple Street.
The chain specialises in “authentic Cuban food and drink” as well as exotic cocktails such as Miami Vice Tiki Royale, Fire & Exile, Scorpion and Blue Hawaiian - with the focus on rum - the spirit of choice in Cuba.
8 Temple Street B2 5BN
The Ivy
The group behind world famous restaurant The Ivy in London is gearing up to open a restaurant that “brings the familiar luxury of The Ivy”.
The restaurant group has agreed a 25-year lease on the former Austin Reed and Louis Vuitton units. The upmarket brasserie and bar will be offering “extensive all-day menus featuring the best of modern British dishes in a relaxed atmosphere”.
67-71 Temple Row B2 5LS
Dirty Martini
The former Viva Brazil restaurant site in Birmingham is to become a specialist cocktail house Dirty Martini. It will be the 11th branch in the UK. The company motto is “spirited sophistication”. It says it serves handcrafted cocktails and offers “sophisticated interiors with a spirited atmosphere that makes for an unforgettable night”.
Bennetts Hill. B2 5ST
The Head of Steam
Birmingham is to get a brand new craft beer pub – thanks to a privately-owned brewery moving into the city centre for the first time.
Camerons Brewery was established in 1865, but drinkers eager to sample a tipple will only have to wait until spring 2018 to try a pint.
The new pub will be called The Head of Steam and will have 20 keg lines with a selection of rotating craft beers, ten cask ale lines including beers and real cider from around the region.
It will move in next to Las Iguanas.
Temple Street, B2 5BG
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The Wilderness
Not a new one as such, but this much acclaimed restaurant closed its premises in Dudley Street at the end of December to prepare to open a new place in the more high profile city centre location of Bennetts Hill.
The iconic restaurant, run by Alex Claridge, is renowned in Birmingham's food and drink scene, and offers a modern British menu with unusual ingredients, some of which are foraged.
The restaurant's sous chef Louisa Ellis was recently a finalist on BBC2's MasterChef: The Professionals 2017.
Restaurants
Loki Wine
Award-winning wine merchant Loki based in Birmingham city centre will be opening another new shop in Edgbaston. Loki launched in the Great Western Arcade in 2012 and has since developed a popular following through its independent offering and wine tasting events. The shop and bar will be in Greenfield Crescent.
Greenfield Crescent B15 3AU
Fiesta del Asado
The Lasan Group is planning to open a second Fiesta del Asado restaurant in Birmingham. The new restaurant will be in Stratford Road and will also host live music nights. The group opened its first flagship Fiesta del Asado in Hagley Road in 2012 to huge critical acclaim. Billed as Birmingham’s first steak house restaurant complete with wood-fired grill, Fiesta del Asado serves up steak in rustic surroundings.
Stratford Road, Shirley, Solihull B90 4AA.
NRI by Atul Kocchar
Acclaimed Indian chef Atul Kochhar will be opening a new restaurant in the Mailbox in Easter 2018.
NRI, which stands for Not Really Indian, promises to “showcase high-quality but affordable spiced dishes that draw inspiration from the chef’s travels around the globe”. Although it hasn’t even opened yet the restaurant has already made the Harden’s Guide of top restaurants.
7 Commercial Street, B1 1RS
Basement restaurant at One Colmore Row
A new basement restaurant is to have part of the original Victorian Snow Hill railway station incorporated into the building.
The novel redevelopment underneath One Colmore Row will have elements of the substructure from the original station as well as a striking glass entrance built in Snow Hill Square.
It is not yet known which restaurant will move into the building but the glass structure is strikingly similar to the Australasia bar in Manchester, which has become a haunt for celebs in the city.
Australasia is owned by Living Ventures - the same company which owns The Alchemist and Gusto - both of which moved into the Grand Hotel building in Colmore Row.
Loungers in Moseley
After Prezzo announced it was closing in Moseley a little after a year of opening, it emerged quirky coffee shop Loungers was to take its place.
The small Loungers chain, which already has branches in Kings Heath, Harborne, Sutton Coldfield and Mere Green, has expressed an interest in the building in Alcester Road and is currently recruiting staff for it.
Alcester Road, Moseley, B13 8JL
Rock City
Group behind Nottingham’s famous Rock City gig venue is planning to open its first bar in Birmingham city centre. The Grade II-listed former Birmingham and Midland Skin Hospital building in John Bright Street, will be reopening as a Rock City bar with a full programme of live music and club nights.
71/79 John Bright Street, B1 1BL
Enjoy eating out? Check out restaurant recommendations and book on TripAdvisor and the Gourmet Society
