Briar Rose

Much like a Burrito, I’m going to serve this review in a wrap:
They do a great Burrito,
it’s hard to find a seat though
and at lunch time it’s heaving
but if you feel like leaving
don’t be so hasty
because the Burrito is tasty
and once ordered service is prompt
and in 10 minutes the Burreatz is chomped
and once you leave you’ll be so glad that you’ve gone
five stars for the Burrito but for being so packed it loses one.

Quite a good place of whenever you go wherever it’s a quiet drink or a night out with a group of friends. Prices for drinks are general price as the same as any other pub in the area.
Has quite a good atmosphere on the weekends and such.
One downturn is the security on the door are so paranoid of when a group of people come in on a Saturday night. They accuse everyone of being drunk when they obviously ain’t. Well it’s a pub at the end of the day so people are going to drink.
It does get busy on Friday and Saturday evenings so get in early if you need to get a seat especially for food.

I walked in and realised it was a JD Wetherspoons.
I had a large Full English. At £4.70, its good value, but once you try to prod the sausages with fork and the fork doesn’t pierce the spongy sausage, you realise that its really cheap ones.
The table I sat at was really sticky too. It looked unclean, which is the minimum I expect from anywhere I go to, especially in the city centre.
2 bacon, 2 sausages, 2 eggs, 3 hash browns, half a tomato, 1 mushroom, 1 ½ round of toast.
It was an OK breakfast. It was served in a very timely manner, its just a shame it was at a dirty table and cheap ingredients. That said, it was only £4.70.

Although I usually avoid weatherspoons as much as possible I used to frequent the briar rose on a regular basis after work. The ales are usually of a high quality and change often, they also had a very good selection of whisky (downsized as of late but still good). They often have ‘festivals’ for ales, gins, craft beer etc which always have a good selection and good information. The food and service is what you expect from a weatherspoons so as long as you know what to expect then there isn’t much to moan about. A little music in the venue wouldn’t go a miss, as the building is very large it can feel a bit odd in quieter periods

Out of all the Wetherspoons in Birmingham, this one is the jewel in the discount chain’s crown. Obviously, it is still a Spoon pub (so you know what you’re getting), but it has several things going for it that make it a more pleasant experience than it’s competitors.
Firstly, let’s talk location. Being slap bang in the middle of Bennetts Hill (just up from New Street), it offers a convenient place to meet or grab a pre-​meal drink that won’t cost the earth. I popped in for a quick one before meeting Jon B. at Bodega yesterday and was reminded why I used to love it so much when I was a student. A decent pint of Cider was £2.35. Now, with Birmingham’s reputation getting better and better — drinks prices are rising. It’s amazing to get a pint in certain places for under £3.40; so I was suitably impressed.
So location and prices, A OK! Let’s talk design. Rather than the bland and lifeless design of some of the pubs in this chain, this one has a focus on animal print (which makes it a little more interesting). Yes, you still have your «cut and paste» bar (looking like every other Spoons in the world), but with a selection of tables, booths and high seats near the bar — it’s got a nice layout to maximise seating space.
I also have had call to grab a quick lunch or a life saving breakfast (you know what I’m talking about — the morning after the night before) and the food here just seems to be… better. Fresher and tastier than some of the other branches. The staff here are mixed. 9 times out of 10 you’ll get a friendly member of staff, but they do get rushed off their feet here and sometimes might be a little curt on occasion.
So yeah. If you’re in town and meeting someone for a cheeky pint or just want a cheap spot to grab some lunch, I can recommend this Wetherspoons venue over the others on offer in the city.

It’s a Wetherspoons, and it’s just off the main road through the city centre, so easy to get too, and quite big.
I like to avoid it at weekends as it’s incredibly busy and rowdy, however in the day and week day evenings, it’s not a bad pub. The service if you order food is acceptable, but the tables are often a bit sticky. So are the people at weekends ;)
Meh, it’s OK for what it is, and they do have a few real ales on tap which change regularly, but Birmingham has so many other great pubs nearby, so usually it’s a place to go when you’re feeling cheap, or fancy a drink when you’re meeting friends who wouldn’t like a beer focussed pub like The Wellington.

The briar rose is a wetherspoons. We all known what to expect with a wetherspoons; well priced drinks, a standard selection of food, often accompanied by a drink and some ale on offer.
Of the wetherspoons pubs in brum, this is probably my favourite. It has a nice crowd, the staff are always polite and I think it has the best wetherspoons food in the city centre. If you’re after chain pubs in the city centre, you could do a lot worse than this one. Definitely the diamond in wetherspoons Birmingham crown.

Would never be the sort of place I go to but have been for breakfast twice now, when being treated.
It does the job. You just grab a table, make a not of the number, order at the bar and a cheap and cheerful hot meal arrives with your choice of drink, in my case, passable coffee.
Traditional brekkie just £3.19.

Bargin breakfast!
£3.10 for a Traditional — Bacon, sausage, egg, beans, grilled tomatoe, hash browns and toasts!!! #Stuffed!

Whenever I’m on a «works» night out or something similar, this is the sort of place I always end up meeting everybody at (and occasionally end up leaving under a cloud of drunken shame). However, I don’t mean that as a good thing. I mean that it’s the sort of place that’s bland and cheap enough to appeal to a wide range of tastes, but ends up being so non threatening it bores the life out of me.
It’s not a bad pub — in fact I’ll give the staff their due as it seems pretty well run and they seem to be doing their job properly, which is more than can be said for some pubs. The layout and décor is quite nice too, it’s just that there’s nothing there that makes me want to stay any longer than forty five minutes or so. The best pubs will have me propping up the bar as long as my wallet, the landlord or my blagging skills can stand — this one has the opposite affect. Ideally, I’d rather pubs like this didn’t have such a strangle hold on British night life.
So in conclusion, if you do have to go, make sure you have an escape route in place before you set foot in the door.

This pub is part of the hotel, but you don’t have to book a room. Situated on Bennett’s Hill, opposite Bodega, this is very relaxing and it also has a nice welcoming atmosphere. Both food and drinks are available.
I tried the traditional breakfast for just £2.99, which was lovely. But you can also get other food varieties if your after a burger for example. (Burger and soft drink £3.99).
They have a lot of drink choices available, and 1 thing I remember is the value for money. Ie, 2 cocktail pitchers for only £12!!! Which is very good value, perfect for a cheap date…
It’s very easy to spend a lot of money in here, but well worth a visit or two

One of a handful of Wetherspoons pubs situated throughout the city, this is probably the one I frequent the most. Its central position, tucked away from the high street up Bennett’s Hill, means it’s the perfect spot to visit for cheap pre-​drinks wherever your final destination may be.
Although the magical whimsy of its Briar Rose fairytale inspiration isn’t exactly conveyed inside, it’s still a perfectly pleasant setting. It’s relatively small, tables spread across just one floor, which imbues it with a comfortable charm that is lost in most Wetherspoons pubs.
As in all ‘Spoons’, the drinks prices are a big draw and the food’s cheap too if you fancy a nibble. One thing that marks it out from the other pubs of its ilk in Birmingham — and the reason why it’s here — is the fact that it’s also a hotel too; so, if you’re looking for reasonably priced accommodation you can stumble to after the late night kebab, you can pre-​book a room above the pub itself and avoid the line for taxis.

The best of the Wetherspoons in Birmingham. Had a good pint of something called Wentworth Meathead, from a decent selection of ales.
Does rooms too if you need somewhere to stay! Bit rammed weekend evenings.
Named after a series of works by a painter born a little further up the street.

A decent example of the Wetherspoon’s collective located all throughout Birmingham. Spacious and pleasant inside, with a large and well-​stocked bar staffed by friendly staff.
The Rose is very popular with all manner of punters, although unlike a few other ‘spoons in town, in my experience you don’t get much trouble going down here. The fact it gets so busy means you’ll often fnd it hard to get a table here, but if you’re lucky you’ll grab yourself a sofa and be able to enjoy the atmosphere in comfort.
The Briar Rose also has a hotel aspect built into it, offering overnight accommodation. I’ve not used it myself, but a friend of mine who was visiting town said that the rooms are very reasonable for the price.

There are ¾ ‘spoons pubs in brum and this is my favourite. Apart from the toilets being so far undergound that is!
Usual good selection of real ales, food ok. Always stop for 1 or 2 when in brum.

The Briar Rose is one of the expanding range of Weatherspoon Hotels. This one is extremely well located in the centre of Birmingham and good value at £44 for a single room.
The staff seemed to be tied to as script and on some sort of a go-​slow. Despite the fact I had pre-​booked it seemed to take ages to get the key to my room. Breakfast (which is taken in the bar) also took ages to order, but arrived surprisingly quickly and was hot and reasonably tasty. Checking out also took ages, and I had to wait whilst they transferred the breakfast food bill over on to my bill, and this took several minutes. The breakfast seems to have a standard charge of £4.20, whatever you order, and this seemed to the cause problems.
On the bright side the rooms seem to have been recently refurbished. They were a good size, comfortable, with a flat-​screen TV and a nice bathroom with an excellent shower: an excellent standard for the price.
Recommended, shame about the staff.

This is a lovely pub which does a good variety of cheap food and with it’s nice central location is a great place to meet up and start your night out in Birmingham.
The staff are usually friendly although when dealing with food order they have got a tendency to get things wrong, something that they don’t always deal with in the most polite of ways.
That said there is a good selection of beer available at the bar and as it is all reasonably priced, you won’t have an extortionate visit.
The pub can get very busy straight after work and seats can quickly run out. It is worthwhile getting there early!

I love the Briar Rose! So many of my nights out have started at this pub! It was the first in the city to introduce a smoking ban, which is one the main reasons I started going here!
This Wetherspoons has a slightly ‘classier’ feel about it and a much nicer vibe that the Square Peg just up the road. Being a Wetherspoons the drinks prices are the same accorss the board, so you always know what you’re going to pay.
Food here is delicious — one of the better Wetherspoons I’ve been to. Obviously no music is played here, but it is still a great pub with a fantastic atmosphere most nights of the week!
The toilets are downstairs in the pub and are always very clean and nice smelling — quite an important point to make!
The queues at the bar are never huge, which is a bonus, and the pub is quite tastefully decorated.
The pub itself offers accommodation, but having never stayed there, I couldn’t fairly comment on it.
The Briar is situated just off New Street in the city centre. It’s lightly out of the way in that respect, but this means you can usually grab a table on a night out or if you’re popping in for food.

Wetherspoons pub with a lodge upstairs. Usual menu, although they could have at least left the lasagne in the microwave long enough to make it hot.
The 3 stars are more for the price of the drinks. It was wine week when I was there, meaning that all the wines (inc guest wines) were at house prices. Now, normally that would be a bit of a saving, but when house prices are £7.49 a bottle Well, I felt like I’d died and gone to heaven. For those who like ale this place is also fab. A million different ales and a board telling you all about them and what the guest ales will be for the next week. And they probably cost about 10p a pint or something (I didn’t verify this — but it’s got to be a lot cheaper than anywhere else). The bar staff are nice, the clientele more bearable than at many of the bars in Birmingham. And you can go out and still have money left for’t’ bus ride home. Fab.

The Briar Rose is one of the new Wetherspoon ‘Lodges’ which feature accommodation above a Wetherspoon’s bar or pub. The aim is to provide simple, modern, good-​value accommodation in central locations in major UK towns and cities.
The accommodation itself is on the well-​established Ibis model: a simple en-​suite room, with simple décor, and basic but adequate facilities. There’s no room service, but food and drink can be bought in the Wetherspoon’s below. The Briar Rose is situated in a refurbished «bankers’ classical meets art-​deco» style office building, with a large bar on the ground floor. We booked a triple room for a week-​end.
In terms of our stay, we found:
Pros:
— incredibly central — between New St and Colmore Row
— unbeatable value — £20 per night each (£60 between three)
— clean (not spotless, but fine)
— surprisingly comfy beds and pillows
— spacious, bright room with high ceilings
— in-​room tea and coffee making facilities, hairdryer
— easily booked on-​line
Cons:
— no double-​glazing, so some street noise (little traffic, but the odd drunken reveller until 2am. So probably less of a problem on week-​days than at week-​ends)
— no air-​conditioning
— not much privacy from the the flats opposite (I loathe net curtains, but it needs something)
— reception was a bit too casual for my liking, but efficient enough
— a mix-​up meant the room wasn’t ready at 2pm as stated, but this was sorted out quickly by the friendly and helpful cleaner
— breakfast not included, but good-​value breakfasts available from the Wetherspoons below.
I’d happily stay there again (so long as the weather wasn’t too sultry), but would try for a rear-​facing room. Once I’d fallen asleep I slept like a log, as th bed was very comfy.
I might look elsewhere for breakfast, though, which was the only real downer. Although the meal itself was absolutely fine (veggie cooked breakfast for £2.10) and the service friendly, they serve beer at 9am on a Sunday morning, so attracting very late night revellers in various states of inebriation. (Two blokes were actually snorting ‘poppers’ as they were drinking…) They were all harmless enough and friendly in a drunken sort of way, but the management ought to think seriously about the wisdom of serving alcohol so early on a Saturday and Sunday.
It’s hard to decide how many stars. I think:
— five stars for sheer value
— a safe three stars for the accommodation (four had the room been ready)
— breakfast experience was definitely two stars.
So three stars overall, this time.