Cherry Reds

This is one of central Birmingham’s hidden gems! The bar itself is in a fantastic location if you are in Grand Central or New Street and combine that with one of the best breakfast’s in the city you have one of my favourite brunch locations.
Remember there is seating upstairs if downstairs is full and take your time to look at the menu as if you chose the wrong thing you will have food envy.

Relaxed and laid back with good food and friendly service. I am struggling to find fault in Cherry Reds.
Myself and a friend went for a late breakfast before heading shopping earlier today. I love the vibe of this place and the no nonsense approach the menu and restaurant has. The food and coffee is all a decent price and all tastes and looks lovely. I had the full English that was served with a mountain of brown bread, runny eggs, good quality bacon and a great sausage.
One final thing that needs a mention is the music being played… whoever is picking the playlist here needs to send me a link to their Spotify. Perfect background music selections that are upbeat but not overpowering.
A city centre location packed full of personality with local charm and great food… YES to Cherry Reds.

Part coffee shop, part eatery, and part brass taps, as most of Brum already knows, Cherry Reds is the city’s café of cool. The city centre café is the second location for this most excellent coffee stop and bar. Cherry Reds is the type of place where you can start and end your day, opening at 8:30am and closing as late as 1am. The café offers breakfast all day as well as sandwiches and burgers, all served until 10pm. Alcohol is available starting at 10am, and a full bar is stocked with rotating draught, bottles, spirits, and wine. The café occupies a two story corner diagonally from Brewdog and is a good choice to start or end your Friday/​Saturday night. Upstairs and downstairs feature comfortable couches or more traditional tables. When the place is especially packed they open up a bar upstairs for drinks. Fast and free WIFI is available for customers.
Having recently moved to the UK and Birmingham, I decided on a recent visit to indulge in a full English breakfast, vegetarian style. That’s the ‘hearty veggie’ for £6 with sausage from Linda McCartney Foods, grilled halloumi, a fried egg, beans, mushrooms, toast, and a hash brown. The portion was huge, and despite my best efforts (and having skipped a meal earlier), I could not finish the plate. The items were cooked perfectly, although I could have done with less of the halloumi, which was saltier than some varieties I’ve tried before. I also shared some ‘American style’ pancakes with my wife, which were some of the best I’ve had on the island. I washed it down with a cappuccino, prepared as expertly as one could hope.
Since that first visit I’ve made it a point to try some of the fantastic brews on tap. Cherry Reds carries a standard list of draught beers and rotating guest taps and makes a point to balance traditional ales and lagers with some exceptional ciders. Cherry Reds also holds events upstairs regularly, so check fliers or the chalkboard for the latest happenings. With a substantial menu of food and drinks as well as amenities, Cherry Reds is the perfect city centre spot to grab a bite, meet up with some friends, or get work done.

Cherry Reds was the perfect place for me to wind down after a difficult day.
I was sad that I hadn’t managed to make it here for breakfast, as I understand that they do a very good vegan breakfast, so I was glad to be able to pop in for a quick dinner.
Their menu’s great — there’s plenty of choice for everyone, with the usual offerings of burgers, fish and chips, and such, but also a great deal of more creative dishes such as ‘pork loin on chorizo and kale bubble & squeak with apple gravy’ or ‘honey & mustard salmon fillet on sweet potato, wilted spinach, red pepper & courgette’. They seem to have plenty of vegetables so that makes me happy, and they’ve very much ensured that us veggies/​vegans have some options too.
They also seem to have a flexible, accomodating approach, with a very comprehensive ‘allergen menu’ which highlights allergens in their dishes. I feel like Cherry Reds really care about their customers.
I just wanted something very simple, so ordered a jacket potato, with homemade falafel, fresh salsa and houmous. It arrived quickly, and was delicious, just what I needed. And at £4.50, it was a fantastic bargain.
Aside from all this cool food stuff, Cherry Reds have an amazing range of drinks. There’s plenty of real ales, including lots of porters/​stouts, fruit beers, wheat beers and sour beers. It really is an impressive drinks menu.
There’s plenty of spirits too, with a good choice of gins and rums. I had a double of William Chase (it had been one of those days), and I noticed a few gins on the bar that weren’t on the menu — always a good sign.
The décor is quirky and vintage, there was a nice atmosphere — busy and bustling without being boisterous or noisy, and I had a good window seat upstairs with plenty of people watching opportunity.
I’d love to go back to Cherry Reds. I’d be happy coming to Birmingham more often, knowing that it’s here, with plenty of food and drinks to keep me happy. In fact you could probably build a weekend away, centered on Cherry Reds, particularly if you’re a beer/​ale lover. You’d really only need to leave the pub to sleep!

I really like Cherry Reds; even though I do not live in Birmingham I have visited quite a few times as I make a point of going here. I took my three colleagues here for breakfast as I knew they did a variety of things.
I love the quirky décor, and that the food is served in lovely old china, like your granny might have had. The tables and chairs are all different too.
I had a vegan breakfast butty, which was several Linda McCartney sausages on granary bread with added fried tofu. The tofu had a very flavoursome taste and a delicate texture. Not sure how they cooked it but I wish I could steal the recipe!
My colleagues had a white bagel with jam, some granary toast and butter and a scrambled egg with chive sandwich. No complaints, and decaf tea available. I had a flat white, which was pretty tasty and set me up for the day.
In evenings I know they have a good drinks selection, with organic lager, guest keg and real ales, some Belgian beers and interesting softs and cocktails. Something for everyone food wise; meat, fish, veg and vegan :)

I miss you Cherry Reds.

Cosy place for a bevy or too! :-) Nice vibes, great choice of beers! Querky place to hang out!

This place can be very crowded because it’s so good!
They have a great choice of beers and the barmen seem to know what they are talking about!
The vintage-​like décor is matched by the china in which they serve your cake (yes, there are cakes, and they are really good!)
I really like this place, it’s not pretentious and it’s in a great location.

What a fantastic find this was. Thank you Unilocal!
We were looking for a place that serves breakfast all day and happened on Cherry Reds. The website is cute as a button and food pictured promising. As two Americans right off the ship, we were happily surprised with the selection and quality of the menu. There are a ton of vegetarian and vegan options to boot, including a very tasty veg sausage.
I ordered a cappuccino, regular pancakes (stack of 3) with maple syrup, and a side of scrambled eggs and hash brown. The eggs and hash brown were cooked and seasoned to perfection. While the pancakes were thicker than traditional American fare, we absolutely loved them. The portion is huge. One order is plenty for two or three people to share. I love the coco powder sprinkled on top of the cappuccino.
My husband ordered a traditional English breakfast combo with veg sausage. It included cherry tomatoes, pan fried cheese, veg sausages, buttered toast, and baked beans. We’re both partial to the sweeter, thicker sauced beans (like Bush’s Baked Beans), but overall enjoyed the plate. He tried to help me on the pancakes. We made a valiant effort but still had leftovers.
The décor inside is wonderfully quaint. Lots of fun hodge-​podge seating and art with soft lighting. It brings to mind a Parisian bistro. Wifi is free, which is an added perk and the location is very walkable. Nice clean restrooms that are handicap accessible.
We’ll be back for sure!

This was my second visit here which Shantell S and we specifically came to order food — the falafel, halloumi and roasted veg burger. We’d seen it on the menu before and made a plan to visit again.
We arrived on a Saturday and unsurprisingly the place was busy. We found a seat upstairs by the board games and looked at the menu even though we both knew what we wanted.
Top bar was closed so I walked downstairs and ordered for the both of us, we had some smoothies each — passion fruit and bumbleberry. I thought at first they would be freshly made and was a little disappointed to be handed a bottle and a glass of ice.
There was a 30 minute wait for food which was expected.
When it arrived, admittedly we were both excited for it. We paid the extra for the sweet potato wedges which are just sooo good.
The burger itself was a bit of a disappointment sadly.
It was presented well and it looked good but it’s let down was ironically the main contender of the dish — the falafel. That thing is huge, to big in fact. It’s like someone has taken a normal sized burger (bun and all) and shoved between the bread, cheese and so on. It was too dry, I don’t know if they make the falafels there but maybe have a pocket of sauce inside? Or even on the bun, the other veggie burger that’s sans halloumi comes with salsa which would be a great touch.
By know means have I written off the place, I just won’t be having the falafel burger again. Probably try one of the meat based burgers and add some halloumi.
Because of the mushroom and halloumi sandwich I had prior to this visit it still gets 4 stars. I feel you can’t base your entire review of a place on just one item from there menu.

I love, love, love Cherry Reds. It’s a really comfortable, cosy place with a surprisingly large amount of seating across multiple levels, large windows looking onto John Bright street and a really nice room that can be reserved for private functions. The décor is funky and charming with lots of vintage-​y knick-​knacks and signs along the walls. It’s a great spot to hang out with friends and family with something on the menu for everyone.
They have so much (generously portioned) food and drink available, a really amazing brunch menu and very good coffee. I find their prices incredibly reasonable for a city centre establishment. For around £4 you can choose from an array of choices to be put into a sandwich, wrap, or piled on top of a large buttered jacket potato (I usually go for the falafel). Their breakfasts are massive and you can swap out any item for something else for free (I usually replace black pudding with fried halloumi… mmm…)
Really well stocked bar, with interesting lagers and fruit beers on draught, and a massive selection of bottles that you might not find elsewhere.

Cherry reds is a mish mash of second hand furniture and pre-​loved objects and items. Its best described as grandmothers living room. Being on a new developed stretch of retail units it has great depth of character and a charm about the place which is like stepping into a time capsule. You wouldn’t know that it was a new establishment. Great atmosphere and mix of people here.
It has a great interior setting mixing shabby chic realness and mish mash wall art/​objects. I also loved the his and hers bathroom sinks. Blue sink for men and pink for women. Not sure if this was intentionally but its kinda cute idea in a communal area of the toilets… I didn’t eat at this place but I did have a drink or three… they serve a vast array of craft beers and ciders. If your unsure on craft beers don’t be afraid to ask to taste or sample something.
Ample seating around the place the ground floor is very spacious. With occasional out door seating. There is also a second floor where they have a beautiful huge Chandelier. A great place for groups of people to come to just after work. This place has a great positive vibe about itself. Its close to most carparks in city and next door to new street station. This place can only get more and more popular. Keep up the great work! This place is a keeper. :)

Adorably cute. It feels so homely and puts a smile on my face every time I go. The only quibble is there is not always somewhere to sit but alas I don’t mind standing when it all looks so pretty.

I might have to come back to this one and sample it for a proper review, as at the moment my only analysis was «cramped, and the coffee was far too bitter».

I love Cherry Reds as it fills a gap that i was struggling with recently. I needed somewhere open as late as a bar, that would have the same facilities as a coffee house (beer and tea) that had wifi. Cherry Reds fits that perfectly.
Recently I had to meet with a client quite late in the evening due to their hours, it involved, laptops, internet, tea for me and beer for the client. Now I am aware that many coffee places now open a bit later in the centre of Birmingham but this wasn’t quite late enough for what I needed. The only place that I could really think of that fits this bill is Cherry Reds. It was perfect for what I needed.
This is not the only plus point of Cherry Reds, perhaps I have driven that point home a little too much in the early parts of this review.
The food, albeit mainly snacky food is great, good burgers and sandwiches. I have eaten here a couple of times and whilst it doesn’t do anything outstanding, there is a great home made feel to it all.
The décor inside is great, its a mish mash of quaint things that have been found in various shops. It has a retro sort of feel to it, almost like an elderly relatives living room but without the Werthers Originals everywhere. Its cute in any sense.
Being an independent is does what so many of them do best, it sources interesting lagers, beers and other drinks from unusual places so there is always something new to try.
It has the facilities to do quite a lot with itself and whilst I dont think its the type of place for you to go and party, you could still have an enjoyable few hours there indulging in the drinks on offer.
I recommend you try Cherry Reds for somewhere different to go. I foresee that it will thrive even more once the train station is open, it would be interesting to see how well it maintains its uniqueness then.

So we know where all your nans old furniture has gone, it’s all in Cherry Reds!
This charming bar/​café located near New Street Station manages to cater for absolutely every type of eating/​drinking/​hanging out with friends event you can think of and, against all odds, does them all pretty darn well.
The food has a wholesome home cooked approach which, when combined with the furniture, is bound to make even the coldest hearts warm up and the menu has something no matter what time of day you want to eat (breakfast is particularly good).
There’s an equally wide ranging drinks selection with plenty of world beers to choose from and everything is reasonably priced. Cherry Reds is a real solid go to spot for the area.

Brilliant and friendly staff plus the best breakfast bagel known to man. That’s really all you need to know.
Where else can you get sausages, halloumi and egg in a perfectly toasted bagel. Magnificent.

Well this is a pleasant surprise, this little coffee shop cum bar has a lovely atmosphere which I think is partly because of the staff and partly because of the décor, it has a real continental feel and an amazing variety of beers, the Bristol brewed barley wine is very moorish but beware, at 10% it packs a punch too.
It is truly shabby chic with the coffee being served in a 1970’s cup I swear my mum had the same set. I love finding these little gems and I am looking forward to visiting again and taking hubby for a drink next time we are in town but I think next time 2 beers is my limit.
It’s not a grumble but I must mention the toilets are up two flights of stairs although there is a ground floor lav for disabled.
A cute place and great for people watching too.

I could have sworn I’d reviewed this before… anyway, I popped in today for a Christmas market, where they had used all their available space upstairs for stalls and Christmas related workshops, as well as selling tea and cake.
They also hold an event once a month called BrumFu, watching Kung Fu movies on a Sunday afternoon and it’s free!
Downstairs in the main bar area, it is made to feel warm and cosy by the soft furnishings. It almost seems like you are sat in a living room rather that a pub. I reckon it’s a good place for a Sunday afternoon drink:)

Is it a café? Is it a Bar? Is it a Pub? Nope its my nan’s front room! This probably says a lot more about my childhood than it does anything else.
I only went into the main room at the entrance but I’m aware from Unilocal that there are other parts to Cherry’s (Look at me, the first time I’m at a place and I’ve already given it a tag.)
It’s got a 1970s style side board with the condiments in which is straight out of my grandparents house.
speedy wifi and comfy chairs are my top requirements for venues in Birmingham. I’ve got my priorities sorted.
I had a lovely hot chocolate with cinnamon and erm chilli which was really nice.
It’s nice to have a piece of Kings Heath in central Birmingham and this is it!