Chilly Billy’s

I seriously cannot believe this place only has 3 stars. Situated on the corner of the indoor market (so it’s counted as a fixture of the outdoor market), this stall has the weirdest and most wonderful bargains every single week.
Me and Dan G. have visited the market faithfully most weeks for around 6 years. No trip is complete without popping our head into Chilly Billy’s and seeing what they have. In terms of cold foods, expect frozen veg, pies, pizzas and all manner of convenience food for an extremely reasonable price (we recently managed to bag Chicago town stuffed crust takeaway pizza’s for 50p each).
The real gems, however, are the one off items. We have found Tabasco hot sauce at 50p a bottle, Biore face cleaning products (normally around £5 — £10) for 50p and regularly buy our wraps here for 25p each. There can anything from «Straight to wok» noodles to posh chocolate on here week to week, but if you see it — pick it up! There’s no guarantee it’ll be there the next week (or even half an hour after you’ve seen it).
They also have fresh items which change week to week. Last saturday we managed to bag a dozen free range eggs for £1! Result! They normally have a good selection of cold meats, cheeses and some interesting stuff (haggis and white pudding anyone?) available.
Its’s worth knowing that the main store is on the corner of the market, but they have a secondary space on the Bullring side too. There can be some different items on the stalls, so it is worth checking out both if you have the time. The staff are friendly and helpful, but could be seen as a little brusque at times. As a regular, I always get a hello and a bit of banter; but it is a market stall, so not high glamour.
I would recommend you have a nose if you are around the market, you never know what you might find!

Situated on the Edgbaston Road side of St Martin’s Rag Market but entered from the outside rather than via the main hall, it also borders the Outdoor Market. Its dozen or so deep freezer chests mean that the focus is mainly on frozen foods, but it’s also cheerfully eclectic, with some rather curious bargains popping up from time to time. For instance, a few years ago we found a kilo of freeze dried coffee beans for five pounds. We never found them there again, but I did enjoy a particularly rocket fuelled month because of this particular bargain. Another odd bargain we found during this period was frozen pre chopped garlic, a product I was less found of.
Though Chilly Billys is a little more upmarket than the frozen foods stall in the Indoor Market, the prices still remain vastly cheaper than the prices in mainstream food outlets. You could probably fill your freezer for less than twenty pounds, unless you have an unusually big freezer that is, and every time I pass you see families buying what is obviously the bulk of the weekly shop there. There’s loads of good stuff to be found here, be it frozen meat or fish, frozen ready meals or whatever crazy things they’ve managed to acquire recently. Definitely worth a look.

Chilly Billy’s is a great little frozen food store (market stall?) on the corner of the Rag market and the open market. Whenever I’ve been on a budget I would go there and load up on goods. Their stock seems to change daily and ranges from brand named frozen goods to bulk items. usually the things will be close to their sell by date or have damaged packaging but I have never had anything from their that has given my stomach any grief.
Now when I say it is cheap that doesn’t really cover it… it is CHEAP! You can get bags full of items for next to nothing, for example I got a bag full of vegetable lasagnes for £1. A bag full, not just 2 for 1 or 50p off! They mostly have meat and fish but they do have a freezer dedicated to vegetables and veggie meals too (when they have them in stock).
They also have things like condiments and sweets and snacks and all for the same ridiculously cheap prices. Don’t be put off by it’s no frills décor, on the right day you can pick up a load of bargains.