Leon

Really quick, affordable and healthy food! They do a brilliant power shake (banana oats etc) and a really great breakfast menu. Plus it’s located right at the center of Birmingham, in Grand Central!

Wanted to pick up some up some healthy food quickly at New Street Station and I couldn’t have picked a better place.
I went for the vegetarian quinoa and whilst being pretty simple in terms of ingredients, it was made up for in taste.
To add to that the staff were super friendly and helpful and went out of their way to help me make a choice.
Leon is one of very few places in Birmingham where you can quickly grab something that isn’t smothered in grease!

Very boring salads … only good for rabbits. Bland food across the board.
Generally there’s nothing fantastic here. If you want a decent salad go elsewhere. It’s a million miles more enjoyable to eat than a LEON salad. Otherwise the portions are rather small and uninspiring sorry to say. I’ve been back many times and I’ve never been impressed.
Overall this place is just a bit of a non event.

The redevelopment scheme of Birmingham New Street has resulted in many new and exciting food options both in the station and in Grand Central above. LEON is one of these, having landed in greater Birmingham with a focus on natural, fresh fast food. The concept has been around for over a decade but is relatively small at 33 stores throughout the United Kingdom. While LEON is a fast food restaurant, they are out to prove that it can be both delicious and healthy.
The menu runs the gamut between meat based dishes, gluten-​free items, vegetarian, and vegan. They have developed a menu icon system to show what category the dish falls under, for example if it is low in saturated fat, or dairy free. There are even healthier versions of treats like brownies and cookies available. This breadth has created a full menu that has something for everyone. As a corporate entity, LEON is also focused on environmental impact and responsible sourcing. I applaud big businesses that take these considerations, and LEON is serious with 83% of their suppliers fair trade and a commitment in place to cutting down on packaging and waste.
LEON New Street Station opens every morning at 6:30AM (8AM on Sunday) to serve their breakfast. Their ‘all-​day’ menu starts at 11AM and runs until closing time at 10PM. Breakfast is a great value, as you can get a breakfast item and a coffee for £3.95. These breakfast items include egg pots, muffin sandwiches, yoghurt, porridge, toast, and even a power shake. Their mushroom and egg muffin is a morning-​time vegetarian favourite of mine that comes with portobello mushrooms, spinach, a free range egg, and their house-​made ketchup. After breakfast, LEON breaks out their full menu, which is centered on hot boxes, salads, wraps, super pots, and burgers. Their vegetarian sweet potato falafel hot box is a play on traditional falafel, this time baked and made with sweet potatoes and chickpeas over a bed of rice. The flavours of the hot box are definitely on point, and the dish feels very healthy. My current favourite though is the halloumi burger. When I first moved to England, I was not prepared for the love of the cheese that has taken the country by storm. In the past four months I’ve tasted ghastly halloumi preparations that range from rubber to fetid sock. LEON has redeemed my faith in it though, with a patty that is grilled, not fried, and is served between a sesame seed bun with tomato, cucumber, pickle relish, rocket and aioli. The pickle relish and aioli are the surprise stars here, and really elevate a grilled piece of cheese to the next level, all under 500 calories. LEON is currently running a promotion where you can buy a burger, their oven baked waffle fries, and a bottled beer for £8.95. Rounding out the menu are their drinks, including filter coffee, espresso drinks, and juicy water. I love the goji berry & passion fruit juicy water, which I usually gulp down almost instantly.
With my love affair for their menu, the only thing keeping them from five stars in my book is the quality of their preparation. As far as I know, much of the food arrives to this location pre-​made, with the exception of items like rice, which are cooked fresh. The assembly of the items also varies by time of day, and whoever is currently putting the food together. I’ve purchased a halloumi burger here before that had the wrong condiments placed on it, as well as a muffin that was missing some ingredients. The till employees are all excellent in their level of service however, even when the set-​up gets hectic at key times during the day. As with many other fast food joints in the station, prices are increased if you eat inside. If you are in New Street Station and are in need of an alternative from greasier fast food fare, stop in LEON for a fresh and fast treat.

Leon is my favorite fast food joint in Birmingham. Its location in the New Street station makes for a convenient quick bite while on the move. The pricing is different for eat in vs takeaway like most food spots in the station. Portion sizes and quality are the same, so I usually choose takeaway to save a bit.
I always order the sweet potato falafel — it’s delicious, filling and fresh. While the food may be prepared differently from time to time (it is fast food after all), it is always a great value for fresh fast food. The falafel is served with a cabbage superfood salad, brown rice, fresh herbs and a lemon wedge for drizzling. It is filling and the taste is something I find myself craving from time to time. I was underwhelmed by the lemon bar for dessert, but have also heard great great things about the Haloumi burger from Seth S.
If you’re looking for great, fresh alternatives to a burger and fries, check this place out.

I think it’s important to remember that Leon is a fast food place, not a restaurant. For all the nice seating, cool branding and healthy (ish) food, it’s realistically somewhere people go to grab a salad before getting on a train.
Don’t take that as a bad thing– sometimes we just need to adjust our expectations! I’m delighted that Leon is at the train station, giving me more options for something to quickly grab if I’m about to go on a journey or if I’m passing through.
I’ve been a couple of times now. Leon cleverly has two entrances so you can’t skip the train barrier. The first time I had a halloumi wrap to eat on the train. It was very well packaged so the sauce didn’t drip everywhere and I could eat it with some elegance. The second time was today when everywhere else was ridiculously busy. My halloumi burger was really a bun with halloumi, tomato and mayo, not a burger, but I’m not complaining. For £5 there was lots of halloumi and the ingredients tasted fresh.
Edd had a chicken club hot box which was full of rice, salad and chicken, though not enough chorizo. We were pleased with how quickly our food came to us too.

Really love this great new addition to Birmingham! Eat in or take away, they do a selection of burgers wraps and delicious Cous cous salads, hot lemon chicken or meatballs. Also their range of soft drink are refreshing. They do coffee to but I’ve not tired it. They do a small range of cakes on offer too, but this isn’t their main focus. I like the relaxed atmosphere compared to a lot of fast food places in town.

Absolutely terrible food! Nothing is fresh, all made off site and reheated. The green curry tastes and smells of vomit, and the manager agreed. The fries are dry and come cold. The burgers are terrible, look like someone sat on them. Even though the chicken is cooked in the factory, once customer when I was in had raw pieces in their salad box.
Avoid, avoid, avoid!

So right now I’m sat in Leon, after kind of writing it off a month ago I thought I’d give it another go. There’s an entrance on each side meaning you can get to it without needing to go through a ticket barrier. I’ve had a coffee here before, it wasn’t the best but today I’m opting for the Greek yoghurt pot — healthy day.
I was willing to pay the extra to sit in but they charged me the £1.90.
I never realised it before but there is a full blown kitchen in operation behind the coloured glass wall. This means whatever cooked meal you order is made fresh, not sitting around like the last to be picked for the P. E team. Giving me hope that if I order an egg it will be runny.
The first time I came in they seemed really stressed out, one of the menu boards fell down and nearly hit the woman running the espresso machine. Things still seem hectic but like they’re in control, the odd mistake gets made but they’ve literally gone above and beyond. Today for example as I sit here typing this up; enjoying my spot against the wall. With the music playing it’s like I’m in the middle of New York — I love this style of music.
The Irish woman who took my order (I must take names! I think it’s Kelly) stared at me and realised I hadn’t yet had my yoghurt. She flew over with my spoon and yoghurt apologising profusely — I’ve worked in hospitality before it’s hard to keep track let alone when the business is open from both ends! I was totally fine with it but she went out of her way to get me a voucher for a free breakfast meal deal next time I’m in. Now that is customer service. Everyone in the new grand central goes above and beyond to do the best they can, it’s really refreshing.
So thank you Kelly and the rest of the team at Leon you have renewed my expectations in you. You don’t get 5 stars because of the complimentary breakfast, you get 5 stars because I love your ambience, the fresh food is delicious and your staff give a damn when a mistake had been made. That’s how you get and keep customers.