Yorks Espresso Bar

Fabulous cake, fabulous on tap nitro cold brew. Absolutely what I had wished for, having bookmarked this on Unilocal the week before when searching for espresso.
As it turns out this is my second visit to Yorks today. The Stevenson Street branch provided me a yummy breakfast! The coffee was just as I had remembered it at Glasgow Coffee Festival, sadly not in the fancy stemmed glass, but I’ll forgive them for that ;)
My cake was huge and superbly tasty, matcha tea with raspberry. Dense and delicious with just the right level of tang.
Staff were lovely and friendly, the store is really cool with a wee upstairs platform so you can people watch. Wish it was closer to home so I could visit more often. When in Birmingham this is a pretty handy location, close to one of the train stations and only a little walk from New Street.
Wish they were open later so I could stay longer!

A brilliant stop off on your way to work in the centre, conveniently located just outside Snow Hill. I’ll admit that I sometimes stay on my train just so that I have an excuse to visit this place.
The staff are consistently polite, friendly and up-​beat. They clearly know good coffee and the best ways to serve it — with a smile, often so rare!
What it lacks in size it makes up in knowledge, variation and service, a brilliant pick me up, long stay or casual lunch (though be aware there aren’t toilets).

Worst coffee I’ve ever tasted. So bad I’m surprised it even is coffee. I brought some back to the office and my colleagues actually had a laugh about how horrible the coffee tasted (it tastes like there is some type of sauce in there, it’s just not nice coffee at all).
I thought it may have just been a bad day for the place until a friend asked if I wanted to go a week or two later. After the same horrible flavour of the coffee we left it after a couple of sips.
Go to ⁶⁄₈ Kafe, much much much nicer. No idea how people drink this mess.

This is such a stylish coffee shop. I love the stripped back, industrial vibe, the cool display boards, the mezzanine area and the big window to sit in.
Focused on drinks rather than food, you can get a great quality coffee, tea or a cold drink. They do ‘cold brew coffee’ from a tap which is pretty exciting. I can’t say the taste was for me but it’s great to see places doing something a bit different.
I popped in on a Friday afternoon and it was almost full. Order your drinks at the bar downstairs, then head upstairs to the mezzanine and watch the world go by with a really good drink.
Staff were really friendly and efficient with a good knowledge of the products on offer.

Great place to grab a quick, quality coffee.
The inside is impeccably designed and detailed making it a good place to recharge if you’re in the area and in need of a break. Also, thanks to the addition of a mezzanine level, there are a surprising number of seats in such a small unit.
In terms of drinks it’s good, everything you’d expect from a small, modern coffee shop in the city these days. It does have the exciting addition of coffee on tap, literally, in the form of their cold brew to both quench your thirst and get that much needed caffeine fix.
The focus here is on the drinks so food is limited to a selection of, from appearance, decent cold options although if I wanted to get some food I’d take the short walk to the much bigger Yorks just down the road.

A thousand times over recommend this place! The staff is so kind and all the drinks are carefully made! The interior is really cute as well!
I had a tea which was delicious and out in less than a minute. I also have had the hot chocolate which is made from actual chocolate chips! If you’re in town or around snow hill station definitely try this place out!

I have to say I was a bit hesitant about this place because the size of it. I love independent cafes but I am not a petite lady, so I need some space to sit and enjoy my coffee. From the outside Yorks Expresso looks tiny, but inside it’s quite spacious. And yes, I am quite happy to the idea of having seats upstairs.
The service is the same found at NewHall Street: very personal, friendly and helpful. (Not just because I needed help to handle a mug of hot chocolate and a croissant to the mezzanine area upstairs).
I am sure Colmore Row is about to turn into the nicest area for having a coffee in town with so many good options around. And Yorks is doing his job very well. I loved the place. And I could spend more time there reading, working or even looking at the movement outside in that always busy area.
The hot chocolate is one of the main reason to go back soon. It was delicious. Perfect for a cold day. I will probably use the advantage of that it’s located in an area that is part of my daily work route.
The décor is almost like the «big» Yorks but with no toilets. Very cosy. I am a huge fan of the wooden pattern and blackboard signs I think it adds «personality» to the place.
Just in case they decide to have a new one branch somewhere else in town, you will recognise the place looking from outside, for sure.
Prices are reasonable at Yorks. But it’s another independent café that praises for quality and you pay for what you get: the whole package of excellent coffee and outstanding service. And the croissant is delicious, of course.

Looking for coffee near Snow Hill Station, then go here.
I’m a coffee and tea lover, a total snob. I have been a fan of Yorks’ other outlet on Newhall St, offering fabulous loose tea, fantastic coffee, great cakes and hot food.
Espresso bar lived up to my expectations. Their menu is slightly limited compared to their larger store, less teas and no hot food. However their coffee and my favourite teas are still on offer here. I prefer this store to their other one for meeting with people, I find Newhall St too loud. Great if you need a takeaway coffee, far better than Costa opposite.

I’ve walked past here several times but not until today have I ventured through the door. Why? Well after a good number of trips to their other branch for city centre meetings I got cheesed off paying for their inconsistent flat whites, sometimes fine, sometimes barely drinkable, even though I kinda liked the space and found most staff pleasant.
Anyway, it was a toss up between the excellent ⁶⁄₈ Kafe and giving this place a go — and here we are. I needed coffee. I needed food. My blood sugar was a bit haywire and so I was mildly grumpy too, but I spotted the lovely Lauren, ex of Brewsmiths and 6/​8, hovering behind the La Marzocco, plus an ex customer of mine was sat in the side window sipping his Long Black, so the whole world suddenly felt kinda Ok and my hopes for a decent brew rose!
The food was the usual coffee shop stuff but i couldn’t see what was in the sandwiches so it was a bit of a mystery tour! A case of pick one and hope for the best. Of course, it was all very tastefully packaged (yawn) just not too handy for customers to see the quality or quantity of fillings! Style over substance. The salad stuff lay uncovered on the counter, always irritating and arguably unhygienic, so I left that.
I stood waiting while a beardie barista, literally cloned straight out of Hoxton, looked at his phone, letting the women staff serve the line. He clearly had something important to attend to; maybe calculating his tips! Anyway, finally got my beautifully prepared flat white and paid. Not too bad price wise.
Headed upstairs. The coffee was really pretty good. A real Sherry/​red wine kick to it. Milk well textured, pretty little leaf on top; much better than the half-​ar*** heart/​onion looking thing you often get in Birmingham! Nice extraction. Right temperature. As good as you can get anywhere in Brum, possibly better — up there with ⁶⁄₈ and Faculty I’d say.
The sandwich/​toastie was delivered, nice, and while it was warm enough it probably wasn’t left under for long enough as a tad soggy. It was Gruyère and Mushroom … mainly mushroom let’s be honest, but it tasted better than it was because I was so starved! Par for the course. Again, similar to rival places.
I liked it upstairs. Nice space with plug sockets under the side tables and the wifi was OK with zero hassles logging on. I peeped over the balcony and liked that too. Watchin’ the world go by for a while … a reasonably mixed bunch of customers, similar crowd to 6/​8, and was starting to get busy by 12.15. I could have stayed longer but didn’t want to take table room.
Overall, it’s all a bit ‘copy everything you’ve ever liked in coffee shop design’ with lots of cash spent on making the place look kinda rough and home made and down with the hipsters. Even the ‘concrete’ style bar, which looks great from the door, ends up being just a bit of wood ‘specially painted’ if you look closely.
It’s got bits from 6/​8, bits from Faculty, plus odds and sods from misc. Shoreditch places. Despite that, it’s actually pretty good, some great staff who care about customers, and it was a stroke of genius to add the upstairs so I’ll give ‘em that too. It just lacks something unique and memorable, that certain WOW factor of authenticity! But I’m being over-​critical because most places are the same. I’d probably give it a ⁵⁄₅ were it not for the preoccupied beardie!

I have been so excited about the prospect of a second Yorks in the City. If you follow my check in’s, you will note that I am at the Newhall Street venue nearly 5 days a week. I find it a great environment for meetings and to do my work with a lovely (reasonably priced) pot of tea. When I first heard they were planning to open a second venue in the City, I was intrigued as to whether they would be able to recreate the atmosphere and ambiance of the original venue or whether it would be a totally different experience.
Yorks Colmore Row is not the same, but it’s still lovely. As a pro tip (which a few people hadn’t noted yesterday), it has an upstairs mezzanine area which has tables and powerpoints. The downside to this venue is it’s lack of toilet facilities. As it’s more of a «grab and go» rather than a «stay and relax» style coffee establishment, this isn’t a huge problem; but just something to bear in mind if you are planning to stick around here for a while.
I love the exterior signage and the wooden detailing of this venue. It feels natural and minimal, without a need to add lots of irrelevant design. It still sells a selection of sandwiches, snacks and drinks but not AS wide a selection as the first Yorks. I haven’t sampled the food here yet, but I’m sure I will as time goes on. The prices are the same for the two venues (as far as I could see, anyway).
I will still probably be mostly found at Yorks on Colmore Row (as it’s bigger with more powerpoints and toilets), but I will definitely pop into this venue regularly for a change of scenery. I would encourage you to give it a visit and see what you think. I’m most definitely a fan.

I’m a huge fan of York’s first branch and didn’t realise this had even opened.
While the first branch feels like a more industrial kitchen this is much more rustic.
A ground floor bar to order from with several stools to perch and look out the window at the world going by.
There’s a 2^nd floor with some more tables with some power points should you wish to charge mobile devices.
I’m sure you will find me here on random afternoons having a peppermint tea.