Birmingham has a large, ethnically and culturally diverse population and that means it is home to some of the best cuisine and take-outs. With so much choice and so many easy fast-food options, we thought it would be helpful to collect a few of the best and more unusual fast food and take-out options available in Birmingham city centre. So read on or stay hungry!
All Greek Street Food
All Greek Street Food is an independent, authentic Greek take away located on Stephenson Street. It has expanded from the All Greek deli which sold flavourful Greek products including, pasta, coffee, olives, oil, meat and alcohol. There is a range of natural wraps, salads, fries, cheeses and meats for customers to choose from. The wraps have comical and memorable names such as The Cheesy Greek and The Big Greek. You can choose your wrap and your filling and once again, there are vegan and veggie options up for grabs. The owners use fresh local produce and import ingredients from quality Greek importers. There is seating inside if you want to eat in and abide by the no phones rule, but if you’re in a rush, you can take your wrap to go! Being right next to New Street Station, it’s the perfect place to run and grab yourself lunch for your train journey. Or if you’re feeling extra lazy, order in using Uber Eats.
Website: https://www.facebook.com/allgreekstreetfood/
Location: 33 Stephenson Street, Birmingham. Contact: 0121 448 5600
Medicine Bakery
Situated on New Street, in a Victorian building which used to host the Royal Society of Birmingham Artists, is Medicine Bakery. The owners previously owned the famous Medicine Bar in Digbeth and since have been exploring the bakery trade, opening both Medicine Bakery and Kitchen in Wolverhampton and the Medicine Bakery and Gallery here in Birmingham. It’s minimalist and regularly has exhibits and art collections on display in its gallery area. The Bakery has a seating area where you can have coffee, breakfast, brunch or dinner, but we also recommend popping in to buy yourself some artisan bread or a tempting pastry or cake to take away. Yummy sandwiches are also on offer if you’re looking for something to munch on the go.
Website: http://www.medicinebakery.co.uk/
Location: 69a New Street, Birmingham, B2 4DU. Contact: info@medicinegallery.co.uk
The Indian Streatery
The Indian Streatery brings traditional Indian street food to Birmingham where they serve up samosas and chicken curry to spice up your lunch break experience. Owned by a family of food-lovers, the eatery started out as a street food trader travelling around the UK, especially popular at Digbeth Dining Club, where they used to be known as The Indian Rasoi. The Indian Streatery on Bennetts Hill has a dinner menu from 4 pm and serves cocktails, each of which has a name inspired by one of the family members. At both Bennetts Hill and new pop up Indian Streatery Express in The BullRing, grab and go dishes, available from 11:30 until 3:00 pm, have become increasingly popular and deservedly so. They even have vegan options available! So skip your boring Sainsbury’s sandwich and grab yourself a tasty, vibrant and colourful lunch.
Website: https://www.theindianstreatery.co.uk/
Location: 21a Bennetts Hill, Birmingham, B2 5QP or St Martin’s Walk, The Bullring. Contact: info@theindianstreatery.co.uk or 0121 643 5334
The Stable Birmingham
If you’re in the mood for pizza, the best pizza in town has to be The Stable Pizza. Whilst the restaurant itself is fantastic and we would always recommend going in to enjoy the live music on offer, The Stable also offer pizza to take home. Get your regular Margherita or step outside your comfort zone and try something new like the ‘Billy the Kid’ pizza with goats cheese, spinach, mushrooms, caramelised onion and hazelnut or ‘The Brummie Angler’ topped with smoked salmon, broccoli, spinach, potato, mozzarella and egg. Vegan pizzas are up for grabs too! These pizzas change the take-out game with such unique and scrummy ingredients. You must try.
Website: https://birmingham.stablepizza.com/
Location: 1 Orion, 115 John Bright Street, Birmingham, B1 1BE. Contact: 01216 438 918
Tiger Bites Pig
If you just can’t wait for your Friday night Chinese take-out, also located on Stephenson Street is Tiger Bites Pig. Choose between pork, chicken, duck, beef or tofu Bao dumplings or tofu, pork or chicken bowls. Add some kimchi or some pickles and your good to go. Open for the lunch rush between 12 and 3 in the week, this is the perfect spot to try some delicious Chinese cuisine whether it’s between shops or meetings.
Website: https://www.tigerbitespig.co.uk/
Location: 34 Stephenson St, Birmingham B2 4BH. Contact: 0790 251 1070
Hookways
Unlike the greasy kebabs you get after a night-out, Hookways serves high-quality, delectable lunch choices. Whether you want a kebab or a wrap, both can be filled with scrumptious falafel, vegan tikka, halloumi, chicken or lamb. If you fancy something a bit healthier, there’s the option to help yourself to the self-serve salad bar to which you can add flatbread, falafel, halloumi fries, shredded meat or soya pieces. Hookways definitely makes for a more exciting and interesting lunch than your regular and is open on all day in the week from 9 am until 3pm. If you “just can’t” leave your desk (or your bed) to go and fetch it yourself, Hookways is available to order via Deliveroo and JustEat.
Website: https://www.hookways.co.uk/
Location: 7 The Minories, Birmingham, B4 6AG. Contact: info@hookways.co.uk or 0121 233 1557
Salad Box
Redefining fast food, Salad Box is a business, new to the UK, offering a make your own Subway style salad bar. The Birmingham franchise has only recently opened and is the second Salad Box to be opened in the UK, the other in Brick Lane, London. The business was started in Romania by three friends, who opened the first Salad Box in Cluj-Napoca. In under a year, another twelve restaurants were opened. It is now massive in Romania, as well as Hungary and Algeria. There are several set menu options, including the classic ‘Caesar Salad’, the greek salad ‘Athena’, and the fried chicken ‘Most Wanted’ salad. There is also a choice of two soups every week ranging from traditional favourites such as tomato and mushroom to more diverse flavours like beetroot, spinach, cauliflower and courgette. Keeping with the healthy theme, there is a mind-blowing array of fresh juices to choose from and some healthy dessert options. Located on Great Charles Street, this is the perfect spot for professionals in the business district and jewellery quarter to grab a wholesome and nutritious lunch.
Website: https://saladbox.co.uk/en
Location: 147 Great Charles Street, Queensway, Birmingham, B3 3LPContact: greatcharles@saladbox.co.uk or 0121 233 3419
Wrapchic
Wrapchic, a company which started out in Birmingham city centre, offers an intriguing fast-food style combination of Mexican and Indian for those who want to try something new. Located in the Bullring in Upper Mall West, Wrapchic has a booth with a small seating area but is first and foremost a fun fast food place. First, you decide between a burrito, wrap, bowl or curry pot or even a portion of ‘Wrapchos’. Then choose your filling from a variety of chicken, fish and mutton curries. There are also vegan fillings called ‘Paneer Masala’ and ‘Soya Amritsari’! There’ s some fun breakfast choices too such as a ‘Wraplette’ with your choice of filling, eggs, onions, peppers, tomatoes and jalapenos or grab yourself a loaded quesadilla. If you only need a light snack, there’s samosas, spicy chicken wings and potato wedges too.
Website: http://wrapchic.co.uk/
Location: No 11, Upper Mall West, The Bullring, Birmingham, B5 4BU. Contact: bullring@wrapchic.co.uk or 07572 464 640
Rudy’s Pizza
If you love pizza as much as we do, we have another amazing pizza take away to suggest. Rudy’s Pizza makes authentic, traditional Neopolitan pizzas on-site every day. Until very recently, Rudy’s was only a restaurant but now they have decided to give the people what they want: take out. You can order their pizza online via their website or app, and choose from 11 different pizzas, ranging from Carni, to Portobello to Calabrese.
Website: https://www.rudyspizza.co.uk/
Location: 9-10 Bennetts Hill, Birmingham, B2 5RS. Contact: birmingham@rudyspizza.co.uk or 0121 314 5880
Habaneros
Habaneros is a Mexican Street Food take away which allows you to text over your order and guarantees your food will be ready within 30 minutes. They serve the four staples: Burritos, Tacos, Burrito Bowls and Nachos. For fillings, you have a choice of pork, beef, chicken or roasted vegetables. Sometimes there are special weekly options such as chicken and chorizo or chilli. Top your meal with all the traditional Mexican goodness including guacamole, sour cream, rice and beans. Finally, choose your salsa spice level. Habaneros cook their food fresh every day ensuring that your take out is as healthy as it can be. An added benefit is that all their food is ethically sourced and all the meat is local and free-range. Currently, Habaneros take away is only available for collection but they are working hard to set up a delivery service as soon as possible.
Website: http://habvan.com/
Location: Temple Row, Birmingham, B2 5LS. Contact: habanerocafe@gmail.com
@Pizza
Situated in Birmingham’s Grand Central Station, @Pizza is the perfect place to grab yourself lunch or dinner to give you all the energy you need to carry on shopping. Or you can order take away pizza with the touch of a button via the @Pizza app so it’ll be ready for you to collect when you arrive. Talk about fast food. The best part is that you can completely design your own pizza with no limitations on choice. If that’s all too much for you though then there are some pre-designed options available too. There’s also a design your own salad option if you’re too full for pizza and dessert pizzas and sundaes for if you’re still hungry after! Voted the best pizza in Birmingham on Trip Advisor, it’s unquestionably worth a taste.
Website: https://www.atpizza.com/
Location: Unit 33, Grand Central, Birmingham, B2 4BF. Contact: grandcentral@atpizza.com or 0121 274 2836
Damascena
Turkish food is one of the more unusual takeaways of choice but we highly approve. Damascena is a Turkish coffee shop set opposite St Phillip’s Cathedral (although, they are also open in Moseley Village, Harborne and The Jewellery Quarter now too!). They serve a large, mouth-watering in-house menu, however, if you want to enjoy the joys of Turkish food from the comfort of your sofa, some Damascena dishes are also available for delivery via Deliveroo. There are your traditional mixed meza and falafel, and some classic schwarma and schwarma flatbreads. Damscena is known as one of the best cafes in Birmingham so if you haven’t tried it yet, order some right now.
Website: http://damascena.co.uk/
Location: Portman Building, 5-7 Temple Row West, Birmingham, B2 5NY (see the website for other locations). Contact: 0121 233 1803
Kuula Poké
Kuula Poké brings a taste of Hawaii to the mouths of Birmingham. They serve mainly poké bowls combining sushi fish, meat or tofu with rice, vegetables and tropical fruits. Pick one of their four house bowls, a daily special or even build your own with loads of different choices from the type of rice to the sauce and sprinkles! They also have acai and smoothie bowls for those with a sweeter tooth. While you can eat it, you can always choose to have it delivered via Uber Eats or order your food online using At Hand for click and collect. Kuula Poké bowls make for an explosion of colour and taste.
Website: https://www.kuulapoke.co.uk/
Location: Great Western Arcade, 16a Colmore Row, Birmingham, B2 5HU. Contact: aloha@kuulapoke.co.uk or 0121 236 7000
Anderson and Hill
Do a lunch classic right on your break and head over to Anderson and Hill for a heavenly sandwich. They’ll build you whatever you’d like, pick your bread, fillings, sauce, or choose from their selection of sandwich favourites. You can pick between a half sandwich or a full depending on how hungry you are. There’s also a variety of salads and a soup of the day. The shop itself is located in the Great Western Arcade and has many Victorian features, so it’s absolutely worth the trip for the history as well as the food. Anderson and Hill are also a delicatessen and so have a selection of charcuterie, cheeses, antipasti, pasta, condiments, snacks and confectionery that you can purchase and take home with you!
Website: https://www.andersonandhill.co.uk/
Location: 7 Great Western Arcade, Colmore Row, Birmingham, B2 5HU. Contact: will@andersonandhill.co.uk or 0121 236 2829 / 0784 359 2941
Article by University of Birmingham intern Daisy Andrews for Grapevine Birmingham