Since 2020 has stolen our summer holidays there’s going to be no sunny Spain for this girl for a while. Who would have thought I’d find the next best thing in the middle of Digbeth? Birdies bar is located on Gibb Street between Ghetto Golf and Roxy Ballroom and is one of the super fun places Digbeth has to offer.
So bars have not long opened back up and are trying to navigate the ever changing restrictions while trying to keep the fun environment we all know and love as well as somehow survive after not trading for three months. For me personally, I work in hospitality, love the industry and decided as soon as venues started to open back up I would do my best to support them. I've heard "it's not going to be the same" from a lot of people and fair enough we can't expect it to be, but businesses, especially independent ones need us right now. I know people are concerned about safety and social distancing and its your safety at the end of the day, no one can make that choice for you. I can honestly say I’m yet to go a venue that has felt unsafe to me. On the way in a doorman took our temperature, all the restrictions regarding single use menus and table service were all adhered to, the staff were all in visors and the tables far enough apart that no one came within 2 metres of our table. The online booking system for our table was easy to use and we were seated quickly to a comfortable booth. The bar area, table and toilets were all really clean and there was plenty of hand sanitising stations around the venue.
Digbeth is Birmingham’s home of street art and birdies style and décor is right at home. It is made out of shipping containers and covered inside and out with the most beautiful street art. Inside it’s like stepping into a summer holiday and hard to believe your still in Birmingham. It’s an open roof in the centre so the perfect place when the sun is out and the whole place is decorated in a beach and tropical island theme. There are huge booths around the side so can accommodate your post lockdown catch up and high tables in the middle perfect for date night.
I had two cocktails, a summer spritz and a bananarama, both were fruity, refreshing long drinks perfect for summer. The prices are quite reasonable, all of the cocktails were around £8 and its around £4 for a beer. The staff were friendly, helpful and couldn’t do enough for you.
What can I say about the food… Next level. They have a street style food menu and use apocalypse cow who also do food for ghetto golf. Everything on the menu sounded so good it was really hard to choose but we went for cheese and bacon burger fries and Korean pork fries and shared. It took about twenty minutes to be bought out and it was AMAZING… Best food I’ve had for a while. The loaded fries were around £6 and really good value for the quality and portion size, I actually can’t wait to go back and have them again.
Obviously at the moment venues are restricted with music but they had an enjoyable background music playlist and still managed to bring a fun, relaxed atmosphere despite all of the restrictions. If your missing your summer holiday looking for a summer escape for a couple of hours, get your favourite summer dress out, throw on some shades and get down to birdies, it’s the perfect place to visit.
