All Bar One

I don’t really like this all bar one. It’s good located but I think it’s too big I side to create a good atmosphere and it takes forever to be served. It’s a typical chain and the cocktails aren’t that great, at least the magharut lira I had wasn’t.

All Bar One is literally on my doorstep so I thought I would give it a shot and I have to say, I was not that impressed.
The bar area is very generic with no real surprises, as is the music playing throughout the venue. To add to this the drinks are also pretty expensive. Don’t be expecting change out of a fiver for an average pint of beer…
The only saving grace for me on this visit was the conversation and company of the people I went out with. If you are looking for middle of the road, this is place is for you, but why settle for average in Brindley Place which is packed full of better options.

A really cute bathroom, each stall door has a different dress on and very stylish overall in it’s design. The food is really small portions for the price so I bet you’ll be having two courses even if you only plan on having one. You can tell they are catering to the posh, working folk who will pop in for a drink after work after working the stocks: P

I’ll always pick an independent bar or restaurant over a chain like All Bar One but I do make exceptions! Especially for other people’s birthday parties…
The first thing to say is on two occasions now I have been pleasantly surprised by the Tapas at this particular All Bar One. 5 dishes between 2 is perfect for a light dinner; try the halloumi, the tempura prawns and the breaded chicken. Rather tasty.
Service started off really great but disappointingly we got totally abandoned as the night went on.
Other than that– it’s a good place for a cheap eat and a few drinks, in a central location.

I really like the atmosphere of the place, it has a quality feel and always puts me in a good mood when I go. The menu has some nice dishes but is less hearty in type and portion size. the food quality is pretty good. It tends to be loud to the point it is sometimes hard to hear due to the people and music. The restaurant is located a short walk from Broad street and is near many other nice restaurants and the canal. Definitely a good place to go on a Friday to unwind after a long week with friends.

Nice place. Comfy atmosphere. Tons of seating. Clean bathrooms. Unfortunately service is very very poor. Sat at a table for darn near 45 minutes, never once greeted by any of the servers walking around. Ended up placing our drink order at the bar. Would have ordered 4 different meals & another round had someone bothered. But clearly none of the servers could be bothered! We walked downstairs to Handmade Burger Co.
This American tourist not impressed, and I don’t have high expectations nor am I demanding or unreasonable. Can’t recommend. Won’t be back. Which is sad. It’s a really nice place!
Oh! I was very surprised to see Sierra Nevada on tap. What is a Central California beer doing in Birmingham???

Now, I don’t step foot in Brindley Place very often; but when one receives an invite to a 30^th Birthday celebration and you haven’t seen that particular friend for a while… You just don’t turn that down.
I headed down to All Bar One a couple of Saturdays ago to go to a friends birthday cocktail making class. It had been pre-​arranged with the venue at a cost of £25pp (which I believe is a standard price for the experience). As I haven’t ever been to All Bar One, I was actually a little disorientated in Brindley Place! All Bar One is situated further back (off Broad Street) and is pretty easy to locate with the pathfinder signs scattered about the area.
I have been to All Bar One venues before (many a hungover brunch has been consumed in the Sheffield location), so knew a little of what was in store. What I didn’t expect was just how big this bar was. Over two floors with an outdoor area as well, there is plenty of space to order food and drinks even on a Friday night.
For the cocktail making we were situated on the upstairs floor (which had been reserved for us). Once we had gathered, we were presented with two tea pots and a jug of different cocktails. The tea based cocktail was a real surprise! Sweet, fresh and fruity; I hadn’t tried anything like it before. I had expected the cocktails here to be mediocre at best, but they were all made with fresh ingredients and mixed lots of different flavours to create new drinks that I hadn’t tried before.
The session was a lot of fun! Although there was only one bartender (who we struggled to hear over the noise downstairs), we were treated like proper mixologists over the night and got to muddle, shaken, stir and blend our way through the evening.
We didn’t stay for another one after that, but for £25 we had a couple of glasses of cocktail before the session and made 3 different mixes. I would say it was worth the price but would have given it 3.5 stars (if that was an option).

I attended a formal event here, and we had the whole upstairs floor booked. There is a small bar located upstairs and the main bar downstairs. All Bar one is quite a large and popular bar in Brindley Place. The drinks i found were slightly on the expensive side, but good range of beers, ales, wines and spirits, with cocktails jugs available. We had a buffet provided by All Bar One and it was very nice indeed and presented beautifully. Mini sliders, Cod Goujons, Chicken and Mixed bean wraps, Tortilas with salsa, guacamole and sour cream, potato wedges and many more noms. Classy and pleasant feel to the bar, seating outside for people wanting fresh air or a smoke. Good range of music in the background, and it was very busy, even for a Thursday afternoon. Add this bar to your night out.

It was a while ago we last visited here but thought had better get round to putting up a review. All in all if you dont mind over priced continental lager or a massive price uplift on some OK to reasonably tasty wines then I wouldnt complain too much about drinking here as the canalside view outside is quite nice. The main gripe we had here was with the staff attitude.
After messing up a reservation for 14 people (leaving us a table of 4) it took nearly 2 hours to sort a table for us to sit and eat with a constant feeling we were being judged because it wasnt possible their reservation had been noted wrong. The food service we had that night felt rushed and the waiters were almost throiwng the food down at us again making us feel less than welcome, the bar service was not great (though everyone seemed to be stuck at least 2 or 3 deep so it wasnt just us).
The only real reedeming feature was provided by one of the managers who finally sourced the tables who provided 2 free bottles of house bubbly (some form of presseco or such like) to try and apologise for the «mix up». A thoughtful guesture but all in all a bit lost on the night.
Maybe it’s just a weekend night to avoid and there may be better times to visit, just a shame ours was sullied…

Great in the sunshine if u can find a seat!
–That is the best feature about it! It’s in a great setting and outdoor bar space is at a premium in Birmingham!
Inside its quite light and airy and there is generally plenty of room. However, the food is mediocre and service can sometimes be a bit slow.
There is a room upstairs available for private hire too, which is again quite spacious and probably quite good if you want to be away from everyone else.

What the hell, this isn’t London! WHAT AM I DOING HERE.

Nice location on the edge of the canal, this is a good place to grab a drink and unwind. They offer table service which is a nice plus but it gets so crowded in the early evening service is on the slow side especially for food.
Now on the food: nothing extraordinary, the usually bar grub, but a tendency to be on the greasy side.
Next time I would just come for a drink and actually dine somewhere else.

Brindley Place in Birmingham has no shortage of bars and restaurants but a popular choice for my friends and me is All Bar One. It’s probably because of its relaxed atmosphere, delicious menu and great cocktails!
The bar attracts young professionals mainly, so you’ll find it gets busy on Thursday and Friday nights as people wind down after work. Having said that, it’s open to families so you can come here with your kids, for which they have a special menu. However kids are only allowed till around 5pm.
My favourite from their menu is the world tapas. You can buy 7 tapas dishes for £31, which is plenty of food for 3 people to share so it works out at around a tenner! The menu is extensive with sandwiches, burgers, noodles, pastas and traditional English dishes. The roast is available on Sundays.

This bar, right on the egde of the canal in Brinley place offers one of the best drinking interiors in birmingham.
From its big fat wooden tables and chairs to its high celling it has a really moderen rustic design that looks great when the natural light from the outside hits it. The prices are towards the higher end of the scale but when your in here you wont mind that at all.
The seating area out the front is popular but is often full of smokers and due to its small size i can imagine that if you dont smoke you could be over whelmed by it.
I’ve only eaten lunch here but from what i’ve tried its all been good, though again a little on the pricey side when i could just go to one of the other restaurants around Brinley place and have a wider selection.

It always strikes me as odd that All Bar One is situated so closely to neighbouring Slug and Lettuce, as both their exteriors and interiors aren’t the biggest contrasts. Fortunately, another thing All Bar One shares with the Slug is its dependability: although you’re not exactly missing out if you skip past it, for a steadfast Saturday afternoon choice, you could do far worse.
Perfectly situated for post-​work drinks, pre-​NIA/​Symphony drinks or a spot of something to eat before you even start to drink, All Bar One ticks all the boxes. There are a small selection of tables and seats outside if you’re lucky enough to be enjoying a sunny day along the canal and, although it gets busy on early evenings and weekend days, the comfortable bar area is inviting too.
When you’re surrounded by great food places like Yo! Sushi, Carluccios and Handmade Burger, it puzzles me as to why you’d opt for pub grub — but, if all you fancy is a traditional dish done well, then All Bar One is the one.

Always busy! Doesn’t matter if it’s 3pm on a Wednesday, 3pm on a Saturday or 10pm on a Friday night, ABO is always buzzing — a great variety of wines, beers and extensive menu means it’s got something to appeal to everyone.
Ideal for couples, groups and families, you can’t go wrong.

One of our favourite warm up bars. Good selection of drinks and a good crowd. Attracts respectable but not too pretencious people. Only downside is usually a fair wait at the bar for a drink.

There are good All Bar One’s and there are bad All Bar One’s and I have to say that this one isn’t one of the best. It’s drafty, a little bit lacking in atmosphere and has a really small selection of wines. Shame really, because I know it’s quite popular and busy — it’s just a bit disappointing. On the upside, they do serve food quite late.

Located at the busiest spot of Brindleyplace, All Bar One is one of the more popular bars in the area. You’ll find folks enjoying an afternoon pint, a spot of lunch, or a quick drink before heading off to the nearby National Indoor Arena for a gig. The food service is decent enough, with a good choice of light eating and tapas available at reasonable prices. The drink selection is extensive, albeit a little pricy, which you sort of expect from a trendy bar such as this.
My one major gripe with the place is, being as popular as it is means that the bar queue is rarely less than two people deep, and the narrow space you are given to stand in while waiting to order means that you’ll constantly be getting jostled by others looking to order, or people trying to get past you on their way to the exit, or toilet. This poor bar layout doesn’t detract too heavily from the overall experience, however, so if you’re looking for somewhere reasonably trendy but not too pretentious, you can’t really go wrong here.

One of the brands of M&B (used to be 6 Continents, used to be Bass).
Typical trendy city pub type décor inside — big wooden tables, stools, lots of blackboards. Although not a restaurant you certainly get the impression that the place is designed for those who will be eating, not just those who will be drinking.
The menu used to be a ‘gastro pub’ menu where you got traditional pub fayre with a modern twist. So you were guaranteed decent, well flavoured food. Not so the case now. They have moved over to a lighter more ‘trendy’ tapas type menu, and in the process have become like every other pub serving food in the area — even so far as having the same type of burger (olive and mozarella) as one of the Pitcher & Piano over the road.
The last time i went the staff were friendly (although slightly dippy).
I’d recommend this place as somewhere to go for a snack while out drinking, but not for a decent meal.