The Bartons Arms

If enjoying great beer and good food in stunning victorian surroundings isn’t your thing, the Bartons Arms probably isn’t for you. The Barton Arms is one of the finest historic pubs in the region, a Grade II-​listed red-​brick building, now standing like a lone survivor of a bygone age on the corner of High Street. It wowed me with its Dutch gables, Victorian lanterns and central clock tower.
The interior is even more stunning, with walls of opulent tiles, stained and leaded windows, carved wooden panelling, tiled arches and an elaborate staircase.
There are lots of little quirks here and there that make this building exceptional.
The pub has a superb beer range, the food is definitely the cherry on top. The restaurant was full when we arrived which seemed promising. The Thai restaurant provides a wide selection of food at a very reasonable price.
The service was very poor. They only has 3 staff for a full restaurant. Never once were we asked if we wanted another drink or a look at the deserts menu. The food was tasty of good quality which we enjoyed. The exterior and interior is victorian on the grand scale and has to be seen in the flesh. Whilst it’s away out of town it’s well worth the visit.

Lovely pub. Artistic. Majestic staircase. Good choice of drinks. Delicious Thai food. Ornate fireplaces. Great meeting place

A long time since I last visited this grand old building and lovely pub and Thai restaurant. The place is owned by Oakham Brewery so a good selection of their ales are available. Pub is obviously popular with the locals and you are given a good welcome. The adjoining Thai restaurant provides a wide selection of food at a very reasonable price. The service was very good and the food excellent. The exterior and interior is victorian on the grand scale and has to be seen in the flesh. Whilst it’s away out of town it’s well worth the visit.

The Bartons arms has developed a great reputation but sometimes reputation can count against you when expectations are perhaps unrealistically high. Not in this case. The Barton Arms was actually better than I expected and by a country mile.
I like eating out for Sunday lunch and have a good solid handful of favourite haunts, but now and again I venture a little further afield. From the JQ you can reach the pub on the number 8. Doesn’t take long. Maybe 10 minutes. You get off a minute walk either side of the main road as it’s stood right in between the two bus stops. The second stop is better so you don’t have to cross the busy (and a bit crazy) traffic. When you want to get back the stop is right there outside the pub. Dunno why I’ve never been before. Easy as pie!
As soon as I step in I’m impressed. A few bar flies and ‘regulars’ dotted around a large open space supping their beer. Lovely wood floors, amazing tiled walls. Nice bright open stained glass windows letting in floods of light. You wouldn’t think you were in a poor part of town next to a busy carriageway. It’s a lovely blend of old and new. Way too cool to be hip. Like a cleaner Rose Villa Tavern but much bigger and without it’s air of trying too hard! The Bartons kept the original canvas. It didn’t try to change too much; it just sorted the place to best show its charm.
So a warm welcome and I can sit wherever I like, even on the big empty 6 person table, so I do. There’s around 20 people in, shared between bar and dining room. I grab a pint of house beer and it’s really good. It’s warm enough. I feel ultra relaxed.
I like Thai food and suddenly remember my first taste of Green Curry way, way back in some tiny backstreet place in London. So it’s classic spare ribs starter, then chicken green and finally tempura ice cream. Absolutely delicious and very well priced.
The spare ribs were from another planet called planet yum! Amazing. The green just spot on. Faultless so far. Really good. Super fresh tastes. The service is also fabulous: smiley and genuine and prompt. I have a copy of Viz in my bag that I’d forgotten about and start to read it for something to do. Not sure if I’m smiley at the jokes or just enjoying the food and vibe!
Then it’s the desert and here’s where things got a bit less great. Took a while to arrive despite the place actually quieting down by now (at 2.45pm) and then when it arrived it was only so-​so. It tastes manufactured. The ice-​cream isn’t the best quality. Something like this has to be made on the premises. Looks fine, but just doesn’t hold up taste or texture wise against the other courses. Shame.
So the bill came to £28 including generous tip. I’d say it was worth more (minus the desert) but given the location probably about right. I could have gone for a lunch special, most were £6.95 or so, and saved a few quid, but I fancied the full menu. I don’t regret the choice.
100% recommended. I’ll be back!

Beautiful old pub with great ales and fantastic food. Oakham ales are always good but are even better when paired with the thai food on offer. The deep fried icecream is perfect.

The Barton’s Arms is one of the finest examples of Victorian splendour in the whole country. It was built between 1899 and 1901, as a large Jacobean style stone and red brick structure with a square clock tower.
A lot of Birmingham’s history seems to have been knocked down over the years. The city’s motto «Forward» seems to lead town planners to try to eradicate any trace of the past at every opportunity. The Barton’s was threatened with demolition in 1969. It was at this time that the wooden partitions that separated the three rooms were stripped out. The pub was restored in the early 1980s, creating tiled archways to enable one to walk from room to room. To create the archway in what is now the restaurant space, a fine piece of stained glass was moved to the back wall of the pub, where it stands today.
The first thing that springs to mind with the Barton’s is tiles. The gorgeous wall-​to-​wall Victorian Minton Hollins tilling is a work of truly spectacular. The central island bar (like the one in Cheers but curved) still has original snob screens, which only survive in 10 pubs in the whole of the UK. Snob screens are plains of frosted glass in rotatable wooden frames. They were popular in the 1890s and allowed «well-​to-​do» customers in the lounge to not have to ‘put up’ with so much as even having to look at the bar staff and/​or the commoners in the public bar (and vice versa). They open and close to allow drinks and money to be passed through.
There is a magnificent staircase leading up to the function rooms upstairs, above the staircase is a stained, leaded window with the Mitchells & Butler logo and the words «Erected 1901». The multi-​coloured tilled front bar is one of less than 20 which remain in the country today.
The pub stood next to to the Aston Hippodrome, which incidentally was designed by the same architects — James and Lister Lea. The theatre opened in 1908, performances ceased in 1960, and it was demolished in 1980. ‘The Hipp’ (as it was known) attracted the top variety acts of the day, who performed twice daily. Between and after the performances the Barton’s Arms would be the place where the performers hung out. Meaning that the Barton’s past customers has included: Laurel & Hardy, George Formby, Gracie Fields, Larry Grayson, Morecambe & Wise and Judy Garland (amongst others).
Oakham ales purchased the pub in 2002, bringing their fine beers to the city of Birmingham. Oakham were the first brewery to import the US hop Citra, amongst others. It’s debatable whether pubs like The Wellington would stock/​sell so much Oakham Citra had The Barton’s not introduced it to the city of Birmingham. If you’ve not tried any Oakham beers before, I implore you to do so.
As well as the range of Oakham beers, including Green Devil IPA for £3.90 a pint (one place in town was selling it for £6), are ever-​changing guest beers on cask and keg. The guest beers have got increasingly crafty (is that a thing), in recent years. With the likes of The Kernel, Beavertown, Siren etc making apperances.
They hold very popular cask beer festivals, and recently have started doing tap takeovers too.
They serve Thai food in the restaurant. It does sound like a strange combination for a pub, but believe me, when you go in it feels right. It tastes rather delicious too!
One piece of advice would be to check if Aston Villa are playing at home before planning a trip. As due to its proximity to the stadium the pub can get rather full of Villa fans, before and after a match.
I would definitely recommend that you make the short journey out of town to visit the Barton’s (it’s closer to the city than Harborne, Moseley, or Kings Heath). Trust me, you wont regret it!

Oh man… How had I never visited this place before Sunday? The Barton Arms is a little bit out of the way of town, meaning it’s a destination rather than «I’m passing through, I’ll just grab a pint while I’m here». After Brunch Club on Sunday, it was decided myself, Carl D. and Dan G. would have a business exploring adventure.
After checking out the new Fiddle and Bone for a couple of drinks and some live music (review coming soon), we decided we needed to get down to the Barton’s to sample some of the beers on this weekends «Beavertown Tap Takeover». It was totally tipping it down, so rather than walk (it’s probably about 20 minutes from Aston Uni/B’ham Children’s Hospital side of the City) we jumped in a cab.
It’s a majestic place. Looking like a cross between a spooky house in a horror movie and an Edwardian manor house, it’s just totally gorgeous. The exterior isn’t even the most beautiful bit of this venue. The interior totally outshines any pub I’ve been to in Birmingham.
With fabulous multicoloured tiling, wooden bar and detailing and stained glass — it really is a treat to visit. Not only is it gorgeous, they have some tremendous craft beers on (mainly Oakham ales, but a good selection of other stuff like Kernel) ranging from £2.80 a pint right up to £6+ for the strong stuff. The staff are knowledgable and friendly and will guide you through the beers they have available to guide you to one you’re going to like.
That’s not to say it’s just about beer! The wine list was very extensive here and they had some fabulous brands and types which are rarely seen in pubs in the City. Now, let’s talk food. We didn’t get a chance to try the Thai food on this visit, but trust me — we WILL be back.
The restaurant serves food lunchtimes (12 — 3pm) and then opens up at 5:30 for a dinner sitting. It smells amazing and the menu looks fantastic. Interestingly, the food menu has been put together to compliment craft ales and the wine list (so no duff recommendations here).
I really cannot big this place up enough. You just need to go and try it for yourself… It’s a truly unique and fantastic business in Birmingham — definitely worth a trip down to their awkward location!

I’ve always meant to visit the Barton Arms, I really have, it’s just always seemed like a bit of a trek. But I couldn’t pass up on their Beavertown takeover so on a rainy Sunday afternoon we jumped in a cab (because we’re lazy) and headed on down.
Holy cow this is one beautiful pub. It’s truly stunning. It was quite quiet when we went which was lovely for a relaxed Sunday afternoon drink.
And then there’s the beers. So many beers and at very reasonable prices too. There’s always one beer on special and yesterday it was Oakham Inferno at a very wallet-​friendly £2.80 a pint.
The Barton also serves fantastic smelling Thai food, we didn’t eat on this occasion but the smells from the kitchen were enough to make me start planning my return visit.
If you’re heading to a show at the Drum then this is the perfect place to grab some dinner and drinks beforehand, or its great for a few drinks away from the busy city centre bars and restaurants.

A thai meal before my friend and I’s bi-​annual good food show trip is officially a tradition. However our favourite haunt had sadly closed. So we were in the market for a new thai. We had read good things about The Barton Arms and so gave it a try. The setting is amazing, what a great interior. The staff were lovely and the food was nice. I have had better thai meals but it was tasty, lots of options and good value. It was very quiet for a Thursday night though, so a little lacking in atmosphere. I think we’d go again, but there are other good thai restaurants in Birmingham we want to try as well.

This is a great place to grab a pint and a curry. It is in a historic building and had a great atmosphere. There is good beer and the food is very good. I have been going here for years and try and eat every time I am in England.

Went to the Barton’s Arms on Friday Jan 31^st at around 14.00 hrs. This was my first visit and it shall also be my last. My friend and I decided we would have a selection of starters, instead of a full meal. We had tampora squid, the batter was light but the squid was slightly over and on the edge of being a bit rubber like. Sesame toast which was thick and stoggey, not at all to either of our tastes. Thai fish cakes, which were over done and when my friend tried to cut into his, he commented that it was fighting back. Tampora battered king prawns, which to be honest we’re very good. A portion of chicken wings, which is what they were, chicken wings. They all came with the one sauce, a sweet Thai chillie sauce apart from the fish cakes which came with same sauce but with added crushed peanuts and bits of cucumber. We never ate all the platter, the only thing that was finished was the king prawns. We paid over £30 to a waiter who did not know how to smile but brought us two mint sweets with the bill, the same ones you buy when you buy the Aldi mint selection pack. Shame really was looking forward to eating there but was let down big time.

Excellent and affordable Thai food and truly great Ales. One of my favourite places in town.

A beautiful Victorian pub in Aston with a lot of history. Situated next to what was the Aston Hippodrome (now the Drum Arts Centre), many famous performers have bedded down at the Barton Arms including Charlie Chaplin, and Laurel & Hardy.
The pub retains much of its original Victorian tiled interior, the best in Birmingham I believe (correct me if I’m wrong). I am anti-​smoking, but I actually believe its interior would suit some pipe-​smoke wafting around — Oh, why not add some suave waistcoated and mustachioed gents while you’re at it!
Good selection of ales from around the world and reasonably priced thai food.

The staff are always freindly and welcoming and the food is as delicious at the drinks ar efree flowing. One of my favourite places in Birmingham.

Imagine going to a traditionally-​decorated pub with a warm ambience. Now imagine tucking in to freshly-​cooked traditional Thai cuisine. Now imagine both together, and voila! You have Thai at the Barton Arms!
I wouldn’t usually think of eating Thai cuisine in a classic English pub setting, but it’s actually a perfect marriage of deliciously flavoursome food in warm and comfortable surroundings.
It’s popular with workers who come here for lunch, so it tends to get busy then. I usually go after watching a production at the nearby Drum Theatre. It’s the perfect end to an evening. And my favourite dish has to be their Thai green curry — I know it’s a common dish and I should be more adventurous with my choice but I can’t get enough of it!

Opposite The Drum and in an area of Birmingham not known for it’s real ale pubs (Aston), the Barton Arms can seem like an anomaly, albeit a welcome one. I was first introduced to this pub to see a set by local bluegrass legends The Toyhearts and have been back regularly since.
The pub is old school in look and character, with hanging baskets, tiled walls inside and even a stained glass window, all from the pubs’ Victorian origins. I’ve never tried the Thai food but everyone always goes on about how good it is. I have sampled the beer and cider many times though, and these are both great — they ought to give lessons to lesser pubs on how to run a bar.
The atmosphere has that relaxing feel you expect from a pub like this where all the city stresses melt away the second you sink into a pint. Usually at this point in a review I’d chuck in a token criticism but this time I can’t think of any. Now if only I get them to move the entire pub brick by brick so it’s a bit nearer to my house…

The Bartons Arms is an excellent Victorian pub with many original features, friendly and helpful staff, amazing Thai food (which is cheap too) and a very good selection of drinks, including real ales.
This pub is quite local to me and is still somewhat of a hidden gem because of it’s location in Aston /​Newtown. When my family come to visit from London I often take them here and they just can’t believe the value for money.
The food is so cheap when you consider how good it is. My favourites are the tempura prawns and vegetables (equally as good) and the massaman beef curry. You’ll be pleased to know they also serve the Thai staple of green curry with chicken and it’s better than Lloyd Grossman’s!
Even their prawn crackers are amazing. Sturdy little things and red in colour with just the right amount of spice — I could eat them all night…
For dessert I would definitely recommend the deep fried ice cream. I’ve had dreams about that stuff, it’s so good.
Drinks wise they’ve got pretty much everything you could possibly want.
The majority of the pub is set up as a restaurant but there is a fair sized bar too which has a lovely smoke screen and plays host to some interesting live music on occasion as well as being stuffed with barrels when there is an ale festival on.
On entering the pub you’ll see a beautiful red-​carpeted stair case. I’m not sure what is upstairs but I expect they have a function room of sorts.
Original tiles and artwork can be found on the walls of the pub as well as little brass service bells and gorgeous stained glass windows. This place really is a visual treat and not to be missed.
Starters begin at around £2.50
Mains from around £6
Great for birthdays and work parties.
If you want to visit The Bartons Arms from the City Centre then just hop on the 33 bus from Dale End get off at Newtown Shopping Centre; it takes less than 10 mins and the pub is opposite. Happy days!

The Barton’s Arms is my favourite pub in Birmingham! Lucky for me it is right next door to where I work. It’s a little too pricey for everyday lunch but the perfect price range for an important lunch or an occasional dinner. I love Thai food generally speaking and Barton’s Arms has a nice selection flavoursome, spicy, yummy food. I usually go for the spicier end of the menu when I feel a cold coming on and it’s a better cure than Lemsip. For most of the meals you can choose from chicken, prawns, beef or Quorn (v) I usually go with chicken but some people choose to pay extra and go with multiple meat combinations. My favourites are the chicken satay skewers, massaman beef curry, thai burger (with potato wedges), pad thai and my favourite of all is one I can never remember the name of, but it’s a fried rice dish with an egg on the top (I don’t even have to ask and the egg is fried hard (I don’t like runny eggs.))

One of my favorite pubs in Birmingham.
Old school local booze hounds sup on pints of Oakhams Ale in the bar whilst Moseley types travel for miles to sample the best Thai food this side of Bangkok in the lounge.
Don’t be put off by it’s location. The pub is full of Victorian decorative grandeur, great food and great beers. Hey, if it was good enough for Laurel & Hardy back in the day then it’s good enough for me.
If you’re on a budget get down there on a Tuesday evening when it’s only Ten quid for a starter, main course, rice and a vegetable side dish.

Best pub in Brum. Great Oakham Ales beer, plus guests. Fab Thai food at reasonable prices, plus the place itself is beautiful. Could not ask for more. Well worth a trip to this fantastic pub.
UPDATE 20÷2÷10: A group of us went again for a birthday celebration afternoon in Brum. We had the special lunch menu — just £5.95 for lovely food. I had a chicken noodle dish and friends had curry + rice — great value. Lot’s of Oakham ales were drunk too. Must be in my top 3 favourite pubs anywhere (just a shame about the area which is why we go during the day not evenings!).
Took loads of photo’s this trip as you can see!!!
March 27 — asked to see upstairs this time, so took more pictures — the stairs and stained glass windows are magnificent.