Blacklock: Where to Eat in Birmingham

Cathedral Square is one of the few places in central Birmingham where the noise drops. Plane trees and gravestones fill the old churchyard around St Philip’s Cathedral, and office workers eat their lunch on the benches. Blacklock has moved into a Victorian vicarage on the edge of that square, which gives a London meat restaurant an unusually grand Birmingham address.

A chophouse moves into the vicarage

Blacklock started in London as a chophouse. The group built its name on three things: careful sourcing, service that people kept mentioning, and value that is rare for a meat-led restaurant in the capital. Manchester got a branch in 2024 and it went well, so Birmingham is next.

The building is the interesting part. Most chophouses sit in basements or on high streets. This one is in a Victorian clergy house looking onto an early 18th-century Baroque cathedral. That puts a single meal in a properly old corner of a city better known for rebuilding itself.

What the name promises

At Blacklock, the chop is the point. The group takes its name and its style from the old English chophouse, where you come for meat cooked simply over high heat and shared around the table. Its London reputation rests on generous sharing plates and Sunday roasts that people book weeks ahead for.

We don’t have the Birmingham menu yet. Check it on the official site before you go, and don’t assume every London dish will appear here. Expect the chophouse idea to stay the same, though:

• Chops and cuts from named, carefully chosen suppliers
• Plates built for sharing, not single plated mains
• A Sunday offer, if the London pattern holds

The value reputation is worth spelling out. In London, Blacklock is known as a place where a meat-heavy dinner doesn’t leave you feeling robbed. Whether Birmingham’s pricing matches is something to check on the posted menu, not something to guess at.

Booking a table on Cathedral Square

Book ahead. The group’s other sites are known for weekend tables going early, and a new opening in a city this size will draw a crowd in its first months. Reserve through the official Blacklock website. Do it well in advance for a Sunday or a Friday or Saturday evening.

A few habits that help:

• Come as a group if you can. The sharing format suits three or four people, and you get to try more of the menu.
• Card payment is normal in UK restaurants of this kind, and contactless is everywhere.
• Check the bill before tipping. Many British restaurants add a discretionary service charge. If it’s already there, you don’t need to tip again. You can also ask for it to be removed if the service fell short.
• Weekday evenings make sense here. Colmore Row empties of office workers after the working day, so the square is quieter once the commuters have gone.

Confirm the opening date and hours before you set off. A restaurant this new can have a soft launch or reduced days at first.

Getting there on foot, train or tram

Cathedral Square is in the middle of the Colmore Business District, a short walk from the city’s main stations.

• Birmingham Snow Hill is the closest rail station, a few minutes’ walk from the cathedral along Colmore Row.
• Birmingham New Street and Grand Central are roughly ten minutes away on foot, uphill through the pedestrian shopping streets around New Street and Corporation Street.
• West Midlands Metro trams stop nearby at St Chads and Bull Street, both an easy walk from the square.

Don’t drive if you can avoid it. Central Birmingham parking is tight and the inner streets are designed to push cars out. From the stations, follow signs for St Philip’s Cathedral and you’ll come out on the square.

Before dinner: inside St Philip’s

Go into the cathedral before you eat. St Philip’s was built as a parish church in the early 1700s to Thomas Archer’s English Baroque design, and became a cathedral in 1905. It is compact and full of light, and the honey-coloured stone makes a good contrast with the glass office blocks around it.

The real reason to go in is the stained glass. Four windows were designed by Edward Burne-Jones, who was born in Birmingham, and made by Morris & Co. They are deep reds and blues, unusually strong for church glass, and the Last Judgement window at the west end is the best known. Check the cathedral’s own website for visiting times, because services take priority.

Outside, the churchyard has a local nickname, Pigeon Park. It has paths, lawns and plenty of benches. In good weather it is a pleasant place to wait if you’ve arrived early for your booking.

The streets around the square

After dinner, there’s plenty within walking distance. Colmore Row runs along one side of the square with tall Victorian commercial buildings, many now bars and restaurants. Walk a few minutes south-west and you reach Victoria Square and Chamberlain Square. Birmingham Town Hall, the Council House and the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery building are all there.

The Jewellery Quarter, Birmingham’s old workshop district, is a short tram ride or a slightly longer walk north-west from Snow Hill. Its pubs and bars are a good option if you want a second drink somewhere other than the city centre’s office district.

Who this table suits

Blacklock works best for groups and for occasions: a Sunday catch-up, a birthday, a dinner with friends who’ll split everything. Its London branches are known for a relaxed room and friendly service, and it trades on generosity rather than formality.

It is not the place for a quick solo lunch at the bar or a vegetarian-led meal. For anyone who likes meat cooked well and wants to see a less-visited side of central Birmingham, the cathedral square address is worth the booking.