From Michelin-starred dining and rock ’n’ roll tasting menus to fabulous Italian food, steaks cooked over fire and some of the best Indian cooking in Britain, these are ten Birmingham restaurants worth putting in your diary this September.
Birmingham has long since shaken off any outdated ideas about what a great British food city should look like. Today, Brum’s restaurant scene is diverse, ambitious and, most importantly, incredibly good fun.
There are restaurants worth travelling across the country for, neighbourhood independents that locals would rather keep to themselves and spectacular dining rooms where the surroundings are almost as memorable as the food.
So, as September arrives and the city begins slipping into autumn mode, The Birmingham Edit has picked ten restaurants deserving of a place on your must-visit list.
1. Opheem – Summer Row
If you want to understand just how far Birmingham’s food scene has travelled, start here.
Chef Aktar Islam’s Opheem has become one of the city’s great culinary success stories, taking the flavours and heritage of Indian cooking and pushing them firmly into fine-dining territory.
It is also Birmingham’s first restaurant to hold two Michelin stars, making dinner here less of a casual night out and more of a full-blown gastronomic experience.
This is inventive, sophisticated cooking which challenges expectations while remaining rooted in flavour. For a special September celebration, Opheem should be very high on the list.
Best for: A serious foodie experience.
Visit Opheem HERE.
2. Tropea – Harborne
You certainly don’t need Michelin stars to be one of Birmingham’s best restaurants.
Over in Harborne, Tropea has built a formidable reputation for relaxed, modern Italian cooking. Its menu changes regularly, taking inspiration from different regions of Italy and putting excellent ingredients centre stage.
Expect antipasti, fresh pasta, seafood, meat and classic Italian desserts, with dishes designed for sharing around the table.
Tropea retained its Michelin Bib Gourmand for 2026, an award recognising particularly good cooking at attractive prices.
Add a mostly Italian wine list and wonderfully informal atmosphere and you’ve got one of those neighbourhood restaurants we’d happily return to again and again.
Best for: Dinner with foodie friends.
Go to Tropea HERE.
3. The Wilderness – Jewellery Quarter
Forget hushed voices, starched tablecloths and painfully formal fine dining.
The Wilderness does things differently.
Chef Alex Claridge’s Jewellery Quarter restaurant serves creative tasting menus in a restored factory while rock, punk and heavy metal provide the soundtrack.
And beneath all that rebellious attitude is some seriously accomplished cooking: The Wilderness was awarded a Michelin star in the 2026 guide.
It’s bold, theatrical and unmistakably Birmingham.
Best for: Adventurous diners who think fine dining needs shaking up.
The Wilderness HERE.
4. La Bellezza – Chamberlain Square
Sometimes you want dinner. Sometimes you want dinner with a bit of theatre.
La Bellezza delivers both.
The spectacular Big Mamma restaurant in Chamberlain Square is an explosion of Italian maximalism: cascading greenery, Murano glass chandeliers, dramatic furnishings and the sort of dining room made for Instagram.
Fortunately, the food isn’t an afterthought. Look out for homemade pasta, slow-fermented Neapolitan pizzas, Puglian burrata, Italian wines and some gloriously indulgent desserts.
It’s lively, glamorous and perfect when dinner needs to feel like an occasion.
Best for: Date nights, birthdays and getting dressed up.
Visit La Bellezza HERE.
5. Pasture Birmingham – Colmore Row
Three words sum this one up rather nicely: fire, meat, music.
Pasture has brought its fire-based cooking to Colmore Row, with carefully sourced meat prepared in-house and quality produce sitting at the heart of the menu.
There’s an open, energetic feel to the whole experience rather than traditional steakhouse stuffiness.
If September calls for a beautifully cooked steak, good drinks and a buzzing city-centre atmosphere, Pasture is a very strong contender.
Best for: Steak lovers.
Pasture Birmingham HERE.
6. Dishoom Birmingham – Chamberlain Square
One of Birmingham’s most reliably enjoyable dining rooms, Dishoom takes inspiration from the old Irani cafés of Bombay.
And it works just as well at 9am as it does at 9pm.
Breakfast might mean the now-famous Bacon Naan Roll, while later visits bring curries, grills, biryanis, small plates, House Black Daal and endless cups of chai.
It’s bustling without becoming unbearable and stylish without feeling overly polished.
The added advantage is flexibility: come for breakfast, lunch, dinner or simply drinks and snacks.
Best for: Pretty much any time of day.
7. Chakana – Moseley
For something completely different, head out to Moseley.
Chakana brings the colourful flavours of Peru to Birmingham under chef Robert Ortiz, who previously earned a Michelin star at London’s Lima.
Peruvian cooking provides plenty for chefs to play with — citrus, chilli, seafood, corn, potatoes and influences stretching from indigenous traditions to Japanese Nikkei cuisine.
Chakana packages those influences into an accessible, relaxed restaurant which feels refreshingly different from the usual city-centre choices.
Best for: Trying something new.
Visit Chakana HERE.
8. Adam’s – Waterloo Street
Adam Stokes’ Michelin-starred restaurant remains one of the heavyweights of Birmingham dining.
Hidden away on Waterloo Street, Adam’s is all about polished modern British cooking, excellent seasonal ingredients and precise presentation.
There’s an à la carte offering alongside tasting-menu experiences, while diners wanting to see more of the action can investigate the Chef’s Table.
Yes, it’s an investment rather than a quick bite after work, but for a milestone birthday, anniversary or simply a “we deserve this” dinner, Adam’s remains one of the city’s landmark restaurants.
Best for: Celebrations with a capital C.
9. Albatross Death Cult – Jewellery Quarter
Finally, something rather extraordinary.
From the team behind The Wilderness comes Albatross Death Cult, an intimate experimental restaurant where just 14 diners sit around a kitchen counter watching the chefs at work.
The experience centres around an ever-changing rapid-fire sequence of ten or more servings, predominantly exploring seafood and coastal ingredients.
It is deliberately unconventional, highly creative and certainly not your standard Saturday-night restaurant.
Which, frankly, is exactly why we’ve included it.
Best for: The diner who thinks they’ve tried everything.
10. Trillium Restaurant — Snow Hill
One of Birmingham’s more exciting contemporary dining experiences, Trillium is the creation of chef Glynn Purnell, bringing his distinctive approach back to the city’s restaurant scene.
Located at One Snowhill, the restaurant offers an ambitious tasting-menu experience built around modern British cooking, seasonality and the personality that has long characterised Purnell’s food.
It feels polished without being stuffy, with dishes designed to deliver the kind of creativity and attention to detail you’d expect from one of Birmingham’s best-known chefs.
For anyone who previously had Simpsons on their Birmingham dining bucket list, Trillium makes a particularly strong replacement — and gives your Top 10 another genuine special-occasion restaurant.
Best for: Contemporary British dining and special occasions.
September Never Tasted So Good
What makes Birmingham exciting right now isn’t simply the number of acclaimed restaurants — it’s the sheer variety.
Within a relatively small area you can experience two-Michelin-starred Indian cooking, contemporary British fine dining, regional Italian dishes, Peruvian flavours, Bombay café food, theatrical Italian dining and steaks cooked over fire.
And that only scratches the surface.
Our advice? Book ahead, arrive hungry and make September the month you discover somewhere new.
Because Birmingham isn’t becoming one of Britain’s great food cities.
It already is.
