Fogo Bar & Kitchen — Restaurant in Birmingham

Popular with University staff, people staying in nearby hotels and locals (us!) and at lunchtime Fogo is really popular at lunch with people from the Zurich Insurance and NHS offices on Hagley Road – understandably because it’s exceptionally good value for money.

Staff are very friendly and attentive but not overly so and this has been the case both times we have visited. On our first visit in their opening week some dishes were missing from the menu as the kitchen was not fully stocked. On both visits we’ve observed the kitchen making concessions to some fairly picky customer with a smile as if nothing was too much trouble.

For starters we had salt and pepper squid, calamari and buratta. The calamari and squid could have been cooked slightly better as it was a bit chewy but the Buratta was amazing; a tasty solid mozzarella exterior and the interior (consisting of stracciatella and cream) perfectly melt in the mouth.

For mains we had the French lamb (lovely charred crust, the fat nicely rendered and the meat perfectly pink inside) and the spicy diavolo pizza. Perhaps the pizza was a little more spicy than we had expected…however, it’s stone baked thin crust and toppings were as authentic as any I’ve had in Birmingham and better than pretty much everything I had when I was in Rome. We will definitely be trying other dishes and pizza on the menu even if the pizza might be a take away…I think I might focus on the traditional Italian food and shy away from the, what seem to me, experimental dishes for example the grilled fillet steak salad … with strawberry sauce.

Fogo also does a take away menu with the pizza particular popular so people come and go during the course of the evening, perhaps this could be improved because there is no dedicated waiting area for them so they sit amongst the diners talking loudly into or playing games on their phones.

There is free parking at the rear of the restaurant off Parker Street which runs parallel to Hagley road – don’t bring your car though - the house wine is served by the glass and is delicious and the draught beer, Poretti, which I haven’t seen anywhere else, is crisp and refreshing.

You’ll find your meal accompanied with a jazz soundtrack which complements the recently added photo portraits of Jazz master (who have visited Birmingham?) which enhance what were pretty sparse brick walls when we first visited. The Leonard Cohen soundtrack which accompanied our meal here on our visit last Friday evening was an unexpected but very welcome addition the atmosphere.

This is a great little Italian restaurant – welcome the neighbourhood guys...

I did not end up dining at this restaurant but resulted in writing this negative review as felt much needed. Despite the high rating and reviews online, I will not return and definitely will not recommend this restaurant to any family and friends. The walk in experience was rather insulting and disappointing. Greeted by a young lady of poor manner, no hi hello but "you can sit over there" pointed at a table and chair without a courtesy smile and a drop of politeness. A menu was dropped on the table with some attitude. We sat waiting for 15 minutes, despite being very patient and constantly giving the look that we are read to order, both the staff and the owner seemed not to care but happy cleaning glasses, clearing other plates from other table, giving little glance as if we do not exist in their restaurant despite both of them knew we were ready to order. At this point, no one even attended for a drink order yet. We gave a few more minutes and decided to get up to leave after being ignored, and the owner came to open the locked door without a concern or an apology, this just re-affirmed that we definitely were not welcome. The "do not welcome business attitude" is very well noted hence this review made it to this page! The restaurant was not busy, merely 3 tables were seated. The lack of basic hospitality by the owner and staff would NEVER make up for the dining experience despite whatever quality of the food they offer. We ended up walking in Colbeh restaurant a few doors down and had the warmest greeting, fast service, polite and attentive staff and more important absolutely delicious food - this definitely made it up for the night. The lamb shank was just too good I forgot to even take the photo so just sharing the seabass. Highly recommended to try out this restaurant if Fogo does not...

Waiters are slow but they are nice and attentive. The place is a little small but it's well decorated and cozy. The reason why I gave 5 stars is because the food is AMAZING. I had garlic bread as starter, bolognese as a main and tiramisu as desert and it was excellent.

The bolognese wasnt too saucy, the meat was good quality and didn't have that cheap meaty taste some restaurants have, it was very flavorsome and the portion was perfect. The garlic bread was delicious and I could taste the olive oil. The tiramisu wasn't too alcoholy which I honestly appreciate because a lot of places ruin the tiramisu taste by pouring in gallons of alcohol 🙄 the mascarpone tasted nice and fresh and it was a generous portion as well.

The cocktails however have a little too much alcohol but that's not necessarily a bad thing!

Nothing else to add, it's a great place for good real Italian food, I'd put it in the same category as Gino and I strongly...