The Bierkeller — Restaurant in Birmingham

This place doesn’t know how to spell ‘organisation’, never mind use any.

6 people behind the bar. 4 of them are stood discussing how long it will take to serve food to the gentleman next to me, the 5th is trying to pour a pint (it has taken 5 minutes already) and the 6th is stood at the doorway to the kitchen just looking at an inactive fryer.

My wife and I, having sat and watched the full first half of the rugby, are asked to move from our table as a group of ladies (attending what seems the most depressing Hen Night you can imagine - they aren’t even talking to each other) want it. There wasn’t a ‘Reserved’ sign on the table or any indication that it would be needed at a certain time. There are plenty of other empty tables that the Hen party could use, but apparently it is our table that is needed. We’re forced to sit on a high table that is moved agonisingly slowly from 2 meters away and we’re put directly in front of a table of 3 gentlemen that now can’t see the screen to watch the 2nd half of the rugby. We move the table as much as we can and I’m now elbowed in the back every time someone tries to squeeze past to go to the bar or the toilets. Thankfully my pregnant wife isn’t subjected to the elbows.

We start to watch the 2nd half of the rugby and I decide to give the bar another try and get myself another £6.40 pint. A lady next to me is being told by the staff that the kitchen is now closed due to the fact that, on a Saturday night with sports fixtures on, all pool tables full, a concert up the road starting in a little while and a full bar area, there is now only 2 people working so they’re too run off their feet to serve food.

Also, at £6.40 for a pint of Madri I’d have thought they could have invested in some cleaners.

All in all, this place is a...

A genuinely disappointing experience at Bierkeller this weekend.

Our group (around a dozen of us) came in to just have fun with company, and enjoy the games, food and drinks. The bar was busy, loud and lively, exactly what you would expect from a venue built around arcade machines, pool, darts and social drinking.

What confused us is how suddenly the atmosphere changed. One friend celebrated getting a high score on the punching machine. It was nothing aggressive, just excitement. Instead of any staff member approaching us, communicating with us or asking us to keep the volume down, we were simply cut off from ordering drinks without any explanation.

Then, while we were playing pool on a table we had paid for, the staff switched the lights off on us mid-game. Still, no one said a word to us directly. No warning, no conversation, no “can you tone it down?”, nothing. Just silent actions that came across as calculated and honestly quite disrespectful.

We weren’t causing trouble. We weren’t shouting at anyone. We were just happy. And in a place designed for groups to have fun, it was shocking how little communication and professionalism was shown.

If the staff had simply spoken to us, we would have understood instantly. Instead it went from 0 to 100 with no explanation at all. At that point we felt uncomfortable enough to leave.

This review isn’t to attack anyone personally, but to hopefully encourage better communication and customer service in future. People go to a bar to enjoy themselves. Being excited shouldn’t be treated like a problem, especially without a single word said to us.

Fix up ya rarse! A little communication goes a long way. Silence and passive-aggressive behaviour only drives customers...

We booked ahead of time a darts, beer and food deal. It cost £110, and we booked it for 7.30 arrival. When we arrived, we stood for 10 minutes or so before someone actually spoke to us. They knew nothing of the booking, luckily I had my confirmation email. They seemed unsure about what we had booked, and made me question if anyone had ever booked it before. We received our 3L beer, bottle of prosecco and we asked about food. At 7.40 we said we would like the food as soon as it could be ready, we ordered the wings platter. At about 8.15 someone who I presume was the manager asked us what food we wanted and we clarified the wing platter and queried the wait time, as it had already been 35 minutes, but we weren't really given an answer. There was an arsenal game on and there was probably 30-40 people in the bar, there were people going to the bar and ordering and receiving food before we received ours. When we questioned how long for the food, we were told this is the busiest they have ever been and that the food would be ready soon. At 9.15 we asked again and were told it would be ready soon and they were doing the last few bits now. After two hours, and after most people had left because the football match had ended our wings platter came out. It was just fried goujons and wings, with waffle fries and a cheese sauce. The cheese sauce was stone cold. We asked for sauces for the chicken goujons and were told they didn't have any. £110 was a complete rip off.

Would I go again? No.

If you want a game of darts, or pool with very slow staff members, mediocre beers and huge food wait times. Then here is fine. But there are much better places within...