The Botanist Gas Street Basin — Restaurant in Birmingham

Came with friends who I hadn’t seen in a while to enjoy the sun and some drinks. As a former waitress myself, I know how stressful the job can be at times so I try to be patient and understanding when mistakes happen.

The service here however was absolutely shocking.

Firstly, the “seasoned fries” tasted like they were oiled and bathed in garlic granules and nothing else. The servers don’t know what they’re bringing to a table or which table it’s supposed to go. I don’t know if that’s just the structure of the business, but if someone had an allergy or was under 18, you’d be putting them at risk.

Now here is my main complaint.

I was the last one to order a drink in the group, and apparently it came first. I won’t even get into how appallingly long it took for them to bring out a bottle of wine and some glasses, or the garnishing difference between ordering at the bar vs table service.

The server handed the drink over to me, I took it because it looked like what I ordered (pineapple juice and coconut Bacardi)- and as far as I knew, everyone else ordered wine or one of their staple cocktails.

One of my friends asked what it was and the server told us they didn’t know (?), took the drink, bumped into the table next to us, and proceeded to spill the drink all over my friend who screamed in shock (imagine a freezing cold, sticky drink getting thrown on your body on a hot summers’ day).

The server didn’t even acknowledge her!! No apology, no tissues, nothing. I went inside to find some tissues, and saw the server leaning against the bar top talking to a bartender and looking distressed. About 5 minutes later I went back inside to find some salt for the fries, and the server was still in the same spot on the bar top.

I don’t know if they just had a bad day, and they seemed like lovely people. I think things just need to be standardised, and maybe some staff support needs to be implemented. I’m not angry personally, but I will be honest about great or poor service, and unfortunately with the Botanist,...

Updated June 2025 - No better since changing names to The Botanist. So slowwwww! I think the barman was in sloth mode... It took 20 minutes for him to make 3 cocktails, of which we had to change because some ingredients were not available. He kept disappearing for some reason too. It wasn't busy and it was a Thursday afternoon. It's still a 3 star rating. The canal side location and beer garden atmosphere is the only reason to come here.

Original 2022 - A mixed experience. Visited during the day on a sunny Saturday afternoon and it was lively but by no means crowded. We were told to go to the downstairs bar, even though the upstairs bar was empty and the barman was just stood around cleaning glasses! We went downstairs and got straight to the bar only to be ignored. I'm 6'4" so it's not like I'm invisible. There were 3 guys behind the bar and they were awfully slow. After standing there for 15 minutes (not exaggerating) trying to get served we left. There were a lot of customers huffing and shaking heads. The guy to my right was there before me and he looked ready to scream... some say he's still there now waiting to be served! Why couldn't people get served at the bar upstairs?!

We called back during the evening as my fiancée wanted to try a specific cocktail they had. It was around 9pm and the experience was much better. The service was more efficient and we managed to get 2 rounds in without much hassle. We all tried a few different cocktails and they were all very tasty.

They had some little heated log cabins outside which is a nice option, plus there was a band on and they were great. Our evening visit was much better, it's just a shame we didn't get to enjoy a beer by the canal in the sun during the afternoon. We were going to grab some food too but I heard a customer get told that there was a minimum 45 minute wait so we...

Beutuful place, horrible staff and service. Also the outdoor awning is broken. We visited the pub while spending our weekend in Birmingham. We sat outside, at the patio, as we only wanted to have a few drinks and some desserts. As it started raining, also on the people sitting under the only open and working part of the awning, everybody started to move inside. The staff was trying to get us a table upstairs, even though we asked about visibly available table at the end of the hall (with all stable decorations), then they told us we can sit at a spare wooden outdoor picnic table situated near the door, and finally agreed for us to sit at the previously mentioned table down the hall, confirming it was available, after we asked again why can’t we sit down the hall. Nobody came over with the menus so we could order, as you order at the table when inside and not on the app while your are outside, finally when we got the menus and said we are ready to order the waitress just walked away, apparently she did not want to take our order or the table was covered by somebody else. finally we were able to order some drinks, and got a beer we wanted but were told it wasn’t available (!!) and told the waiter we will order desserts soon after but nobody’s showed up to check on us and take further orders. At the end we all went to the bar to pay and leave and the guy who was serving us had such an attitude when we asked to split the bill and asked us in a rude manner “how much do you want to pay” - without even showing us the bill, using a system to highlight options we want to pay for. I don’t wish that on anybody. Such a lovely place but the service was sooo poor and bad - I have never ever been so poorly served in London where I work or Milton Keynes where we live, nor in any other UK pub or restaurant....