of all the incredible restaurants we visited on our recent trip to england, the warehouse cafe in birmingham stood out as one of the best. the warehouse cafe is an entirely vegetarian co-op with a bookstore on the bottom floor and a kick-ass veg restaurant upstairs. they have a passion for the environment and serve up meatless meals containing local and sustainable ingredients that taste bloody brilliant—their vegan junk food and pub fare is completely unmatched. we went for the nachos, burgers, chips and pies…no room for salad. the guilty vegan pleasures at warehouse tasted so amazing…melty cheese and buttery crusts like i haven’t experienced since i was a teenager. wowee!

nachos grande (vegan): organic hand fried tortilla chips, jalapeno chillies, melted mature cheddar, and salsa. £3.95

to start, we ordered the vegan nachos, which were nothing short of incredible. the homemade chips were sinfully greasy and thick…not to mention the melty and creepily convincing cheese. total guilty pleasure x 1000.

organic vegan burger special with garlic and mushrooms.

the husband ordered the burger special, which was also above and beyond. a thick vegan patty with soy vegan cheese, sauteed vegetables, and chunky homemade fries made this dish one not to miss. we ordered it off the specials board, but the burger is available on the normal menu, it just normally doesn’t come with the mushrooms.

warehouse cafe special: leek pie served with garden peas and chips.

lastly, i again ordered off the specials menu and went for the leek pie. holy mother, this shit was traditional pub food done just right but veganized…right down to the rich, greasy crust and huge steaming chips.

the insides were prepared absolutely perfectly…i’m talking really succulent mushrooms in a moist but crispy-on-the-edges buttery crust and creamy beer-flavored sauce. everything we tried from warehouse’s menu was waaaaaay beyond delicious.

in addition to serving up excellent, traditional, and entirely vegetarian/vegan-friendly food, warehouse cafe was charming in the fact that it was run by a shared co-op which includes an environmentally-conscious bookstore located below the restaurant, and all the staff rotate and share ownership. literature on making our world a better place is scattered everywhere…in the dining hall, in the bookshop, and even in the bathroom (where there are 3 different ways to dry your hands, and pamphlets on each method explaining its effects on the environment).

the warehouse cafe is a little hole-in-the-wall that caught me off guard with its sweetness, its consciousness, and its ridiculously tasty vegan food. i will return to this place every single chance i have, because it’s so fucking special. if you find yourself in the uk, it’s totally worth taking a trip to birmingham to visit this place.

warehouse cafe birmingham

the warehouse cafe
54-57 Allison Street
Birmingham B5 5TH
0121 633 0261
Monday to Saturday
11 a.m. til 10 p.m. (last food orders at 9 p.m.)
Sunday
11 a.m. til 6 p.m. (last food orders at 5.00 p.m.)