Birmingham’s markets and food halls, and the counter to queue at in each

Birmingham buys its fish under one roof on Edgbaston Street, where the council runs what it calls one of the UK’s largest fish markets, and eats its street food in a converted custard factory, an office-block food hall and, further out, a yard in Longbridge. This guide takes them in that order: the old markets for shopping, the food halls for a table and a beer, and one yard in Longbridge for weekend street food.

The Bull Ring markets

The date on the market’s green awning is 1166, the year Henry II granted Peter de Birmingham a charter to hold a weekly market. The covered Market Hall followed in 1835 and a fish market in 1869. The site’s future is tied up in the Smithfield redevelopment, which in early 2025 put new Open and Rag markets at around 2035, so go while the current halls are trading.

Bull Ring Indoor Market

Come here for fish. The council lists the fish market first, ahead of fresh meat and poultry, exotic fruit and vegetables, clothes and household goods, and that is the right order to shop it in: buy whole fish and shellfish at the counters, then meat, then the vegetables you cannot find in a supermarket. Go early; the hall opens at 9am Monday to Saturday.

Edgbaston Street, Bull Ring · Mon–Sat 9am–5.30pm · walk-in

Bull Ring Open Market

Right outside the Indoor Market, 130 stalls under a roof sell fruit and vegetables along with fabrics and seasonal goods, and the fruit and veg traders take NHS Healthy Start vouchers. The aisles are wide and covered, so it works with a buggy or a wheelchair. The Rag Market next door sells fabric and household goods, not food.

Edgbaston Street, Bull Ring · Tue–Fri 9am–5pm, Sat 9am–5.30pm · walk-in

The food halls

Alfred Works

Order the birria ramen from Fuego 1987: a cup of Shin ramen under a slow-simmered beef consommé, the dish that made Hamza’s Mexican-American stall famous on TikTok before it reached Digbeth. Alfred Works fills part of the Custard Factory, Alfred Bird’s old works on Gibb Street, with 18 independent food partners run by the Blend Family group, and it bills itself as a winner at the 2026 British Street Food Awards. The other counter worth a look is Spice Club, where Mandy’s Punjabi curries start from a base cooked for three and a half hours. During school holidays, a child of 10 or under eats free from 12pm to 5pm on weekdays with each adult dish of £10 or more from the same kitchen, and there is a play area with a sandpit. Children are welcome until 9pm and dogs at any time.

Custard Factory, Digbeth · kids eat free with a £10 adult dish (school holidays) · open daily 8am–10.30pm · walk-in, books 10+

Society Birmingham

Society seats more than 350 people across 9,000 sq ft at One Colmore Square, and its five kitchens are Shokupan’s milk-bread sandos, Manzoku’s katsu and bao, Asha’s street-food counter, Bostin Burgers and Amore Pizzeria. Get the Bardotto from Amore, with ‘nduja, spianata Calabra salami, red onion and ricotta on hand-stretched dough, and a beer from the 36 craft lines, which run from Attic and Glasshouse in Birmingham to Verdant and Cloudwater. It is closed on Sundays.

One Colmore Square, city centre · Mon–Sat from 11am · walk-in, books 8+

Street food

Herbert’s Yard

Digbeth Dining Club began in 2012 in a Digbeth car park and grew into a touring street-food operator; its Birmingham home is now this yard in Longbridge, five minutes’ walk from the station. Up to eight traders cook every weekend, with two bars and a big beer garden, and the line-up changes, so check it before you go. Parking is free for three hours.

Austin Way, Longbridge · Thu 4–10pm, Fri–Sat noon–11pm, Sun noon–8pm · walk-in

Which one for a group

Take a group of six with different tastes to Alfred Works: 18 kitchens means nobody compromises, it opens every day, and it takes bookings for ten or more. In November the Frankfurt Christmas Market returns to the city centre from 5 November to 24 December.

Checked October 2026.