Eight Birmingham cafés for a proper coffee and a plate worth sitting down for

A flat white is £4 at Medicine on New Street and at Wayland’s Yard on Bull Street, and a bowl of porridge at Morridge starts at £5.45. These eight cafés roast their own beans, name the roaster on the menu, or bake on the premises, and each one has a plate worth staying for.

How we chose: independent cafés that roast, name their beans or bake in-house, priced from their own current menus and named in at least one local guide.

New Street and the arcades

Faculty Coffee

Off the train at New Street, walk two minutes into Piccadilly Arcade and order a pour-over: Faculty is a small coffee and tea shop that lists filter and pour-over alongside the espresso drinks. The kitchen bakes daily and serves brunch from Thursday to Sunday until 2.30pm. This is the first pick for a visitor, because it is two minutes from the station and opens at 7.30am on weekdays.

Piccadilly Arcade, New Street · brunch Thu–Sun to 2.30pm · walk-in

Medicine Bakery, New Street

Medicine bakes cruffins and pistachio pain for the counter of this former Victorian gallery, and the June 2026 menu adds Turkish eggs at £12.50, with herb labneh, harissa burnt butter and sourdough. A flat white is £4. It takes bookings, and halal guests get turkey bacon and halal fried chicken.

New Street, city centre · flat white £4, Turkish eggs £12.50 · open daily 8.30am–5pm · book on OpenTable

Colmore and Snow Hill

Wayland’s Yard

Wayland’s started as a neighbourhood café in Worcester in 2016 and serves its Bull Street branch a three-bean blend of Brazil, Peru and El Salvador roasted in Bristol, with chocolate and fudge notes in the espresso. Breakfast runs all day, seven days a week. Order the Cherry Bakewell pancakes, three for £9.50 with cherry jam, crème pâtissière and almond brittle, or the Yard Fry Up at £15 if lunch is a long way off.

Bull Street, by Snow Hill · pancakes from £9.50 (Oct 2026) · open daily · walk-in

Morridge

A brother and sister run this Temple Row café on porridge: jumbo oats from Glebe Farm cooked in oat milk with flax and cinnamon, then topped. The Classic, with honey and sultanas, is £5.45; the baked peaches with Greek yoghurt and an earl grey syrup are £7.95. Porridge stops at 11.30am on weekdays, so go early, and climb to the upstairs room with its sixties and seventies styling.

Temple Row, city centre · porridge from £5.45 · walk-in

Jewellery Quarter and Southside

Saint Kitchen

Everything at Saint Kitchen on St Paul’s Square is made in the building, down to the bagels and the doughnut fillings. The French toast with vanilla custard and Amarena cherries is £10.50, and the home-cured bacon sando with ranch and a potato rösti is £13.50. Pay by card: it is cashless, and last food orders go in an hour before closing.

St Paul’s Square, Jewellery Quarter · French toast £10.50 · walk-in

Quarter Horse Coffee

Quarter Horse began in Oxford in 2012 and now roasts in the West Midlands, which makes its Bristol Street café the place to taste a single origin from the source before you buy a bag. The current list runs from a washed Zambian at £11 for 250g to a Tanzanian natural at £12. Weekend hours are short, 9am to 3pm.

Bristol Street, Southside · beans from £11 · open daily · walk-in

South: Kings Heath and Stirchley

The Early Bird Bakery

On Kings Heath High Street the pastries are baked in-house every morning and the coffee comes from Hundred House, and brunch runs from 9am to 2.45pm every day off an October menu. It also offers coworking space.

High Street, Kings Heath · Mon–Fri 7.30am–4pm, Sat–Sun 9am–4pm · walk-in

Caneat

Pershore Road’s café pours coffee from Hard Lines in Cardiff and cooks with Cacklebean eggs. Take the seven-minute eggs with gochujang mayo, sesame and coriander on toast for £9.50, and look in the cake box on the way out. Its website lists opening from Thursday to Sunday, 9am to 2pm.

Pershore Road, Stirchley · seven-minute eggs £9.50 · Thu–Sun · walk-in

Checked October 2026.