Alum Rock Chai Bar licence under review by Birmingham City Council

A late-night cafe and restaurant in Alum Rock could be forced to close earlier to avoid causing a public nuisance. Chai Bar on Alum Rock Road is currently under review by Birmingham City Council and could be made to shut at 2am instead of 3am, from Monday to Sunday.

The venue, which received a Food Hygiene Rating of 1 earlier this year, applied for the licence to serve late-night refreshments between 11pm and 3am in April 2022 but has received some push-back. Planning officers said that later opening hours would cause ‘increased noise and disturbance’, thus leading to ‘the creation of public nuisance’.

It said it had ‘changed everything’ to improve since the hygiene rating was published and it was now waiting to be reinspected.

Chai Bar does not serve alcohol but provides tea, coffee, desserts and snacks to customers into the early hours of the morning. A terrace at the front of the venue has picnic tables for customers to sit at and looks out onto Alum Rock Road, while residential homes can be found in the near vicinity.

Have any other changes been suggested for the Chai Bar in Alum Rock?

As well as changing the opening hours, the venue may also be required to put up signs that remind customers to consider local residents when they leave.

Two planning applications from Chai Bar were recently submitted, one of which was to use a shipping container for hot food takeaways in 2020. The other was to build a bigger decking area to accommodate more cafe customers in 2021. Both were refused by Birmingham City Council on the grounds that they failed to understand the key characteristics of the surrounding area, among other reasons.

Having issued Chai Bar with a Food Hygiene Rating of 1 out of 5 in January 2022, the Food Standards Agency said the venue’s management of food safety required ‘major improvements’. They also added that the hygienic handling of food including preparation, cooking, and storage needed improvements.

What did Chai Bar say about their Food Hygiene Rating?

On their Food Hygiene Rating, Chai Bar told the LDRS: “We have resubmitted an application to the Food Standards Agency and sent proof over that we have changed everything. We are a new business and have made sure that everything is done, we are just waiting for someone to come out now.”

City chiefs will meet next Monday, June 6, to hear more about the case and to formally decide Chair Bar’s opening hours.

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