We visit Broad Street to find out if it's still Birmingham's 'golden mile' & the city's best night out

Birmingham has long been known for its vibrant nightlife.

An array of brilliant bars, great nightclubs and new developments have helped to make Birmingham one of the very best nights out in the UK.

The city's nightlife landscape seems to be constantly evolving, as new hotspots and ventures continue to emerge, helping to provide a lot of options for people when they come to the city centre for a night out. Broad Street has long been known as Birmingham's most dynamic entertainment district - which is why it's referred to as Birmingham's 'Golden Mile'.

Broad Street's famous entertainment hub began to emerge in the 1970s, with the legendary music bar The Rum Runner - the venue where Duran Duran played some of their first gigs in Birmingham - attracting people from all over the West Midlands. Today, it's home to many popular bars including, the Walkabout sports bar, Coyote Ugly, Wetherspoons, Rosie's Bar, O'Neill's, and one of Birmingham’s most famous and best-loved nightclubs - Snobs, is also set to relocate to Broad Street, which will be a further boost for the Westside economy.

But it's not just the nightlife, the famous Black Sabbath bench overlooking the canal, as well as the Birmingham Walk of Stars that include tributes to Ozzy Osbourne and Noddy Holder bring thousands of visitors to the district each year. The huge Cineworld at the end of the street also hosted the Peaky Blinders season 6 premiere in 2022.

But nearby Brindleyplace has certainly rivalled Broad Street as the place to be for a night out in the city centre in recent years - and with the emergence of new restaurants and activity bars such as the F1 Arcade in Paradise and closer to New Street train station - there's plenty of competition. So we thought we'd pay a visit to Broad Street to find out if it really is still seen as the city's Golden Mile entertainment hub.

Myself and my colleague Richard Gullick headed down to the nightspot on a festive December Thursday evening. We popped into the Brasshouse first, which is renowned as being one of Birmingham’s best traditional pubs. The pub was packed with workers enjoying their Christmas parties, with one man outside telling us that Broad Street still very much comes to mind when he thinks of planning a night out in Birmingham.

After having a walk through the street, we then asked a couple of youngsters whether they still think of Broad Street when planning their nights out in the city. One of the girls, Millie, said: "Broad Street is really good because it's all in one place. If you're coming for a night out, there's multiple clubs, and there's a really good disco Wetherspoons - and it's cheap."

Lindsey then said to us: "There are plenty of places to go. There's Coyote Ugly right here next to us, and then you've got all the bars and the restaurants and the canals, and you can see they've spent a lot of money on it regenerating the area."

So it's clear to see that nightlife on the golden mile still appeals to clubbers and younger audiences. We then met with Mike Olley, general manager of Westside BID, who told us Broad Street definitely moves with the times and he was adamant it's still the place to be.

"Broad Street does remain the Golden Mile," he said. "Where else could it be in the English Midlands? it can only be Broad Street, which has established itself as the golden mile many years ago and it really got the edge on so many other places, and since having had that edge it's kept it polished nicely, and we're really going from strength to strength.

He added: "Covid was a real challenge for us, we got through that - yes we lost one or two venues but as soon as a venue closes down here there's a queue of venues wanting to move straight in." Mike's enthusiasm for Broad Street is evident, so we also decided to speak with some businesses on the street.

We then popped into the Food Republic taste of Turkey kebab and pizza house next to Heidi's bar. Ibrahim, the manager, says he's actually seen a decline in business due to the closure of a number of offices on the other side of the street.

He told us: "It used to be very busy, but not as much anymore. That building used to be all offices, but many of them have moved to Digbeth. It's affected us, by about 70%. We used to be very busy, but now - we used to have seven people working but now only two."

He said it's been a struggle to remain open due to the lack of business. "It (Broad Street) looks amazing, but right now, it's not great for business." It's interesting hearing from Ibrahim, who paints a slightly different picture of Broad Street than other have, and of the struggles businesses can face on the street, despite the area's vibrant reputation. After a stroll along the street, We then headed into O'Neill's, another popular pub on the golden mile.

It was a fairly busy on arrival. We settled in for a pint and a packet of crisps. After a quick pint of Cools Light, a few Christmas parties started to enter, and it was clear to see the pubs along the golden mile are still a favourite among drinkers.

As we left Broad Street, we noticed there were still people taking pictures of the Black Sabbath bench, and the bars and pubs were certainly full on this festive evening.

It had felt for quite sometime that while Brindleyplace had maybe taken over as the number one destination for people when they go on a night out in Birmingham due the number of glistening bars it has next to the canal, but Broad Street's historic reputation, as well as its variety of options, including Cineworld and it's Black Sabbath tributes, still separates it from other popular nightspots in the city.

But what about the area's future? "Well, who knows?" Mike told us a little earlier on. "I can sum it up by saying it's going to be good, I know that. But it will clearly move with the times. I've been here - you could argue too long - and I've seen so much change, but it's change and changing with the times that will give us a future, and Broad Street will rise to whatever challenges arise and we'll be delivering fun and a good place to work for many years to come, I'm sure."