Paul at No. 41 is an independent café on a busy high street in Harborne, it is located opposite M&S and closer to the Green Man. It is a quaint café and depending on how busy it is, the accessibility and space vary.
The café has flat access although the doorway was narrow, and the tables could be positioned close by the door. There are not any accessible toilets at Pauls at No 41 and there is a step up to the other toilets which is not great, I guess for a small cafe, it is okay. I can manoeuvre the tables and people to get to the counter, which was at a surprising, good height. But if it was busy, I would need tables and chairs moved aside to allow me access. Often, I can get my choice of table, being there regularly and could get close enough to the table. I couldn’t quite get underneath, so I have to strain or take a tray with me.
The menu provided various food and drink options, from teas, coffees, hot chocolate and soft drinks to alcoholic beverages. The food menu covered an extensive all-day breakfast menu, whilst also offering burgers, salads, sandwiches and more, including quite a few veggie options. I ordered a hot chocolate that was a perfect balance of chocolate, milk, cream and sprinkles; not too watery nor too sickly. I love the hot chocolates, especially with gingerbread. Despite the extensive options, I eventually decided on the beef burger to which I added cheese. It also came with chips and coleslaw. The portion was very generous and the burger itself was very tasty. I could tell it had been made with quality products and ingredients. This burger often is my usual although I have tried the sausages which are great.
My friend particularly enjoyed the vegetarian breakfast, saying it was the best she had ever had. Usually, places don’t put a lot of effort into veggie items, but she said this had been carefully made and everything had incredible taste.
I love the atmosphere at Pauls, relaxed, new, and bright with music playing in the background the chance to settle and use the WI-FI to go on my laptop. After going there regularly since it opened, I have quite enjoyed myself there and going for the scenery. The owner is very nice and provides great customer service which makes the experience personable.
Pleased with our experience and the overall service, I have returned and will return again soon. There is also several freshly made cakes which I like particularly the shortbread and cheesecake.
The Life of Sophie 
Hi Sophie, I’ve just been flicking around on the internet looking for different reviews of my cafe, stepping away from the usual TripAdvisor/Google reviews. Thank you so much for coming in and leaving your honest thoughts! I put an awful lot of thought into both the design and layout whilst planning my 1st independent venture, whilst dealing with the restrictions of the building. Only having free standing tables which means the layout can be manipulated at any point was important as it allows access to enjoy a meal out to more people. I totally feel your frustrations in the lack of toilet facilities and toyed with various ideas, one being to create a ramp but with the level of elevation required the ramp would have to have been of considerable distance creating a trip/uneven floor hazard coming off the bar/till section. The other option was completely moving the bar around but unfortunately funds were far too tight to allow me to do this as it would have involved new flooring throughout as well as various other remedial jobs to repair/replace the previous set-up. If I move or expand the business it’ll definitely be a priority.
I’m chuffed to bits that you enjoyed the food and drinks and that you picked up on the quality of the ingredients. Serving fresh, locally sourced food and drink that is cooked to order is something I pride myself on massively, I cant stand food that is kept in a hot hold! I know you don’t mention this but it can occasionally generate a slightly longer wait time for food but I’d rather that than compromise on quality.
Anyway, keep up your blog, I’ve enjoyed reading it and hope to see you again soon.
Paul
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Paul. So good to hear from you. You are the first person that works a restaurant or cafe that I’ve reviewed that has found my review and commented. I am nothing but not honest. I really appreciate you writing this and I love coming to Pauls at No.1. I know some of these issues are not you directly, rather the landlord or the building owner rather than yourself. I appreciate your thoughts to this and I wish your fellow cafe or restaurant owners thought about this and talked so openly about it. You can defiantly tell the quality of ingredients in the food you serve and I admire how you put quality of food first. I know some may say it takes longer but I think that is what’s needed rather than you sacrificing the quality of the meal. I cannot wait to come back soon.
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Hi Sophie, I’ve only just saw your reply as I expected to receive an email notification to say you’d responded but not to worry 🙂
I wish more business owners took time to look around and see what people are saying about their businesses rather than the usual platforms or reacting once they see a change in the amount of money flowing through the tills…. keep up the blog and don’t let a lack of clicks or responses put you off posting!
Take care and see you soon hopefully
Paul
PS, I’ve just spotted the email notification tick box before posting a comment lol
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