Mac Rating: 5.00 | Votes: 1 | Date: 19/06/2026 20:29:00

Tucked into the basement of the Edwardian Piccadilly Arcade, which runs between New Street and Stephenson Street, this Birmingham branch of Be At One trades on a discreet, below-ground setting in one of the city centre's most ornate shopping passages. It belongs to the specialist cocktail bar group of the same name, and follows the brand's drink-led, party-focused template rather than operating as a restaurant. Be At One was founded in May 1998 by Steve Locke, Leigh Miller, and Rhys Oldfield, three bartenders who met while working at TGI Fridays in London. Convinced that British cocktail bars of the time leaned too heavily on design and too little on the drinks themselves, they opened their first bar on Battersea Rise in south London with a focus on quality cocktails and attentive service. The concept, which the founders described as cocktail theatre, grew around a list that eventually reached roughly 101 cocktails. The chain expanded across the UK over the following two decades, reaching more than thirty bars in prime high-street locations before being bought by the Stonegate Pub Company in July 2018 in a deal reported at about 50 million pounds. The acquisition saw the original founders leave the company while the bars continued to trade under the established Be At One name and format. In keeping with the rest of the group, the Piccadilly Arcade bar pairs an extensive cocktail menu with frequent happy hours, drinks promotions, and resident DJs who lift the energy as the night goes on. Its central position, within easy reach of the main shopping streets and New Street Station, makes it a handy choice for after-work drinks and weekend nights out in the heart of Birmingham. The Piccadilly Arcade itself is a notable piece of Birmingham heritage - an Edwardian shopping passage, originally built as a cinema, that links New Street and Stephenson Street beneath a decorative interior. Setting a Be At One in its basement plays to the speakeasy associations of the cocktail-bar revival, in which hidden, below-street rooms became fashionable through the 2000s and 2010s. As with the rest of the group, the bar mixes a long classic-and-contemporary menu, runs happy-hour and two-for-one promotions earlier in the week, and turns to DJ-led party nights at the weekend, drawing on the dense footfall of shoppers, commuters, and office workers in the surrounding city centre.