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Stagedoor Coffee Bar
- Thread starter davidfowler
- Start date
J
jezzer
Guest
Hi
The Mex,was at the bottom of Hurst St near a crossroads,and a petrol station? probably where China town is now
hi jezzer
sorry to contridict but the mexico coffee bar
was on the top end of bristol st
and to my reckoning would have been 400 yrds
from what now is called hollowayhead
and even say it would have been about where the
night out used to stand or if you like
on the forecourt of a garage that used to be there
next to the night out night club ,
best wishes astonian ;;;
sorry to contridict but the mexico coffee bar
was on the top end of bristol st
and to my reckoning would have been 400 yrds
from what now is called hollowayhead
and even say it would have been about where the
night out used to stand or if you like
on the forecourt of a garage that used to be there
next to the night out night club ,
best wishes astonian ;;;
Phil
Gone, but not forgotten.
Jezzer
I thought I remembered it near the corner of Bromsgrove St and Hurst St. I only recall it because of a big drug undercover operation in Birmingham in 1967. One of the few times I used the Mexicano I met this chap called Oxford John who turned out to be an undercover policeman. Good job I wasn't a user.
Phil
I thought I remembered it near the corner of Bromsgrove St and Hurst St. I only recall it because of a big drug undercover operation in Birmingham in 1967. One of the few times I used the Mexicano I met this chap called Oxford John who turned out to be an undercover policeman. Good job I wasn't a user.
Phil
hi phil and jezz ,
sorry about that i must admitt i made the mistake
it was quite corrected to tell me l
it was indeed the sombero and not the meccie as i had said and jezz was right it was the bottomend of hurst st
sorry again guys , best wishes astonion ;;
yes phil . it was the sombero there and not the mexi
where i said it was
the one across from the hall of memory was
owned by mick the greek to friends
and i knew betty and co
i met up with mick about two years ago at my brother inlaws house in sutton
he came to dinner one evening
my brother inlaw lives at the green by or should i say across the rd fromsutton park [ the big house ]
the bar was called the rondaview
i know thats not spelling right
starts
sorry about that i must admitt i made the mistake
it was quite corrected to tell me l
it was indeed the sombero and not the meccie as i had said and jezz was right it was the bottomend of hurst st
sorry again guys , best wishes astonion ;;
yes phil . it was the sombero there and not the mexi
where i said it was
the one across from the hall of memory was
owned by mick the greek to friends
and i knew betty and co
i met up with mick about two years ago at my brother inlaws house in sutton
he came to dinner one evening
my brother inlaw lives at the green by or should i say across the rd fromsutton park [ the big house ]
the bar was called the rondaview
i know thats not spelling right
starts
J
jezzer
Guest
This is some can of worms, yeh Oxford John,even the guy in the Stage door with the Trench coat and the trilby i remember him too,urban myths ay, I used the Mex when the Midnight CIty opened.It all seems like a scene from Clockwork Orange now,that end of town anyway the end of an era really.I was very young then.There was also the Cabin on smallbrook ringway,by then coffee bars were changing rapidly,I think there was a spiral staircase in the Cabin,although that just might be a figment.Then there was the Surfside Stop.......
J
jezzer
Guest
HEADS UP to the website and it makers
Jayell
master brummie
Anyone who remembers the El Sombrero Coffee Bar in the Horsefair, might be interested in this photo, which my sister gave me the other day. The photo would have been taken around 1959 I would think as we used to go there regularly in those days. I don't know who the people in the photo are though.
Hi charlie
we probaly passed and got next to each other wainting to be served ;our kid and his best mate and myself used to frequent the old expresso did you ever used the old greasy spoon cafe next to the birminham battery on bristol rd ; just up past the old yellow pear tree pub or what abut ld smokey joes ; thats gpoing back some years thou ;
best wishes astonian ;;;;
we probaly passed and got next to each other wainting to be served ;our kid and his best mate and myself used to frequent the old expresso did you ever used the old greasy spoon cafe next to the birminham battery on bristol rd ; just up past the old yellow pear tree pub or what abut ld smokey joes ; thats gpoing back some years thou ;
best wishes astonian ;;;;
hi charlie ;
yes i intend to agree with you ;out of all the west midlands bus service they was very hard to try and get one
in those days i think he most reliable one was the number 6 when i was young and a bit of a rebel ;more often than not we would be out all night
and go to the pink elephant if we missed the late and last bus to hockley and thenthe tow rope openend up so we spend the night there
drinking coffe the the rum rumnner opened up so then we had a choice of club
other wise it meant a trek across the city of the old streets and the old new street long before any body mentioned to redezign the city and the streets
do you recall the old street behind the station when it went up an hill and all the post vans was waiting for the night train of the royal mail tain was loading
its mail and goods for the cross of the country and thenews vans was waiting all along and up the hill to get there news papers
you culd always get your sunday mercury out side the station at eleven clock sharp but you could not get it any where than there until later in the morning when the shops was delivered ;and they got theres ; and back of the station it was a huge over head cover roof ; this is before the station ever had a make over of redelvelment ;to my knowledge now the station as been done over with its transfoming in my life tree times and coing up for four times changed ;
best wishes astonian;;
yes i intend to agree with you ;out of all the west midlands bus service they was very hard to try and get one
in those days i think he most reliable one was the number 6 when i was young and a bit of a rebel ;more often than not we would be out all night
and go to the pink elephant if we missed the late and last bus to hockley and thenthe tow rope openend up so we spend the night there
drinking coffe the the rum rumnner opened up so then we had a choice of club
other wise it meant a trek across the city of the old streets and the old new street long before any body mentioned to redezign the city and the streets
do you recall the old street behind the station when it went up an hill and all the post vans was waiting for the night train of the royal mail tain was loading
its mail and goods for the cross of the country and thenews vans was waiting all along and up the hill to get there news papers
you culd always get your sunday mercury out side the station at eleven clock sharp but you could not get it any where than there until later in the morning when the shops was delivered ;and they got theres ; and back of the station it was a huge over head cover roof ; this is before the station ever had a make over of redelvelment ;to my knowledge now the station as been done over with its transfoming in my life tree times and coing up for four times changed ;
best wishes astonian;;
My first job was at Orchard Tyres on the corner of Holloway Head and Florence Street,we used the El Sombrero and also the Britania Cafe in Hurst Street for our lunch breaks.There was also a mention of the Birmingham Battery on Bristol Road.I was one of the ambulance workers who attended the explosion on the site in the 70's
Eric Lewis Leedham
Expat
. . it's been a few years but I seem to remember that the "Zambesi" and the " Stage Door" , may have been the same place , possibly after a name change ? It had seating on the ground floor and usptairs . The upper level got so busy on weekend nights that they would kick everyone out around 9 pm and we'd all wait in the street below while they cleaned the place up and then re-open after about half an hour . I'd often walk home, late at night ,from there to Alum Rock . . good luck doing that now !
Robert Ensor (bob)
master brummie
You sure that was coffee ?"boring, lacking atmosphere"
It was a place where individuals created the meaning and essence of their lives, as opposed to deities or authorities creating it for them. We postulated that the absence of a transcendent force means that the individual is entirely free, and therefore, ultimately responsible. In existentialist views, personal articulation of being is the only way to rise above humanity's absurd condition of much suffering and inevitable death.
Only kidding
sospiri
GONE BUT NOT FORGOTTEN
Eric,
They may have had the same owners, but they certainly weren't the same premises. Our clique didn't like the Stage Door, don't ask me why, and my brother spent more time in the Zambesi than I did. The latter seemed to get far too crowded for my liking, but his girl friend at the time liked it. We much preferred the one just inside the top of Martineau Street. The Zambesi had a jokey folk singer, which was probably why it attracted the crowds, and it was on the ground floor only.
Pretty well most coffee bars practised the "Everybody out, we're closing" and then reopen a few minutes later, just to get everyone to buy more coffee. Otherwise we would sit there all night smoking with just one coffee. Frequently we just stood outside chatting until they reopened. At least one exception to this was the Jungle in Snow Hill, but the jukebox kept the funds pouring in there!
Maurice
They may have had the same owners, but they certainly weren't the same premises. Our clique didn't like the Stage Door, don't ask me why, and my brother spent more time in the Zambesi than I did. The latter seemed to get far too crowded for my liking, but his girl friend at the time liked it. We much preferred the one just inside the top of Martineau Street. The Zambesi had a jokey folk singer, which was probably why it attracted the crowds, and it was on the ground floor only.
Pretty well most coffee bars practised the "Everybody out, we're closing" and then reopen a few minutes later, just to get everyone to buy more coffee. Otherwise we would sit there all night smoking with just one coffee. Frequently we just stood outside chatting until they reopened. At least one exception to this was the Jungle in Snow Hill, but the jukebox kept the funds pouring in there!
Maurice
trevor bourne
proper brummie kid
Eric,
They may have had the same owners, but they certainly weren't the same premises. Our clique didn't like the Stage Door, don't ask me why, and my brother spent more time in the Zambesi than I did. The latter seemed to get far too crowded for my liking, but his girl friend at the time liked it. We much preferred the one just inside the top of Martineau Street. The Zambesi had a jokey folk singer, which was probably why it attracted the crowds, and it was on the ground floor only.
Pretty well most coffee bars practised the "Everybody out, we're closing" and then reopen a few minutes later, just to get everyone to buy more coffee. Otherwise we would sit there all night smoking with just one coffee. Frequently we just stood outside chatting until they reopened. At least one exception to this was the Jungle in Snow Hill, but the jukebox kept the funds pouring in there!
Maurice
Anybody remember the El Toro coffee bar located on a corner somewhere close to Lower Temple Street? I believe it was operated by the same people who later set up the Sombrero on the Horsefair and then another one which name I can't remember located I think in Edmund Street or thereabouts. They were the first frothy coffee bars and used to get absolutely packed on a Saturday night - standing room only.
Trevor B.
sospiri
GONE BUT NOT FORGOTTEN
Hi Trevor,
And welcome to the Forum. If you put "El Toro" - it's important to remember the quotes - into the Search Forum box at the top of the page, you will bet a list of links to mentions of this coffee bar, which I remember well as I used it myself at least once a week.
Maurice
And welcome to the Forum. If you put "El Toro" - it's important to remember the quotes - into the Search Forum box at the top of the page, you will bet a list of links to mentions of this coffee bar, which I remember well as I used it myself at least once a week.
Maurice
trevor bourne
proper brummie kid
Hi Trevor,
And welcome to the Forum. If you put "El Toro" - it's important to remember the quotes - into the Search Forum box at the top of the page, you will bet a list of links to mentions of this coffee bar, which I remember well as I used it myself at least once a week.
Maurice
Hi Maurice
Thanks for the tip (re the quotes). Brought up lots of info including the name of the establishment which I couldn't remember.Turned out to be the Fiesta in Summer Row. Was a bit off the track but worth a visit.
Trevor
Ian Dalziel
proper brummie kid
What a Handsome chap
Just spotted this interesting thread. In the 1950s, I frequented the Stage Door Club and when I was a student at Gosta Green CAT we used to frequent La Boheme which was opposite.
Regarding Acker Bilk, I was in the Firebird when he played there in approx 1960. My mate and I bought tickets to see his band at the Town Hall and later in the Firebird Club. We were slightly disappointed that the whole band did not appear at the club, but nevertheless, it was a good night and we got to speak to him afterwards.
Michael_Ingram
gone but not forgotten
Besides spending my youth in those places my first ever chili con carne was at the Firebird
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sospiri
GONE BUT NOT FORGOTTEN
Ian,
That was probably the night I was there on piano and Roy Castle was on trumpet. It was bit of a jam session and I think that Johnny Patrick also sat in on piano. I can't remember who else was playing or the exact date as it was sixty years ago. The Firebird closed shortly after that.
Maurice
That was probably the night I was there on piano and Roy Castle was on trumpet. It was bit of a jam session and I think that Johnny Patrick also sat in on piano. I can't remember who else was playing or the exact date as it was sixty years ago. The Firebird closed shortly after that.
Maurice
Emo
Brummie babby
Yes it was a name change. I used to hang out there about 1958 to maybe 1965 ish
Richard Dye
master brummie
Michael_Ingram
gone but not forgotten
Sorry, they were two different places. The stage door was in New Meeting Street an the Zambezi was further over near the side of New Street Station. I spent most of my late teens at both - mainly the Stagedoor.
Usually went to the Zambesi after going to the Trocadero pub
Usually went to the Zambesi after going to the Trocadero pub
Emo
Brummie babby
Certainly do, practically lived there 1959 to about 1966. We were the bunch who sat up the corner by the counter downstairs. Racking my brains for names of folks….brothers who ran it? Girls called Kris making coffee Think she was one of twins who did lighting at the Alex. Remember so e great singers like Lorna Campbell sitting nattering with us.Anyone remember the coffee bar in an alley or passage off Albert Street in the City Centre? Me and my mates used it late at night in the early 60's. Wearing a Donkey jacket and a polo neck jumper drinking "froffy coffee" we felt as if we were the new existentialists!
The alley/passage was demolished a few years later but I can't remember when.