The Black Boy in Solihull

We stopped there for a pint mid way in a country walk. Weather was excellent so we sat outside; they have loads of tables in a large patio by the canal. Quite a nice place to sit with a pint or two in the autumn sun. Despite all of us having ordered drinks, and some of us ordered nibbles, a bloke made a fuss about some of the group having a sandwich they brought with them. Because of this, I may consider a different place to stop when we walk in the area.

Everything about the Black Boy is excellent - location, facilities, service, food, atmosphere. It is the preferred half-way meeting place for our northern and southern family members. Today (26Oct2024) we enjoyed lunch: braised beef (one peppered), steak pie, and salmon. Puddings (cheesecake and treacle sponge) were shared. Lunchtime was busy, but there was only a short wait for meals to be served, and no rush to free our table. It worked to our advantage - longer to chat. We have visited a few times and will do so again. Thank you to all the team at The Black Boy. I managed to leave my phone behind. A quick call from home assured me that it had been found and was being kept safe for collection or posting. Good service.

Service is fast and staff are friendly, food portions are large and well priced and it is good quality tasty food

Had a wonderful stop off at The Black Boy last week, after a visit to the NEC. Our meal was amazing and great value, ALL the staff were very friendly and accommodating. This pub is in a stunning location, next to fields and a canal, that you can have a pleasant walk along. Would highly recommend.

Always incredible food when we visit The Black boy. Russ and the family are so friendly, welcoming, and attentive. Nothing is ever too much. We have 3 children, 2 of whom have special needs. One can become very loud in public places and gets a bit overwhelmed. She started to get impatient waiting for her meal ( although we had only waited about 20 minutes, may I add), so they rushed our order through, and she was so happy. Sat and ate all her food and thoroughly enjoyed it. Thank you so much to all the Team. These little things make a massive difference to family's experiences.

Well organised with the bar outside and plenty of space and availability. Black boy is our go to pub for the family.....great food and very welcoming.

Good value, good food and brilliant service, would recommend 👌

Staying as a motorhome stop over. Great place, big car park, lovely pub and good food. at a great location. We will be back.

Absolutely amazing place, lovely food and pleasant staff. Great motorhome parkup will definitely return

Great Pies and a very peaceful night sleeping in our Camper Van in the Car Park.

A big menu which is a red flag to how home cooked it is. Unfortunately not great.

A very attractive place set back from the road and on the side of the canal Service very good. Food was very disappointing my wife chose gammon with egg & pineapple which came out Luke warm which was replaced taking about 10 minutes by which time I had eaten enough of their terrible attempt at faggots and peas. The faggots were more like smooth balls of tasteless pate, with gravy granule gravy. No seasoning A total waste of money.

Great place, great food. Food hot and plentiful..

They don't welcome dogs so we couldn't get into the property unfortunately.

What a beautiful place..the staff are warm and friendly lovely and clean place..we had a starter that were very nice and 2 of the sunday roasts trio home cooked cracking portion lots of meat excellent meal..followed by apple and blackcurrant crumble stunning..you wouldn't be disappointed lots of choice and would highly recommend

Staff were polite fast & gave us useful information about the menu.

Lovely place. Outstanding food. Always order the ribeye steak. It's always cooked as medium should be. The Stilton sauce is amazing too. Nice laid back quiet atmosphere too. Portions are nice and generous too. Very clean. A favourite place for f mine.

We was seated at our table and told it is all table service. We waited for 10 minutes (just about to leave) before anyone approached us to ask if we wanted drinks. We ordered drinks and food at the same time, the food was lovely as usual. Other people coming in was going up to the bar to be told its table service and was waiting sometime to have their orders taken. We asked for the bill only to wait another 15 minutes, we then went to the bar to ask for our bill. Really disappointed with the black boy as every time we have been there before it has been wonderful.

definitely a new favourite of mine! My mum and Nan are regulars, and decided to take me here today, it was lovely and didn’t disappoint. Food was very lovely and so was the service,everything was clean and tidy. Highly recommend! And the view was a great sight. 🤍will be returning

Lasagne was stodgy and tasteless, burger was dry. Weren't offered any sauces, mayo etc. Waited a long time for drinks.

Great menu, good food ,the portions are big. Good for the price. Nice touch of non alcohol draft beer 🍺 .plenty of free parking.

Delicious food, would definitely return if we were in the area. However I have to knock marks off because; 1. My husband found a length of string in his burger. 2. The service was incredibly slow... we were sat ages waiting to pay while people around us were brought the card machine, we were then passed over. Eventually we gave up and went and paid at the bar.

Six family members had lunch on Wednesday 18 September and it was a great experience. Food was very good and the lunch was made even more enjoyable by the members of staff and the friendly atmosphere. Will certainly be visiting again soon.

I'm not sure if my first post didn't work. it's come up again ? Lovely Carvery 😍 ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

Walking the canal towpath, I stopped for some lunch. There was no real ale available. There was a pump for Tribute but that was off. Surely a pub this size should have a decent ale on sale; and one from the Midlands, not Cornwall! My tuna mayo baguette was a good size with plenty of filling. Unfortunately the bread itself was tasteless white pap with no crispness to the crust.

Great value mains, nice local pub!

Very family orientated pub and great for kids with lots of outdoor space

Loved this place loads ..the pics I've posted are of canal alongside it ..beautiful setting

A lovely meal on Sunday with a large group for my mums birthday. Service and food quality were great we will be back

Great family lunch to celebrate my birthday

Great pub with great food at a very reasonable price.

Great place to eat and wonderful atmosphere. Lovely afternoon drink.l

Never let's me down. The food was great

Staff were really friendly and helpful. The lady behind the bar who took the order and the man who brought it over were genuinely great. The food was okay and had good portion sizes. The vinegar looked like it could do with cleaning out though. Also a suggestion to maybe put signs on the bins in the beer garden saying "no dog waste" as a lady came off the canal and put her dogs waste in the bins in your garden whilst we were eating just a short distance away. Obviously not the pubs fault but just a suggestion. All in all, a great pub in a great location with brilliant staff would definitely visit again👍

I used to frequent this pub 30 years ago. Changed quite a bit to more of a restaurant style without the comfortable seating. Menu looks good with plenty of choice, plus gf options.

A bit slow to serve us. Lovely food and decor.

Nice canalside setting. Clean and pleasant inside. The staff were friendly and helpful. Husband’s steak was very good and he thoroughly enjoyed it. I ordered the chicken Caesar salad and sweet potato fries. The Caesar salad was definitely not to my taste at all. The chicken was rubberised slices of processed something but nothing like chicken. The salad (how can you go wrong with a salad) had massive chunks of raw onion throughout. The taste of which pervaded everything. For my taste it was inedible and was sadly returned. Only the second time I’ve ever returned food in my life. Deserts were lotus sundae and lotus cheesecake. Both of which were delicious. I wasn’t charged for the salad but it had to be pointed out that it had been returned.

Food was absolutely disgusting,,I asked if I could change my meal as I wasn't eating what they gave me,, I was told NO ,, my partner had a mixed grill it was also disgusting,,they cooked his steak wrong and the rest was over cooked,,we left the pub and told them we will never return here again,,they gave nothing to try and make us happy customers at all,,I would not recommend this pub at all.

Awful tasteless food, got one meal deducted. Came here years ago and it was good. So disappointed now. Flies and wasps inside buzzing over food. Had to move for people trying to get past table whilst I was eating. Went home very miserable

I have just read the review on the processed turkey comment i can 100% confirm as there local butcher it is not processed it was fresh from ourselves on saturday ,we dont supply black boy with processed meat and never will kindest regards LAY BROS BUTCHERS

excellent food,£12.95 for 10z gammon . £11.95 for a large pie and chips, same for a generous portion of lasagne, deserts a little overpriced at £7.95, but overall still good value, great canalside location

I came here with my daughter for lunch have been before but not been for a while the staff are really lovely and friendly but the e food has gone down hill I believe I had a roast dinner and had turkey and when it came there were lots of it but it was processed Turkey from a packet i suppose that’s what you should expect if your not at a Carvery I did end up leaving it because I got swarmed by wasps and flies but that was a fault of mine because was outside on a warm day

Lovely Pub Good choice of food, very tasty and hot. Very friendly staff

Went to the Black Boy on Wednesday 16 August , there were 4 of us and we all had a great meal.All four meals were piping hot and know one left anything On there plates the staff were really friendly and nothing was to much trouble for them WTG the staff. Will definitely be coming back soon

Fantastic food at a good price with great table service and good gardens. Try the home made menu , awsome food.

Went there last weekend for a family meal. It had been a long time since I last visited so I looked forward to going. The place wasn’t heaving, steady I would say. We had a drink first and an hour later I ordered my food. I was told there was a one hour wait. Not much I could do about it, although I didn’t think the restaurant was particularly busy. When the food arrived it was good. Nothing spectacular but ok. The table service was very good, the staff were polite and friendly. Overall, an ok visit. No problems with the quality of the food but I don’t think I’d go again.

We went for a meal on Sunday. Just want to say the meal was lovely and the Atmosphere was wonderful. Everybody was friendly and Staff very polite. I would highly recommend the Black Boy.

Staff found us a table. We had struggled to book Staff polite friendly Food delicious. Good value for money

Absolutely shocking food, chef cannot cook a steak. My wife ordered a well done steak an 3 times her meal came out and eachbyimecthe steak was raw! Waitresses were very sorry but management didn't appear to care, such a shame. Used to go here 20+ years ago and was always amazing, but won't ever go back again!

Very Good food, good service, we all sat out side on this visit as it was a warm late afternoon. My wife and 2 others in our party said the traditional lasagne it was excellent as always and the steak pie 2 of us ate was excellent aswell.

My family and I had a wonderful meal today , the fish was delicious.. Staff as usual, friendly and attentive

Amazing place for food nice beer garden and to see the boats going up and down

1st time at the Black Boy and probably our last. Started well enough, quickly seated, drinks and food orders taken within 10mins, but then after half an hour of waiting our starters hadn’t arrived. Asked the waitress and her reply was that it would be a while yet. Starters finally arrived over an hour after ordering. Main’s arrived reasonably quick after that, unfortunately the wait wasn’t worth it, food ok but nothing exceptional. Overall very disappointed and wouldn’t return.

Its changed a lot since I was here last, not for the better unfortunately. The food was very average and the atmosphere wasn't much better.

Absolutely 💯 fantastic. Food was amazing. Entertaining. Very polite staff 👌

We went there on july 27th,party of 4,ordered a cajun chicken breast,it arrived on skewers tasted like perfume,we ate the chicken as it was a long wait for food,when i complained to the manager he just said the chef had decided to do it that way,so it was advertised as a breast and got skewers,miss sold and false advertising on menu,manager was not very helpful,no appologies at all will not be going back 🤬

What can I say other than it's an absolute delight to come and spend a relaxing time with family and friends at this fantastic establishment. The food is TOP quality, the service is always pleasant and courteous, let's not forget to mention the atmosphere is cozy(it feels like home). If you haven't visited this AMAZING Pub/ Place ) Getaway) , well I would recommend you do so. Tonight I had the pleasure of seeing some familiar faces which require a BIG SHOU OUT!! Thank you, Michelle Charlie, Daniel !!!

The waitress (Olivia) was fantastic and nothing was too much for her, I had ordered bbq wings but they brought chilli, she rectified the issue with no problem at all and the lady brought my food and apologised for the misunderstanding. I will definitely be back. The wait was long but worth it. Olivia, with your attitude young lady, you are going far, you’re a great person for this wonderful place. Keep it up. Food was delicious, amazing and tasty. We are definitely coming back.

Had a really lovely evening meal (the steak was cooked to exactly what i asked for)sat outside and there's a lovely little climbing frame for 5-12yr olds

Good choice of food and drinks. I recommend a visit.

The service is pretty poor had to go to the bar to order food and drinks even though they were quiet. Ordered Sirloin steak never had a piece of meat so fatty anywhere it was not a good experience. I haven't been here for a while and I don't think I will ever be going back 😕

Great pub. friendly , helpful and knowledgeable staff, good food

Love this place. Went for a meal recently through a recommendation. Lovely ambience and great service. The food is on observation home cooked and even my salad you could see was not from a packet as a lot of pub grub is... 2 different types tomatoes...boiled eggs etc.. great portions...huge choice. Have revisited with family... Will be going again

Back to its best. This pub had a dodgy period after Covid, but so did a lot of others with staff shortages. Visited for the 6th time this year on Friday and was really pleased to be able to say that each has been better than the last. I was served a gorgeous piece of Gammon, and my wife loved her pie. Service is always a bit of a lottery here. It is a big pub with a lot of tables, especially when the sun shines and the beer garden is full, if this is the case you may be in for a long wait. On Friday, it was spot on, timely service, and a friendly smile throughout. There were plenty of people in, but the weather was a bit cool for the garden. Overall, it was a very enjoyable visit. Thankyou.

Went for an evening drink and sat by the canal. Easy to get served and nice to watch the narrow boats.

Gorgeous pub in a beautiful setting. Counted at least 80 benches in the garden, so absolutely huge and would be the perfect place to visit on a nice day. We had lunch, all our meals were lovely. My little boy ate everything on his plate, followed by ice cream (and the lovely Michelle made his day but bringing him an extra flake 🤣) Service was fast and Michelle was super friendly, efficient and knowledgeable. We're in Atherstone, so a little far out for us, but we will definitely visit again!

First time on visiting and I wasnt disappointed. Lovely food and staff very friendly and welcoming.

Shame to see how this once lovely pub has gone down so much with the present management. Myself and a friend popped in for a meal and I have to say the service was awful. From customer service to the food which arrived an hour later luke warm. My drink was knocked over by the waitress yet no offer of replacement drink? The staff were unfriendly and unprofessional. When I complained I was told to email my complaint! Why? I’m on the premises and expressing my valid disappointment with the service we’d received. Looking at recent reviews this is sadly a regular occurrence at The Blackboy! I’d like to just add we weren’t the only disgruntled customers on the night we attended. Can I just add I know as a fact some of these 5 star reviews are false and posted by the manager’s family & friends!

Called here on spec for lunch. A table was found for us and the service we received was very good. The food was lovely and when the waitress dropped some of the chips off my plate into my lap she got another whole portion (which I actually couldn't manage to eat as I was to full). Would definitely be back if we lived nearer.

Had to wait an hour for the food. Eight of us and one meal arrived which was finished when another two arrived then ten minutes or so later the rest arrived. Not conducive to a great family day out. My cod was bland while everyone else ranged from good to very good. So mixed review.

Went for lunch with my family ,and we really enjoyed ourselves. The service ,food was great and a lovely atmosphere

Lovely beer gardens staff could definitely visit the toilet a bit more to keep on top of cleanliness and on the beer garden. But overall a nice place

Great pub. Always friendly service makes you feel its a family owned and run pub with amazing standards of food in which you get a lot of quantity and quality for a very reasonable price. Drinks are very unique that are catered to different or specific tastes. Overall a fantastic pub would definitely recommend. YOU HAVE TO GO HERE…

Shocking experience, booked via the website and was basically called a liar when I arrived, the woman who spoke to me has no business working with the public atrocious attitude, food arrived one and a half hours after ordering and was basic to say the least, avoid at all cost, much better places in the location for a meal, never again, can only assume the staff are on basic pay and have no interest in customer satisfaction.

We hadn't been to the Black Boy for several years and went for lunch today. Very well run, clean, tasty food and fabulous staff. It was busy and a good atmosphere. I would definitely recommend and offers very good value. We both had gammon and it was great.

Haven't been here for a few years but my daughter wonted to treat her dad for farthers day dinner there was 6 adults and 1 child in high car well we was all very disappointed with the food me and my daughter had a Sunday roast which was not nice at all . The staff wasn't very helpful when asking for sauce and drinks they didn't come bk to us very disappointed day will not return here again our bill was £200

Good was tasty but very long wait understanding for time and day went in staff were friendly but the view and atmosphere we very delightful with a view of the canal and and canal boats moored up, nice park for kids to play on not very big but clean and safe.

Average food. Awful service! We went for a family meal to celebrate Father’s Day. We ordered 2 portions of wings as part of our starters. Took ages to arrive and then when they came out, some of the wings were either overcooked or cooked frozen as they were chewy and tasted stale. We advised the staff of this after the time. When it came to paying the bill the individual behind the bar refused to take both portions off of the bill because we had eaten some of the okay wings. Same individual went into the kitchen and then came back insuating that I was lying about the amount eaten. He then claimed we had been given 3 portions of wings but they had only charged us for 2. This was news to us as we ordered 2 and were given 2 plates during the meal with no mention of anything on the house. I had said at the start I was happy to pay for the rest but didn’t agree with paying for those portions. I then got told we had been given a good deal by having one portion taken off. No apologies given either. Food also took an age to come out and the mains were average. My brother in law ordered a chicken burger that came without any sauce, lettuce or mayo! Much better options nearby. Avoid! ——————————————————————- In reply to the response: multiple lies. 2 plates of wings one had 3 left, another 4. The remaining inedible wings were left on our plates. Please provide evidence of this verbal abuse?!? At no point was anyone abusive to the staff. Clearly got a chip on your shoulder and can’t take criticism of your truly awful food

Service was brilliant. Food was really good fresh and tasty and i found it really good value. Because the weather was good we sat outside. Views were lovely and the atmosphere was nice and relaxed.

Thank you to the Black Boy for a lovely meal last night. The food was delicious, the service amazing, easily catering for my son who’s allergic to nuts to which is a big bonus for us. We will certainly be returning. Thank you

Been coming many years and have enjoyed the food and service but over the last 18 months this place has slowly declined in my estimate. Pub is in a great location hence 2 stars. However, the service this time was short to nonexistent and when the waitress finally took our drink order after being sat for over 25 mins we took the chance to order food as we was told abruptly there was a 40 min wait on food from ordering. She rushed our order and couldn't get away from our table quick enough. We had to tell her to hold on twice as we hadn't finished ordering. Not the best start Well over an hour later our food arrived. The steak pie was nice as usual. But that's where it ended. My halumi fries were way over cooked, calamari was swimming in deep fat oil still. My sons ribs and chips was bland and luke warm. Bacon burger was really dry but the garlic bread was nice. All in all I will no longer be returning to the black boy which is a shame as I like the place. My thinking is there's been new owners the past 2 - 3 years.

Absolutely disgusting! 1 star is overrated! Never again food wait was absolutely appalling waited over an hour and the restaurant was empty! Never had a wrap so disgusting in my whole life!! And never been so ill off food in my life!! Honestly need to be report to the hygiene standards!! Do not go here!

Love all the food in this pub love the garden love the atmosphere excellent

Good selection of drinks and ales. Extensive menu with vegan and vegetarian options. Good vaue for money. Will definitely return.

Good pub, great quality food and portions

Our family of 5 adults and 4 children all ages , There was great choice on the menu, We had table service, The food was beautiful and the staff were friendly , It was raining unfortunately so stayed inside, But we all had a great afternoon, We will definitely visit again 👍

Lovely canal pub, food was fantastic (ribs where out of this world), not a wide range of ales but plenty of other drinks, friendly staff. Would visit again

Staff were wonderful kept you informed

This is a really lovely country pub which is located just outside Knowle. The food is pretty much made to order so it is really really nice food. The service is quite quick and staff are nice.

Very nice food and the service was outstanding looking forward to our next visit with my family in June for Dad’s day thanks for lovely lunch 👍😎⭐️⭐️⭐️

Wonderful service. Great and diverse menu suitable for all. We all loved it

My son’s birthday & along with his girlfriend, we hadn’t been to the blackboy for a number of years . It took a while for anyone to come for a drinks order & then we thought they had forgotten us , after a 45 minute wait for our food . An over priced experience, with run of the mill food & no customer care , so in a nut shell , a birthday to forget . Thank you the blackboy !

Lovely staff and welcoming environment. Great range of food as well 😁👍

I met my friends for a special birthday meal , the meals were very tasty we hadn’t been for a while i had the lasagne omg it was so delicious as i remember,.The staff were very friendly and polite and brought a cake out and sang . What a fantastic all round pub you have thank you for a great night .

Badly cooked food Luke warm and greasy had better food at a road side Berger van will never go there again

Early evening meal and the service and food were very good,hospitality was very good and a wonderfull away of exelant background music,can't wait to return we both had the gammon and eggs and garlic mushrooms 🍄 spot on ,however it was a large portion for my wife and I was so full I couldn't manage it on top of mine 😋 😀

Visited here last week for lunch, as it's one of the few local pubs around us we hadn't tried yet since moving to the area. What a disappointment. We weren’t even met with a warm greeting to the venue - the (I assume) landlord, after announcing our name and booking time, immediately responded with not a ‘hello, welcome to The Black Boy’ - just a morosely delivered ‘there’s at least an hour to an hour and twenty minutes wait for any food’, whilst gathering 3 menus together. Not exactly the best first impression for a new customer. Shown to our table, we then had to get the attention of any passing waiting staff to even order drinks, as we were left alone for an unreasonable amount of time. When finally able to order drinks we decided to get our food order in as soon as possible due to the elongated wait we’d have to now endure. Food ordered: Fish and chips, chicken burger and chips, cheese sandwich and chips. Food came out around 1hr 10min after ordering, and to say it was disappointing would be an understatement. Not remotely worth the wait. The sandwich bread was, in fairness, soft and fresh. Although this had clearly been hanging around for a while as the grated cheese was warm and on the verge of melting - it tasted very ‘gummy’ in the mouth. Unpleasant. Fish was dry and unseasoned - again felt like it had been hanging around on the pass since before we even arrived. Definitely not freshly done. Poor. The chicken burger was, quite frankly, an embarrassment. An unseasoned, lightly breaded piece of dry chicken on a dry bun - nothing else. No sauce, relish, pickles, chutney, not even a smear of mayo. Just dry overcooked and unseasoned chicken on a dry bun. Requested ketchup to at least lubricate it, and a solitary tiny paper pot of ketchup arrived. The chips for all of us were exactly the same - unseasoned, dry, ‘wooly’ interior, and didn’t taste remotely freshly made. And a lot of the chips on all 3 plates were burnt, wrinkled up and inedible. Not to mention all the food was lukewarm at best. We all concluded we would have likely had a better lunch had we stopped at a burger van found on any UK A-road. The staff in general were all pretty miserable, not attentive to guests, so we didn’t even bother with pudding. We ate what we could of our exceedingly lacklustre lunch, requested the bill and left with a sour taste in the mouth for what *could* be an excellent venue, given its location and garden outlook. Unless this pub gets a change of ownership or a drastic overhaul of customer service and attitude & food quality, we certainly won’t be back. Do better.

The food here is second to none! At a very reasonable price. Fantastic, attentive, busy staff. Surroundings are beautiful too. It can be busy sometimes, but so worth it if you need to wait. We have had a few meals here and haven't has cause to complain and I like good food.

Higly recommended! Sunday roast and pies are absolutely delicious!! And home made lasagna!!

Ridiculous. Been told that wait for food is 2h. In less than 20min 2 people from our table received their starters and mains AT THE SAME TIME, without them asking for it. Mains been sent back. Another 3 people from our table went to the bar asking about food, again asnwer was 2h wait, meanwhile another server gave us different information and food been sent to the table within 10min. Not sure what was going on but clearly no communication there. 2 steaks arrived. Well done steak was in places rare, in places well done, tough as a rock, impossible to cut it. Another steak supposed to be medium rare came rareish, quality of it was shocking. Chips cold. Hat to chase it for cutlery, eventually got it ourselves, including sauces. When asked to speak with someone, lady with blonde hair looking like sort of a manager came, shocking attitude. She did tell us to send an email but said she doesn’t give her name (her words exactly). She couldn’t take any accountability and had to make an argument about every word. Went to the lady’s room and on the way back got nasty look from her and 15 year old waitress. Won’t be rushing to come back or recommending.