Tilt in Birmingham

Just as good one year on! Visited April 2024 and loved Tilt. Back this April and we came in twice on our trip to Birmingham. Great range of beers which my partner enjoyed. As someone who doesn’t drink I was very happy to find the vault city AF sour in the fridge. Good range of beers in the fridge to takeaway. Also had an oat latte and hot chocolate - both were so good! Definitely try a hot chocolate. Lots of different pinball machines. Friendly staff!

Only snacks but don't expect to eat as it is a bar.

Best craft beer selection in Birmingham. On tap and wild selection of cans to drink in or take away. Also speciality coffee. Then pinball, lots of pinball. Around 20 machines. From the 80s to the very latest. Best bar, arcade and coffee in Birmingham.

Family friendly and not to expensive, I took my 9 year old he loved the pinball machine £1 per game, and the bar accepts card and cash, the pinball machines are cash only £1 per game (depending on machine you get 3 to 4 goes per £1)

Great place. Loads of great pinball machines. I like the Jaws and James Bond the best, along with the creature from outer space. Nice choice of beers.

Tilt is like someone opened a stylish coffee bar and then casually dropped a pinball arcade in the back. Great beer list — one of the best I saw in Birmingham — with a relaxed vibe and enough seating to park it for a while. The lighting is brighter than you’d expect for a bar-meets-arcade setup, which throws off the nostalgia a bit. If you’re used to the U.S. style of pinball bars — moody lighting, neon glow, machines lighting up the room — this isn’t that. It’s a little more “laptop café” in feel, but it ‘kinda’ works. The pinball machines are separated from the main seating area, which is OK I guess. Also: no in-house change machine, and no tap-to-play as far as I could tell. There’s apparently a change machine nearby, but feels like an oversight in a space otherwise built around convenience. That said, the upstairs section (closed when I visited on a Friday evening) had a killer lineup of machines: Attack from Mars, Cactus Canyon, Creature from the Black Lagoon, The Flintstones, Johnny Mnemonic, and more. I’d love to see that area open sometime. Overall, Tilt is a chill, grown-up beer stop that lets you sip great brews and maybe get a little nostalgic. Would definitely return — especially if I came prepared with coins and expectations set.

Great beer selection and pinball machines.

Cool place. Fantastic choice of tables and friendly staff. Great place for pinball and beer. Tables £1 per credit or £2 for 3 credits.

Great pinball, great coffee and great craft beer!

Lovely way to break up an afternoon shopping. Really good drinks options. We went on a Saturday afternoon. It had a really good vibe, busy but still able to have a turn on all of the games if you wanted, or sit and chill with a drink.

Fantastic Pinball bar offering a superb range of craft beers on tap, in cans and in bottles. All styles of beers on offer, whether you like IPAs, sour beers or big heavy stouts! If you're not in the mood for a beer, there's a range of other drinks on offer, plus some pretty delicious coffee and cakes! Vibe is super chilled and the staff are very knowledgeable about the machines and the beers. Pinball machines are beautifully maintained and range from vintage 90s machines upstairs to brand new machines on the ground floor. Well recommended if you like the sound of a bar with equally well curated machines and beers alike!

Were lucky enough to film an episode of our podcast at Tilt. Frankie was incredibly accommodating and upstairs provided a brilliant visual backdrop. Would also recommend dropping in for a coffee.

Really cool bar. Nice friendly staff

A lovely bar with great service and a brilliant selection of beers. Always stop in when in the city centre!

Great place with interesting beers. That step in and out of the bogs gets me every time though.

Incredible place with good prices and a large range of craft beers, staff are incredibly friendly and the coffee and hot chocolate are insane too! Full of retro pinball machines if you fancy as well!

Such a cool place but mis managed. They kick you out before close for no reason. I go there every time I’m in Birmingham but could be so much better. The beer is good and the pinball is good but service is lacking. Sorry.

A real gem to Birmingham city centre. Great selection of beers and games

Place was nice, drinks were good but the people attending were very misogynistic to me and my friend visiting. Me, my partner and friend visited and didn't know their was a tournament going on, we asked the staff if we're allowed to play on the machines while a tournament went on, they said yes and we can technically pay to be in the tournament and play any machine as long as it's not being used for the competition, fine by us. We played a couple of games of pinball but the problem we faced was how rude some of the people in the tournament was to me and my friend. One man came up to us as we were done playing and told us "you did good for a bunch of women".... Another time I was playing on a pinball near the bathroom away from people, and a man came up to my face telling me I wasn't allowed on the pinball due to a tournament going on, I told him the staff allowed us to be here and we payed to be here but he said he was telling me "for the future" and walked off not even apologising. Me and my friend even got aggressively tapped on the back about using the machines when the tournament was going on but when we were on ghe machines nobody was around? A simple excuse me would have been fine. Bare in mind my partner a male was never asked to get off machines, or confronted about this and we were only talked to when he wasn't around... If their is a tournament going on their should be a sign stating which machines are being used for it and not or maybe a certain area should be only for the tournament as it was confusing to know who was playing for fun or the competition. I left the pinball place feeling upset about the whole situation and felt really uncomfortable. I hope tilt adresses this and tries to improve on this as it probably won't be the last time it happens especially if these are regulars, so I would not reccomend this place unless it changes.

Best place to play Pinball in Birmingham

Great place plenty of pinball machines endless amount of fun, oh and amazing beer choices!

I have attended a competition day as my first visit, because a friend who was into pinball invited my family to join in. Then today I came back for another visit on a normal day. £2 for 3 credits and many of the machines are set up to be quite forgiving (there are a lot of settings in machines that change the difficulty, especially the slope angle). With 3-4 of us playing together on the same machine, we spent £30 over about 3 hours - so about £10/hour. That means only about £2.50/hour per person. The VR gaming place down the street said their charges are about £30-£40 per person for about 1 hour. I found the top floor machines to be a bit easier. If you are good at pinball you can get replays from good scores. We didn't manage to get that high in our games, but we came pretty close a few times. The competition days are even better value where you get to practice for free before the competition and then the games during the competition are all included in the sign-up fee, which is £10.

Cool little games bar, a range of interesting drinks available too

Great location, choice of drinks is excellent. some staff knew non of the beers on the menu so you had to hand it to them and tell them what number beer you wanted many tables and room was available. Very cold upstairs in winter but worth it for the extra space. Menu printed way to small to read in a dimly lit bar should have a blackboard showing what beers we're on draught the used to have this 8/10

Great spot with some fantastic beers

Great selection of pinball machines.

I personally love it here, great selection of beer (or coffee, if that's your thing) and some of the most entertaining and well maintained pinball machines around.

Cool alternative craft beer bar with plenty of pinball machines. We went for a pooch therapy event which was well organised. Good bar for a chilled drink and a relatively quiet atmosphere. If you’re going here, go through the arcade and not the alleyway to avoid any altercations with dodgy people.

Great staff and great beer! Love this place.

Great bar, decent music, great range of drinks and grand staff

Tilt is super friendly and a great place for pinball and quality drinks. Love the place! It's a bring your own food thing and there are loads of places to get food close by.

Something very different. A bar with multiple floors of pinball. Friendly staff, great selection of craft beers, although it's not my thing, the coffee is great too. Loved playing the pinball machines, a hidden gem in Brum.

Love Tilt, great range of beers including 3 stouts. Little surprised to see Guinness on the menu, but apart from that, there's an eclectic selection of good beers on offer

The beer selection was great and the pinball mechanic are wicked we will be back

Pinball heaven in the heart of the city - and possibly the best collection of pinball tables I've seen in years. Great selection of classic and new tables. Great coffee and beer selection with some amazing cakes too. Just go.

Great pinball machines. Some brand new and some classics. Kept in very nice working order.

Great place to enjoy a variety of pinball machines.

Cool bar, we had a couple of decent IPA round about 6-7%, not really that cold but tasty still. The pinball machines were good, only 1 arcade game unfortunately, a good night out though.

Great place. Friendly staff and good beer selection

Craft beer and pinball machines, what can go wrong. The cherry on top is that the craft beer on offer changes.

Always have some of the best beer in Brum

Very nice staff, wheelchair accessible on the ground floor. Drinks were very nice too. Brilliant place to relax and chat and enjoy a few games.

Place is amazing. Love Stranger Things but do wish it was it a better place as it's very dark where it is and leans slightly to the right. Overall though the place is amazing

It's a cafe in the day and a pub selling craft beers at night. It has lots of pinball machines to play. Classic 90s pinball machines and new ones. Kids welcome in the day

Tilt in Birmingham is an absolute must-visit for craft beer enthusiasts and pinball lovers alike. The pub boasts an extraordinary selection of craft beers, with an ever-changing menu that keeps things fresh and exciting. From bold IPAs to smooth stouts and everything in between, there's a beer for every palate. The staff are not only friendly but also incredibly knowledgeable, always happy to recommend the perfect pint. The real highlight, however, is the impressive collection of pinball tables. It's a rare and delightful experience to find so many well-maintained machines in one place. The nostalgic thrill of playing classic pinball, combined with a fantastic beer selection, makes for an unforgettable night out. The atmosphere at Tilt is both vibrant and relaxed, attracting a diverse crowd of beer lovers and gamers. Whether you're there to sample new brews or show off your pinball skills, Tilt offers a unique and enjoyable experience. It's a standout spot in Birmingham, perfect for anyone looking to unwind and have a good time. Five stars for the amazing beers, fun pinball tables, and great vibes!

Always a friendly welcome in a fun place. Beer and pinball - what's not to like?

Brilliant, funky, dated, pub come pinball emporium

I love the atmosphere of this bar. The beers are incredible! The staff are always very friendly and smiling. And being able to have fun with the gaming machines while you drink your beer is really cool! I highly recommend it!!

A good place to play pinball machine, all machines are in good condition, service was good, spent 3 hours there didn't realise nearly got a parking ticket, highly recommended. The only downside is no nearby parking.

If pinball games are your thing then you're in the right place. Quiet at my time of visit, I tried a third of a hoppy red ale and left. A good list of beers and I can see it having a nice vibe when busy. Lot of natural light from large windows and in an interesting old arcade.

A cozy quiet bar. Pinball machines galore. Live music upstairs on occasions.

Craft ale and pinball. Heavenly.

Cool place to experience some old classic pinball machines of all sorts here! Great place to go visit. Drinks are a tad pricey.

An amazing oasis in a bustling city. Great coffee, great beer, great service and Pinball! What more could you want?

Kirk, Marci, Ed and Fran are one of the friendliest family people in a cafe I have ever seen. They cheer me up.

Interesting choice of beers. Would have been 5 stars but the beer list was printed in small type. The bar staff were excellent in helping me choose my beers in mitigation.

Excellent service,. Great Real ale and loads of different pinball machines.. Fun fun till daddy takes the tbird

Love this bar. Never really played pinball before but a big fan of old school arcade games. Went here for a change on a night out with the wife and have been back several times. Three floors of pinball machines from very new ones like Jaws to old classics like the Addams Family. Have taken various friends and my kids and everyone loves it. If you are bored of all the obvious places give tilt a try. :)

A great small business with an interesting USP. The beer selection is excellent for the size of the venue and really makes this a little hidden gem.

Flippin brilliant! Excellent beers, coffee, friendly staff and of course pinball! You can bring your own takeout food in too. Great selection of pinball tables 👍

Great pinballs, great cake, great coffee!! I love this place. Really good to meet as a social with friends, or the sort of place where you feel comfortable on your own playing the games. Great variety of newer and older pinballs, all fully working.

Doesnt do food but they dont mind you bringing food in or ordering food great place really nice beer and lots of different pinball machines theres a old shooting game downstairs aswell really great night.

The beer was great, the staff is nice and helpful. However, I'm not a big fan of the overall atmosphere, as the place itself isn't very welcoming.

Love this place, I travel up from Cambridge, always fantastic, pristine tables, great beer!

Amazing amount of machines, a must if you are into pinball

Always visiting Tilt when I'm in Birmingham. Great atmosphere, nice bear and coffee!

Always enjoy an exotic pint and some credits on the pinball machines when in Birmingham, highly recommend. Never disappoints.

Great beer selection and great staff. Popped in for a quick one and had a great chat with Edward behind the bar. Love to see the passion

Whilst I appreciate that some craft ales/belgian style beers come at a premium price, Tilt is quite an expensive venue, and probably outprices itself for a 'more than a couple' venue. The Kernel Brewery beers serving at around 1/3: £2.25, 1/2: £3.38, 2/3: £4.50, 1pt: £6.75. The most expensive pint was £22.50 for an American Gose (The Veil Brewery Co: Never never meant meant double peach gose, 5.3%) Don't get me wrong, Tilt is a good bar to tick off the list, enjoy the minimalist design and 90's pinball mahines in the back area! Choose one of the 14 draft ales on tap carefully! Sip & savour, don't chug🍺

Lovely little place with great service. Will have to visit one evening to get the full experience as we were the only ones in during our lunchtime visit a few weeks ago. Great selection of craft beers and also nice to have the option of some speciality coffees.

If you want craft beer with a side crazy this is the pub for you. My hubs in I popped in this afternoon to enjoy a few pints and relax but we left after one due to the bartender and his friend going on about the crazy side of Reddit. If you believe in UFO’s and the crazy side of the internet that doesn’t believe in vaccines, you’ll love it. If you believe in research and science you might want to stay away. We left after being told we were sheep and our backgrounds in healthcare (one of us working in the NHS) meant we knew nothing of the subject. Yeah, we can mark this off places to revisit. Edit to add/respond to the owner’s post: Not dishonest, according to the owner who reviews the CCTV footage we were there! I don’t understand why us being there for 50 minutes has anything to do with it, but yes I guess we were there for about that long, and only had a pint because again, loud people talking about the crazy side of the internet. Sounds like the owner is one too, and we can assuredly mark this off places to visit. I would encourage anyone reading this to go anywhere else for a drink. Sounds like the person running the google page doesn’t understand professionalism or science.

Visited specifically for the Pinball and wasn't disappointed. Lots of decent Stern tables which were all in good condition. Tilt also has a good selection of 90s pins including Medieval Madness and Indy 500. Theres even Scooby Doo from Spooky (I think?) Everything was working when I visited bar AC/DC and I have no complaints with how the tables are calibrated. I'm not much of a drinker so I can't comment on the craft beers but the coffees were great. If you're into Pinball, the venue is absolutely worth a visit.

Great place with loads of pinball machines and nice staff clean place good location no pressure to get drinks if you just want the game

We hosted our 10th anniversary party at Tilt and honestly, we cannot thank Kirk and his team enough. The communication in the run-up was super helpful, Kirk had answers to all of our random questions, and on the day everyone was extremely helpful and so relaxed. Nothing was too much trouble and they seemed to take everything in their stride. We would highly recommend hosting an event here - it was a great option for adults and kids alike.

Amazing experience! Totally rad 😎

If you like pinball and beer... You'll love this place

Great tasting craft beers i liked the foamy bananna ale best, so good i revisited for a quick one the next day 😋 thanks Tilt.

Best quality place with the most reasonable price

Really nice place and ace beers and pinball machines and beautiful victorian arcade in which its set. Need to sell a few more affordable beers however to draw more people in.

Thank goodness there was a sign on the pavement otherwise we wouldn't of found it! Great little hideaway from the main streets and three floors of machine's but there's only a handful on each floor so be advised. Any age can visit we felt so a huge bonus and they sell alcohol. Its a little rough around the edges but the sheer amount if money spent on these machine's is to be admired. Mostly signed limited editions and the very latest machine's! I'd guess at £200,000's worth or possibly more! Well worth a visit and will definitely be returning. ☺️ Hats off to the owners 👌

Good selection of craft ales. Place was very cold on my visit. Why no heating? Toilets poor standard.

Really nice place. Will definitely return. Seemed a bit quiet though. We were only ones there for about 10 minutes. But even when more people came in, most of them were gone quite quickly. Beers were expensive, imagine London prices but mostly due to the fact that 60-70% of them are imports. They were high quality though. It’s a shame they don’t do some sort of cashback at the till. We rarely carry cash so had to walk out to the New street to find cashpoint to then exchange it to coins at the till. Not a huge issue but an inconvenience.

All round fantastic if you like pinball visit!

Mixed feelings. Obviously the plus has to be the amazing selection of pinball machines, which was outstanding and had some great machines that will appeal to all ages. Unfortunately the atmosphere just doesn't hit quite right. I was expecting more of an arcade atmosphere, dark room and crazy carpet..instead it is quite bright inside with laminate floor and pot plants. It just feels..odd. Don't go in the basement, the smell of damp is overwhelming. Staff not particularly friendly or chatty. There is a drinks list on each table but the print is hard to see. No info on the craft beers that I could see, although the website has more info. Will be going again for the machines though.

I felt uncomfortable and upset after my experience at Tilt! At first, me and my friend had a warm welcome. We conversed with two female servers, and my friend asked a member of staff when the shop would be closing; she let us know that the shop would be closing at 9 pm as it is usually quiet on a Friday. With this knowledge, we decided this would be the perfect place to do a 15-minute interview and leave. We waited for our coffees, sat down and started a voice and video recording at the back of the shop, ensuring not to disturb anyone. We had 5 minutes left of the recording to finish; a lady came up to use the pinball machine. Hearing the pinball machine, my friend asked if he could have 5 minutes to wrap up his interview. The lady politely said she wouldn’t mind holding on for a few minutes, so we continued recording. A minute passed, and a member of staff stormed up the staircase; she abruptly stopped our conversation. She said we should not be telling people to leave as we were doing an interview, which we did not. Without any prior knowledge of the situation, she threatened to kick us out. Amidst the confusion, me and my friend were in complete shock. Taken back, my friend and I finished his interview and then left. I passed her downstairs, politely telling her we didn’t mean any harm and there was no need for the aggression. She then frantically told us to please leave. Me and my friend left with a distaste that ruined the rest of the evening. As someone who has worked in customer service, I would never dare handle or speak to any customer this way. My friend recommended Tilt, but from today, our opinion has changed. I hope you look into this so no one feels like I did by this staff member.

I regularly visit as they have a great rotating selection of craft beers & a nice chilled atmosphere. Can be a bit pricey but you won't find most of these beers in many other bars. They also serve cakes & coffee and have a large selection of pinball machines.

Very unique bar, good selection of beers & ciders.

Increíble. Estuve 3 horas y fueron como 5 minutos. Siempre que voy a Birmingham vamos ahí.

Nice selection of craft ales...and the opportunity to re-live youth and waste some money on pinball machines

Going back to the 80's arcade pinball machines, what a revival. Part of 60th birthday day. Loved it.

-Popped in as wandering past -Vegan wines available -Three levels -Funky -Friendly -Good variety of tea and oat milk available

Nice place and good atmosphere however I am deducting 2 stars because they don’t have a Shrek pinball machine, come on folks

Went in to try one of their weird flavoured Ales. Was quite fun. Didn't have food. Loads of pinball machines. It was quiet but probably because the German Christmas Market was in Birmingham .

What a little gem! Great staff and atmosphere.

Have seen this place in the local news and on social media a few times, it looked fun and I was in the vicinity so thought I'd pop in. There's three floors of pinball machines and seating, and craft beers on tap. I started off with a few games on the foo fighters machine, which was great as it pumped out some of their best work while I played, and gave the extra incentive to play better and longer! After that, I chilled out with a few beers, and got my wife a couple of coffees in. We went during a quiet time, and were served by the owner who I quietly recognised from media I'd previously seen. Service was friendly and courteous. A few times he offered to bring our drinks to our table. My wife enjoyed the coffee, it looked and smelt great to me. I tried three different pints, but you can buy various smaller measures, which is handy as the beer is definitely not cheap, ranging from £5.60 to £24 for a pint! The three I had were lovely though. It's the kind of place that's definitely worth checking out at least once as a great experience, but not somewhere I could see myself regularly visiting. I came in ready with pound coins for the machines, but I believe they sort you out with change at the counter if you're not as well prepared.

What a great craft ale bar.. Great atmosphere amazing pinball machines and incredible beers.. Thanks for the MashGang.. Much appreciated

Thanks for a wonderful evening. Had our autistic companion with us who loved the place. Visited on a Tuesday and had free play for £5 each. All the tables are immaculate too. Amazing place!

Great place with retro pinball machines and lovely blackberry-flavoured latte.

Can't say enough good things about this place. Great pinball, great coffee, great brownies, great beer, friendly staff - definitely worth a stop if you're in Birmingham!

We had a Beer and played pinball. Nice evening.