John Bright Street renaissance continues with arrival of Turtle Bay

THE revival of Birmingham’s John Bright Street is continuing at pace with the news that a restaurant chain has invested more than £900,000 to establish a Caribbean-themed eatery there.

Turtle Bay is a 5,000 sq ft, 130-cover restaurant offering Caribbean dishes.

Some 65 people have already secured full and part time positions there and further posts are yet to be filled.

Chris Halford, general manager at Turtle Bay, suggests the launch will be a welcome addition to the city’s booming restaurant scene.

He said: “This significant investment demonstrates Turtle Bay’s confidence in the Birmingham leisure market. The second city has a sound reputation for the quality of its restaurants and we’re looking forward to introducing the Turtle Bay to Birmingham’s food lovers.”
 
The restaurant, which opens on Friday April 18,  will offer dishes such as jerk chicken, Blue Mountain goat curry and cutters (starters and sharing dishes), inspired by beach shacks and street hawkers on the Caribbean islands.

There will also be a Caribbean cocktail menu.

John Bright Street was the epicentre of Birmingham city centre’s night time economy until Broad Street emerged as a more attractive proposition to bar and restaurant owners.

But the reconfiguration of New Street station following its redevelopment will see a marked increase in footfall heading out of the new station’s main entrance towards Hill Street, John Bright Street and The Mailbox, which is in itself undergoing a multi-million pound facelift.

With this in mind a number of new bars and café/bars have opened in the area of late, including BrewDog and Cherry Red in John Bright Street itself.