Original Patty Men: Digbeth

The second year of university is finally over and summer has arrived (plus a bout of hay fever- but I’ll be okay). This review is based on Original Patty Men (OPM)- a cool, niche burger joint in the heart of Digbeth, Birmingham. Last year, I dreamt of a burger that had a doughnut of some sort as the burger bun instead of your typical brioche or sesame bun. Many months later, I came across Original Patty Men and I knew I absolutely had to try it! On the day of my departure from university, I finally took a trip to OPM and it has been confirmed that I will be back and highly recommend this American burger shack to you. 

Where can you find Original Patty Men you ask? Ask no more!

9 Shaw’s Passage
Digbeth
Birmingham
B5 5JG

Original Patty Men is open Thursday to Saturday from 11:30am – 11pm and Sunday from 11:30am until 8pm. I went to OPM on a Thursday at around 3pm and there were loads of free tables which was great (especially because I could take pictures without anyone thinking I am a creep). If you haven’t got time to eat in, there is always a take-away option as well.  Anyway, here’s what Original Patty Men looks like from the outside in!

OPM was a little hard to scout out at first (bar the small sign that protruded out the wall), but once I had arrived, I was welcome to an aroma of freshly cooked burgers that enticed me in even more. As you walk into the establishment there is a green area with an array of potted shrubs along the wall and two big tables for larger parties, which is always nice on a summers day!

The red and yellow neon lights added a nice touch to the somewhat plain interior as I peered into the restaurant for the first time. Whenever I go to a restaurant I always tend to look at the style of lighting and I really liked the hanging-style lights as it made the place feel warm and comfortable. The genre of music playing whilst I was there was indie, which I felt contributed to the ambience at Original Patty Men. 

There were plain wooden tables with glossy black folding chairs which were simplistic yet effective. As well as O.P.M being painted on the wall pictured below, there was also a feature wall with a combination of colourful graffiti and cartoon-style drawings and paintings. 

So onto the food shall we! The menu was short and sweet with a choice of five burgers: 

• Cheezy-E: Aged longhorn beef patty, fresh white onion, American cheese, lettuce, thick cut pickle & Boss Man sauce
• Bacon Cheese: Aged longhorn beef patty, maple coated bacon, American cheese, fresh red onion, lettuce, pickle, ketchup, mustard
• Alabama Slammer: Boneless chicken thigh, deep fried in a buttermilk batter, served with lime and ginger slaw and either Alabama Sauce or Franks hot sauce
• Magic Shroom Burger: Slow cooked portobello mushroom, shredded & coated in bbq sauce with a creamy kale slaw
• and finally “Big Vern’s” Krispy Ring consisting of aged longhorn beef patty, maple coated bacon, American cheese, ketchup and mustard all served in a grilled glazed Krispy Kreme doughnut… yes you read right Krispy Kreme!

All meat is locally sourced, free range and organic! We ordered three different burgers that were accompanied by fries that were purchased separately. 

1. “Big Vern’s” Krispy Ring @ £7

Okay y’all, this was the main reason I came to OPM and I must say the beef patty was so fresh and succulent between the Krispy Kreme halves. I have to admit, the burger was smaller than I thought, so if you come with a large appetite, I would not recommend this burger. I opted out for the American cheese in the burger and got it replaced with lettuce. Overall with the maple bacon and glazed doughnut, I felt that the burger was too much on the sweet side for me personally but for all you out there with a sweet-tooth, this is could potentially be your safe-haven. It’s a good thing I ordered the ODB Fries (£3.50) as they really helped to balance out the sweetness of the burger. ODB skin-on fries were triple cooked with OPM’s special spice mix, topped with their creamy house slaw with coriander and lime, sriracha mayo, crispy fried onions and fresh spring onion. Let me just tell you now, those fries brought me life. I loved the combination of ingredients on top which brought a sense of euphoria after every bite- so definitely go for those!  Alongside my meal, I ordered a cream soda (£2.50) from a brand called Soda Folk which was da bomb. 

2. Alabama Slammer @ £7.50

The Alabama Slammer had a fried buttermilk coating which was not greasy at all but very succulent and tender. With both the Alabama sauce and Frank’s hot sauce, this added to the juiciness of the burger. I want to try this one the next time I visit 🙂 This meal was accompanied by an alcoholic Bourbon Milkshake which you would like if you like the taste of malt- I’m not a big fan however.  

3. Bacon Cheese @ £7.50

Apart from the bacon being a little on the salty side, you couldn’t really go wrong with the Bacon Cheese burger. This was accompanied by a Karma Cola which reminded me of a melted down version of a cola ice pop – it was made from organic ingredients as well which was a nice change. 

Original Patty Men was a five out of five for me and I hope you do go for a bite there. The pricing is relatively cheaper than other burger places such as Gourmet Burger Kitchen and Handmade Burger but has a limited selection of burgers on offer. As OPM is a small place, it is understandable that they want to keep the menu as straight forward as possible to serve the best quality possible to its customers. If you love OPM as much as I did you can even buy some of their merchandise!

Good job Original Patty Men! I approve 🙂

Thanks again for reading my post and if you do have any questions about my recommendation or there is something you are not sure about feel free to drop a comment below

Whose food? Rue’s Food!

Rue-Ann x

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