Rico Libre

Everything was delicious! I especially recommend the seafood paella and the scallops, both were absolutely amazing!

I’ve been coming to Rico Libre for the past six years and it’s never once disappointed. The first thing that always stands out is the cracking service – every visit has been top notch, from the complimentary appetisers to the staff’s menu knowledge and overall energy. On my most recent visit, Mark looked after us and was absolutely brilliant. The range of tapas is excellent, with plenty of options for vegetarians too. And listen, if you’re going – you have to get a jug of sangria. It’s basically a rite of passage. If you don’t, you’re doing Rico Libre wrong. They’ve always got changing specials on the menu. This time I went for the tempura prawns, and honestly, they were the best I’ve ever had. The space itself is lovely – right in the heart of Digbeth and close to loads of other things going on. It’s the perfect first stop before a gig, a night out, or any Digbeth-related adventures.

Don’t judge a Birmingham establishment by its humble cover. Rico Libre is a concept restaurant that works. It is easy to see that it was set up with the “try this out and see how it goes” mindset. Scour it’s green exterior, you won’t see any flashing lights of a sign to indicate it is a Restaurant. In fact you won’t find a sign. Walk inside, ask the question “is this Rico Libre?” You’ll be welcomed and your location will be confirmed. As you’re escorted to your humble seat your attentions will be directed to the well lit specials board. Rico Libre’s focus is around tapas and unusual ones at that. Fancy frogs legs, snails perhaps? It’s on the specials along with a plethora in the main menu. Portion sizes are going to be small, so 3 tapas are recommended as a minimum. The quality of each dish is sublime, presented beautifully and complimented appropriately. Service is homely and fast. We need more of this intimate experience in Birmingham. It may be out the way in Digbeth. It’ll be worth your back teeth to go out of your way to check it out.

Had the most incredible Tapas at Rico Libre last night. Between three of us we ordered about 11 dishes I think and each of them were absolutely incredible. Even the ones you wouldn't expect to be incredible like the Spanish Omelette or patatas were delicious. The calamari and the aubergine were a standout and that's coming from a meat lover! Amazing atmosphere and the fact you can bring your own drink at a total charge of £2.50pp means the bill is so reasonable. Great service too. Can't wait to go back

Incredible tapas place, you really cannot go wrong going for a meal here. There are plenty of dishes to choose from. They have an extensive menu to choose plus at least 8 more dishes on their specials board that you should definitely try! Prices are good for the food you get and it's bring your own alcohol which helps to keep the price down of the whole meal. The staff are always friendly! Definitely need to book a table as it is always busy. It can sometimes be on the loud side due to the size of the venue and how busy it is.

Was staying in Birmingham for the weekend and read good reviews about this place and an added bonus is that it is BYOB! The excellent reviews I read were spot on, we enjoyed a range of tapas dishes from patatas bravas to the pork belly as well as some from the specials, the chimichurri beef was my favourite. Service was excellent, very attentive staff who even popped our beers in the fridge! If we're back in Birmingham in the near future, we'll be back!

Great food, great service take your own wine. All the dishes were really tasty and of fair portion size. Would recommend to anyone wanting a lovely night out with friends 😎😎

Tantalising mouth watering tapas restaurant in an unusual part of the city close to the arts quarter and the Custard Factory. The portions although quite small (tapas!) were very much full of flavour and I can definitely recommend the Haloomi and Patatas Ailoili and Tempura Prawns. Cosy restaurant which is thriving in the evenings. You most likely will need to book ahead like we did for a party of 17 people. Very accommodating staff and great food had by all :)

We had so much fun at Rico Libre celebrating our friend before her wedding! Michael and the team were incredible - attentive, fun, and so helpful with our menu options. All of the food was so delicious, with some traditional style tapas and some modern twists too. In fact, we had such a great time that we forgot to take photos of the food! It was such a highlight of the weekend. The smokey margarita was delicious too!

Came with my partner for a Thursday evening treat. Booking was easy and quick, via the online platform. Greeting was excellent from the host (who I believe was also the manager - the guy with hair tied up in a bun). He gave us a full run through of how to order as well as seperate menus we could order from - drinks, tapas and the Thursday special paella. As a pescetarian the menu offered loads of veggie & seafood options as well as meaty options for my partner. Service was excellent, especially from Crystal - what a gem! We had some delicious Sangria made fresh in house, bread balsamic and olives as well as an array of seafood - the linguini, Octopus, calamari and prawns. All of them were packed full of flavour and generously dished onto the plates, the chef clearly puts a huge amount of effort into everything that's served. Bop, the chef, was amazing and gave us a taster of the seafood paella too (seeing as we were so stuck for what to chose at the start), and we were obsolete gobsmacked by the flavours and quality. Hands down the best tapas restaurant in Birmingham (maybe even further?), with special thanks to the exceptional front of house & really unique and extraordinary chef. Can't wait to visit again, keep it up folks!

Always a pleasure, its my favourite restaurant in brum. The food is amazing and fizz is always welcoming and friendly he remembers us every time 👌

I tend to visit Birmingham for a full week, once every 2 years and always ensure I enjoy a meal at Rico Libre. Had a table booked for 13 and the service was exceptional. Will be visiting again soon...

What a gem, this Tapas bar is a 15min (ish) walk from New Street Station. Once Kanteen closes, they then transform it to Rico Libre Tapas restaurant, I can only confirm it opens a 16 30 on Saturdays. The food was fantastic, we took our own wine there is a small corkage cost, staff are very friendly and your make you very welcome, you are left to relax and enjoy your evening. This is a must visit for Tapas, table reservations are a must as they do get very busy.

Beautifully presented, delicious food, friendly staff. Byo. Minimum spend. Would highly recommend.

Beautiful food, really reasonably priced, staff were lovely. Highly recommend. My fav dish of the night... crispy aubergines with honey.

Everything in the place was fabulous..the food the atmosphere..the service and Meg was extremely helpful in making this experience not being the last ! Well-done

Excellent hospitality!!!!! The food is very nice as well. Just a little bit noisy, but everything is good so far. One of favorite restaurants in Birmingham.

Lovely Spanish restaurant, staff super friendly. Great atmosphere!

This was a great restaurant! It has BYOB (Bring your own booze) Instead of just Spanish tapas they have a world tapas menu including the greatest lamb chops we have ever had in the U. K.. There were many other delicious sounding foods on the menu we didn't have time to try since we were going to a concert later that night. It is definitely a place we will be going to next time we visit Birmingham. My wife said next time she will order 2 or 3 plates of lamb chops lol. We were both very pleased with our visit there. My tapas were great as well. Everything the menú said it was going to be.

The food and vibe here was unreal! Can’t wait to go back. The beef and the Camembert 🤤

I came across this place quite by accident. Just looking for a decent tapas place! Their selection of tapas is brilliant. The best patatas bravas I've ever had! Really cosy, good atmosphere. They don't have an alcohol licence, so if you drink you have to bring your own, and there's a minimum spend of £17 per head if your are imbibing booze. I made an out of hours reservation by email which was responded to in a timely fashion. Glad I reserved a table as it was quite busy for a Thursday night, especially considering its location! I can't wait for my next trip here.

We had a great dinner here - such a hidden gem. All of the food we tried was excellent - stand out was Spanish tortilla, best we’ve had, and bravas also excellent. Very nice staff and lovely cozy atmosphere. We will definitely come back!

What a beautiful gem of a place! All of the tapas dishes were fresh, delicious and flavoursome. Would recommend if you’re looking for something new and you’re a foodie. Thanks to Mark for his great service and making some excellent recommendations!

Had a lovely time ! They are great at recommending dishes and really friendly and welcoming. Our server Meg was amazing! They even asked the chef how my favourite food was cooked. Definitely recommend!

I visited the restaurant yesterday afternoon for the first time with 3 family members and we had such a great meal. The portions were a good size and very tasty. We would definitely go back.

Incredible meal at Rico Libre on Saturday. We booked using First Table (such a bargain! As we’d heard good things but never been ourselves). The food was delicious and pleased the fussy eaters we took with us (7yr old and 5yr old). The range of options for food was great with something for everyone. The kids tried so many new things and loved it all (especially the squid and the lamb). We ordered way too much but still ate the lot as it was too good to let it go to waste. Staff were so attentive but also not on your case all the time. Will be coming back again for sure.

The food here is absolutely amazing. Very tasty and full of flavour. Good portion sizes. The paella is an excellent dish and is delicious. Also the tapas dishes especially the fried aubergines have me going back to this place on a regular basis.

Some of the best tapas I’ve ever had. The grilled steak with two sauces was a joy. Portion sizes were very generous as well. Just wonderful. Eating at Independent restaurants like this is important. But when they serve food of this quality it’s essential.

Fabulous food and service, but we were freezing in there. Unbelievable value for money too!

Always wanted to try this place as have heard good things for a long time. Was not disappointed! Expected portions to be smaller for the very reasonable prices but we both were wowed by the generosity of each dish. The cookery is excellent in every aspect and the range of food and flavours are top notch. It’s no wonder this place has been open as long as it has, and has such a good reputation, we could not fault it! Our server Muminah was friendly, knowledgeable and very helpful. It’s taken me a long time to get to eat here but I will definitely be coming back soon!

We had a truly wonderful evening enjoying fantastic food. Amazing flavours, lovely atmosphere and we did BYOB which worked out perfectly for us. We’ll be back!

I rarely write reviews, but Rico Libre was something very special. It claims to be Birmingham’s no. 1 tapas restaurant, having eaten there last night (28.11.25), I would agree. Everything was absolutely delicious, and the service was faultless.

Came here early evening. Service is attentive without being intrusive, with staff happy to give their recommendations. Had the coffee martini which was lovely, best l've had for a while. Food was coming out as it was cooked, which was good as it meant a steady flow and the food didn't get too cold. Had the peppers, squid, lamb, pork and beef dishes. The stand out ones was definitely the squid dish and pork cheeks dish - the flavours were amazing and the texture of the pork cheeks were fantastic. The weaker dishes for me was the lamb and steak dishes - both had nice flavours but it was just the texture of the meat. The chocolate and date pudding was delicious and a generous portion.

We came here for dinner not realising it was part of a building with a different name but it's in the corner anyway. The service was lovely and attentive from beginning to end with some nice food choices at reasonable prices and good portions. We chose beef cheeks, chicken supreme, prawns , goats cheese salad, mussel croquettes, garlic flatbread, potato bravas, scallops, meatballs I think that's it lol the weaker dish was unfortunately the prawns as didn't pack a lot of flavour or mussel croquettes time you scraped the contents out the shell there was not much. The cheeks and chicken were the highlight We did share a sangria but the flavours leaned more on the mulled wine side for me. Overall it was a nice ambience would return.

A chance encounter on an evening walk and very glad curiosity took over the brain. All the tapas dishes were fantastically made - massive compliments to the chef(s). Also, fair prices and portion size. The staff were friendly and attentive. Happy bellies all round.

My Husband and I dined at Rico Libre for the first time. The staff are friendly and welcoming. We ordered the 3-4 recommended portions but it was abit too much as for a tapas plate size, they were a bit larger than we were expecting. The food was enjoyable and standard tapas menu with a limited choice. They did offer vegan alternatives on the vegetarian menu, which I thought was nice and inclusive. The prices were great for the city centre location. The only downside from my point of view is that the tables are quite small and can get a bit cluttered and the seats were hard wooden chairs and not the most comfortable I've sat in but overall a nice place to visit for a casual meal.

Excellent food, lovely friendly staff, nice relaxed atmosphere. Not what you expect from a Spanish tapas restaurant in a bit of an industrial area, will be going again. Pork belly was particularly amazing!

Really good food! Would recommend for tapas in the U.K.

Good food and I really liked the fact we could bring our own drinks !

I was disappointed during my visit at rico libre. I am on a gluten free diet and although the food that I ate was fairly nice, I had to sit approximately 30 minutes watching everyone else I was with eat as they brought out 3 dishes that were not gluten free. I was assured every time that it was on its way. I appreciate it can be difficult to accommodate, however, personally I would ensure that those with dietary requirements are not left to watch others around them eat for such a length of time. Very disappointing.