It’s quiet here, I say, and Andreas flinches. If you’d been here 20 years ago, it would have been a different story, he retorts. Cafe Neo is small but perfectly formed – around a dozen grey, square tables inside and a further four wrapped around the outside. There’s a gleaming stainless steel counter and a menu above it where you can opt for a full English or Frankenstein together the breakfast of your dreams from different, competitively priced components (from 50 pence for a hash brown to ‘real chips’ for a pound a pop).
The cafe also stands on Edgbaston Street, on the corner of the Bullring markets, a fact which has historically meant brisk trade — but which currently means it’s on the brink of extinction. This is because the markets, and the ground the cafe stands on, have been sold to the property developer Hammerson, who plans to raze the site to the ground in late 2027 and construct student or residential flats in its place. Yes, this is terrible for the cafe’s owner, Andreas, for a myriad of different reasons. But he argues it’s just as bad for Birmingham — and I’m here to hear why.
Andreas has challenged my image of myself as a proud early riser by suggesting we meet at seven in the morning. I like mornings, but do I like them enough to make the 6.30am train from Stourbridge Junction, rain beating down? Still, I’ve stopped by Cafe Neo enough times in search of Andreas to know that he’s uniquely challenging to pin down, which means whatever time works for him now works for me.
Inside, the cafe feels warm and friendly, but simple — unremarkable, even. Given it’s my fourth visit, I’m relieved to find Andreas there as promised, a mug of coffee steaming before him. He looks every bit the gaffer, with a grey ponytail and a gold chain peeking out from underneath his North Face jacket and sitting back with his arms crossed. Twenty years ago, he says, the time that I’m here would have been one of his busiest. There’d be workers queuing out the door every morning.
Personally I can’t eat this early and neither can Andreas, but he poses for a photo in front of an impressive-looking fry up. Mushrooms jostle up against bacon and sausages and egg with a pool of beans. Resting on a side plate are two slices of doorstopper-thick bread, ready to mop them up.
“We couldn’t wait to come to work. Get here early, and by seven, the market lads were already in the pub. It was vibrant. It was a community.” Still is, from where I’m sitting. It may be emptier than it was, but almost everyone who comes in is greeted by name and later, when I keep Andreas company outside while he smokes an 8am cigarette, many of those passing say hello, too.
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‘A true market gentleman’
Which makes sense — Andreas was born into this life. His father, known around Birmingham as Hercules, founded this cafe. In the sixties, he had been a club doorman, and eventually he became a businessman in the catering trade. At his peak, Hercules owned several food units across the city including the Emerald Cafe in Moseley, the Silver Street in Kings Heath and, of course, Cafe Neo which opened in 1972 in the Bullring, and moved to its market spot in 2000.
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