Birmingham Cafe Triumphs Over Mice Fine and Administrative Hurdle
A beloved Birmingham cafe, once hit with a hefty fine and a zero Food Hygiene Rating due to a mice infestation, has successfully bounced back to achieve top marks, only to face a frustrating delay in public recognition due to a council computer system error. The Kitchen Garden Cafe, located on York Road in the vibrant Kings Heath area, was fined nearly £3,000 in spring 2025 after droppings were discovered in multiple locations within the venue.
Immediate Action and Rapid Recovery
Owner Tracey Fletcher acted swiftly to address the issues, implementing rigorous pest control measures and sealing all potential entry points. "When we had the zero rating we acted immediately," she explained. "I got my anti-pest box full of filler, wire wool, sealant and got down on my hands and knees to make sure all holes were completely filled." Her efforts paid off, with the cafe earning a four-star rating in May 2025 and upgrading to a five-star, "very good" standard by August 2025.
Council System Mix-Up Causes Devastating Delay
Despite this achievement, the new top rating remained invisible to customers on the Food Standards Agency (FSA) website until last week. Birmingham City Council attributed this to an administrative error related to a business name change. When the original "Kitchen Garden Cafe" went bankrupt in 2025, Fletcher purchased the assets and relaunched as "Kitchen Garden", but both entities were incorrectly kept live on the council's system at the same address.
This meant that:
- Diners searching online saw both businesses with conflicting scores.
- The five-star rating was entered under the old cafe name, not the new one.
- After the old record was deleted around January 10, only the incorrect zero score from the initial inspection was visible.
Fletcher expressed her distress over the situation: "I'm quite devastated that it took to now to update it online. I can't tell you how hard we worked over the last year to really make it brilliant and bring it up to a really high standard." The issue was only resolved after BirminghamLive inquired about the status, prompting the council to rectify the error.
Challenges of an Historic Building
Fletcher highlighted the difficulties of maintaining a pest-free environment in an older structure. The cafe is housed in a single-skin brick building that was once a blacksmiths, dating back as one of the oldest in Kings Heath. "You can imagine how hard it is to keep pests out," she noted, adding that cracks from a car hitting the back wall had created unnoticed gaps. "Mice can squeeze through a hole the size of a pencil so you have to check all pipes, make sure there's not a single gap."
A Hub of Community Activity
Beyond its culinary offerings, the Kitchen Garden Cafe serves as a vital community space, hosting:
- Live music with around four bands per week.
- Poetry and storytelling cafes.
- Monthly meetings for Kings Heath Action Against Racism.
- Workshops, arts and crafts, and gardening events.
- A plant shop and local art exhibitions.
"Kitchen Garden was made to be a community cafe," Fletcher said. "We're at the heart of the Kings Heath community." She also mentioned hosting weddings, with online accolades reflecting their high standards over the years.
Moving Forward with Resilience
Despite the setbacks, Fletcher remains proud of the cafe's transformation and the support from loyal customers. "Our customers have been really supportive, they've said they know we have a lovely and clean place," she shared. The cafe continues to uphold its hygiene standards, with Fletcher conducting nightly checks to prevent future issues. This story underscores the resilience of small independent businesses in overcoming operational and bureaucratic challenges to thrive as community pillars.
