Manchester’s newest restaurants and bars to check out in 2020

Just when you were thinking “There just aren’t enough restaurants and bars in Manchester”, more have opened recently – and there are even more in the pipeline.

Last year saw Simon Martin’s Mana awarded a Michelin star – the first in the city for four decades – as well as hotly-anticipated openings like Bistrotheque and Michelin-starred Tom Kerridge’s Bull & Bear inside the Stock Exchange Hotel.

Gary Usher’s Kala became the fastest-funded restaurant project in the world, raising over £100k in just 11 hours. And Ancoats transformed seemingly overnight into the city’s hippest food quarter, welcoming a host of must-try independent eateries and bars.

And despite a spate of closures including big-hitters like Umezushi, Jamie Oliver and Restaurant MCR (not once but twice), 2020 looks set to welcome even more new openings to the city.

New openings to look forward to include Project Halcyon, the new bar from Manchester’s Zymurgorium distillery, a new Ancoats restaurant and rock bar from the One Night Only bandmates and brothers behind Jimmy’s, and an underground Japanese izakaya bar with robata grill and sushi counter.

Pre-Christmas openings like CBD bar Hemp, Les Deux pizza bar, and new Sale food hall Groceries and Beer are ready now.

Here are some of the places you may want to put on your to do list.

Archies

Manchester burger squad Archies is opening not one but three new sites in the city this year. The first will be the much-anticipated Piccadilly Approach site, due to swing open its doors next month, followed by the Trafford Centre and Manchester Airport.

Piccadilly Approach will open the second week of February, with the others following in the spring and summer.

MOSU

MOSU, due to open in the spring, will be Manchester’s first Japanese izakaya bar. The 70 cover restaurant will be located underneath Barton Arcade following a £2m renovation of what was Be At One, previously Circle Club.

Taking inspiration from Japan’s many alley bars and basements, it will feature an open kitchen, sushi counter and robata grill. Its sushi counter will feature daily imports from Tokyo’s Toyosu fish market alongside fresh British seafood, whilst meat, veg and seafood will be grilled on Japanese binchotan coals.

Opens in spring

Kampus

Capital & Centric’s £200m development Kampus is due for completion this spring. When finished, it will house 500 apartments alongside independent businesses and a ‘secret garden’, transforming Manchester Metropolitan University’s old Aytoun Street campus, alongside restaurants and shops plans include space for two gyms, an art gallery and a doctor’s surgery or dentists.

Opening in spring

Ancoats Coffee Co

Ancoats Coffee Co is set to open a second site on Piccadilly Approach this spring. The award-winning local roastery will be taking on the ground floor of Bruntwood’s soon-to-be-refurbished 111 Piccadilly. Fans of the Ancoats cafe can expect the same high level of detail, quality food and drink offerings, from top notch locally roasted coffees to indulgent brownies and cake.

Opening in spring

Jimmy’s

Popular rock bar Jimmy’s is making the move to Ancoats after being served notice on their current home at the end of last year. They’ve got their eyes on a unit in the ever-popular Cutting Room Square, with owners and One Night Only bandmates and brothers George and Jimmy Craig hoping to open a first-floor restaurant concept following the move.

Gig times would probably be curtailed to a 12.30am finish at weekends and 11pm during the week due to licensing rules in the neighbourhood.

Opening in spring

Rosa’s Thai

Rosa’s Thai Cafe launched on Brick Lane in 2008 and has built a reputation for bold, punchy flavours. It will open later this year in The Old Courthouse on Deansgate, the site formerly occupied by Handmade Burger Co.

Rosa’s use fresh British produce alongside traditional Thai ingredients including coconut milk, jasmine rice and tamarind paste, the key ingredient in their best-selling Pad Thai, which are sourced directly from farmers in Thailand. The 60-seater restaurant will open for lunch and dinner seven days a week with a range of menus.

Opening in spring

Project Halcyon

Zymurgorium claims to be Manchester’s first craft distillery and interestingly produces mead alongside its more popular distillates like gin and vodka.

Project Halcyon will be its first venture into the world of bars with owner Aaron Darke wanting it to be more of a collaborative effort with other Manchester bar people rather than a standalone showcase of his brand.

Hoping to draw well-known cocktailiers in, his vision is to create a collaborative space that other bar people will use to run their own projects.

Alongside a fine selection of cocktails, the menu at Project Halcyon will include some pricey high-end items including shots that cost £3,000 to £5,000 and champagne bottles worth £3,000. Find it behind MOSI.

Opening soon

The Good Rebel

The owners of The Good Rebel in Stockport’s historic and upcoming Market Place on Mealhouse Brow are promising great beers and cocktails, a relentless focus on quality, and the highest level of guest experience.

Opening end of January

Roofff

A huge rooftop drinking and dining destination is due to appear on the top of First Street’s Q carpark later this year. When completed, the 11,000 square foot tropical sky garden will feature three bars and eight different food stalls to choose from.

Opening date TBC 

Döner Haus

Döner Haus will take over the old Byron unit in the Corn Exchange with a huge 180-cover restaurant facing Cathedral Gardens. You’ll soon be able to get your hands on a range of popular Turkish-inspired German street food with options ranging from foot-long brattys, currywurst, döner fries and quality kebabs.

Opening early 2020

Groceries & Beer

 

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This new food hall in Sale was opened by the Ancoats General Store team at the end of last year. Inside, find a grocery and bakery selection plus street food from local vendors Slurp, Crackle and Pop and The Ottomen.

Open now at Unit 13-19 The Mall, The Square, M33 7WZ

 The Mad Giant

 

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The Mad Giant opened in Didsbury at the end of December. It’s the latest venture from the team behind Stockport Food Hall and takes over restaurateur Steve Pilling’s former tapas bar La Cantina, formerly Cafe Rouge.

Find South Indian street food from Chaat Cart, fast Cambodian eats from Angkor Soul’s new concept Kambuja, American-style favourites from Pilling’s own Kneadful Things and AtLast Burgers. A coffee and cake counter comes from Black Market Espresso Co with local beers and cocktails available at a separate bar.

Open now at 653 Wilmslow Road, M20 6QZ

Les Deux Pizza Bar

 

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Sourdough pizzas and lemon meringue pies are the order of the day at Alderley Edge’s newest opening. A new concept from the team behind Evelyn’s, Mughli & The Daisy, the menu may be relatively small but it’s packed with things we want to try.

Starters consist of three different sharing burrata: injected with pesto, infused with ndjuda or stuffed with minced truffle. Pizza toppings, meanwhile, range from wagyu beef (£13.50) to slow-roasted ox cheek with caramelised pears (£13.50) and gorgonzola and speck with peaches (13.50).

Open now at 7 London Rd, Alderley Edge, SK9 7JT

One Eight Six

Concealed beneath a trendy looking Deansgate barber shop is this hidden cocktail den and music venue, accessed by a two-way mirrored door in the basement. Once inside you’ll find a glitzy cabaret-style nightclub with deep booth seating, a mix of high and low tables, and a long bar flanking the back wall. A huge raised stage hosts live music acts throughout the week. Dancing on the tables is very much encouraged.

Open now at 186 Deansgate, Manchester M3 3WB

Firebird Hope

Fried chicken and seitan heroes Firebird Hope opened up their second site in the Arndale Market at the end of last year with the best fried chicken and seitan burgers going. Oh, and do yourself a favour and splurge for the skin-on lime and chilli salt fries too. They are a revelation.

Open now 49 High St, Manchester M4 3AH

Salvi’s NQ

Bringing a taste of southern Italy to the NQ, Salvi’s fourth site introduces Manchester diners to new dishes and new cooking methods. Keen not to be in any way chain-like, each restaurant has its own individual specialities. Favourites here include guazetto, a tomatoey seafood stew (£20.95), octopus salad (£9.95) and pasta con baccala (£15.95).

Open now at 60-67A High St, Manchester M4 1FS

Bull & Bear

Hemp CBD Bar

CBD is moving off the newsagents shelves and into our bars and cafes. Hemp is Manchester’s first CBD (cannabidiol) bar. Taking inspiration from the cafes of Amsterdam, here you can find cocktails, coffees and beers all infused with the legal hemp extract alongside vapeables and distillables.

Open now at 82 Tib St, Manchester M4 1LG

Howard’s Neighbourhood Bar

This trendy little neighbourhood bar in Denton was opened by couple Amy and Jack Howard at the end of last year serving up premium spirits, wines, craft beers, cocktails and real ales. They plan to start distilling their own gin in the cellar later this year.

Open now at 51 Manchester Rd, Denton, M34 2AF

Abeja Tapas Bar

Manchester’s tiniest tapas restaurant opened in a shipping container at Hatch last month. It was set up by Anna Villegas who hails from Granada and was, until recently, a biochemist at Manchester University.

With seating for just 15 guests at a time, everything here is based on Andalusian cuisine with Anna using some of her own family recipes. Expect sharing boards of meat and cheese and daily pintxos. alongside favourites like serrano ham and chicken croquettas, Spanish tortilla and aubergine fries served with molasses cane sugar.

Open now at Hatch, 103 Oxford Rd, Manchester M1 7ED

Edinburgh Castle

Ancoats’ latest opening comes from the owners of popular NQ bar Cottonopolis. Having lain derelict for years, it’s been restored to its former pub glory with real ales and snacks on the ground floor and a dining room upstairs.

Open now at Henry St & Blossom St, Manchester M4 5AW