No.1 Watson Street: new beer bar opening soon on Great Northern Square

Laura Fell heads down to the old Taps site at the Great Northern to find out what new venture No.1 Watson Street will be offering.

Focusing mainly on beer – and there’ll be plenty of it – the team at No. 1 Watson Street are putting 12 beers on tap and stocking the fridges to capacity with over 40 more varieties in bottles.

‘No.1 Watson Street
are positioning
themselves as the
number one ‘go to’
place for a pint.’

Available to try at your leisure, a permanent selection of beers from local breweries such as M4’s Marble Brewery, Bury brewers Outstanding and Redwillow brewery from Macclesfield, No.1 Watson Street are positioning themselves as the number one ‘go to’ place for a pint. The decision to feature a local, monthly, guest beer will also set them apart from a number of local bars. Definitely a refreshing change from your local boozer.

Beer may be the focal point, but cocktail lovers won’t be disappointed as the team have designed a new 15 strong cocktail menu. With the wines on offer also picked by the sommelier at Epernay, I can assure you, Manchester, we’re in excellent hands when it comes to any choice of tipple.

No.1 Watson Street is a casual affair. They’re offering a colourful space for work colleagues and friends alike to congregate and enjoy. The bar space is deliberately bare but there’s a grey and yellow (and a bit of teal) theme apparent throughout, bringing out some bright colours for a very modern and Scandinavian feel. Worker bees, the symbol of hard work and Manchester, add a nice local touch.

Making a wise move in staying away from burgers, probably due to the proximity of burger giants Almost Famous across the road, the food offering will be mainly stonebaked pizza, with sandwiches and salads catering for the lunchtime crowd, not to mention expertly hand roasted coffee supplied by Ancoats Coffee Co, Manchester’s very own purveyors of ethically and sustainably sourced coffee from around the world.

“We love beer and want to get our passion for that across to the public, as well as cocktails, wine and food,” owner Chris told me. “The idea is essentially to create a place where anyone can come and enjoy what we have to offer, whether that is our extensive beer range, the exciting cocktail menu, the fantastic wine list, the creativity of the food or even our wonderful locally roasted coffee.

“We will have an atmosphere where people can sit and unwind after a hard day’s work and enjoy our very own Worker Bee Lager as well as all the other products we will have to offer. It might take you a few visits to try it all!”

No.1 Watson Street opens on Thursday, October 8^th at 12pm and what’s more the first 100 guests get a free pizza when they sit in.

To be kept in the loop with news and offers, visit www.onewatsonstreet.com

1 Watson Street, Manchester M2

Follow them on Twitter: @onewatsonst

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