A brand new canalside terrace bar and eatery is opening up in the city centre just in time for this weekend’s spring sunshine.
Situated on two levels and located underneath The Holiday Inn on Aytoun Street, Roby 1844 – which was inspired by the original Victorian Roby School building next door to the hotel – is bringing a relaxed ambience, awash with festoon lighting, waterside seating, music and an outdoor bar, to Manchester.
The terrace will open to the public 12pm – 11pm daily from Saturday 17th April.
Roby 1844 will be serving up an extensive street food menu, with a selection of burgers, sandwiches and platters to choose from, alongside an inclusive vegan menu boasting dishes such as Vegan Dirty Fries, Corn Ribs and Pulled Jackfruit Baps.
The drinks menu is packed with a range of beers, spirits, wine and cocktails, with local suppliers SEVEN BRO7HERS, Manchester Gin and Three Rivers Gin all featuring.
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There’ll also be live music appearing in the bar in the summer months.
That’s not all either, as the bar will even provide a stop for canal barges too, with passengers able to moor and disembark at the Roby terrace for a drink in the Manchester sunshine.
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The Manc GroupThe Manc Group
Speaking ahead of the grand opening of Roby 1844, Steve Julian – Manager at The Holiday Inn – said: “We’ve got such a great space by the water and wanted to create a standalone destination, perfect for after work drinks, weekend socialising and get togethers [so] people are welcome to head down for a drink, a bite to eat or both.
“It’s a great place to sit and watch the world go by, and enjoy spending time with people, especially after being apart for so long”.
Roby 1844 will open at 12pm on Saturday 17th April.
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Initially, no pre-bookings are required so walk-ins are welcome and encouraged, and you can find menus and more information here.
Featured Image – The Manc Group
Food & Drink
Mongrel – New taproom and pizzeria set to move into the former Street Urchin site
Daisy Jackson
A brand new taproom, coffee shop and pizzeria concept has announced plans to move into Ancoats.
Mongrel will come from the same team behind Crust, a much-raved-about pizza joint that operated off a Stockport industrial estate until earlier this year.
They’ve now confirmed they have their sights set on the city centre, specially the magnificent corner unit that was previously home to the beloved Street Urchin.
Street Urchin suddenly closed earlier this year after co-founder and head chef Kevin suffered a heart attack, leaving them ‘unable to continue as a business’.
Rachel Choudhary, Kevin’s partner and co-founder of the neighbourhood restaurant, wrote at the time that they were ‘heartbroken’ to close the business.
Street Urchin was quietly one of the top restaurants in Ancoats and operated in a market diner fashion, creatively cooking the best catch of the day for an ever-changing menu that honoured each season.
Thankfully, this key corner unit won’t be quiet for much longer, with another local operator now lined up to move in.
Inside Street Urchin before its closure – the site will now become a pizzeria called Mongrel. Credit: The Manc Group
Mongrel has so far shared that it’s set to be a ‘coffee shop, pizza place and taproom, all under one roof’.
Upon closing Crust in Stockport they confirmed this will be ‘a huge step up from the Crüst you know and love’.
They posted on Instagram: “Thanks to everyone who’s popped down over the last year. We’re eternally grateful for the support from our fantastic customers, and will look back on this period with huge gratitude.
“It’s with great sadness that we announce our departure from Stockport. We know this will come as a disappointment to our Crüst family – we haven’t made this decision lightly.
“We have been looking for a new premesis in Stockport for a while, however after multiple applications going nowhere, we have finally found a new home in Manchester City Center!
“Our new home will be a huge step up from the Crüst you know and love… We can’t to reveal what’s to come!
Mongrel is set to open its taproom and pizzeria on Great Ancoats Street, in the former Street Urchin site, in November.
Wet Leg announce huge outdoor gig in Manchester as part of landmark live dates
Clementine Hall
Isle of Wight five-piece Wet Leg have announced their biggest headline shows to date, announcing a trio of huge outdoor gigs, including one right here in Manchester at Castlefield Bowl.
The multi-award-winning indie and alt outfit rose to fame back in 2022 with iconic tracks like Chaise Longue and Wet Dream, packing out stages at Glastonbury not long after releasing their critically acclaimed debut album.
Becoming their second consecutive number one in just as many attempts, moisturizer, is equally as fun and fabulous as the first – we cannot wait to hear it live in these.
Comprised of two lead singers in Rhian Teasdale and Hester Chambers, Ellis Durand on bass, drummer Henry Holmes and guitarist Joshua Mobaraki, this lot can make plenty of noise.
And as you can see, to make things even better, they’ll be joined by Leeds’ very own English Teacher as the main support act at each one of the landmarks shows.
As for their down south show, they’ll also be playing Alexandra Palace Park down in the capital to round out this run of live dates next summer.
It goes without saying that we’re obviously buzzing to see them become the latest name on the lineup for the 2026 Sounds of the City series, with a hometown hero also joining the ranks as of this month:
Wet Leg are in good company when they rock up to Castlefield Bowl.
Set to play the Bowl on Wednesday, 8 July, before heading to Leeds and then London for consecutive nights, we’re sure you’ll see them playing tonnes more big stages throughout festival season.
Tickets for all three of Wet Leg’s confirmed dates for 2026 go on sale this Friday, 31 October from 9:30am, and you can get ready to grab yours HERE.
We reckon this one will be a real ticket scramble, so we wouldn’t mess about if you want to bag yourself a ticket; in fact, given that all of their live shows this year sold out, we know it will…
Emily Sergeant -
16th April 2021 
