Manchester businesses have been opening their doors and welcoming back customers for long-awaited lattes and fantastic filter brews; which is welcome news after 14 weeks of sipping instant coffee.
Costa Coffee recently made headlines for giving all their coffee club members 300 points – the equivalent of £3 – as a “welcome back” token for customers. But the luxury of being able to provide free drinks simply isn’t possible for smaller businesses who have been struggling to keep their heads above water during lockdown.
We’re spoiled for choice when it comes to local coffee shops in Manchester – and you can show your support by heading down to visit some this weekend.
Northern Quarter is renowned for its alternative and independent stores. But their cafes are second to none.
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One perfect case in point is Soul Coffee.
Situated on Great Ancoats Street, Soul Coffee is a unique coffee and gelato bar serving speciality blend drinks, handmade Italian Gelato and some disco dancer brunch & dessert items.
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The headliners of the menu are the decadent desserts all whimsically named after popular soul songs, from ‘Just to keep you satisfied’ french toast stack to their ‘I heard it through the grapevine’ Lotus Biscoff Milky Shake.
Soul Coffee is the only place in Manchester which offers true Italian Gelato in multiple forms from a sweet Affogato to a classic scoop on cone. With more hot weather on the way, it could be worth ducking in.
Idle Hands
Idle Hands is the place to go for a piece of pie and a cuppa.
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The venue excels in pastry-making; baking all kinds of exciting flavours and creations from coffee, cookies and cream to sticky toffee pudding!
Aside from pie, you can also enjoy a lovely lunch menu and treat yourself to a cheeky glass of vino whilst you’re at it.
You can order and collect online or go in as normal – but it’s worth noting that opening times are subject to change as they adjust to the new climate.
Vienna Coffee serve everything from breakfast (named after areas in Manchester like ‘Deansgate’ and Castlefield’) to Sunday roasts or quaint afternoon tea.
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This family-run business is located nearby to St Peter’s Square, serving up a wide variety of delicious dishes.
But as good as the food might be, the clue’s in the name. Customers just can’t get enough of that coffee.
Vienna have their own amazing blend; Guatemalan, Indonesian and Rwandan beans, freshly roasted which they create into a classic Viennese coffee.
ManCoCo is a hidden roastery and café tucked beneath the arches of Hewitt Street in the ever-evolving neighbourhood of Castlefield.
Selling, ethically-sourced coffee from single origin farms and estates, ManCoCo hand-roast the beans right here in Manchester – serving them in fresh cups of coffee or grounded powder to go.
They’ve also got a wide range of organic, artisan teas available, along with own range of cool branded cups.
If you’ve had a bit of a heavy night and need a little pick-me-up for the morning, ManCoCo is the perfect place to visit and get your hands on a strong Mancunian coffee.
Federal has proven so popular they’ve had to branch out.
Now, the popular cafe has two spots in town – one in Deansgate and another in Northern Quarter.
Federal prides itself on “Antipodean happiness” in Manchester, serving food and drink that has seen customers coming back in through their doors since 2014.
Both cafes are open for walk-ins only; serving breakfast, all day brunch, lunch options, coffee and cocktails!
They regularly run enticing deals on their socials – including a bagel and coffee for £5.
Another caffeine pit stop in the Northern Quarter is Ezra & Gil; Ezra meaning ‘Helper’ and Gil meaning ‘Happiness’.
E&G was wildly popular before lockdown and nothing has changed in that respect – although the look is a little different with perspex screens and a new ordering system in place.
Known for eclectic coffees from white chocolate matcha lattes to a range of fun iced drinks, Ezra & Gil even has its own an app where customers can click and collect if you prefer.
They’re also open for visitors to sit in or take away.
An ultra cool cafe tucked away down Tib Street is Siop Shop.
This lovely little venue specialises in amazing baked goods – especially their beautiful and indulgent doughnuts!
As well as doughnuts, you can take your pick from a number of exciting savoury options which are updated regularly, including sausage rolls, snickerdoodle cookies, and salted caramel brownies.
You can follow your nose or find them on Tib Street NQ.
Home Sweet Home have won the outdoor seating game in Manchester – creating a European-style continental alfresco section that spreads right through Edge Street.
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While dining outdoors you can scoff down some decadent cakes, sip shakes and tuck into a range of breakfast, lunch and dinner options.
A crowd favourite is the pancakes. Order them and you’ll quickly find out why.
Ultimately, Home Sweet Home is the place to be if you want to soak up some Manchester atmosphere (and hopefully sunshine) whilst chomping on a large wedge of cake!
Chapter One Books is a quirky cafe and bookstore where you can read to your heart’s content in the centre of the city whilst sipping on fresh coffee and munching a slice of homemade cake.
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The Lemon Drizzle and Earl Grey comes highly recommended, and the coffee is cracking, too – making Chapter One an ideal spot to curl up with good book.
Top tip: Make sure you arrive early.
It can be tough to get a seat, sometimes; such is the popularity of the place.
Head over to their website to read more on this NQ hotspot.
Outside of the city centre is a beautiful tearoom in Chorlton.
Tea Hive takes inspiration from our Mancunian worker bee and serves hearty brunch and lunch dishes alongside mouthwatering cakes! They use loose leaf tea and artisan coffee so it’s a real treat to go in and enjoy not only the atmosphere but the amazing quality of food and drink.
The most popular choice amongst locals is their Sautéed Mushroom on toast (vegetarian & vegan) – washed down with one of their 10 different types of hot chocolate.
That will definitely hit the spot.
The Manc is supporting Manchester’s independent businesses with the hashtag #buzzingtobeback so if you fancy exploring more of what the city has to offer. Let’s continue supporting local independents to get the region buzzing once more!
Read more about what we’re doing for the industry here.
Five Manchester artists we’ve been listening to this month | May 2025
Danny Jones
Oh, hey, didn’t see you there. Come looking for more top Manc tunage, have we? You’re in luck, because Greater Manchester just keeps pumping out top bands and artists all the time, hence why we do this.
If you’re new around these parts, first of all, welcome and secondly, the whole thing is very simple: every month, we round up some of the best talents coming out of 0161 and talk about why we like them. I know, groundbreaking stuff, right?
They don’t have to be born and bred in Manchester, but they do need to have made this their music home – the first the correct career decision they made, the second being working their way into our ears.
So, now all the housekeeping is done and dusted, let’s dive into some delightful new Manchester music, shall we?
Five Manc bands and artists we’ve been listening to recently
1. IST IST
This month we’re starting off with one of those Manchester bands that may not be new but still crop up for us at regular intervals to remind us of two things: first of all, that they’re brilliant and secondly, that they should have featured on our regular round-up of artists a long time ago.
We’re talking about IST IST, who returned with another live, multiple LP-spanning compilation (plus some extras) this past March, which we’ve had on plenty over the past month. It goes without saying that they sound brilliant live, and we feel bad for only just remembering how good and prolific they’ve been.
You always get plenty of New Order, but also White Lies and Editors; Future Islands, The National and lots of other baritone-driven bands that bring that element of melodrama to layer over the instruments themselves. ‘You’re Mine’ might be their biggest track, but ‘The Kiss’ and ‘Exist’ are also favourites.
2. Robbie Cavanagh
Now, we all know that country music is having a real moment right now and we, for one, couldn’t be happier about it, to be completely frank. Though arguably simplistic at times, it’s soulful, often impressively pared-back, and when something does impress you lyrically or technically, it sticks.
With that in mind, we recently realised that award-winning songwriter Robbie Cavanagh has been on somewhat of a comeback since 2023, and we hadn’t noticed until painfully recently. Returning after a six-year hiatus – bar some little ditties during lockdown – his latest project has some of his best work yet.
Fully tilting from folk into country and folk, the stunning vocalist belatedly blew us away with the bluesy single ‘Helpless’ and a gorgeous new collaboration with solo artist, Abby Gundersen (equally talented sister of Noah), but please still start with his 2016 Mahogany Session, where it arguably all began.
Named after Manchester city centre’s famously eclectic indie emporium, Afflecks Palace have never quite blown up in the way they way we thought they would when we first came across them years ago, but there’s still plenty of time and we’ll be damn it if they don’t deserve more regular listeners.
You’ll also be glad to know that, despite the name, they aren’t one of those trite, overly performative bands who wear a stereotypical Manc-ness on their sleeve that we sometimes come across; they’re just good and deserve a lot more recognition for their contribution to the neo-pysch genre.
As for where to start, we’ll admit we prefer their first album; ‘Forever Young’ is noodley and catchy, ‘Everything Is an Attempt to Be Human’ has those shoegazey guitars, but it just doesn’t get better than the incomparable ‘Pink Skies’, which still makes us feel some type of way – we just can’t quite describe.
We just love it. ‘Nu-Madchester’, or whatever you want to call it, its distinct sunniness never fails to tickle a part of our brains.
4. Findlay
Next up is Stockport singer-songwriter Findlay, who released more new music this past February, and has been making indie pop that ropes in plenty of other influences for more than a decade now.
That being said, she’s always experimenting with her sound, as her collabs with Blossoms, Miles Kane, Bill Ryder-Jones, Joris Delacroix have shown, and this latest iteration seems to have her tapping into everything from almost 50s and 60s female soul singers to slow electronic and more.
We love the smooth sexiness and sheer ambition of her latest single, ‘Stay Kinky’ and ‘Waste My Time’ always feels like a late-night chiller fit for music video set in a dingey bar, however, we still have a soft spot for her debut, ‘Your Sister’, with the riff that’s almost reminiscent of ‘Blockbuster’ by Sweet.
Last but not least, it’s the second time we’re featuring a returning artist and it comes in the form of young Alex Spencer, whose journey from busking around the streets of Greater Manchester to sold-out headlines shows and featuring on the likes EA Sports FC 25 (yes, FIFA) is a truly remarkable one.
The charming and still fresh-faced local lad from Droylsden is nothing short of proof that hard work and determination can pay off, and those ‘Bucket List’ dreams really are within reach. Obvious talent aside, this teenager has grafted his arse off and we couldn’t be more proudof how far he’s come already.
He last featured in this round-up back in April 2024 but even in the time between then, he’s released plenty and developed even further as musician, so much so that we’re not going to suggest which songs to try; instead, you can watch our most recent interview with him and relive his last year or so with us.
I’m Alex Spencer and This is my journey so far!
8 years of my music journey summed up in 1 minute 55😅 Thankyou to everyone who’s followed my journey so far, to anyone new or to anyone who doesn’t know my story, I made this video to show where it all started and how I got here❤️ pic.twitter.com/Hi3W7MHMxX
So, the next time you hear someone foolishly complaining that the Greater Manchester music scene ‘isn’t what it once was’, you can go right ahead of show them these bands and artists.
In fact, you could just point them in the direction of this very page and Audio North, in general, as we do this round-up every month and plenty more every week, meaning you’re headphones never dry up.
For instance, you can check out which Manchester bands and artists we were listening to back in April, both new, current and old, down below. We’ll see you again very soon.
Bruce Springsteen’s unforgettable final night at Co-op Live in Manchester – just wow…
Danny Jones
It’s rare you get to see legends in real life, especially this up close and personal, but there’s still just one key word that keeps coming to mind when we think of seeing Bruce Springsteen in Manchester at the Co-op Live last night: surreal.
We still can’t quite believe that he was here in Manchester, in the flesh, for three separate nights, but we do intend to replay it in our heads over and over again until it fully sinks in.
Springsteen, ‘The Boss’, Brucey, whatever you want to call him, there really is something to be said for someone who’s been going this long and still exerts so much energy at 75.
That goes for his desperately loyal and dedicated crowds, too. The legions that marched down ‘Thunder Road’ and back down the CityLink walking route and the Ashton canal in supreme spirits after all was said and done gave as good as they got.
We can only assume Springsteen was as incredible on the first night at Co-op Live as he was on the last. (Credit: Audio North)
From singing back every chorus to the chants of “Bruuuuuuuce!” between every single song, it was more apparent than ever that being a Springsteen fan is quite literally a way of life for these people; they know every line, every call and response, every micro-dance move and regular on-stage ritual.
Each show is roughly three hours long, by the way – he does have an absolute treasure trove of discography to work through, in fairness.
Put simply, there’s no messing about, just non-stop rock and roll of the highest order. Well, there are some brief pauses, but for good reason…
As a passionate political and philanthropic person throughout a career which spans more than six decades, he took the time to talk about America and the turbulent times they are once again facing.
He spoke about the craven billionaire class, poverty, uniting through art and, just as he did on night one in Manchester, Springsteen railed against a particular tyrant who happens to have found himself in the seat of power yet again back over in the States. He made sure to do this every single night.
‘Born in the U.S.A.’ (which he did decide to play, along with a plethora of the other biggest hits) now feels more like a protest song than ever. The war may no longer be in Vietnam, but there is one raging back home, and he’s even more wary of it than before.
He thanked those in the pit and the stands for indulging him, as well as the “wonderful space” of the Co-op and its “beautiful sound” for hosting him, but we have a feeling the New Jersey poet could have said just about anything and he’d still have 23,500+ in the palm of his hands.
All that being said, it wasn’t like this was a pseudo-rally or anything like that, nor was anything of this being foisted upon the audience, but there was a real sense of a congregation gathering in the church of Bruce to take in his sermon.
His followers have often been referred to in this way, and despite only previously considering ourselves a very casual Springsteen enthusiast, having now been to a sell-out arena gig with one of the biggest Boss fans we know, we can understand why millions of people around the world idolise this absolute icon.
It goes without saying that a huge amount of applause must go to The E Street Band themselves, who are just as much a part of what makes Springsteen sets so special as he is.
From the ever-charismatic Steven Van Zandt (still hard not to see him as ‘Sil’ from The Sopranos) to Jake Clemons on sax – who has been part of the group since 2012 and shared a touching embrace with Bruce as tributes to his predecessor and uncle, Clarence, played behind them – these lot are a family.
Our only minor gripe is that we sorely missed hearing ‘Atlantic City’, but what the concert did confirm is that much like the effect the recent Bob Dylan biopic had on us, we’re now more committed than ever to working through the Springsteen back catalogue from start to finish and seeing how obsessed we get.
To end on one final thought and echo the words of the man himself: “peace, love and freedom.”
Jess Walmsley -
14th July 2020 
