This March, there are plenty of great Manchester restaurant and dining deals to get stuck into if you’re eating out on a budget (which, let’s be honest, most of us are).
Given that it’s such a tough time for hospitality, quite a few of the city’s bars, restaurants and cafes have decided to extend their food deals after seeing a huge upturn in business during January.
Whilst there are still great offers, we’re going to keep promoting them – and fortunately for us, there are some awesome set menus, lunch deals and general discounts going around.
From 50% off at Chakalaka, Firehouse and NQ favourite Trof, to £1 tacos, massive £2 hot dogs and lunch deals with a drink from £10, there are loads of great dining deals to get stuck into in Manchester this March.
Keep reading to discover the best Manchester restaurant deals, discounts and offers to try this month.
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50% off food – Manchester March dining deals
The Bunny Chow. / Image: Chakalaka
Image: Chakalaka
Chakalaka
What is it: Brightly coloured South African bar and kitchen in Manchester’s Northern Quarter.
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The offer: 50% off food.
T&Cs: Applies to mains only, all day Monday-Wednesday.
The Firehouse
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What is it: Buzzing venue on the cusp of Ancoats serving wild spirits, chargrilled chicken and some of the fluffiest pittas in the city.
The offer: 50% off pittas, stracciatella, hummus and kalamata tapenades, plus all bottles of wine and sparkling.
T&Cs: Available Wednesdays only with a booking.
Pen and Pencil
What is it: New York-influenced all day kitchen serving imaginative menus, as well as craft beers & cocktails.
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The offer: 50% off all food
T&Cs: Available Mondays only when you pre-book a table.
Trof
What is it: A dandyish den of indulgence in the heart of Manchester’s Northern Quarter. Famed for brunching and daily food specials, Sunday roasts and classic cocktails.
The offer: 50% off food.
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T&Cs: Available Tuesdays only.
Wood
What is it: MasterChef Simon Wood’s high-end restaurant down at First Street, perfect for a pre-theatre treat.
The offer: 50% off cheese and wine at Homage.
T&Cs: Every Wednesday, Thursday and Friday evenings.
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More Manchester March dining deals
Image: Trof
Image: Trof
Almost Famous
What is it: Legendary burger bar serving the original ‘dirty burgers’ as well as loaded fries and wings.
The offer: £10 on selected burgers and fries.
T&Cs: Weekdays between 12-4pm.
A Taste of Honey
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What is it: Adorable little neighbourhood deli and cafe on Burton Road.
The offer: Living lunch deal. £3.50 breakfast / £5 lunch menu.
T&Cs: Available during set hours only.
Bab
What is it: Casual venue with an industrial vibe, prepping meze and fancy kebabs with homemade sauces and marinades.
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The offer: Two courses and bottomless drinks for £40 per person.
T&Cs: Available Fridays only from 3-10pm.
Bundobust
What is it: Indian vegetarian street food and craft beer hall with its very own Manchester brewery.
The offer: Two dishes for £9, including okra fries, bhajis, and tarka dhal and rice.
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T&Cs: Available at lunch time only.
The Blues Kitchen
What is it: Dedicated blues bar serving hickory-smoked comfort food, plus regular live music and DJs.
The offer: Selected dishes with a soft drink for a tenner.
T&Cs: Available weekdays only until 3.30pm.
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Cibo
What is it: Modern cafe/restaurant and prosecco bar, for Italian pizzas, grill dishes and sharing plates.
The offer: Two courses for £15.99 and three courses for £19.99.
T&Cs: Every Sunday – Friday from 5-7pm.
Cottonopolis
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What is it: Lively destination for Asian-inspired menus in a warehouse-style venue with a full bar.
The offer: Two dishes and a side for £13.
T&Cs: Available during lunch only, Monday – Friday 12-3pm.
Crazy Pedros
What is it: Part-time pizza parlour and mezcal / tequila party bar serving New York pizzas by the slice and the pie.
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The offer: £12 pizza, £2.50 slices, two cocktails for £12.
T&Cs: Available 5 – 9pm, Saturday – Friday.
Edinburgh Castle
What is it: Another classic pub reborn – cosy vibes and pies downstairs, fancy small plates upstairs.
The offer: Two courses for £30 or three courses for £35.
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T&Cs: Available Wednesday – Thursday 5-6.30pm and Friday and Saturday 12-3pm & 5-6.30pm.
El Capo
What is it: Mexican and Latin American dishes, plus tequila menu, in a casual, bare-brick space with a tiled bar.
The offer: Tacos from £1.
T&Cs: Monday – Thursday from 5pm.
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Image: The Firehouse
Image: The Firehouse
Habas
What is it: Middle Eastern-inspired dishes and cocktails in a comfy, relaxed space.
The offer: Three dishes and a drink for £15.
T&Cs: Tuesday – Saturday 12-5pm.
La Bandera
What is it: Market-fresh, classic Spanish cuisine in airy, contemporary space with yellow booths and banquettes.
The offer: Three mini tapas dishes and a soft drink for £15.
T&Cs: Sunday – Thursday 4-7pm.
The Marble Arch
What is it: Traditional boozer with its own and guest beers, plus food including cheeseboards.
The offer: 25% off starters, mains and desserts.
T&Cs: Available 12-4pm, Monday – Friday.
NAM
What is it: Cool, laid-back Vietnamese restaurant, bar and music venue based in Ancoats.
The offer: Any Pho and a Tiger beer for £12.
T&Cs: Available Thursdays only.
Nell’s
What is it: NYC inspired pizza parlour with locations in the city centre and Chorlton.
The offer: 14-inch pizza for £7.77.
T&Cs: Available weekdays only from 12-4pm.
Ramona
What is it:
The offer: £1.23 Margherita Slices and £6 margarita cocktails.
T&Cs: Available 4-7pm Wednesday, Thursday and Friday with a booking.
Salt Dog Slims
What is it: Late night dive bar hidden on a Manchester back street serving fat, delicious hot dogs.
What is it: Outdoor kitchen and bar in Trafford Park with great live music events.
The offer: £5 breakfast sandwich and a coffee. Burger, fries and a soft drink for £6.50.
T&Cs: Sandwich and coffee deal available Monday – Friday before 12pm. Burger lunch deal 12-3pm weekdays only.
Society
What is it: Manchester food and beer hall doling out global street foods, plus rafts of craft beer and cocktails.
The offer: £10 lunch deal.
T&Cs: Monday – Thursday and Sunday 12-3pm. Offers unique to individual traders.
Yard and Coop
What is it: Spacious NQ joint offering specialty fried chicken, sides and cocktails amid funky, barnyard-chic decor.
The offer: Main, side and a soda for £10.
T&Cs: Available Sunday – Thursday 12-4pm.
Feature image – Chakalaka / Trof / Salt Dog Slims
City Centre
The independent Manchester gym that’s spent eight years getting the city’s office workers stronger
Daisy Jackson
In a city centre that has changed almost beyond recognition over the past eight years, one Manchester gym has stuck to a simple idea – getting people stronger shouldn’t have to take over their lives.
Tucked away on Kennedy Street, opposite Manchester Town Hall and just a short walk from St Peter’s Square tram stop, P1 Fitness Studio is celebrating its eighth year in business.
This local success story has been built by husband-and-wife team Peter and Abby, who wanted to build the kind of gym they actually wanted to train in themselves, after becoming increasingly frustrated with what they saw as the ‘normal gym scene’.
Their answer was to create something different: a smaller, calmer space where people could be coached properly, recognised when they walked through the door and actually enjoy coming to train.
Eight years later, Peter and Abby are still hands-on in the independently owned business, working alongside a coaching team of five.
Welcome to P1 Fitness, in Manchester city centre / Credit: The Manc Group
There is no franchise model or corporate head office. Just the same basic philosophy they started with in 2018, which seems to have resonated with a particular part of Manchester.
P1’s members are predominantly busy professionals – lawyers, architects, creatives, teachers, business owners and office workers – many of them in their 30s, 40s and beyond.
For people spending much of their working lives behind a desk, the proposition is deliberately straightforward – you don’t need to live in the gym to become stronger and healthier.
P1 believes two properly coached strength sessions a week can make a meaningful difference.
Sessions last 50 minutes and run throughout the working day, meaning members can train before work, at lunchtime or after work. There are showers, changing facilities, towels and toiletries too, making it possible to fit training around a working day rather than the other way round.
More recently, the studio has added an infrared sauna, giving members somewhere to recover and switch off before heading back to the office or home.
The independent Manchester gym that’s spent eight years getting the city’s office workers stronger / Credit: The Manc Group
P1 specialises in small group personal training, with a maximum of six people per coach.
Everyone follows a structured strength programme, but the coaching is adapted to the individual. Exercises, weights, and progressions can all be changed depending on someone’s ability, goals, injuries or simply how they’re feeling that day.
So someone picking up a barbell for the first time can train alongside somebody who has been lifting for years, without either being pushed through the same generic circuit.
It’s also not the kind of gym where you’ll see your own reflection staring back at you at every turn, because the focus is on becoming stronger and moving better, rather than how you look.
The idea is longevity – looking after your joints, maintaining muscle, building strength, and staying capable of doing the things you want to do outside the gym as you get older.
Or, in P1’s own words: “Built stronger to last longer.”
And there’s some impressive evidence that the approach has encouraged people to stay the course.
Based on its current schedule of roughly 75 coached sessions a week, P1 estimates it has delivered more than 31,000 coached sessions across its eight years.
Some of the people attending those sessions have been there since the doors first opened.
Rather than celebrating short-term transformations, P1 marks the less glamorous (but arguably more meaningful) milestones: members receive T-shirts when they reach 100, 250, and 500 training sessions.
That means there are members whose relationship with the studio is measured in hundreds of coached sessions and several years, rather than a six-week challenge.
And over time, the gym has become something more than somewhere to lift weights.
P1 increasingly describes itself as a ‘third space’ for Manchester professionals – somewhere between home and work where people can train, switch off, see familiar faces and feel part of a community.
People train alongside many of the same faces each week, and coaches get to know the people they’re working with.
There are socials, themed workouts, challenges, member celebrations and charity events to really build that P1 community – for example, members raised more than £1000 for Parkinson’s UK through a bake sale last year.
The business has also increasingly taken its philosophy beyond its own four walls, working with Manchester companies and corporate teams on strength training and health education, including sessions around women’s health, men’s health, nutrition and sustainable strength training.
P1 has won Best Strength Training Gym of the North West at the National Fitness Awards in 2023, 2024 and 2025, while also being shortlisted three times for the National Fitness Awards’ Functional Training Gym of the Year UK award.
But perhaps the more remarkable achievement is simply making it through the last eight years as an independent city-centre business.
Since P1 opened, Manchester has had to navigate Covid and lockdowns, the huge shift towards home and hybrid working, and the major redevelopment around Town Hall and St Peter’s Square.
The city centre around the studio has changed dramatically, but the basic idea inside P1 hasn’t. It’s not just a gym, but a third space with a barbell in the middle of it.
Find out more and book your first sessions with P1 in Manchester HERE.
Featured Image – The Manc Group
City Centre
Giant inflatable monsters descend on Manchester again next month for their BIGGEST celebration to date
Emily Sergeant
Halloween in the City returns next month with its biggest celebration ever to mark a decade of monster mayhem.
Organised by Manchester BID and sponsored by British confectionery maker, Swizzels, Halloween in the City will be back in Manchester city centre next month once the spooky season arrives – bringing a free weekend of family-friendly fun and spectacular street entertainment.
To mark a decade of monster mayhem, the two-day celebration will bring the city to life with walkabout performers, party games, live DJs, spooky storytelling, and a spectacular roaming procession.
There’s also set to be brand-new birthday bake off this year to celebrate the big 10, and everyone is invited to join the party
But, of course, at the heart of the celebrations will be giant inflatable monsters.
The MCR Monsters are back next month / Credit: CityCo & Manchester BID
The MCR Monsters have been a staple in Manchester’s Halloween celebrations for a decade now, and this year, they’re going all out across the city’s iconic buildings and landmarks.
Created by artists Filthy Luker and Pedro Estrellas, and brought to life by Designs in Air, the giant inflatable creatures will make their way into the city for their longest trail to date, celebrating eight days of monster mischief over October half term from Saturday 24 to Saturday 31 October.
Visitors can expect a city-wide monster invasion at locations – including Exchange Square, Manchester Arndale, Selfridges Exchange Square, Corn Exchange Manchester, Printworks, Science and Industry Museum, The Royal Exchange Manchester, Treehouse Hotel Manchester, AO Arena, KAMPUS, Mayfield Park, and Medlock Square.
It’s set to be the biggest celebrations to date to mark a decade of monster mayhem / Credit: Supplied
Then, the big Halloween in the City Weekender will take place on Saturday 24 October from 10am-6pm and Sunday 25 October from 10am-5pm.
Some of the activities on the Weekender lineup this year include a live storytelling performance by Z-Arts in Manchester Arndale, a big Monsters Disco over in Exchange Square, a Rave Yard with resident evil DJs in St Ann’s Square, the Swizzels Spooky Sweet Stop on New Cathedral Street – which is new for 2026 – and then the main event, The Monsters Party Procession.
Designed and created by Walk the Plank, The Monsters Party Procession will ‘bash, boogie, and stomp’ its way through Market Street and Manchester Arndale, so expect dancing monster puppets, towering stilt walkers, and a six-piece brass band suitably spooky soundtrack.
Georgina Pellant -
2nd March 2023 
