Manchester’s £1 taco restaurant El Capo appears to have quietly shut its doors after nearly a decade in the city centre.
The Mexican-inspired taco and tequila bar and restaurant has been a fixture on Tariff Street since first opening its doors in 2014, but now it looks like its years of Northern Quarter service may have come to an end – for now, at least.
A closure notice has been posted on its website homepage and its Instagram appears to have been deactivated, despite the notice advising customers to visit the page to ‘keep up to date’.
The business’s Facebook page, meanwhile, has not been updated for over a month with the last update – advertising £1 tacos and £6 margaritas – shared on 12 April.
El Capo’s website has also seen its booking page removed, with a notice on its homepage that reads: “CLOSED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE.
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“Unfortunately, due to electrical issues encountered we have made the decision to close for the forseeable.
“In the meantime, keep up to date on our Instagram and we will see you soon. EL CAPO.”
The bar and restaurant’s Google Business page has also been updated to say that it is ‘temporarily closed.’
In recent months, El Capo has received positive press coverage for its brilliant £1 taco Tuesday deal – with many local media outlets praising it as one of the city’s best dining deals.
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The kitchen also recently released a chippy tea burrito that had foodies in Manchester talking, but sadly – despite its popularity – it now appears that the venue has shut its doors.
First opened in 2014, the South American street food-themed restaurant first appeared as a bar before launching its hotly-anticipated basement eatery later that same year.
In response to a request for comment, El Capo confirmed to The Manc that the site’s closure was temporary whilst the business worked on a refurbishment of its kitchen and basement and that it was planning to open in the winter of 2023.
A spokesperson said: “We plan to reopen by winter 2023, with a new refurbed basement and large kitchen extension, so that we can successfully reopen our doors and welcome back our regular customers to a new and improved El Capo.”
Featured image – Google Business
Eats
Inside Chinatown’s enormous new three-storey restaurant, with futuristic karaoke booths
Daisy Jackson
A gigantic three-storey restaurant and karaoke bar has just opened its doors in Chinatown in Manchester.
Sovereign Clouds is the newest addition to one of the city’s most beloved and ever-evolving neighbourhoods, taking over a sizeable building on Faulkner Street that’s been vacant for 10 years.
Inside the 1,000 sq metre space, you’ll find a glittering restaurant adorned with marble and gold, where you can tuck into a massive menu of dim sum and traditional dishes.
One floor up and you’ll find yourself surrounded by live lobster tanks and the massive kitchen, alongside several flexible private dining spaces.
And up on the top floor are the most futuristic karaoke rooms in town, where you can customise lights, LED ceilings, and even sing through an autotune microphone.
Three roast meats from Sovereign CloudsDelicious dim sumAuthentic Chinese cooking from Sovereign CloudsBlack Gold Lava Buns with salted custard fillingThe massive Sovereign Clouds restaurant
On the menu you’ll find tonnes of steamed dim sum, stir fries, traditional claypot stews, roast meats, and loads more.
There’s seafood like stir-fried lobster with salted egg yolk, and traditional Cantonese steamed grouper; a whole section for abalone (advance orders only) including braised goose feet and fish maw; and a good selection of spicy Sichuan dishes.
The chefs here also have an impressive array of Chinese roast meats, like Peking crispy duck, pork belly, and char siu, as well as three roast meats with rice.
Futuristic karaoke roomsThe main restaurant at Sovereign CloudsFuturistic karaoke rooms
And that’s alongside ingredients you don’t find on a lot of menus in Manchester, like jellyfish, tripe, and century eggs.
It’s all led by Terry Ni, who has been behind the popular Dynasty Chinese and Thai takeaway in Timperley for more than a decade, and has spent years transforming this empty old building into one of Chinatown’s most glittering restaurants.
Come for dinner, stay for a turn on the karaoke upstairs, and tell everyone – Sovereign Clouds is a fantastic addition to Manchester.
‘Surreal’ moment Stevie Wonder dines at Stalybridge restaurant after enormous Manchester gig
Daisy Jackson
Stevie Wonder has stunned a local restaurant in Stalybridge after he popped in for dinner after his massive Manchester show.
The soul icon had performed a huge gig at Co-op Live on Sunday night, performing hits from his illustrious, decades-long career.
And while you might expect someone of Stevie’s fame and stature to dine at one of the city centre’s many Michelin-recommended restaurants, the star instead headed straight for the suburbs.
He was spotted dining at Cafe Continental, an independent restaurant that’s become one of the Greater Manchester’s most-hyped neighbourhood haunts since it launched two years ago.
The stylish spot is famed for its European-style restaurant and cafe culture, aiming to recreate the atmosphere of the sort of place you’d stumble upon down a back street in Rome or Paris.
On the menu they’ve got a rotation of small plates, open-fire dishes, pastas and burgers, along with their divine Parisian hot chocolate, served with a bowl of whipped cream on the side.
Cafe Continental has had a good track record for pulling in local famous faces, but arguably nothing comes close to Stevie Wonder himself.
Inside Cafe Continental in Stalybridge. Credit: The Manc GroupSoup and focaccia at Cafe Continental. Credit: The Manc Group
The night before Stevie’s visit, they’d served his band and daughter – and clearly word got back to Stevie fast, because he returned the next night to test it out for himself.
Cafe Continental posted: “Surreal things happen now and again. This is one of them! Pleasure to welcome Mr Stevie Wonder to the restaurant to close off his tour!”
And according to the MEN, Stevie left a whopping £1,000 tip for the staff.
Not only did Stevie Wonder support a local hospitality business, but he also arrived dressed in Drama Call, a Manchester-based sportswear brand.
Georgina Pellant -
18th May 2023 
