Manchester
Inside Medlock Canteen – a brand new restaurant for Manchester inspired by American diners and Parisian bistros
It'll have its own rotisserie chicken oven and you can take your roast bird home in a bag.
Daisy Jackson -
25th March 2024 
One of the year’s most exciting restaurant openings is officially ready to open in Manchester, with Medlock Canteen now fully kitted-out at Deansgate Square.
The restaurant comes from the team behind Madre (the Mexican restaurant at Kampus) and Belzan (one of Liverpool’s top restaurants).
And when it officially opens on 29 March, diners will be spoiled with bottomless coffee, a rotisserie chicken oven, and ‘strong sandwiches’.
Oh, did we mention they’ll also be offering 50% off for the restaurant’s soft launch period?
Medlock Canteen is taking its inspiration from eateries on opposite sides of the pond – the laid-back and accessible style of American diners and the hospitality of Parisian bistros.
There’ll be an all-day menu served alongside those bottomless coffees, with guest welcome to sit as long as they like.
You can expect breakfasts ranging from classic Full Englishes to duck-egg hash to ‘millennial eggs’ (smashed avo and poached eggs).
There’ll be familiar brunch dishes like oats, pancakes, and breakfast sandwiches, plus French inspired dishes like a crab and gruyere omelette, with several brekkies available to take away.
Then at lunch, chef patron Sam Grainger is promising a ‘strong sandwich game’ – we’re talking roast beef sandwich with caramelised onions, gruyere and jus; turkey schnitzel with mozzarella and marinara; and a grilled cheese with three different cheeses and pickles.
And in the evenings, it’s all about steaks and fish of the day, as well as that rotisserie chicken oven.
Believed to be the only restaurant rotisserie oven in Manchester, Medlock Canteen will be serving chicken baguettes with chicken mayo, butterhead lettuce and jus at lunchtimes, and half- or whole-chicken with a choice of sides all day.
You can even pick up a chicken in a bag to take home with you.
Owner Chris Edwards said: “Picture your typical canteen; a spot where everyone and anyone can gather.
“On one table you have a group of friends catching up over dinner, two colleagues are sitting at the bar enjoying a post work drink, a worker pops in for a coffee before their night shift and a couple swing by for dessert en route home from dinner.
“We want people to come as they are, use the space as their own and eat and drink as they desire.”
Owain Williams added: “Medlock Canteen is inspired by American diners and French bistros. In these venues, everyone is always welcome for unfussy, traditional, everyday faire.
“The British equivalent of these spaces has always been the pub but the community bond created by these spaces has become collateral damage in the UK’s reframed relationship with the pub.
“We still want the community, the accessibility and the prices, but it needs to exist in a different atmosphere suitable for the city dwellers of Manchester.”
Medlock Canteen will be opening on 29 March at 5 Owen Street at Deansgate Square (near Kitten and Salvi’s).
Read more
- Manchester’s most in-demand pasta restaurant is opening a new location
- Indy Man Beer Con will not be returning in 2024 as beloved Manc beer festival ends after more than a decade
- Popeyes are set to open their first drive-thru and second site in Greater Manchester next month
Featured image: The Manc Group
