Lupo Caffe Italiano, a cosy Italian restaurant tucked on an industrial estate in Prestwich, has just been crowned the best in the North West by the Good Food Guide.
This authentic spot serves hearty, homemade Roman pizza and pasta, with the ever-charismatic Nico Pasquali at its helm.
The Good Food Guide has listed it as the overall winner in the North West in its prestigious 100 Best Local Restaurants list.
Lupo was joined by five other Greater Manchester restaurants in the top 100, ranging from a much-loved Chorlton tapas joint to a Michelin Bib Gormand modern European spot beneath a railway arch.
On the list were Cantaloupe in Stockport, Cibus in Levenshulme, The Sparrows in the Green Quarter, Stretford Canteen, and Chorlton’s Bar San Juan.
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Of Lupo, the guide heaped praise on its ‘excellent Roman pizzas’ served from an ‘all-day trattoria in the incongruous setting of an industrial estate’.
Over the years, Nico has added a wooden terrace to double his restaurant’s capacity, with checkered tablecloths and cabinets displaying homemade desserts, like semifreddos and his legendary millefoglie.
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The Good Food Guide judges wrote: “The vibe is friendly, unfussy and unpretentious, although Nico’s regulars also come for his precisely cooked traditional dishes made with prime ingredients flown in from Italy or fresh from his allotment.
Lupo Caffe Italiano in Prestwich has been named the best restaurant in the North West in the Good Food Guide. Credit: The Manc Group
“They are the perfect antidote to the standard Anglo-Italian repertoire, and the glitzy but vacuous styling of most high-street chains. Popular (and reasonably priced) dishes might range from rigatoni with guanciale, chilli and pecorino to arancini, suppli (deep-fried pizza balls) and Roman Jewish artichokes.
“There’s also a list of specials that may feature orecchiette with Italian fennel sausages and romanesco broccoli, as well as whole baked sea bass cooked with cherry tomatoes and olives.”
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Nico said on winning the top spot: “Hard work and perseverance pays… and people value what we’ve been building for the last 10 years.”
Across town, The Sparrows received praise for its handmade dumplings (‘perfectly rendered little parcels of happiness’ and sharing boards, plus its hearty goulashes for winter.
In Stretford, local French bistro Streford Canteen made its way onto the list for the first time, thanks to being a ‘shining light in a small suburb that needs and deserves a reliable, high-quality restaurant.’
Stretford Canteen also made the Good Food Guide this year. Credit: The Manc Group
You’ll find familiar bistro classics like galettes, croques and French onion soup, as well as a seasonally sourced menu showcasing their brilliant cooking.
The Good Food Guide added: “And, finally, praise is due to the little publicised fact they have fed a local homeless man for years – happily now off the streets.”
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The next entry on the list is firm favourite Bar San Juan, a cosy tapas spot in the heart of Chorlton with a bit of a cult following.
The Good Food Guide singled out its ‘papas bravas’ (crispy cubes of potato served with a Madrid-style brava sauce), cod’s cheeks, aubergine stew and croquetas.
Bar San Juan in Chorlton
A deserving entry into the Good Food Guide’s 100 Best Local Restaurants list.
Over in Stockport is a new-ish neighbourhood restaurant that’s already caught people’s eye – Cantaloupe is a ‘small, easy-going bistro’.
The guide says: “Cantaloupe prioritises its budget where it really counts – on the food, cooking and service, plus a focus on doing simple things well and not over-stretching the short, restrained and fairly priced daily menu. And it’s paid off: the place now has a clutch of loyal fans who appreciate the unpretentious atmosphere.”
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Completing the list for Greater Manchester is Cibus in Levenshulme, which started life as a market stall but grew to a proper Italian restaurant space.
Here it’s all about sourdough pizzas, pasta dishes, meat dishes, seafood, and cicchetti.
Manchester’s own egg butty shop Egg & Co opens on Deansgate – right near rival Eggslut
Daisy Jackson
Manchester-born Egg & Co has hatched a new opening for us, launching their first restaurant and takeaway on Deansgate.
It’s a familiar name to a lot of us already thanks to their recent residencies at Ancoats General Store, Stretford Foodhall, and Kargo in Salford.
But now it’s time for Egg & Co to crack open the doors to their first bricks and mortar, stand-alone site.
From here, you’ll be able to grab their unbeatable breakfast sandwiches, where soft scrambled egg is piled into warm brioche buns.
There are a dozen or so breakfast butties on the menu here (yes, they do all feature egg), with other fillings ranging from beef patties to turkey bacon to caramelised onion.
Manchester’s own egg butty shop Egg & Co opens on Deansgate / Credit: The Manc Group
And there’s more – sides here include truffle hash browns, curly fries, and chicken bites, with whisperings that banana pudding might be making the menu before too long.
And new for this location are the drinks – coffees, fruit juices, matcha, and a full fridge of soft drinks.
The space itself opens this week on Deansgate and is a clear homage to eggs in general.
From the butter yellow frontage to the yolk-bright tiles inside, along with egg-shaped table numbers and oval cut-outs for the bins, it’s like sitting inside an actual egg.
Even the self-service menu board is housed inside a giant egg structure.
You’ll be able to grab unbeatable breakfast sandwiches / Credit: The Manc Group
Egg & Co will open on the same street and within a few minutes’ walk of Eggslut, the cult London takeaway that took its first foray into Manchester earlier this year.
But Egg & Co’s menu significantly undercuts Eggslut’s, and it was founded right here in Manchester – we’ll leave it up to you where to spend your money.
A taste of ‘Dam in the heart of NQ: a first look at Manchester’s first Dutch fry house
Danny Jones
A brand-new Amsterdam-inspired chip shop has opened up on the backstreets of the Northern Quarter, and we have a feeling you’re going to love this one.
Complete with burgers, beer, a whole brunch menu, plenty of cheese and sauce, there may be a lot of calories coming your way, but just imagine how hard this is going to slap on a night out.
Smaak opened up somewhat quietly at the end of April, just in time for a maiden long weekend of Manc punters over the early May bank holiday, and the reviews have got off to a great start.
Yes, the central crux of a ‘Het Friethuis’, or fry house, is the fries, but trust us, this is much more than a chippy; Smaak is not only the first of its kind in Manchester, but we think it’s nailed on to become NQ’s next big thing.
Either that, or at the very least, a cult favourite among those who know their schooners from their steins.
Why? Well, besides preaching to the choir when it comes to chips – let’s face it, we Northerners aren’t just converted, we’re practically dipped in the frying oil at this point – the full food lineup is a condensed but satisfying selection full of big hitters.
Let’s begin with the brunch: it features everything from classic Dutch pancakes and topped Belgian waffles, to breakfast buns, and rostis served up until 3pm; we’re off to a great start.
Then there’s an all-day smattering of bar snacks, including various loaded fries like truffle mayo and parmesan, classic Belgian trimmings, or even the ‘Oorlog’ option with peanut sauce, house mayo and raw onion, to ‘bitterballen’, which are basically breaded and deep-fried stewy meatballs.
But then you peruse the rest of the menu to see not only wonderful beers that taste like they’re flowing directly from casks in the Netherlands, but a trio of traditional burgers (yes, even a fish one) and seven seriously enticing cocktails and desserts, each with a little twist from the region.
It’s also worth noting that A LOT of time and attention goes into this operation, from shipping over a fryer straight from ‘The Dam’, to double-cooking, making all of their sauces in-house, usually freshly-sourced Cheshire potatoes, and the best quality thick-cut bacon, just to name a very small few impressive details.
Some of these recipes literally took more than a year to perfect – and that’s just when it comes to sauces, no exaggeration…
The whole concept was developed with help from renowned chef Kate Austen, who has worked with Gordon Ramsay and even appeared on the BBC’s Great British Menu, becoming the first woman to ever win the competition. So yeah, there’s some proper pedigree behind this one, too.
Put simply, you’ve heard of farm table – well, these guys are really committing to that ethos, too, only their slogan is more like “from farm to fryer”, and it shows in the results.
Overall, they’ve just got a really good product to offer here, with a more casual cafe-style set-up on the first floor, the cool pour-your-own beer option, as well as plenty of scope for private hire with the big space downstairs. Located on Back Turner Street in NQ, Smaak is well worth a visit.
Daisy Jackson -
17th July 2025 
