A drive-thru Indian restaurant claiming to be the first of its kind in the UK has opened its doors in Greater Manchester this week.
Moving into a former petrol station forecourt on Manchester Road, new opening Chaiwala is bringing Bolton diners the ultimate convenience with a menu of Indian-inspired teas, street food and soft drinks to go.
With a selection of all-day breakfast options, street food dishes, rotis, desserts and hot and cold drinks, some menu favourites include the chilli chip butty, butter chicken wraps and Mumbai Mac ‘N’ Cheese.
The Desi Breakfast at Chaiwala. / Image: Chaiwala
Pani puri at Chaiwala. / Image: Chaiwala
Popular breakfast dishes on offer include the Sweet Bombay Toast, Aloo Paratha and Bun Omelette, whilst drinks-wise flavoured teas include a caramel chai, Garam chocolate and pink cha, plus cream-topped frappes and Karak coffee.
First founded on the streets of New Delhi in the 1920s, Chaiwala first began life as a small tea stall (hence the name) but today has 50 sites in the UK and even more abroad.
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The group already has sit-down eateries in Cheetham Hill, Old Trafford, Levenshulme, Oldham and Rochdale, as well as another restaurant on Deane Road in Bolton, but is bringing something new to the area with its drive-thru diner concept.
Opened in partnership with the convenience retailer EG Group, its co-founder told the Bolton News: “This is extremely exciting news for Bolton and the UK in general as this is the first time the Chaiiwala brand has been created as a drive-thru concept.
The chilli chip butty with masala chips tossed in chilli powder, onions, tomato, relish and cheese. / Image: Chaiwala
Image: Chaiwala
“This is a totally new experience for our valued customers and the first time they can experience our Indian street food in a drive-thru setting. This is the first time we have offered this concept and are delighted with the results.”
“Using this blueprint we are now actively searching for new drive-thru locations across the UK which will replicate the Bolton store model. We have built the Chaiiwala brand on a mixture of providing original Indian street food with the best customer service, with the aim of providing a unique experience.”
Feature image – Chaiwala
Eats
Manchester’s Cat Café is set to reopen four years after its closure
Danny Jones
Feline fans, rejoice, because Cat Café Manchester looks like it is reopening more than four whole years after its unfortunate closure.
The city centre’s much-loved cat café – the only one of its kind in Greater Manchester and among just a small handful in the North West – closed back in 2021 following unavoidable economic struggles brought about by the pandemic
Despite being hugely popular before having to shut its doors, the business was unable to reach an agreement with their landlord at the time and the owners were left with no other choice than to close permanently – or so we thought…
Seemingly back from the dead and published their first post since 11 January 2021, the official Instagram page shared just one line along with a picture of their soon-to-be new premises.
Briefly teasing fans ahead of an official announcement, the post reads: “Manchester we’ve missed you! There’s only one thing this place needs…”
The shot taken across the road from Manchester’s historic Barton Arcade shows the large shopfront unit on the main Deansgate strip where the original Classic Football Shirts store used to be.
As you can see, although the vintage footy kit reseller’s brand and decals still remain plastered on the windows, the two-storey location has been vacant since October 2023 when CFS moved their flagship Manchester branch to Dale Street in the Northern Quarter.
We’ve personally been wondering what might take the old venue’s place for a while now, with the rest of the Grade II-listed Victorian shopping arcade populated by food and drink spaces, a barbershop and fashion retailers like The R Store, but after all this time the last thing we expect was the Cat Café.
This will no doubt come as wonderful news to the countless fans who were gutted to see it disappear just a few short years ago.
At the time, a fundraiser was set up in an attempt to rescue it and the pet-forward coffee shop format also paved the way for similar ventures like this one over Salford.
Although we’re still yet to hear any more details regarding a possible reopening date, we can safely assume their four-year hiatus will be coming to an end sometime in 2025.
When they were still up and running, the café had 10 resident cats at their original site on the edge of NQ, now home to one of two Gooeys in Manchester.
It is worth noting that there were some concerns raised around hygiene and animal welfare, though we’re sure steps have been taken to address these issues in the interim.
The Didsbury Dozen loses one of its best as The Dockyard confirms closure
Danny Jones
The Didsbury Dozen has lost one of its strongest stops as the much-loved Dockyard sadly closed for good this past weekend.
A favourite among those taking on the popular Greater Manchester pub crawl and a busy bar in its own right along the main Didsbury Village strip, The Dockyard has been a staple of South Manchester boozing for some time.
However, it’s time as part of the Dozen and in the heart of the community has come to an end, with the staff having completed their final service on Sunday, 19 January.
Sharing a short but heartfelt goodbye on social media, they welcomed customers to join them one last time “to raise a glass and say cheers!”.
An unreal beer garden too. (Credit: The Manc Group)
The post begins: “Right Didsbury… Thank you so much for your welcome and custom when we arrived here in the village, but the time has now come to say goodbye. We have had a blast over the last four years and we hope you have too!”
Although many relatively new to the area or at least its drinking scene will only know it as The Dockyard, the venue has actually been under a lot of names over the years.
Originally known as Times Square, it was then refurbished into a branch of O’Neills in 1996 before going on to re-open as The Stokers Arms in 2014.
Nevertheless, it maintained a regular and loyal following as The Dockyard and many will be “sorry to see it go”; one person commented: “Oh no! We had a fab time in here over Christmas and [were] hoping to return soon. Sorry to see you go and I will be visiting your other sites.
Thankfully, they did go on to confirm that the remaining pubs in Salford Quays and Northwich will remain open – as is the Left Bank location in Spinningfields overlooking the River Irwell. Better still, the building itself will still remain a pub and we already know what’s taking its place:
Although there is still no news on when we can expect to see The Salmon’s second venture launch, if it’s anything like the success the Northern Quarter one has seen then we’re in for a treat.
So don’t worry, The Didsbury Dozen may have taken a hit but it’s still intact and there are plenty of other pubs you can work into the crawl in the meantime.
For now, though, all we can say is rest in peace to The Dockyard Didsbury, you were a real one – we’ll always have the memories.
Georgina Pellant -
6th January 2023 
