Archie’s has fully reopened the doors of its original diner in Manchester, installing a hot pink train carriage inside.
The beloved burger and shake bar has today unveiled a ‘subway station’ in the basement as part of the Oxford Road site’s £1m transformation.
Diners can now tuck in to their smashed burgers, wings and tater tots from their own train booth.
The bright pink addition to the site has been designed like a New York City subway car, down to the handrails and the train windows with a graffiti-covered wall behind them.
The Archie’s team have even created a fast food-inspired underground map, featuring stops like Milkshake Gardens, St Pancakes, and Scrannington Place.
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There’s enough seating inside the train carriage for around 25 diners, plus extra room outside it, where banks of metal train station-style benches are arranged.
Archie’s subway car. Credit: The Manc GroupInside Archie’s ‘underground subway station’ at its Manchester burger bar. Credit: The Manc GroupMore seating in the new Archie’s basement. Credit: The Manc Group
The newly-revamped site also has new self-ordering screens at the entrance and a click-and-collect service.
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The brand’s original site will be open from 11am (with its new breakfast offering on proud display) until 3am at the weekends.
Archie’s has become famed for its Instagram-friendly pink interiors since its launch in Manchester in 2010.
Archie’s original burger bar. Credit: The Manc GroupThe upstairs seating at Archie’s. Credit: The Manc Group
Features at other sites include giant ball pits and swings, plus masses of neon slogans, mirrors and colourful booths.
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It’s lured in more than its fair share of celebs over the years too, with visits from famous faces like Floyd Mayweather, NeYo, Rita Ora, The Game, Kevin Hart and Conor McGregor, many of whom have designed their own milkshakes for the menu (Conor McGregor’s The Mac Life is a mad mix of Wispa Gold, peanut Lion Bar, hazelnut sauce and blue sherbert, if you were wondering).
Archie’s now has diners and burger bars across the country, including five here in Manchester, plus sells its food on Deliveroo.
Stockport pub set to be brought back by local brewery
Danny Jones
A once popular pub in Stockport looks set to be brought back by a big regional brewery, more than two and a half years on from its closure.
The boozer in question is The Golden Hind in Offerton, with the most recent landlords having to bid goodbye to the Lisburne Lane location back in November 2023.
Since then, the sad sight has simply stood derelict on the corner of Marple Road, a main thoroughfare which connects the SK neighbourhood to the neighbouring town of the same name.
However, now it appears as though Manchester-born brewers and pub operators, Joseph Holt, are set to resurrect the local institution as part of a major redevelopment programme estimated to be worth North of £1 million.
CEO Richard Kershaw, along with directors Jane and Andrew Kershaw. (Credit: Joseph Holt Brewery)
Native pub chain and beer-makers ‘Joey Holts’, as they’re sometimes colloquially known, announced their purchase of the building last week.
With Jane and Andrew representing the sixth generation of the Holts to work for the well-established Manc publicans, the family-run business knows all about the importance of maintaining the important community aspect of suburban cornerstones like this.
Over 176 years old themselves, Joseph Holt has plenty of experience reviving venues like this – it was only back in October that they helped reboot the Horse and Jockey in Chorlton – and have stated their intention of helping fight the growing trend of pubs, bars and restaurants closing across the country.
The Golden Hind (which was formerly a Hungry Horse pub before its Greene King era) ceased trading after being open for well over half a century, and was heavily mourned at the time.
With regulars and Offertonians at large campaigning at the time to try and save the site, this will no doubt come as great news and some much-needed relief to many in and around the area, who spent some of their most important time socialising and building connections in their much-loved local hub.
Aforementioned CEO, Richard Kershaw, said in a statement: “Joseph Holt is a brewery committed to putting pubs back into the heart of local communities. It is at the core of our ethos.
“Since we know they play such an important role not just as places to enjoy a drink, but as welcoming spaces to meet others, take part in social groups, and enjoy live events. All of which will be happening once again once we complete our redevelopment of The Golden Hind.
“That’s why we are investing over £1 million in a comprehensive and carefully considered redevelopment, creating a pub in the truest traditional sense — complete with open fireplaces, generous outdoor spaces, and comfortable, characterful furnishings.”
The Joey Holt boss went on to add: “We are a family business, and we really understand how people feel a deep social connection with their local pub. We hope our revival of the Golden Hind will once again make it a local magnet.
“This investment will also bring real benefits to the area – creating jobs and new opportunities, while giving the wider community a meaningful boost. We’re looking forward to getting started on this exciting new chapter for both the pub and the area.”
With another long-standing Stopfordian pub, which was also previously run by the same ownership group, having confirmed its closure late last month, could Joseph Holt be about to do something similar with another well-known watering hole?…
Featured Images — The Manc Group/Joseph Holt Brewery/Supplied
Eats
10 major restaurants and bars that have closed in Manchester already this year
Daisy Jackson
We are barely a quarter of the way through the year, and already it feels like Manchester is having a brutal year of restaurant and bar closures.
Already this year we’ve bid farewell to restaurants that should, in any other economic climate, stood the test of time.
We’re talking long-standing neighbourhood favourites, restaurants that have caught the eye of the prestigious Michelin Guide, local institutions, and award-winning bars.
But, with the hospitality industry battling ever-increasing costs and a stark lack of support from the Government, we might be seeing a lot more of this to come, industry insiders have warned.
We’ve rounded up 10 restaurant and bar closures that have shocked Manchester already this year.
Climat
Climat has laid their finances bare in their closing statementMichelin-recommended rooftop restaurant Climat has closed its doors with immediate effect
A real wake-up call for everyone about the dire circumstances facing hospitality landed last month, when Climat closed its doors for good. Despite a Michelin Guide recommendation, rave reviews across the board, and an enviable location with views across Manchester, the finances for the restaurant just didn’t stack up. And they were brutally honest about those finances in their closing statement. Climat’s founder listed an annual energy bill of £112k a year, a 33% increase in staff wages, and a jump in business rates from £12,000 a year to £38,000 a year among the reasons for its closure.
One of the Northern Quarter’s longest-standing restaurants announced it would be closing its doors for good back in February. In a brutally honest statement TNQ said that it had become ‘no longer viable’ to run the restaurant, listing costs like an £8k a month energy bill. This independent business said it was focused on paying the staff ‘every penny they’re owed’ and finding them all new jobs in the industry.
KAJI
Glitzy Manchester restaurant KAJI has quietly shut downKAJI
KAJI opened on Bridge Street back in 2022, a big glitzy, futuristic restaurant space with a modern Japanese menu, which quickly drew in all sorts of glamorous customers (like when Ilkay Gundogan’s wife – who had famously described Manchester’s restaurant scene as ‘horrible’ – actually liked the food here).
But despite a rebrand from MUSU to KAJI and pulling in some impressive chefs, it appears that this glamorous spot has closed for good last month, with repossession notices now in the windows.
The restaurant remained silent on its closure, but it’s no longer possible to book a table here.
Restaurant Orme
Restaurant Orme in Urmston has announced its shock closure. Credit: Instagram, @littlemcrhouse
This is a bit of a weird one because it hasn’t actually closed yet – but Restaurant Orme in Urmston has notified followers that with ‘great sadness’ they are intending to sell the business.
In a statement, the Michelin-recommended restaurant acknowledged the ‘significant economic pressures’ facing the restaurant industry, writing: “We find an increasing disparity between perceived value and the true cost of operations, rendering long-term sustainability unfeasible.”
But they also detailed that a break in their lease has allowed them to ‘thoughtfully consider’ their circumstances and make the ‘right choice for our growing families’.
You’ve still got time to visit, but I wouldn’t delay.
Topkapi
Just this month, we’ve had to bid goodbye to a bit of a local institution.
Topkapi Palace has closed its doors on Deansgate after almost five decades in the city, making it the longest-running Turkish restaurant in Manchester.
This one triggered a wave of discussion, with one local operator warning: “If we keep letting places like this go, we lose more than food, we lose culture, history, identity.”
Peaky Blinders
Peaky Blinders bar in Manchester has closed with immediate effect
This one maybe stuck around for a bit longer than anyone expected, if we’re being honest, but the enormous Peaky Blinders-inspired bar on Peter Street shut down back in March.
Peaky Blinders opened back in 2018 in the former Sakana site, with plenty of nods to the popular Netflix series – including oil paintings of the main characters on the wall.
Peaky Blinders said in a statement: “It is with an extremely heavy heart that we unfortunately have to announce the closure of Peaky Blinders Manchester with immediate effect. We are devastated it has had to end this way, but grateful for the journey.”
It was known and loved for its epic happy hour deals and its bottomless brunches, but glitzy Spinningfields bar Banyan shut down right at the start of this year.
It’s part of the Arc Inspirations group that also operates Manahatta and Box, and still operates another Banyan across town at the Corn Exchange.
Their sign in the door read: “Thank you so much for your custom over the years, we’ve loved being part of this wonderful city and have made so many friends.
“Don’t be a stranger, we’d love to continue to welcome you to our Banyan bar in the Corn Exchange. Team Banyan.”
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House of Fu
One of Manchester’s coolest ramen spots quietly closed its doors in March, saying the site just ‘doesn’t click’.
House of Fu opened just two and a half years ago on Portland Street, following major success across in Leeds.
They wrote: “It’s been a wild two and a half years. To say the economic landscape has been challenging would be a bit of an understatement, but sometimes a site just doesn’t click. You live and hopefully learn.”
Project Halcyon
Project Halcyon also made the Top 50 Cocktail Bars list. Credit: The Manc GroupProject Halcyon also made the Top 50 Cocktail Bars list. Credit: The Manc Group
Project Halcyon was formerly named one of the best cocktail bars in the UK, famed for its speakeasy-style setting that drew inspiration from Prohibition-era Chicago.
But it closed for good back in February, writing: “Project Halcyon has poured its last cocktail.
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“It was with sincere regret that due to unexpected challenges at the ownership level we must close our doors for the foreseeable. Though we say goodbye, the memories live on.
“Thank you to everyone who shared in our craft, our community, and our story.”
Simmons
London-born bar brand Simmons closed their Manchester site just over a year after opening their first Northern location, right in the heart of one of town’s busiest nightlife strips.
An otherwise well-established and popular chain down south, Simmons had a total of 15 different bars in central London, but things clearly didn’t quite take off as planned here in Manchester.
They wrote: “It’s never easy to say goodbye. We’re incredibly proud of what the team built here and so grateful to them, as well as everyone who joined us over the past year.
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“We’ve had some unforgettable nights. We love Manchester, and we hope to be back under the right conditions.”
Daisy Jackson -
29th March 2023 
