Eats

The best BYOB restaurants in Greater Manchester

Handy options when keeping an eye on the budget.

Danny Jones - 17th January 2025

Besides the flood of January deals happening in Greater Manchester right now, another way of saving money this month whilst still treating yourself to a nice meal or two is BYOB restaurants.

Look, January can be tough, we all know that – you’re not quite over the festive lay-off, it’s cold, you’re often wet and you still skint from Christmas – so if you can find a way to eat out without spending a bomb then it can certainly help give you a little boost and something to look forward to during these dark days.

‘Bring your own booze’ gaffs feel a little bit like a thing of the past these days but some of our fondest foodie memories are going to a local curry house with a plastic bag of our favourite beers and not seeing our parents pull the usual face of fear when looking down at the bill.

That being said, you can still find a few here and there, so we’ve rounded up some BYOB restaurants in and around Manchester that we’ve tried first-hand or had vouched for by our fellow foodie friends.

Five of the best BYOB spots in Greater Manchester

1. Yara – Chorlton, Altrincham and Cheadle

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First up on the list of the lovely Yara, a family-run Lebanese and Syrian restaurant with sites in Chorlton, Cheadle and over in Altrincham, where their original venue first opened back in 2008.

Fast forward to now and they’ve built somewhat of an empire not only here in Greater Manchester but with two more locations nearby in Cheshire (Alderley Edge and Stockton Heath) but they all have two things in common: fantastic food and a BYOB policy.

Best-known for dishes like their baba ganoush, stuffed vine leaves, mixed kebabs, tabbouleh, lahembajeen and more, we’re rather big fans of this stunning 15-year stalwart.

2. Zena Restaurant – West Didsbury

Credit: **Zena Restaurant** (via Facebook)

From one champion of Levantine cuisine to another, Zena Restaurant down the road in Didsbury has stood as a much-loved Middle Eastern for a few years now and it’s also another one of the last BYOB hold-outs.

Priding itself on keeping alive not only one of the tastiest but oldest and healthiest food cultures in the world, Zena brings together a menu pulling influences from Lebanon, Palestine, Syria, Jordan and more without yanking too hard on the purse strings – especially when you can bring your booze.

You’ll find many of the same staples as Yara serves up along with other popular items such as bouraks, maklubieh, fattoush, as well as stunning regional desserts like zena halwa, muhalabieh and baklava.

3. Double Zero – Chorlton

Is it the best pizza in Manchester? The debate it still raging among the slice experts but it’s certainly in the conversation and the name has never been bigger now since they opened up a second site.

Launching at Spring Gardens back in March 2024, Double Zero is delighting foodies all the same just as we knew it would with their traditional and truly fantastic wood-fired Neapolitan pizzas.

This one does come with a caveat as we’re afraid it’s still only their OG site in Chorlton that does BYOB, but hey, it’s a lovely suburb well worth spending you’re free time in and just a short tram ride from the city centre.

4. Mughli Charcoal Pit – Curry Mile

mughli curry mile — Credit: *The Manc Group*

mughli manchester — Credit: *The Manc Group*

We’ll confess that our penultimate pick is a bit of an exclusive one as this technically only applies to students but we couldn’t do a BYOB restaurants round up for Manchester without mentioning the mighty Mughli Charcoal Pit.

Similar to Double Zero, this one is up there in the conversation when it comes to the best places on Wilmslow Road over in Rusholme, a.k.a ‘The Curry Mile’. We don’t even have a standout when it comes their food, just order whatever and you’ll be blown away no matter what you get.

Better yet, for those of you who are fortunate enough to still be at uni and making the most of them savings, you can get added discount as well as BYOB so long as you show a valid student ID. Lucky sods.

5. Cafe East – Oldham

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Last but not least is Cafe East, which only recently came on to our radar thanks to word of mouth but one that has seemingly been a go-to in OL1 for a hot minute, regardless of the BYOB bonus.

Opened back in 2021 by Oldham native Kamran Ghafoor, the Indian restaurant, breakfast and brunch spot sits proudly at the top of Yorkshire Street in the shadow of the Parish Church. Even the grand front door gives you a hint that this is much more than a local curry house.

Famed for its Ramadan buffets, authentic Punjabi food and even their breakfast and lunch offerings which cater to an even wider customer base throughout the week, it’s one of Oldham‘s culinary gems by all accounts and we intend to do some extensive research for ourselves very soon.

Honourable mention

One last nod…

Hawksmoor – Deansgate

We couldn’t look past Hawksmoor’s own BYOB offer that although limited is still worth shouting about.

Mondays at the stunning steak restaurant sat on the corner of Spinningfields and the main Deansgate strip are your opportunity to save on what would typically be a fairly substantial bill by bringing your own bottle of wine.

The ‘corkage’ is just a fiver and it’s a great way of being able to experience their incredible food without having worry too much about how much you’re spending one booze.