Starting from humble beginnings with its owner roasting jerk chicken over a coal fire on the streets of north and south Manchester, today Buzzrocks Carribean is one of Manchester’s most treasured institutions.
Named after its owner Buzzrocks Anderson and the tightly-packed dumplings for which he’s become especially famous, the family-run business has been feeding Mancs for over 30 years now.
Beginning with Jamaican-born Buzzrocks cooking up feasts on the streets at Manchster Carnival before graduating to an eight-foot trailer and then his very own takeaway shops, in those heady early days his food was a staple for clubbers pouring out of all-night Caribbean clubs and shebeens in Hulme and Moss Side.
Back then, his cooking was also said to fuel not just boozy and stoned clubbers but also gamblers playing cards in the area’s illicit dens.
Image: The Manc Eats
Image: The Manc Eats
Of course, in the space of thirty years things have changed, and whilst the original sit-in cafe and takeaway shop on Stretford has remained his second, opened on Moston Lane in 2013, is no more.
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Many of his loyal regulars remain though, including perhaps his most famous fan: Stone Roses’ singer Ian Brown.
Today, you’ll find Anderson cooking up feasts from his shop on Stretford Road – serving all manner of Caribbean staples including curry goat, jerk chicken, dumplings and lamb chops to hungry fans, who flock to Hulme in their masses for a taste of his food.
This unsuspecting-looking takeaway is probably one of south Manchester’s worst-kept secrets, championed by everyone who visits. Meat is marinaded all day, starting at 6am, and it’s not surprising to see a queue forming outside before the clock has struck noon.
Image: The Manc Eats
Image: The Manc Eats
Having started the business after serving a two-year prison stint for drugs offences, he then had a fight to remain in the country under threat of deportation (a battle that his wife Farida, herself now a campaigner for prisoner’s families, helped him fight and win).
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Nowadays, the pair often hire ex offenders and prisoners on day release to work in the Hulme shop alongside them as a way of giving back to their community.
At the start of January last year, the shop was featured in a Guardian editorial that looked at fifteen small venues, all run or founded by immigrants to Britain, that locals consider part of the fabric of their neighbourhoods.
Farida spoke about how far they have come since those early days, telling the paper: “Buzz and I have put in a lot of hours to get here.
“When they called the area ‘Gunchester’ we’d dodge bullets, serving food from our trailer. We fought for eight years to get our premises, experiencing racism as black shop owners.”
Whilst things have moved on considerably since the business was founded in the 90s, one thing that hasn’t changed is the recipes at the shop.
Buzzrocks still serves the same special recipe jerk chicken, rich and full gravy, salt fish patties and curried goat (actually lamb) that has he since day one. Perhaps that’s the secret to his success. That, and a lot of hard work.
We’ve partnered with Deliveroo to give you £5 off Buzzrockswhen you order a scran through the app this week. Just used the code BUZZROCKS5. Valid until 03/01/2023.
Feature image – Google Maps
Eats
Viral chicken shop Wingstop is opening inside the Manchester Arndale
Daisy Jackson
Wingstop, the chicken shop famed for its vast range of wing flavours and sauces, is opening another spot in Manchester city centre.
The brand will be taking over the old Yo Sushi site in the Manchester Arndale, which shut down just last month.
It’ll mean there’ll be two Wingstop locations within a few minutes’ walk of each other, with another takeaway already well-established on Piccadilly Gardens.
Wingstop UKI has found viral fame with people taste-testing its wide range of hand-sauced chicken wing flavours, ranging from garlic parmesan all the way up to the eye-watering ‘Atomic’.
As well as chicken wings, it serves delicious tenders and burgers, all cooked to order.
There are also a range of sides, including loaded fries, sweet potato fries, and cajun fried corn, plus dips like ranch, honey mustard, and blue cheese.
Wingstop is also famed for its thick milkshakes – which are a necessity if you order your chicken down the spicier end of the scale.
Established in Texas in 1994, Wingstop rose rapidly to become one of the fastest-growing restaurant chains in the US.
The brand launched in the UK market in 2018, and into Ireland last year, and now operates more than 85 locations.
Wingstop is opening in Manchester Arndale
Wingstop will be moving into the 5,928 sq ft unit upstairs in Manchester Arndale, just opposite Next.
Scott Linard, Portfolio Manager for M&G Real Estate, said: “We are thrilled to welcome Wingstop to our vibrant F&B offer; an addition we’re sure will resonate with our younger visitors.
“With the additions of popular restaurant chains like Wingstop, coupled with the arrival of new retailers such as Arc’teryx, Alo Yoga, Pro:Direct and Sephora, we are strategically creating a destination where people across the North West and beyond want to spend their time.”
Steve Gray, Head of European Retail Asset Management at Global Mutual, said: “Wingstop will join Manchester Arndale’s varied F&B mix, including Popeyes, Sides, Hotel Chocolat, Joe & The Juice and Café Nero.
“In-demand operators like this help create energy and momentum that allows the brands across the scheme to thrive, driving increased footfall, longer dwell times and a more compelling offer for visitors.”
The best cheese tasting party in the North is BACK at a new Manchester venue
Danny Jones
That’s right, one of the biggest and best cheese tasting nights in the entire land is returning to Greater Manchester at a brand new city centre venue.
Not to be over-the-top, but this isn’t just another experience sampling possibly the greatest foodstuff on Earth, it’s a fully-fledged cheese-lovers’ party.
Some of you may have come across Homage2Fromage before, but for anyone unaware of the Yorkshire-born event, it started out as a monthly cheese tasting club and went on to expand across the dairy-adoring North at large.
Relaunching here in Manchester for 2026, all you lactose-intolerant people better watch, because Home2Fromage is coming back with a vengeance and heading to the Northern Quarter. Here’s how it went down the last time we visited one in Leeds:
Leeds, Sheffield, Harrogate, Manchester and who knows where else next.
Posting up in a relatively recent addition to NQ‘s bar and restaurant scene, The Faraday – a pub on Lever St that replaces the old Seven Sins back in October – it looks set to be an ideal venue for the regular evening series.
Homage2Fromage will be making its Manc return this month, and better still, they’re holding a cheeky little giveaway to sweeten the pot.
As in the deal, we mean – not the inevitable bowls full of olives, chutney, oil and various other dips…
To welcome this celebration of all things cheese coming back to Manchester city centre, they’re giving away a bunch of free tickets: 20 pairs in total.
Worth over £50 a piece for each twin set of tickets, you’d be a fool not to at least throw your hat in the ring for this one.
As you can see, the competition closes this Thursday, 19 February, ahead of the full relaunch party next week (Wed, 25 Feb), and all you have to do to enter is fill out this super quick survey.
It really is as simple as that; a few quick words are all that stand between you and a potential mountain of cheese and more.
You can find all you need to know about the event right HERE, and in case you haven’t popped into The Faraday just yet, see more down below.
It’s still somewhat early days, but we can see ourselves spending a fair bit of time in this up-and-coming Manchester watering hole, especially when there’s cheese nights involved.
Georgina Pellant -
24th February 2023 
