It’s that time of year again: Wing Wednesdays are back at Yard and Coop and we’re about to spend a rather ridiculous amount of our midweeks here.
We’re sure plenty of you are more than familiar with this Northern Quarter institution but for those of you who might be new to Manchester — yes, freshers, we’re talking about you — Yard and Coop‘s isn’t just one of the best chicken spots you’ll find anywhere in town, they also happen to great deals all year.
As well as their famous ‘Eat for a Tenner’ menu where you can get a main and a drink for, well, a tenner, and the kids’ menu where they can enjoy their tea and a dessert for a fiver or even totally FREE at certain times of year, the Manc favourite also does a hugely popular promotion called Wing Wednesdays.
Pretty much exactly what it says on the tin, the jist of it is that for as long as the offer goes on, you can rock up every Wednesday and grab yourself free wings with every main, meaning that you turn every meal you sit down for into more of a feast.
To enjoy the deal, all you need to do is present a student card upon ordering or one of the restaurant’s ‘Yard Cards‘ which are available to everyone and help you get the best offers and discounts all year round, such as free wings like these.
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And don’t worry, you don’t have to pay for it or anything — it’s also absolutely free and you can download it on your phone HERE.
The best part of all is that you aren’t just limited to Y&C’s usual flavours: their ever-inventive team of chefs are always cooking up specials in the kitchen and you can try a brand new flavour every week. For instance, have you ever tried a salted toffee popcorn wing? No, you haven’t, but you’re about to.
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You best believe we’re gonna scranning several plates of these.
With the cost of living crisis affecting us all, it’s good to see places like these still doing their best to help Mancs and the likes of students moving into 0161 enjoy eating out without breaking the bank.
Look forward to bumping elbows with you next Wednesday.
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Yard and Coop is by no means the only place you can get some seriously good value-for-money wings in the city centre either.
Featured Image — Yard & Coop (via Instagram)/The Manc Group
Eats
The best beer gardens in Manchester for when the sun is shining
The Manc
With the arrival of spring comes the first promises of sunshine and, being British, of course we’re already thinking about where to go for that first sun-soaked pint.
With the sun finally starting to stick its head out, even if his visit is brief, we expect we’ll be seeing plenty of packed beer gardens soon enough.
We all know the pain of walking pub-to-pub trying to find a seat on a sunny and/or warm Manchester day, so we’re rounding up the best, the biggest and the most hidden beer gardens in the city to help you to make the most of the good weather.
You might actually stand a chance at getting a seat in one of these, if you’re quick enough.
Thomas Street and Edge Street, Northern Quarter
Common on Edge StreetAd Hoc on Edge Street
This was one of the few positives to come out of the pandemic – removing vehicles from a back-to-back stretch of the Northern Quarter.
It means that the bars along Thomas Street and Edge Street can now fill the roads with tables and chairs in one giant beer garden, but being such a busy stretch it’s often the first place punters think to go for a drink in the sun.
You’ll find the likes of The Morris, Common, Ad Hoc, Terrace, Smithfield Social, the Bay Horse Tavern, Cane and Grain and Wolf At The Door all being given the al fresco treatment.
Terrace also has a gorgeous little hidden beer garden upstairs, and if you find yourself really struggling to find a perch head over to Trof which has a tiny little hidden beer garden on its middle floor.
The Wharf and Dukes 92, Castlefield
Two beer garden institutions both stand in the canal-side setting of Castlefield.
Both The Wharf and Dukes 92 are stuffed to the brim with pub-goers in spring and summer, thanks to their massive terraces, with more people spilling out onto the green lawns surrounding them.
Down here you’ll also find Bar Barca and Albert’s Shed, both in prime position for soaking up some rays with a broad array of seating on offer.
It’s one of the prettiest spots in the city centre too, right on the water with narrow boats and plenty of lush greenery in view.
Stevenson Square, Northern Quarter
Stevenson Square has turned into one giant beer garden in ManchesterPublic’s beer garden in Manchester
Very much in the same wheelhouse as the aforementioned Thomas Street is Stevenson Square, another pocket of the Northern Quarter that’s really still benefitting from those relaxed pavement licenses of 2020.
A number of local operators vie for precious outside space here, including Flok (which does a roaring trade in Aperol spritzes and peach Jubel in the summer), Public, The Faraday, and Eastern Bloc.
There are even a handful of seats outside Soup and Noho when the weather is good, even if they don’t get quite as much sunshine.
The Oast House, Spinningfields
Manchester’s massive free festival Manifest is back for the August bank holiday weekendManchester’s massive free festival Manifest is back for the August bank holiday weekend. Credit: The Manc Group
Beer gardens seem to be everywhere in Manchester these days, which is of course a good thing, but we still have a soft spot for the original outdoor watering hole.
Cast your mind back a few years and The Oast House was one of the only venues that really focused on an open-air offering.
It’s still the same today – masses of tables in the heart of Spinningfields, with bleacher seating all the way round, plus live entertainment and a belting Aperol Spritz.
The Corn Exchange
Banyan is one of the Corn Exchange bars with a great beer gardenSalvi’s sunny terrace at the Corn Exchange
Another corner of the city where bars and restaurants spill outside alongside one another is the Corn Exchange.
Its residents – including Salvi’s, Banyan and Cosy Club – almost all have their own terraces, but it’s the ones on the Exchange Square side who get the most sunshine.
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Neighbouring it, meanwhile, are two of Manchester’s oldest pubs – Sinclari’s Oyster Bar and The Old Wellington – both of which also boast large sun trap beer gardens, for those after something a little more traditional.
You might have to queue a little while, but with so much seating, you’ll be sipping a drink in the sun before you know it.
Cutting Room Square, Ancoats
Set in the middle of Ancoats, also known as one of the coolest neighbourhoods in the world, Cutting Room Square is guaranteed to get the sun all day long – and with plenty of bars here to choose from you’re pretty much guaranteed to find a seat one way or another.
There’s the classic pub reborn Edinburgh Castle, brilliant cocktail bar Jane Eyre, and local brewery bar from Seven Brothers – drinkers are spoilt for choice.
You can even soak up some rays outside Rudy’s (and the Ancoats one is the OG pizzeria), perch outside the award-winning Erst with a nice glass of wine, or jump in to Elnecot’s patio, where you might even find a BBQ on sunny days.
Waterside neighbourhoods are difficult to find in Greater Manchester, which is what makes New Islington marina feel so special.
In the warmer months, the bars and cafes along here throw out the furniture so you can sit with a pint overlooking the water.
There’s Flawd, an award-winning wine bar; Cask, a brilliant local craft beer bar; and Pollen, if you fancy a pastry garden rather than a beer garden.
Piccadilly Trading Estate, East Piccadilly
Drinking around the Beermuda Triangle in Manchester
Beer paradise awaits just past Manchester Piccadilly, with plenty of beer garden space too, in an industrial estate that’s nicknamed the ‘Beermuda Traingle‘.
There’s the lovely Track Taproom with a huge outside space out the back; Cloudwater Taproom, which is an absolute sun trap; and then Balance Taproom and Sureshot just around the corner, which have less space but just as many vibes.
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It’s the perfect activity if you’re looking to drink really great beer and not walk very far whilst still visiting a range of top class spots, because after all…variety is the spice of life.
Society, central
Manchester bar Society to give away FREE Aperol Spritzes to gig-goersThe beer garden at Society Manchester. Credit: The Manc Group
Not only is this spot right on the water, with excellent views of the Bridgewater Hall, but it’s also home to the biggest beer collection in Manchester.
Society has a whopping 44 beer taps, with a vast range from loads of different top northern breweries, including Cloudwater, Pomona Island, and Rivington (along with a few globally-brewed favourites).
The new beer range is flowing now, alongside all those amazing food traders that call Society home too.
Mala, Northern Quarter
This ‘secret garden’ bar is right in the heart of the Northern Quarter in the midst of the pandemic and is another great outdoor space for getting the drinks in when the sun is shining.
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Tucked behind those big mint-green wooden boards on Dale Street is a cluster of picnic tables and wooden huts festooned with fairy lights and plants.
It might not be the tropics, but they’ve got the cocktails to trick your tastebuds into thinking it is – we’re talking frozen strawberry daiquiris and frozen pina coladas. Oh, and there’s beer too.
Featured image – The Manc Group
Eats
Manchester pubs are doing half-price pints of ‘proper northern stout’ for St Patrick’s Day
Daisy Jackson
Pubs across Greater Manchester are pouring half-price pints in honour of St Patrick’s Day – but it’s not Guinness on the taps today.
A Manchester-based brewery has decided to seize an opportunity to show off its own ‘proper northern stout’ on a day that everyone rushes to the pub for a pint of the black stuff.
JW Lees pubs right across the North West, including two in Manchester city centre, are slashing prices for one day only.
There’ll be 50% off pints of its Black Tuesday stout, a proudly British beer that they’ve created to show St Patrick’s Day isn’t exclusively limited to Irish beers.
The brewery has selected 50 of its pub locations across Greater Manchester, Lancashire, Cheshire and North Wales.
That includes two in the heart of Manchester – the Founder’s Hall in Albert Square, and Rain Bar and Great Bridgewater Street.
William Lees-Jones, Managing Director at JW Lees, said: “While 17 March is traditionally seen as a celebration of St Patrick, we don’t think it should be a celebration exclusively for Irish stout fans.
“As more and more British pubgoers participate in St Patrick’s Day, we are challenging them to ‘dare to be different’ and try our Manchester-based stout in one of the selected 50 pubs during what is set to be a truly party atmosphere next week, on Black Tuesday.”
50 select JW Lees pubs will serve half-price pints of Black Tuesday stout on 17 March.
A full list of JW Lees pubs taking part in the Black Tuesday offer can be found HERE.
Danny Jones -
15th September 2023 
