Street food isn’t exactly an unfamiliar concept to most of us at this point – but there’s a new(ish) market taking place every weekend that’s putting Wigan firmly on the map.
Feast at The Mills is a brand new destination for the borough, taking place just across the water from the iconic Wigan Pier.
A courtyard surrounded by industrial heritage, from the ‘boiler house’ to the towering brick chimneys, is now stuffed with street food vendors, shipping container bars, and live music.
It’s the first of its kind for Wigan, and it’s hoped it will act as an incubator for the permanent food hall, currently under development in the neighbouring Mill One building.
Feast at the Mills has brought together a cluster of different traders for its kitchens – there’s Hastie’s Crispy Chicken, Christakis, Dough So Good, and Block Streak Shop operating in the main courtyard, then Velvets and Coffee Lounge positioned in other parts of the development.
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A ‘Casino Shed’ stage area, surrounded by colourful streamers, hosts live music every weekend, from local bands and artists to DJs playing a range of Northern Soul, jazz, acoustic and even house music.
There are several (heated) outdoor seating areas, including a secondary courtyard with mismatched chintzy lampshades hanging from the ceiling.
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The main indoor space, known as The Ritz, has LED lights draped from its beams, colourful windows, a bar wedged in the corner, a big screen for sport events, and a mix of furniture that includes old theatre seats.
And a smaller indoor snug space comes with a roaring fire and comfortable sofas to have a brew on.
Feast at The Mills in WiganThe Snug at Feast at The Mills in WiganFeast at The Mills in Wigan
Basically – it’s a pretty cool space, which was supposed to close at the end of last year but has stormed back for 2024.
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Feast at the Mills has called on independent businesses from across the north west while the wider 17-acre Eckersley Mill complex is redeveloped (it will eventually become a mixture of housing and offices with a rooftop restaurant and a food hall in the plans).
Hastie’s Fried Chicken are famed for their 24-hour brined chicken, which they’re serving as pieces, wings and burgers, like the salt and pepper brioche burger slathered in katsu curry sauce, along with loaded fries.
There’s delicious Greek street food from Christakis, who have a menu of gyros, mezze plates, and halloumi fries, and Neapolitan pizzas from Dough So Good.
Salt and pepper chicken burger from HastiesPhilly cheese steak from Block Steak Shop at Feast at The Mills in Wigan
Block Steak Shop’s menu is filled with meat (unsurprisingly) like Philly cheese steak hoagies, bavette and chips, and burgers, plus deep-fried dauphinoise and loaded chorizo fries.
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Speaking back at the time of Feast at The Mills’ launch last autumn, Owen James, of Hastie’s, said: “Being Wigan born and bred, Feast at The Mills is a brilliant opportunity to get on board with an exciting development on the local food scene, and when I heard about it, I knew Hastie’s had to be part of it.”
When it opened, Feast at The Mills set out to be ‘Wigan’s Weekend Destination’, and it’s nailing its own brief.
A new ’boutique’ chicken spot has opened in Manchester’s Northern Quarter
Danny Jones
A brand-new chicken spot called ‘Le Coq Boutique’ has just opened in Manchester city centre, serving out of a popular Northern Quarter bar.
Is this the best name we’ve ever heard in our time writing about food and drink? It just might be…
Opening from inside The Social NQ on Thomas Street (formerly known as Smithfield Social), their new resident and poultry-centric kitchen is a bit of a pun on the classic French sportswear label, but having now been versed in the word about the bird for ourselves, we can confirm it’s much more than that.
For starters, the only thing more decadent than the roasted meats are the sides and cocktail menu, which features everything from chunky hash browns and some of the richest sauces you could ask for.
As you can see, the most chicken is well and truly the star of the show here, but what they have done is find unique ways of innovating and experimenting with it.
For instance, if you’ve never had a cocktail with chicken fat in it, here’s a place you can try one.
Honestly, this isn’t our first rodeo with this very particular kind of drink – but for those of you that haven’t, we promise, it really is quite good.
Aside from surprisingly saline kicks beside the salty marg rims we’ve become more accustomed to over the years, there are some very nice drinks on the menu.
But we’ll be honest, if you’re a sucker for the famous ‘chicken wine’ – a.k.a. La Vieille Ferme, if you want to be all formal – we imagine you’ll be sticking to plenty of this.
Having already spent many a weekend, be that afternoon or night, at the old Smithfield over the years, now that it has this fine new in-house food offering tacked on, we suspect we’ll be going back a lot more.
Whether you want lots of crispy chicken skin or prefer it smothered in gravy and various other kinds of savoury jus, if you’re an unadulterated mothercluckin’ chicken lover, then you’ll have a great time here.
As the team has joked in the comments under their first few social media posts, while it isn’t technically mandatory to wear the vintage 80s brand upon visiting, it is “expected”, with “bonus marks and shots” and promised for your efforts.
It’s also worth noting that they have an exclusive launch offer for those who sort a booking early, so we wouldn’t wait around if we were you.
Let us know what you think if you visit anytime soon.
Bunny Jackson’s offer Foo Fighters and Mancs incredible deal if they play their stage after Ritz gig
Danny Jones
Beloved dive bar Bunny Jackson’s has offered the Foo Fighters and Mancunians alike an incredible deal, provided the legendary band if they play on their stage after their gig at the O2 Ritz.
As well as Manchester ramping up the 2026 BRITs Week buzz ahead of the awards at Co-op Live this weekend, a little-known American rock group called the Foo Fighters decided to announce a surprise gig here in town.
But the bigger story now, we’d argue, is that the city centre boozer – which serves as a regular go-to both before and after gigs – is offering free drinks if Dave Grohl and co. pop up to perform on their usual bandaoke platform. As in for EVERYONE.
As explained by the Bunny’s boss, if the Foos make what is quite literally a minute trip down the road to OG Jackson’s wing joint and late-night watering hole after their Ritz gig is over, they’re promising to hand out free booze to all inside the venue.
Joking that they can quite literally “do anything” and may not even fit on their even smaller stage – with this being one of the tiniest of Manchester’s small-cap venues – it’s worth reminding that they wouldn’t be the first big name to surprise punters.
It was only a couple of years ago that both The 1975 and Olivia Rodrigo showed their faces, with the former getting behind the bar and pouring drinks themselves, and the latter even hopping on the mic herself – yes, really.
Just last March, members of Bilmuri also hopped behind the decks for a DJ set, and saxophone player Gabi Rose couldn’t resist hitting some horns live for the crowd, too.
You might want to be at Bunny’s even if you’re not going to the gig anyway. (Credit: Bunny Jackson’s)
So what we’re telling you is that this isn’t entirely beyond the realms of possibility. Keep absolutely everything crossed.
BJ’s was already hosting a pre- and post-curfew party for the big Manchester gig, as they often do, but just think how incredible it would be if the rock icons actually turned up in person. You can find out what else they’ve got planned on the night HERE.
Not only would it mean free-flowing beer for everyone in the gaff, but this would go down as one of the greatest stories in Greater Manchester music history.
If you want to up the chances of this happening, make sure you share it far and wide, getting @ing and pestering them, and hopefully we’ll see you at Bunny Jackson’s with the boys from Foo Fighters!
Oh, and lads, if you’re wondering why we all love it here, look no further:
Daisy Jackson -
31st March 2024 
