Flat Iron is ready to open the doors to its first-ever Manchester restaurant – and it’s announced a huge Wagyu steak giveaway to celebrate.
The restaurant is famed for having affordable prices but still great quality meat products, utilising the often-overlooked featherblade as well as other cuts of beef.
With prices for a steak from just £14, it’s set to undercut other steakhouses by some margin, working closely with a farm just up the road in Yorkshire to source their meat.
The meat is cured in a special handcrafted meat ageing cabinet (the only Flat Iron restaurant to have one) and can be cooked quickly over a bespoke charcoal grill (also the only one in any Flat Iron restaurant).
The steaks at Flat Iron in Manchester will be served alongside sides like beef dripping chips, crispy bone marrow mash, creamed spinach, truffled macaroni cheese and green salads, plus classic sauces like Bearnaise, peppercorn, and a homemade smoked chilli mayo.
The new 150-cover restaurant spans two storeys in a Grade II-listed building on Deansgate, formerly home to Blacks outdoor clothing.
Steak and sides at Flat Iron in ManchesterFlat Iron steak and garlic mashThe bone marrow garlic mash
It’s a beautiful space – wooden floors, dark teal walls, huge windows, and orange leather banquettes.
That’s all tied in with the original features like ceramic tiles and huge iron pillars around the space.
At the heart of the ground floor restaurant is a magnificent marble-topped bar with a stained glass window behind.
There’s a sizeable basement dining room too for a cosy, moody dining experience.
Guests are greeted with a cup of fresh popcorn on arrival, then handed a tiny meat cleaver at the end of their meal, which can be traded in for an ice cream either on the spot or at a later date.
Upstairs in Flat Iron in ManchesterFlat Iron is ready to open on Deansgate in ManchesterThe basement dining room at Flat Iron Manchester
Rotating daily specials will feature dishes like a truffled triple cheeseburger, Scottish ribeye, and an exclusive 375g rib steak.
Flat Iron’s Head of Beef, Fred Smith, said: “I spend an unusual amount of time trying to source incredible beef and our Wagyu is properly special.
“To celebrate our new restaurant opening its doors, we will be giving away shed loads of this uber-tender beef to the good people of Manchester. Join us on 2nd July and let us know what you think.”
Flat Iron will be hosting a giveaway of 500 Wagyu steaks ahead of its official opening.
The first 500 customers in the queue from 5pm on Tuesday 2 July will be given a free steak, and a sneak preview of the new restaurant.
Flat Iron Manchester officially opens on Wednesday 3 July.
Hotel Chocolat to open viral chocolate Velvetiser Cafe in Manchester
Daisy Jackson
Hotel Chocolat is set to open a Velvetiser Cafe in Manchester city centre, and it’ll be absolute paradise for chocolate lovers.
The popular chocolate shop, which has stores across the UK selling delicious chocolate bars, boxes and more, is now preparing to branch out in town.
Hotel Chocolat then hit a new level of fame with its Velvetiser, an invention that creates velvety smooth hot drinks at the touch of a button.
They’ve been so popular, Hotel Chocolat is now opening Velvetiser Cafes across the UK – and Manchester is up next.
If it follows in the footsteps of the Meadowhall cafe in Sheffield, visitors will be able to customise their perfect hot chocolate from thousands of combinations.
There are 18 flavours, different milks, and a whole variety of toppings available.
Then you drink can be served hot, over ice, or as a choc shake.
Colourful hoardings for the Hotel Chocolat Velvetiser Cafe have now appeared on Cross Street, just next door to the new Joe & The Juice.
A planning application has also been lodged with Manchester City Council.
Drake-backed fried chicken brand Dave’s Hot Chicken is opening in Manchester
Daisy Jackson
The huge LA-based fried chicken brand backed by Drake is heading to Manchester for the very first time this summer.
Dave’s Hot Chicken is set to open in the Printworks this August – the first UK branch outside of London and Birmingham.
The cult chicken brand has said that its new venue will feature an ‘industrial design inspired by Manchester’s rave scene’ (if we had a pound every time a new venue used that design style, we’d be as rich as Drake…).
Dave’s Hot Chicken is famed for its signature Nashville-style hot chicken, which is served in seven different spice levels from No Spice to Reaper.
Expect sliders, tenders, ‘next-level’ top-loaded shakes and slushes.
It’s grown so quickly that in 2021, it caught the eye of none other than rapper Drake, who is a ‘significant investor’ in the brand.
The fried chicken spot will be moving into the large corner unit at Printworks, which has previously been Busaba Thai, and Floripa, with 139 covers.
Dave’s Hot Chicken is coming to Manchester
Inside, it will feature towering ceilings, exposed steelwork, and laser lights, claiming to be a ‘full-on sensory trip, where music, light and fried chicken will come together to create a high-voltage experience’.
There will also be custom graffiti inspired by L.A.-based street artists Splatterhaus and Dehm.
Dave’s Hot Chicken still has hour-long queues down in London, several months after opening on Shaftesbury Avenue – next up will be a Birmingham branch in July before Manchester opens later this summer.
And this is just the start of a nationwide expansion.
Jim Attwood, Managing Director of Dave’s Hot Chicken UK, said: “Printworks Manchester is the ideal setting for our next UK site – right at the heart of one of the country’s most exciting cities.
“The new restaurant pays homage to Manchester’s legendary warehouse rave scene, with an industrial-inspired design and bold, high-energy atmosphere to match our signature flavours.
“We can’t wait to bring something fresh to this iconic venue and its vibrant mix of entertainment, food and culture.”
Dave’s Hot Chicken will open at Printworks Manchester on 8 August.
Daisy Jackson -
27th June 2024 
