Hands up if you’re always on the hunt for a happy hour Manchester – from drinks deals to cheap pints.
Oh yeah, that’s literally everyone.
Manchester is happy hour mad, with everything from discounted cocktails to BOGOF deals on frozen drinks to cheap bottles of wine.
Some of the best Manchester bars offer really decent after-work deals too, and there are even some offers that run at the weekends.
So we’ve gone ahead and rounded up the best Manchester happy hour deals around the city centre.
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And if you’re after more information on where to eat and drink around the city, visit our Manchester food and drink pages.
You can also see the latest events and things to do at our what’s on Manchester page, and all the late-night events you can get up to when happy hour’s over at our nightlife Manchester pages.
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Northern Quarter happy hours
Manchester Northern Quarter happy hours – Smithfield SocialManchester Northern Quarter happy hours – PublicHappy hour Manchester – Common
Here are some of the best we’ve found on our hunt for happy hours in Manchester.
Trof, Thomas Street
Monday to Friday, 4pm til 9pm
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£3.50 lager
£4 house spirit and mixer
£6 disco cocktails
£15 house wine
£21 bottle of fizz
Bay Horse Tavern, Thomas Street
Monday to Friday, 4pm til 8pm
£3.50 pints
£4 Guinness
Two for £12 cocktails
£5 Aperol Spritz
£6 doubles
Smithfield Social, Thomas Street
Monday to Friday, 4pm til 7pm
Two cocktails for £12
£4 pints of Guinness or Social pilsner
£20 bottles of prosecco for
£15 bottles of house wine
Common and Nell’s, Edge Street
Sunday to Thursday, 4pm til 7pm; all day Monday
£6.50 cocktails
£4.50 pints
£19 bottles of house wine
Friday and Saturday, 8pm til close
£6.50 cocktails
£2.50 shots
Turtle Bay, Oldham Street (and Oxford Road)
Sunday to Friday, 11am til 7pm and 9.30pm til close; Saturdays, 10am til 7pm and 9.30pm til close
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Two-for-one cocktails
The Lost Cat, Oldham Street
Every day, 5pm til 9pm
Buy one get one free on selected cocktails
Public, Stevenson Square
Whenever it rains, weekdays until 8pm
£6 daiquiris
£4 lager or wine
Flok, Stevenson Square
Monday to Thursday, all day till 7pm
£16 bottles of house wine
Two for £15 cocktails
Two for £9 mulled wine
Two for £8 house lager
The Pen & Pencil, Hilton Street
Monday to Friday, 4pm til 7pm
Two for £12 cocktails
£4.50 Amstel
£20 bottles of prosecco
£17 bottles of house wine
Ancoats happy hours
Manchester Ancoats happy hours – NamManchester Ancoats happy hours – Jane Eyre
Looking for happy hour Manchester? Ancoats has more than a few tricks up its sleeve for you.
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Ever since the redevelopment of Ancoats began, turning former warehouses into fancy apartments, the neighbourhood has attracted some brilliant restaurants and bars.
Here are the best Manchester happy hour deals in this blossoming neighbourhood of Ancoats.
The Manchester restaurant serving up the ‘world’s hottest curry’ for just a few days
Danny Jones
City centre favourite Zouk is serving up ‘the world’s hottest curry’ again to celebrate National Chilli Day next week.
The popular tea bar and grill located on Chester Street just off Oxford Road is slap bang in the middle of student central and has hordes of patrons lining up day in, day out, to taste their incredible Indian and Pakistani cuisine.
Now, to celebrate every spicy-food lover’s favourite day, Zouk is putting on special, limited-time-only menu to cater to all you heat freaks and speaking collectively on The Manc‘s behalf (several of us having tried it), it’s no joke.
The World’s Hottest Curry will be available for five days from Monday 24 to Friday 28 February, with a challenge on Thursday 27 February with prizes to anyone who can finish the fiery karahi.
The dishes
When it came to coming up with the world’s hottest curry, Zouk didn’t have to look far for inspiration, they simply picked the world’s hottest chilli: the Carolina Reaper Chilli.
Combining the 1,569,000 Scoville scorcher of a chilli with their much-loved and already spicy chicken karahi and vegetable karahi recipes, they knew they were on a winner. You might have to sign a waiver to eat it but that’s all part of the fun, right?
Typically prepared in a wok and cooked over hot flames with tomatoes, ginger, garlic, peppercorns and cumin to create the sauce base, the karahi originates from the Northwest region of Pakistan and has a great flavour. Depending on how brave you’re feeling, you can have it as a kebab or a full curry.
Credit: Supplied
That being said, this version does contain dried Carolina Reapers so you might not taste much beyond the heat of the sun after a few seconds. While the chilli is deemed suitable for human consumption, even Zouk’s chefs have admitted to struggling with the dish. Gulp. So, what can you win?
The challenge and prizes
Us Brits love a good curry and we already know that plenty of you won’t be able to resist the urge to take on the Reaper Challenge simply out of pride, so we might as well just tell you what you’ll have to eat in order to win the prizes.
Here’s what’s up for grabs:
Finish the full Carolina Reaper Curry (either chicken or veg) in one sitting (max eating time 30 minutes and no helping from companions), Zouk will give you the meal for free.
PLUS, a £50 Zouk Gift Card so you can come back at a later date to try their full menu (including some less omg-spicy options).
You’ll also get a Zouk Ice Cream Sunday to help cool off afterwards. Trust us, you’ll need it.
Issuing a statement for National Chilli Day and the Reaper Challenge, owner Tayub Amjad said: “Our food is usually more about flavour than heat but it’s National Chilli Day, and we know our customers love this challenge.
“For those who complete the challenge, you still have chance to come back and dine on us at a future date, so you will still get to experience the real Zouk too.”
What you thinking, Manchester? Are you up for taking on the world’s hottest curry?
Prestwich pizzeria Dokes announces closure as neighbourhood goes through big changes
Daisy Jackson
One of Prestwich’s best-loved independent restaurants has announced the end of its current chapter, saying that it’s become too difficult to operate with tighter and tighter margins.
Dokes, a pizzeria that also served arguably the town’s best roast dinner, has said that it’s going to ‘have to call it a day’ after three years in the proudly independent neighbourhood.
The news comes just months after Rudy’s opened its first Prestwich restaurant just across the road from Dokes, though that of course may just be a coincidence…
The restaurant comes from the same team behind Elnecot in Ancoats, and opened in 2022, promising delicious pizzas made with (wherever possible) British ingredients.
In a statement issued today, chef and owner Michael Clay said that ‘it’s just not been possible for us to make the money required for the size of team needed to run as a pizza restaurant’.
He wrote: “We are a small restaurant and the margins that were there pre-Covid are not achievable anymore at this scale and only getting tighter month on month.”
He then teased that they would be keeping the Bury New Road site on, with plans to reopen as a new concept.
Prestwich has been growing in popularity in recent years, with a blossoming food and drink scene and healthily increasing house prices.
It’s on the precipice of a £100m overhaul too, which will see the Longfield Centre transformed and new facilities built near the tram stop, including a community hub, a new village square, a market hall, flexible retail and leisure spaces, landscaped outdoor and green spaces, a new travel hub off Fairfax Road and around 200 homes.
It’s always been a village packed with local small businesses until this year, when both Rudy’s and Gail’s opened up – prompting this heartfelt statement from another local indie.
Dokes’ full statement reads: “After nearly 3 years of trying our hardest, unfortunately we’re going to have to call it a day.
“Having originally taken on the premises in between the two lockdowns (remember them?!), we’ve been extremely proud of what we have achieved under sometimes unbelievably difficult circumstances. Our staff have been the cornerstone of this and we would like to thank them for all of their hard work. The feedback we have received over the past couple of years on their food, service and hospitality has been absolutely incredible and we are extremely grateful for the hard work they have put in and the commitment they have shown.
“We feel like we have created a product that you have absolutely loved and a space that you have enjoyed coming to and we now really feel like a part of the Prestwich community – and for that we can’t thank you enough! You came for the pizzas and stayed for the roasts and it’s been a lot of fun.
“Try as we might though, it’s just not been possible for us to make the money required for the size of team needed to run as a pizza restaurant. We are a small restaurant and the margins that were there pre-Covid are not achievable anymore at this scale and only getting tighter month on month.
“So it is with a heavy heart that we are closing the door on this chapter BUT…we aren’t going to be leaving you completely…
“We have plans for the place which we will be updating you about very soon so please watch this space for more details. We hope you’re going to love it.
“As Dokes, Sunday 9th March will be our final service so please come down over the next couple of weeks, grab a pizza or a roast and say hello. It would be lovely to see you all. Bookings are open and the cellar is stocked so lets fill the little place up and go out with a bang!
Daisy Jackson -
15th August 2023 
