Hold Fast, one of the Manchester’s best-loved bars, has announced its return to the city YEARS after its shock closure.
The legendary underground drinking den closed its doors at the start of the pandemic in 2020 and never reopened them.
But it’s now confirmed its relaunching its nautical-themed basement bar in just a few weeks’ time.
Hold Fast is tucked away beneath an old bowler hat factory in the heart of Manchester’s Northern Quarter.
The nightlife hotspot takes its inspiration from the tales of Jules Verne, including Around The World in Eighty Days and Twenty Thousand Leagues Under The Sea.
ADVERTISEMENT
But most of us will remember it for being one of the city’s best nights out, with resident DJs and open mic nights (with a free drink for those brave enough to hit the stage).
When Hold Fast relaunches, it will include a bespoke secret cinema room and a range of retro Sega video games.
ADVERTISEMENT
Describing itself as a sailor’s drinking quarter, the bar will be dimly lit with ship lanterns and candles.
There’ll be a wide selection of craft beers and 15 cocktails on its drinks menu when it reopens.
Hold Fast has announced its return to ManchesterHold Fast in Manchester from the outsidePeople dancing in Hold Fast in Manchester’s Northern Quarter
The bar is being relaunched by Selina, which is also behind Wilson’s Social, The Corner Boy, Wilson’s Den and Creatures Comedy Club.
ADVERTISEMENT
Since announcing the news on their social media pages, Mancs have been expressing their excitement about the return of Hold Fast.
One person commented: “I’m seriously so happy, thought it was gone forever!!”
Another wrote: “Omg omg omg! Me and my mate came here loads! Watching home alone 2 in the kino room.”
Someone else posted: “Great news!!! Great bar this…………. Please get the DJ with the long hair back!! He always played absolute TUNES! Hip hop, funk, breakbeat etc! Best DJ in town for the few years you were last open!”
And another said: “Yay! My favourite place in Manchester!”
ADVERTISEMENT
Hold Fast will officially reopen in the Northern Quarter, Manchester on 29 November.
Lively Irish pub Nancy Spains set to open in Manchester for the first time
Daisy Jackson
An Irish bar famed for its live music is heading up to Manchester for the first time, and is promising £2.50 pints to lure us in.
Nancy Spains will be venturing out of London for the first time promising to bring the ‘ultimate traditional Irish pub experience’ to the Northern Quarter.
If you were to ask what the hottest trend in hospitality is right now the answer would, apparently, be Guinness. We’re drowning in the stuff.
This latest opening is more about Murphy’s, another Irish stout, than Guinness (they actually won’t serve Guinness at all) but the craic will be much the same.
Nancy Spains is actually set to open almost directly opposite the aforementioned Salmon of Knowledge, taking over the former Corner Boy unit on Stevenson Square in the heart of Manchester.
To celebrate its opening, the pub will be serving its first 5000 pints of Murphy’s for just £2.50, so that it can show off the atmosphere that’s established it as ‘one of London’s favourite pubs’.
They’re promising an array of Irish whiskeys behind the bar, live music performances, and a lively late-night setting.
Nancy Spains was set up by three brothers who travelled all over their home county of rural Kerry researching Irish pubs, before launching two venues down in London.
They want it to balance a traditional pub with the vibrancy of the city.
Peter O’Halloran, co-founder of Nancy Spains commented, “We’re so excited to be launching in Manchester, bringing Nancy Spains to the heart of the Northern Quarter.
“After the success of our two venues in London, it was only right to bring Nancy Spains’ infectious spirit and Irish pride to Manchester. Slainte!”
Nancy Spains will open its first Manchester pub on Saturday 15 March at 21 Hilton Street.
Lucky Mama’s – The Italian restaurant serving pasta in a dough bowl and ‘pregnant’ pizzas
Daisy Jackson
Lucky Mama’s is a local sensation, thanks to its slightly whacky but delicious Italian creations like pasta served in a bowl made of pizza dough and its latest offering, a ‘pregnant’ pizza.
What on Earth is a pregnant pizza, you ask? Firstly we should stress this is a nickname we’ve bestowed upon the dish, rather than Lucky Mama’s chosen branding.
But essentially it’s a helping of fresh pasta that’s folded into the bubble crust of the pizza, like a half-calzone.
Lucky Mama’s started life when founders Mamadou Dhiam and Gaby Santos set up a trailer in their backyard in Eccles in the depths of lockdown.
But thanks to a formidably loyal following that’s spread the word of Lucky Mama’s far and wide, it now has two pretty pink restaurants in Greater Manchester.
Back in 2022, they threw open the doors to their Chorlton restaurant, before returning back to home turf for spot number two in Monton in 2024.
The recipes are fresh and pretty authentically Italian up until the last step, when they throw a curveball by loading their pasta into unconventional vessels.
‘Pregnant’ pizzas at Lucky Mama’sTraditional Roman pizzasLucky Mama’s pink restaurant in Chorlton
Their pasta pizza bowls are what they’re best known for and they fly out of the kitchen – this is where pizza dough is placed around a metal bowl before being baked in an oven.
Then it’s piled high with freshly made pasta, with popular flavours like cacio e pepe, mushroom alfredo, and rasta pasta.
Pasta is available in a regular ceramic bowl too.
You’ll find Lucky Mama’s at 565 Barlow Moor Road in Chorlton; and 217 Monton Road in Eccles.
Daisy Jackson -
7th November 2023 
