A new cocktail bar is opening in Manchester this week, with Stray taking over a corner unit in the Northern Quarter that lends itself to the best people-watching in the city.
Stray has moved into the old Atkinsons Coffee unit on the corner of the beautiful Mackie Mayor.
And while a lot of cocktail bars open with a concept so convoluted you need a thesaurus to understand the menu, Stray is stripping it back to basics.
What’s it all about? Great drinks, great service, and a great atmosphere. Perfect.
The L-shaped bar bar comes with huge windows that look out across Eagle Street, with a row of window seats to perch on.
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There are cosy couches and little nooks to tuck yourself into as you work through Stray’s signature cocktails, a collection titled ‘Led Astray’.
These drinks are all made, wherever possible, with top-quality local ingredients, with the team infusing their own spirits and making their own cordials in-house.
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A Buckfast negroni at Stray in the Northern QuarterInside Stray, a new Manchester cocktail bar at Mackie Mayor in the Northern QuarterCocktails at Stray
You can expect an incredible margarita made with tomato vine tequila, a fig leaf pisco, and a rhubarb and pine gimlet, as well as all your usual classics made just how you like them.
Oh, did we mention you can find a Buckfast negroni in here? Don’t knock it til you’ve tried it…
The team have spent just as much time working on their non- and low-alcoholic cocktails too, so if you’re shunning the strong stuff you can still guarantee yourself a decent drink, whether it’s a booze-free marg or a mocktail reminiscent of a glass of pet-nat.
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The decor inside the bar itself is looped around that huge marble bar, with walls painted half and half dark green and painted brick and concrete.
So pull up a pew in the window, order yourself one of the city’s best cocktails, and watch the weird and wonderful world of Manchester go by.
Stray opens at Mackie Mayor on 3 November, and will be open 12pm-10pm Tuesday to Friday; 10am-10pm on Saturdays, and 12pm-6pm on Sunday.
Popular Manchester restaurant bar to give out FREE sausage rolls to people called ‘Greg’
Emily Sergeant
One of Manchester’s much-loved restaurant bars is doing a free sausage roll giveaway next week… but there’s a catch.
The catch being you have to have a certain name in particular.
It was only last week that popular high street chain Pret A Manger announced it would be slinging out free sandwiches to any Mancs with ‘Nic’ in their name over the late May bank holiday weekend, and now Tariff & Dale is getting it on the giveaway action, and it’s all to celebrate the iconic event that is National Sausage Roll Day.
In case you didn’t know – which is very likely, let’s be real – next Thursday (5 June) is the day dedicated to all things sausage roll.
So what better way to mark the occasion than with free portions of Tariff & Dale‘s legendary meaty treat?
The popular Northern Quarter restaurant bar is known for its creative comfort food, craft beers and cocktails, and laid-back industrial vibe, with one of the cult-classic dishes on its menu having always been the honey pork sausage roll – which just so happens to be a whopping 15-inches long, by the way.
Resembling something more of a pork wellington than a sausage roll, if you will, the dish is crispy, golden, and glazed with honey on top.
But to celebrate National Sausage Roll day, instead of parting with £9.50 for a portion or £48 for the full 15-inch thing, people with one specific name can actually get a slice for completely free of charge.
Tariff & Dale is giving away FREE sausage rolls to people with this name next week / Credit: Supplied
And that name is ‘Greg’, because if we’re honest, when it comes to sausage rolls, we all tend to think of Greggs.
So whether your surname is Gregory or Gregson, or you’re simply just called Greg, then all you need to do to claim your complimentary slice of sausage roll heaven is head on down to Tariff & Dale next Thursday 5 June from 12pm up until 9pm.
Make sure you show your valid ID proving your name when you order at the bar, and get ready to stuff your face.
Failing that, anyone not called Greg will just have to pop into actual Greggs instead.
Featured Image – Wikimedia Commons
Eats
Plans to open a brand-new pub on the site of the Rovers Return
Daisy Jackson
A brand-new pub is set to open in Manchester city centre net month, with treats in store like complimentary bowls of crisps, an outdoor terrace, and a games parlour.
The Stables Tavern is taking shape in the St John’s district, poetically on the same site that was once home to Coronation Street’s iconic Rovers Return pub.
They’re promising this will be a ‘historic tavern reimagined for today’s lover of a proper pint’.
The pub will come from Shiko Group, which is also behind Courts Club, where you can play tennis or basketball followed by court-side pints, and Side Street, a bar-restaurant-events space with a mid-Century interior.
Neighbouring the Bonded Warehouse, The Stables Tavern will join this rapidly blossoming new creative district, just across the yard from Caravan, The Trading Route and Aviva Studios.
Inside, punters will find multiple beer taps with local beers, served with complimentary bowls of crisps as well as a menu of pub snacks like handmade sausage rolls and local pies.
The pub will be split into three sections – an outside terrace, a main bar, and a parlour area at the back of the pub for live entertainment, old school games, and rounds of whiskey.
This might be a new district but it’s a historic area for the city – the same building was a busy watering hole back in the early 19th century for workers, merchants and visitors who made use of the nearby canals and cobbled streets.
It was then the home of the Rovers Return, back when this area was the home of Granada Studios.
Hayley Sammé, Marketing Director, said: “We’re so excited to bring The Stables Tavern back to St John’s. The area’s extensive historical backdrop and burgeoning hospitality scene provides the perfect landscape for a traditional British pub.
“It’s the perfect addition to the existing scene, and we hope it’s going to become a popular spot in our new creative district.”
The Stables Tavern will open at St John’s on Friday 6 June.
Daisy Jackson -
3rd November 2023 
