If you’re a bartender in Manchester clocking off at 4am, there aren’t many pubs or city centre options available to you whatsoever if you fancy a post-shift drink.Almost.
Finish even one hour earlier and you can visit another industry-only bar in the Northern Quarter, which I have – on pain of death – sworn not to mention in print here. If you know, you know, and if you don’t, well that’s too bad.
Come 4am, though, there’s no amount of crying and pleading and ‘knowing the owners’ that will get you through that door. Which is why it’s always good to have a backup.
Yes, at this time in the morning, sometimes known as the ‘Devil’s hour’, there’s only one option open to thirsty hospitality workers – the secretive Chinatown-neighbouring pub known as The Seven Oaks.
A pokey little boozer a stone’s throw from Manchester Art Gallery, this no-frills watering hole acts as a haven in the wee hours for cranky bartenders wanting a stiff drink after their shift – and has been looking after them much longer than a certain NQ competitor.
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A favourite for sports-loving punters and quietly a Manchester bartenders’ pub. (Credit: The Manc)
So long as you follow the rules and behave, you’re more than welcome.
During the day, the pub is a solid boozer showing sports round the clock that has jokingly referred to itself as a ‘husband creche’ where wives can drop off their grumbling other halves before enjoying a few hours of big city shopping in peace on more than one occasion.
They even host live music, stand-up comedy and even the odd theatre night these days. But come nightfall, it’s a completely different picture…
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From 12am until well into the morning, if you’re nice enough to the staff — and so you bloody should be (these lot are so sound, anyway, it’s hardly a struggle) and speak to the right people, the let in other bartenders and other hospitality staff, exclusively, permitting one guest per worker.
Entry is gained not through the pub’s main entrance but via a side door leading off a dirty alleyway. You’ll need to get past the bins and make sure you’ve got a payslip to hand, because without one there’s no way you’re getting inside.
According to former landlord Phil Greenwood, who left Seven Oaks over half a decade ago, the policy previously earned him a reputation as one of Manchester’s most ruthless pub bosses.
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He previously told Vice: “People say I’m a bit of a gobby tw*t because I take no shit […] others tell me I have a messiah complex, but if people tell you you’re amazing enough times you’re going to start believing it.”
Now owned by Patrick Smith, the ‘two in one’ pub is an oasis for tired and skint staff — many of whom will have spent their night slinging out expensive drinks to office workers with cash to burn and a whole weekend off to enjoy.
Inside, you’ll find all sorts rubbing shoulders: ranging from Wetherspoons pint-pullers to high-end cocktail bartenders, sommeliers, and brewery nerds. A sports bar by day, it’s not unusual to find the big screens still showing pre-recorded football matches at 7am.
All part of the charm, if you ever do make it down then our advice is to neck your tequila shots and pints and drink it all in. After all, what else is there to do if you’re still out drinking after the street cleaners finish work?
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There really is nowhere else like The Seven Oaks anywhere in the city — especially if you’re a Manchester bartender and looking for a late-night pub.
A tiny new train station pub is set to open at Manchester Oxford Road
Daisy Jackson
A tiny craft beer pub is set to open at Manchester Oxford Road, making all those inevitable train cancellations a little sweeter.
The new boozer will come from the same team behind some of the UK’s best train station pubs, who already have bars at Manchester Piccadilly and Manchester Victoria.
A licensing application has now been submitted by Bloomsbury Leisure Holdings Limited to take over the former cycle hub at Manchester Oxford Road.
The small building is directly opposite the entrance to the busy train station on the southern side of the city centre.
If approved, it will be the third site for the pub group in Manchester.
They already operate the Piccadilly Tap, that two-storey beer bar on Piccadilly Approach with a heated rooftop space and outdoor patio.
The team are also responsible for the more recently-opened Victoria Tap, which took over the former bin store at Manchester Victoria.
That particular pub has a heated beer garden constructed just inches away from where the trams tootle past and has a departures board where time is measured by pints (got 10 mins til your train leaves? That’s one pint, sir!)
As for the Oxford Road Tap, a new account on X appeared a few weeks ago that appears to confirm the imminent arrival of a new pub.
The Oxford Road Tap have applied to have opening hours through to half-past-midnight Sunday to Thursday, and until 1.30am on Fridays and Saturdays.
They teased a mocked-up photo of posters outside the station with the new pub logo, plus a slogan of ‘Great beer is just a few steps away…’
They later shared ‘Triple threat incoming’ with all three pub brands lined up as a deck of cards.
Northern Quarter favourite Pie and Ale has sadly closed down
Danny Jones
Beloved Northern Quarter eatery and pub Pie and Ale has sadly and quietly closed its doors this week in yet another gutting bit of news for the Manc hospitality sector.
Known for its legendary homemade pies, great selections of ales, craft beers and lagers, not to mention a great little pub when it comes to watching live sport, it’s long been considered an NQ institution.
Unfortunately, however, as confirmed by a sign posted in the window, Pie and Ale has now closed for business after more than a decade.
Safe to say, we’re absolutely gutted, as we’re sure everyone else is.
Credit: The Manc Eats
While no official announcement has been made on their social media as yet, which will no doubt receive love and sadness from its loyal following, the sign in the window simply reads: “Pie and Ale has unfortunately ceased trading. Apologies for any inconvenience.”
The local favourite which was always hailed for being great value for money – celebrated especially for its popular pie and a pint for under a tenner deal – also served up great nibbles and light bites as well as dessert specials.
Although the Lever Street spot previously shut down for a short spell back in 2018 due to what they labelled as “unforeseen circumstances” before reopening just two months later, this latest update looks pretty definitive.
Sister-site Bakerie also ceased trading back in April 2019, with husband and wife founders, Alyson Doocey and David Cook, admitting that all independents had been “feeling the squeeze”.
While we have few other details at this stage, it does look like Pie and Ale has indeed closed down for the foreseeable future.
A mainstay on our list of the best pies in Manchester since day dot and just the latest in the list of losses in 2024 so far, they will be sorely missed.
We sincerely hope this is like last time and will keep our fingers crossed that we see the pie pros and expert pourers back in business at some point.
Georgina Pellant -
23rd May 2023 
