Liquor & Burn has announced its shock closure after more than a decade in the Northern Quarter.
The popular Mexican restaurant has been on the corner of the cobbled High Street for years, slinging out California-style burritos and plenty of margaritas.
It had the best happy hour in town but now it’s delivered one of our saddest hours, with the news that it will close its doors for good at the end of this week.
They wrote that it has been ‘a blast’ to serve so many Mancs over so many years, but its days are officially almost over.
In a statement shared online today, they said: “Adios pantalones!
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“It has been a blast serving you all for over a decade, however, all good things must come to an end.
“We will be closing our doors for the final time this Sunday, August 25.
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“It will be emotional to say goodbye so let’s end it on a banger! Loads of food and not nearly enough margs. Let’s get messy! Mucho amor.”
Liquor & Burn in the Northern Quarter has announced its shock closure. Credit: The Manc Group
Liquor & Burn continued: “This is our toughest post yet. We are gutted to be ending our journey but look back fondly on so many years of serving you all.
“Despite the sad news, exciting things will be happening with the venue. But for now, it’s goodbye from us.
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“We will only be taking walk-ins after today. Have you got one more happy hour in you? We would love to see our loyal customers for the last time. And maybe even some of you who have always been meaning to try us out! LET’S GET MESSY!!”
Liquor & Burn was previously part of the Beautiful Drinks brand which is also behind Almost Famous and Home Sweet Home, until it was bought by Crazy Pedro’s Lyndon Higginson in 2022.
Cutting Room Square’s first-ever Indian restaurant set to take over former Rigatoni’s site this month
Danny Jones
Manchester foodies, strap in because it’s something big because a brand-new Indian restaurant is coming to the heart of Ancoatslater this month.
Indian Affair, the family-style restaurant that has already seen great success on Barlow Moor Road over in Chorlton, is now set to take over the former Rigatoni’s site (previously Sugo Pasta Kitchen and then Sud) which closed back in May.
Not only will this exciting new opening be Affair’s second location as their reputation around Greater Manchester grows but it will also be the first-ever Indian restaurant to pop up on the ever-bustling Cutting Room Square.
A real hotbed for good food in the city and culinary competition on its own, landing a lot on the square is no mean feat and if you’ve seen their food already, you’ll how exciting this is.
Owned by loving couple, Harshit and Natasha Chopra, the new Indian Affair venue is the first of its kind for the area, focusing on Indian small plates and thalis.
Their flagship restaurant in Chorlton only opened back in October 2022 but quickly became a hit with the locals and is sure to have the same success over in Ancoats – after all, as a city famous for the Curry Mile, it’s fair to say we’ve got a lot of love for the Indian cuisine.
Commenting on the announcement, Harshit said: “We always dreamed about opening a city centre restaurant. We’ve been totally blown away by the love for our Chorlton site and are extremely grateful to those who’ve visited and made it a success.
“As a family, we enjoy spending time in Ancoats, exploring the restaurants and Sunday markets. Cutting Room Square has a community like no other, we felt it was the perfect space for a modern Indian restaurant.”
With a menu inspired by the couple’s favourite flavours from home back in Delhi, every dish will be hand-selected by the husband and wife duo, with thalis options – a selection of smaller plates served on an Indian-style round platter – aiming to offer guests a bit of everything, be it vegan, veggie or carnivorous.
Indian Affair also encourages guests to dine family-style, prioritising socialising, sharing, and tasting a bit of everything on the table just as much as enjoying your own meal.
Credit: Indian Affair Chorlton (supplied)
Small plates range from £5-13, with favourites including chicken tikka samosa, spinach fritters drizzled with yoghurt, tamarind and mint chutney; chargrilled lamb chops, as well as tandoori king prawns in garlic and garam masala.
In addition to offering traditional Delhi-inspired offerings, the team has also curated dishes with more of a modern twist, including chicken and paneer bao and malai artichoke. Oh yeah, they’re clever these lot.
The menu also features classic biryanis, fluffy freshly cooked naans, parathas and rotis from the clay oven tandoor, alongside a wide selection of rice, salads and chutneys to choose from.
Better still: exclusive to the new Ancoats restaurant only, the team is also launching a new lunch menu featuring filled naan rolls, further contemporary Indian takes on loaded burgers and bao buns – all of which will be priced from £8.00 and served up with crispy masala wedges.
Sure to be a hit with the locals, for sit-in and takeaway, you’ll also be able to pick up a paneer tikka or lamb seekh rolled up inside one of those lovely garlic naans, packed with fresh onion salad, mint and coriander chutney. Hungry yet?
Or, if you fancy a proper good burger that’s a little bit different, the butter chicken burger is the passionate pair’s favourite new addition to the menu and not one to be missed. And to wash it all down, Cobra will be served on draft, met with wines, alcohol-free options and a great selection of cocktails.
Safe to say that just like co-owner Natasha, we’re very excited about this one. She added: “Our small plate concept has been a great success in Chorlton. We know the demographic in Ancoats enjoy sharing food whilst socialising, so we hope the menu will be popular.
“We’re excited to try out our new lunch menu with Indian twists on your favourite lunch classics. We’re looking forward to welcoming you all very soon.”
Indian Affair promises to showcase North Indian cuisine, inspired by Delhi’s diverse flavours and home-style cooking at its very best, whilst also reflecting both the traditional and modern sides of the city and their growing home here in Manchester.
Cutting Room Square’s newest arrival soft open on Monday, 16th September with bookings available from Friday, 20 September. See you there real soon, and we hope you’re in the mood for sharing – because we sure are.
Beloved Manchester pizzeria Nell’s to give one lucky person FREE pizza for a year
Emily Sergeant
A beloved Manchester pizza place is offering one lucky person the chance to win free pizza for an entire year.
That’s right, how does a year’s worth of free Nell’s sound to you?
Since first opening inside Common in Manchester‘s Northern Quarter back in 2020, Nell’s Pizza has gone from strength to strength, and has since opened two other successful sites over in Chorlton and down at the city centre waterside neighbourhood, KAMPUS – serving up its signature NYC-style pizzas, slices, ice cream sandwiches, and so much more.
And now, another new Nell’s chapter is set to begin, as the eatery will be opening the doors to its brand-new site in Altrincham in the Stamford Quarter’s ‘Foundation’ building this weekend.
The new Nell’s will be located on the ground floor of Foundation, and will feature a large bar and outdoor terrace.
Nell’s is giving one lucky person free pizza for a full year / Credit: The Manc Group
To celebrate the exciting launch later this year, the new Nell’s Altrincham site will be serving up a whopping 250 ice cream sandwiches to hungry shoppers from midday right through until 2pm this Saturday 14 September.
There’ll be hundreds of ‘everyones a winner’ golden tickets for people to claim with their ice cream sandwiches too, with prizes like a round of drinks, and a free slice of Nell’s enormous 22” NYC-style pizza – but the grand prize everyone will be hoping to get their hands on is the golden ice cream sandwich that gives one lucky person free Nell’s every month for a full year.
“People know about our pizza, but we also hand-make an incredible range of ice cream sandwiches too,” said Nell’s founder Jonny Heyes, ahead of the event this Saturday.
“This event is a really fun way to get the people of Altrincham to try them before our arrival later this year.”
Speaking on the launch of the new Nell’s Pizza site inside the Stamford Quarter, James Tootle, who is the Head of Retail and Leisure at Bruntwood – which manages the Foundation building – said: “We’re really excited to welcome Nell’s to the Stamford Quarter. Not only will they be serving up the best NYC-style pizza around, but they’ll also bring a great sense of fun and community feeling, which is exactly what this giveaway is all about.
“Stamford Square has been revitalised into a fantastic new space where the local community can come together, and we’re thrilled to partner with businesses like Nell’s to bring it more to life.”
Daisy Jackson -
20th August 2024 
