Manchester’s Arndale Market, home to dozens of street food stalls and independent retails, remains closed after a fire last week.
Shoppers were evacuated from the huge shopping centre on Friday afternoon last week after reports of a fire at one of the market kitchens.
Fire crews were then seen attending the scene, where witnesses reported they were ‘sweeping out water’ from the Arndale Market.
The damage caused by the sprinkler system has left the area closed every since.
Food traders currently based here include Dunkin Burgers, Hong Thai, Pancho’s Burritos, and Zorba’s.
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Over the years, the Arndale Market has launched plenty of local restaurant ventures, from Salt n Pepper to Viet Shack to Wholesome Junkies.
But on Friday, a fire which reportedly started in the kitchen of one street food trader led to the entire site being evacuated.
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One trader said that the sprinklers did ‘a lot of damage’ to the area.
Manchester City Council has since said that work is underway to ‘reopen the market as soon as we can’.
Shoppers evacuated from the Arndale Market in Manchester after a fire set off the sprinkler system
Rack, which sells incredible sandwiches from the Arndale Market as well as its site in Stockport, said: “As some of you will be aware the Arndale Market has been closed since Friday due to a fire.
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“The fire wasn’t in our unit and luckily no one was hurt but unfortunately the sprinklers did a lot of damage.
“We don’t know when we’ll be able to reopen but we’ll keep you all posted. For now we’re closed until further notice. Both our other sites remain open so get your rack fix from either Stockport or Sale. Sorry for any inconvenience and watch this space for updates.”
Takoyaki Master, which sells Japanese street food, wrote: “We will keep closing until further notice from council. Our neighbor at our back got a fire yesterday, and it started the sprinkler system and caught out the fire rapidly. Luckily there was no one hurt, but we suffered from [water damage].
“We are allowed to enter and check everything on coming Monday. We will try to talk to the office to see the next steps. Hope we can get back to normal soon.”
Takoyaki Master is one of the Arndale Market traders affected by the fire. Credit: The Manc GroupRack is one of the Arndale Market traders affected by the fireLittle Piece of Bahia is serving the best Brazilian food at the Manchester Christmas Markets
Meanwhile Little House of Bahia, which just opened a stall at the Manchester Christmas Markets in addition to its home in the Arndale Market, said: “We are all appalled by the fire at @arndalemarket, with everyone’s losses, but thank God no one was hurt.
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“Due to this incident, the store is closed, and delivery is suspended until the location is released again. We appreciate everyone’s understanding and ask for your prayers so that we can return as soon as possible! Rebuild and continue serving everyone with our food.”
Deputy Leader of Manchester City Council councillor Luthfur Rahman said: “We are working hard to reopen the Arndale Market as quickly as possible.
“We are working closely with the stall holders and would like to thank them for the way in which they have responded and their patience as the clean-up operation took place over the weekend.
“The Market is currently closed and cannot open until a full assessment and essential works have taken place and we will be keeping traders fully informed on the progress of the work to reopen the market as soon as we can.”
Deansgate bar Simmons closes just over a year after opening
Danny Jones
London-born bar brand Simmons has closed their Manchester site just over a year after opening their first Northern location.
They’ve lasted roughly 15 months on one of our busiest nightlife strips.
Opening on Deansgate back in October 2024, Simmons Manchester wasn’t just their first foray here up in this half of the country but their only other venue outside of the capital.
An otherwise well-established and popular chain down south, they have a total of 15 different bars in central London, but things clearly haven’t quite taken off as planned here in Manchester.
Placing a poster in the unit’s shopfront besides the likes of Be At One, Yours, The Moon Under The Water Spoons and the Deansgate branch of Slug and Lettuce, as you can see, the fellow franchise founded over a decade ago said: “After much consideration, we’ve made the difficult decision to close our doors.
“It’s never easy to say goodbye”, they add, “We’re incredibly proud of what the team built here and so grateful to them, as well as everyone who joined us over the past year.
“We’ve had some unforgettable nights. We love Manchester, and we hope to be back under the right conditions.”
They go on to thank everyone for being “part of the journey”, but for now, it looks like the room has closed effective immediately.
Simmons started back in 2012 when founder Nick Campbell opened the first bar below his flat in Kings Cross, and their presence has grown hugely since then. The closing sign was spotted and shared on social media earlier this week.
Offering everything from stylish cocktails to New York-style pizza, live music and even private karaoke booths, the place had plenty going on.
With rising business rates, energy bills and more dovetailing with the continuing cost of living crisis that is still hampering both hospitality and the nightime economy, they are just one of many to unfortunately close their doors of late.
For instance, it was only earlier this month that we saw multiple well-known names shut up shop here in the city centre or elsewhere in Greater Manchester, including another long-standing late-night favourite, Revolution.
It’s a shame for any business to close, and we certainly hope they’ll return someday with a model that can be sustained in the current climate.
Inside Butter Bird – Ancoats’ hottest new neighbourhood rotisserie with a menu dedicated to butter
Clementine Hall
A new restaurant has opened its doors in Ancoats serving up two of life’s greatest pleasures.
Those two things being chicken and butter. And coincidentally, they go very well together.
Introducing Butter Bird, a new neighbourhood rotisserie restaurant that has taken over the old Counter House site on Blossom Street.
If you’ve been living under a rock or you have a healthy relationship with social media, then you won’t know that rotisserie chicken is very much ‘in’ for 2026.
Images: The Manc Eats
So of course, just like anything, Ancoats is first to hop on that trendy bandwagon.
When simple things are done properly then they’re very satisfying indeed, and that’s exactly what Butter Bird have achieved.
Built around classic spit cooking and time honoured technique, with an impressive Rotisol Millenium rotisserie oven at the heart of the space, the chickens are seasoned and brined in house, then slowly rotated over open heat so the meat self bastes as it cooks.
Images: The Manc Eats
The result? Moreish, crisp, golden skin, succulent meat and deep flavour.
If that doesn’t sound enticing enough, they’ve also got a section of their menu dedicated entirely to their house butters.
Flavoured, complex butters designed to compliment your bird in however you desire.
My personal favourite was the moroccan-spiced Chermoula, but the tarragon with wildflower and mustard was also stellar.
Images: The Manc Eats
Drinks wise they’ve got a great selection of Crémant, chosen to cut through the chicken fat, as well as fun cocktails and decent wines.
Obviously you’ll need some sides to go with your bird which you can order as a quarter or half, and they’ve got everything from rotisserie potatoes which you can douse in chicken gravy to a Caesar salad stuffed with enough croutons it’s probably not classed as a salad anymore.
Butter Bird opens to the public on Thursday 29 January, with a launch offer offering 50% off rotisserie chicken when booked in advance for the first two weeks.
Daisy Jackson -
15th November 2023 
