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.
ADVERTISEMENT
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.
ADVERTISEMENT
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.
ADVERTISEMENT
“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.
ADVERTISEMENT
“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.”
Bar Fringe – The decades-old eccentric Manchester pub with one of the city’s best beer selections
Harry Quick
If you’re looking for some of the best European beers in Manchester, there’s one quirky boozer you need to know about.
This is Bar Fringe on Swan Street, and it’s been serving Belgian and continental beers since 1996 – meaning a very happy 30th birthday to this absolute cult classic.
The whole place was built around a love of North European beer culture, bringing a bit of that classic Belgian café feel to Manchester.
And while the beer list is always changing, at the minute they’re celebrating Oktoberfest, so the German stuff is very much the flavour of the month.
And the beer really is the star of the show. You’ll find a huge selection of Belgian and continental bottles, Trappist ales, lagers and changing cask beers, with plenty of interesting and unusual options you’re unlikely to find in your average pub.
It’s also earned a proper reputation with CAMRA and real-ale drinkers over the years, so if you’re serious about your beer, this is definitely one to have on your radar.
But there’s much more to Fringe than what’s behind the bar.
Look around and you’ll find cartoons, pink elephants, a motorbike and an old jukebox firing out everything from vintage metal to indie classics.
Bar Fringe is an eccentric pub specialising in European beers in Manchester. Credit: The Manc Group
And then there’s the beer garden.
Tucked away at the back, it’s a surprisingly chilled little spot, packed with plenty of nooks and crannies to settle into with a pint.
And with such a huge selection behind the bar, there’s a pretty good chance you’ll be drinking something you’ve almost definitely never tried before.
So, if you’re into European beer, slightly eccentric pubs and places with a bit of proper Manchester character, put Bar Fringe on your list.
Manchester pub brilliantly exposes ‘dumb dumb’ criminal after attempted break-in
Daisy Jackson
A pub in Manchester city centre has shared hilarious footage of a bungled break-in, and made a rather sarcastic swipe at the criminal in question too.
North Westward Ho is the stunning boozer launched back in 2023 by the team behind Pomona Island brewery.
It’s in a prime city centre location, just off Market Street and Cross Street, and has been decorated in the style of a historic boozer, with dark wooden details, ornate tiling, wall sconces, and oil paintings.
But North Westward Ho has recently caught the eye of an unwanted patron, who attempted to break the door down in quite a ridiculous way.
CCTV footage shared by the bar shows a man running full-pelt into the locked, reinforced door, bouncing back some distance into the road.
He tries four times before giving up, hopping back on his bicycle, and disappearing.
The pub said it’s not normally bothered by criminals these days, with no cash on site to make it worth their while, adding that it’s usually only ‘the real dumb dumbs’ who attempt to break in.
Then they dialled the sarcasm up to 100 and laid into the man caught on CCTV.
They wrote: “Once in a lifetime you get this kind of Machiavellian genius, a man so smart that he’s always three steps ahead.
“It doesn’t feel great at first because you know you and your pane of toughened glass are no match for his mental dexterity, but then… You start to respect it. You realise you have to up your game. You have to think like him, live like him, become him.
“If you see me banging my head against a brick wall with no trousers on, dribbling on myself with a glazed expression, I’ve either been on the Factotum or I’m trying to get inside the mind of my Moriarty here.
“Well played sir, you didn’t get in this time and if you had, it really wouldn’t have achieved anything, but you made us all have a good laugh. And maybe that’s the real point.”
Pomona Island then added: “Ram raid on a bicycle.”
Daisy Jackson -
15th November 2023 
