A bar in Manchester has made the move to introduce a ridiculously cheap drinks deal, pricing a number of its most popular bevs at just £2.50 each.
Yes, that’s right. Every Friday night for the foreseeable future, Alvarium in the Northern Quarter will be serving up bottles of beer, alongside spirits and glasses of red, white and rose wine at a super low rate.
Perfect for helping those struggling with the high cost of, well, everything right now, this is a way to get the Christmas presents sorted and still go out celebrating the festive season with your mates. Happy days.
Image: Alvarium
Image: Alvarium
The Northern Quarter bar, which stays open until 1am on Fridays, launched a new extended happy hour earlier this summer that saw it offer two bottles of San Miguel for £5, two cocktails for £10 and bottles of house wine at £12.50 each.
Now, however, Alvarium’s owners have taken things a step further – taking the pricing structure back to the nineties with a range of £2.50 drinks available every Friday.
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As well as wine and beer, you’ll find tasty spritzes sitting alongside other festive-themed cocktails like ‘Santa’s Little Helper’ (a mix of brandy, bourbon, lemon, cranberry and orange) and ‘Winter Berries’ (vodka, apple, passionfruit, grenadine and lemonade).
Sharing the news online over the weekend, the dog-friendly cocktail bar and kitchen wrote: “INTRODUCING THE FRIDAY NIGHT SOCIAL.
“Due to the success of last week’s party […] to promote our happy hour running all night long, we’ve decided why not take it one step further… and continue our £2.50 (YES, £2.50) Friday Night drinks.
“All Friday, every Friday we’ll be serving selected drinks for £2.50. No need to book, just head down, booze up.”
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Image: Alvarium
Image: Alvarium
On the £2.50 drinks menu, you’ll find bottles of Mahou Spanish beer, small glasses of temperanillo, temp rose and viura, plus a cinnamon and orange spritz with lemon and fizz.
Elsewhere, choose from ‘Orange and Berries’, made with Jameson orange, lemon, cranberry and more orange, and the self-explanatory ‘Tequila and Lemon’.
The bar has previously hosted kitchen pop-ups from the likes of vegan kitchen Black Leaf, Manchester slab shack Lazy Tony’s Lasagneria, and Abeja Tapas Bar.
Now it has taken its food offering back in-house, serving up a selection of locally-sourced meat and cheese boards loaded with an array of pickles, chutneys, crackers, giant slices of sourdough and more – perfect for soaking up all that cheap, cheap booze.
To find out more, head down this Friday to check it out for yourself. Lord knows we could all do with a cheeky discount this month.
Feature image – Alvarium
Eats
Beloved Northern Quarter restaurant TNQ announces shock closure after two decades
Daisy Jackson
One of the Northern Quarter’s most long-standing restaurants has announced its shock closure after almost 22 years in Manchester.
TNQ, an independent restaurant with a British menu, said that the current climate has made the restaurant ‘no longer a viable business’.
In a shockingly honest statement, the business said that its energy bills have rocketed to a staggering £8,000 per month, and that the two owners have forgone their salaries to try and keep TNQ afloat.
But despite being ‘busy and often fully booked’, the business has been left in a ‘heartbreaking situation where we have to close the doors for good’.
“Thanks E-on and thanks Rachel Reeves”, TNQ said in a statement today.
As for the staff who work at the High Street restaurant, TNQ bosses say they’re committed to paying them ‘every penny they are owed’ and are helping them to find new jobs in the industry.
TNQ said of their staff: “Our amazing team have worked blood sweat and tears over the years, grafted 80 hour weeks busting a gut to deliver our best for our guests. We are incredibly grateful to all our staff for their endeavours, loyalty, commitment and support over the 22 years.
“We are so sorry to all of them that we can no longer continue.”
TNQ statement in full
Unfortunately this is a heartbreaking situation where we have to close the doors to TNQ for good after nearly 22 years.
We have got through the banking crisis, double dip recessions and Covid but the current climate has made the restaurant no longer a viable business.
Our E-on bills are up to £8000 per month, wage costs have rocketed particularly after the last two budgets, food costs have soared and business rates continue to increase.
This has created a perfect storm resulting in the permanent closure of our beloved restaurant.
Last October we borrowed £100k which was personally guaranteed by 2 of the shareholders in order to try and weather the storm and 2 owners stopped being paid salary but unfortunately this wasn’t enough to save our restaurant.
Our amazing team have worked blood sweat and tears over the years, grafted 80 hour weeks busting a gut to deliver our best for our guests. We are incredibly grateful to all our staff for their endeavours, loyalty, commitment and support over the 22 years.
We are so sorry to all of them that we can no longer continue. We are committed to paying all our staff every penny they are owed. We are also working with our friends in the industry to find new jobs for everyone where we can. It is a truly gutting and heartbreaking situation. Sorry.
Thank you to all our partners and suppliers over the years, many of whom we have formed great friendships with.
Finally, thank you to all our wonderful guests who have supported us over the years, many of whom we are proud to call our friends. We will be in touch with all our bookings in due course and we can only apologise that we can no longer accommodate you.
Our restaurant has been busy and often fully booked but it’s just not enough to be a sustainable business. We are so sorry but this is goodbye from us at TNQ, one of the longest established independent restaurants in our magnificent city.
A restaurant in Manchester is hosting a bottomless carbonara night
Daisy Jackson
A restaurant in Manchester has announced its first-ever ‘Carbonara Night’, with unlimited helpings of the popular pasta dish.
The Pasta Factory on Shudehill will be inviting diners to tuck into bottomless carbonara, with the chance to eat it all for free.
The restaurant recently celebrated its 10th birthday in the city, where it’s been serving fresh pasta dishes made by hand every single day.
When The Pasta Factory first opened, it chose not to sell carbonara, worried that the traditional recipe (guanciale, egg yolk, cheese – and absolutely no cream) wouldn’t be to the taste of diners in Manchester.
But realising there was an appetite for authentic Italian cooking, carbonara has made its way onto the menu and become a firm favourite.
And now The Pasta Factory is hosting an entire night dedicated to this delicious pasta dish.
There’ll be bottomless carbonara being served up in this cosy corner of Manchester, for one night only this month.
Your booking will get you a table for 90 minutes, during which time you can order unlimited portions of carbonara.
And if you manage to eat more than five carbonaras, Pasta Factory will give you your meal for free.
The bottomless carbonara night at Pasta Factory in Manchester will take place on Wednesday 18 February, with tickets priced at £30 per night.
Georgina Pellant -
5th December 2022 
