Manchester milkshake and burger bar Archie’s has launched a new breakfast menustacked with naughty breakfast burgers, fluffy pancake stacks, hash browns and ‘breakfast tots’ – miniature tater tots loaded with all your morning essentials.
Available at Piccadilly and Manchester Aiport, the new breakfast menu will be served from 8am – 11am in the week and 9am – 12pm on weekends.
Even better, they’re offering a free coffee (be that a cappuccino, latte, or americano) with your breakfast for the first month – available from now until 11 February.
Think seven different customisable burgers on the menu to choose from, stuffed with the likes of hash browns, avocado, chicken sausage patties, cheese, smoked turkey bacon, sriracha, fried or scrambled eggs, tomato, chives and more.
Image: The Manc Group
All served in warm glazed buns, new stand outs include vegetarian The Yolker, filled with smashed lime-infused avocado, scrambled eggs, chives, cheese and sriracha mayo; and the new and improved Breakfast Club (double beef patty, turkey bacon, hash brown, fried egg, BBQ sauce and cheese).
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Elsewhere, sweet tooths will find fluffy American-style pancakes priced from just £4.99 loaded with choices like bacon and maple syrup; whipped cream, banana and toffee sauce; or strawberries, chocolate, whipped cream and hazelnut sauce.
And that’s not all. All of the brand’s classic and celeb shakes are available at breakfast, as well as its soft drinks list and giant chocolate, fruit and ice cream-loaded waffles.
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Credit: The Manc Group
Crinkle fries and curly fries appear here too, giving Archie’s fans the full-on diner experience – just earlier in the day, with a new breakfast twist.
The bright pink American-style fast food diner, which first popped up on Oxford Road in 2010, now has eight sites in total – six in Manchester, one in Liverpool and another in Leeds.
A ninth branch will be opening in Birmingham next month too.
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But believe it or not, the hit Manc business first started off as a carwash in Cheetham Hill before becoming the popular made-to-order burger empire it is today.
Image: Archie’s
Prior to launching the first Archie’s on Oxford road in 2010, the four Rafiq brothers behind it – Amer, the eldest, and siblings Imran, Asim and Irfan – actually devised the concept three years earlier whilst running the successful Wash and Glow, a hotspot for local footballers and celebrities such as Corrie’s Ryan Thomas.
This, in turn, funded their idea to move into the burger world and helped to launch into a brand new industry – taking that ‘go and be seen’ shine that made their car wash so popular and applying it to fast food instead.
Support from celebrities early in the day, such as rappers like Nas and The Game, quickly made Archie’s a go-to place – with visits heralded by a ‘celeb shakes’ list that pays homage to some of the namesakes who’ve been over the years.
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Singers Rita Ora and Pia Mia, professional boxers Floyd Mayweather and Amir Khan, and comedian Kevin Hart all get a shout-out on the menu – which gives diners the chance to enjoy signature shakes created especially for the celebs.
Twelve years later, Archie’s is still just as iconic as it ever was – this latest gift to commuters at Piccadilly station and the airport is just the cherry on top.
Feature image – The Manc Group
Eats
Popular American fast food franchise Shake Shack is coming to Manchester
Danny Jones
Greater Manchester is getting another big global franchise as Shake Shack is finally set to make its Northern debut.
With so many good burger joints and a million and one great places to grab a good portion of chips in town alone, they’ll have to hit the ground running to fight off the competition.
The well-known transatlantic multinational is nothing short of massive in the States, vying with the likes of In-N-Out Burger, Five Guys, Carl’s Jr. – also eyeing up multiple UK sites over the next few years – Whataburger and Wendy’s, just to name a rather large handful. Oh yeah, and Maccies, of course.
Yanks will debate until the cows come home (pardon the pun) about which is best, and many believe Shake Shack is right up there, so Manchester foodies have every right to be excited. Consider this a belated Thanksgiving contribution.
The New York-founded company already has multiple locations on this side of the pond, such as several in London, which is where we first sampled it for ourselves.
Other venues include Birmingham, Cambridge, Oxford and Cardiff, as well as one inside Gatwick Airport; as for the brand’s first Manchester branch, Shake Shack UK no. 18 will be coming to the borough of Trafford and one of the biggest shopping destinations in the region.
But what sets this burger and milkshake-driven brand apart from the others?
Well, for starters, you could argue they’re not even most famous for their patties, buns or shakes; the first time we ever heard about Shake Shack was regarding their fries – specifically, the crinkle-cut shape and that very American-style cheese sauce.
They have long proved divisive among the masses, but those who love them go NUTS for the stuff, and you’ll find all manner of fakeaway recipes online of people trying to make their best imitation of the side and sauce, specifically.
Put it this way, Colonel’s gravy on KFC chicken is what cheese sauce is on Shake Shack fries. It may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but fans will stan this scran to no end.
Case and point:
My first time at Shake Shack 👌🏼💚 The cheese fries might be my new hyper fixation 🍟 pic.twitter.com/3HVwAgxRtD
Honestly, you’ll find countless examples of this kind of post on social media…
Richard Franks, Business Director at Shake Shack UK, said: “Manchester’s a city that does things proper; it’s full of heart, graft and great taste. We’re so pumped to be growing Shake Shack across the UK, and to be opening our first Northern Shack at Trafford Centre. We can’t wait to be a part of this city.”
The major mall and North West tourist attraction’s Centre Director, Simon Layton, added: “We’re really excited to welcome Shake Shack’s first Northern restaurant to the Trafford Centre.
“We know our visitors are going to love getting their hands on those iconic ShackBurgers and crinkle-cut fries. It’s a huge moment for the North – and we can’t wait for everyone to experience it with us in 2026.”
Opening in place of the Costa in the Great Hall, the opening of Shake Shack Manchester at the Trafford Centre is scheduled for next March. Exciting times.
Featured Images — bryansjs (via Flickr)/LN9267 (via Wikimedia Commons)
Eats
A new champagne bar, and the UK’s first ‘champagne boutique’, is opening in Manchester
Daisy Jackson
A brand-new ‘champagne boutique’ is opening in Manchester next week, boasting more than 250 different champagnes to our city.
Portfolio will be a new bar and ‘immersive wine experience’, which will have one of the largest and most diverse champagne collections in the UK.
Mancs will be able to order champagne by the glass from just £12.50, along with plenty of accessible bottles.
To kick things off, Portfolio will open with a bar food offering that includes Welsh charcuterie, British cheeses and accoutrements, created by co-founder Julian Pizer, formerly of Another Hand and the Edinburgh Castle.
But later down the line, there’ll be a run, relaxed tasting menu, ranging from a few bites to a full dining experience, obviously paired with the best champagne list in the country.
Inside Portfolio, you’ll be greeted by a striking champagne wall of 100 different bottles, plus a wall of photos from the team’s trips to Champagne in France.
Every drink will be served in exclusive Lehmann glassware imported from Reims, with more than 10 different glass styles and a strict no flutes policy.
There’ll be an open chef’s pass and sommelier station with bar seating, plus a working champagne cellar that will function as a private dining room and event space.
Julian Pizer has created Portfolio with Cameron Foster, founder of Duex Six which specialises in providing exclusive grower champagnes to the UK.
They’ll be joined by Wayne Baxendale as food and beverage director, who has more than 30 years of global wine experience including from Michelin starred restaurants, and Nikolai Kuklenko as general manager, who previously held a role as Head Sommelier at Mana.
Portfolio will be a wine boutique packed with rare grower bottles and vintage prestige cuvées and hopes to ‘strip away the snobbery and make champagne accessible’.
As well as well known names, guests will be able to enjoy rare and highly sought-after cuvées, including Jacques Selosse, Ulysse Collin, Jérôme Prévost, Cédric Bouchard, Larmandier Bernier and Egly Ouriet.
There will also be vintage prestige cuvées from Cristal, Philipponnat, Pommery, Jacquesson, Pierre Peters and Bollinger, some dating back to the 1990s.
As Cameron Foster explains: “We want to strip back the snobbery of Champagne and make it a wine for everyone, whether that’s a quick glass after work, a special celebration, or discovering grower champagne for the first time.”
Portfolio will open on 9 December at 67 Bridge Street, Manchester, with the full restaurant experience launching in February 2026.
Georgina Pellant -
20th January 2022 
