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
A sports bar dedicated to women’s sports is opening in Stockport
Daisy Jackson
A brand-new women’s-led sports bar is opening in Stockport, marking a first for the North.
Rita Ray’s will be joining the line-up at Weir Mill, the new neighbourhood from Capital & Centric on the banks of the River Mersey.
While women’s sport has grown in popularity in recent years, Rita Ray’s founder says that ‘the spaces to watch it haven’t caught up’.
And so, this new sports bar concept has been born, with all the buzz of a classic sports bar but with women’s sport on the big screens.
The venue will be family-friendly by day, before shifting into a lively social hangout with great drinks, music, and post-matchday energy by night.
It plans to become a community cornerstone too, hosting things like run clubs, classes, quiz nights, book clubs, pop-ups, and community meet-ups.
Founder of Rita Ray’s, Becky Brown, has named the bar after her grandparents Rita and Ray, who loved life, games, golf, and good company.
She says there’s ‘nothing like this in the North at the moment’.
Rita Ray’s sports bar is the second independent venture announced for Weir Mill this month alone – Italian restaurant The Social Trattoria is also heading to Stockport this year.
Becky said: “Women’s sport has grown massively, but the spaces to watch it haven’t caught up.
“There’s nothing like this in the North at the moment, and Stockport and the Weir Mill neighbourhood felt like the perfect spot – creative, independent, and full of character. Rita Ray’s is about sport, community, and inclusion.”
Tom Wilmot, joint managing director at Capital&Centric, said: “Rita Ray’s is exactly the kind of bold, indie concept we love bringing into our neighbourhoods. It’s a brilliant addition to Weir Mill and a great example of the independent operators helping shape this new part of Stockport.”
Cllr Micheala Meikle, Cabinet Member for regeneration, skills and economy, said: “Seeing the North’s first independent bar dedicated to women’s sport choose Weir Mill is a fantastic vote of confidence in Stockport.
“This kind of bold, community‑minded business will add to the growing sense of place we’re creating here – an inclusive space where everyone can come together to enjoy sport, meet friends, and feel part of something special.
“This is exactly what regeneration should deliver: new jobs, strong independents and more reasons for people to spend time in our town centre, while keeping the character that makes Stockport what it is.
“Investment of this quality shows the direction we’re heading and the momentum we’re building, ensuring Stockport remains a vibrant, welcoming and thriving place for residents, visitors and businesses alike.”
Rita Ray’s is all set to open this summer at Weir Mill in Stockport, just in time to roar on the Three Lions.
Mexican chain Wahaca might be returning to Manchester
Daisy Jackson
Mexican chain might be returning to Manchester, six years after its closure.
The much-loved restaurant group is eyeing up new locations in our city, as well as sites in Cambridge, Glasgow, and Birmingham.
Retail and leisure agency P-Three has been tasked with sourcing new sites across the UK for Wahaca, which had to permanently close 10 locations in the midst of the pandemic.
Wahaca restaurants that closed included its popular location in the Corn Exchange in Manchester.
Wahaca was founded in London almost 20 years ago, by MasterChef winner Thomasina Miers and Mark Selby.
Its menu showcases food from across Mexico, with restaurants that are inspired by the modern bustling culture seen in contemporary Oaxaca.
It’s also the UK’s first carbon-neutral restaurant group and multiple-time winner of the UK’s most sustainable restaurant group.
P-Three is looking for large restaurant units (2,500-4,500 sq ft) which Wahaca can move back into as it brings its vibrant food back across the UK once again.
Wahaca might be returning to Manchester. Credit: Wahaca
Thomas Rose, co-founder at P-Three, commented: “Wahaca has firmly established itself as one of the UK’s most authentic and lively restaurant groups, offering diners a bold, fresh and modern take on Mexican street food.
“A longstanding client of P-Three, we are excited to be supporting Wahaca with this next phase of growth and look forward to helping them bring their concept to new cities and locations across the UK.”
Mark Selby, Co-founder & Chairman at Wahaca, added: “After the huge success of our Paddington opening in 2024 and the incredible feedback on Wahaca Reimagined across our 14 individually designed restaurants, we are excited to be once again looking to bring Wahaca’s unique restaurant experience to different areas of the UK.
“We want to find buildings that lend themselves to our distinctive look and feel and know that P-Three will do an excellent job bringing that vision to life.”
Georgina Pellant -
20th January 2022 
