Manchester’s £1 taco restaurant El Capo appears to have quietly shut its doors after nearly a decade in the city centre.
The Mexican-inspired taco and tequila bar and restaurant has been a fixture on Tariff Street since first opening its doors in 2014, but now it looks like its years of Northern Quarter service may have come to an end – for now, at least.
A closure notice has been posted on its website homepage and its Instagram appears to have been deactivated, despite the notice advising customers to visit the page to ‘keep up to date’.
The business’s Facebook page, meanwhile, has not been updated for over a month with the last update – advertising £1 tacos and £6 margaritas – shared on 12 April.
El Capo’s website has also seen its booking page removed, with a notice on its homepage that reads: “CLOSED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE.
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“Unfortunately, due to electrical issues encountered we have made the decision to close for the forseeable.
“In the meantime, keep up to date on our Instagram and we will see you soon. EL CAPO.”
The bar and restaurant’s Google Business page has also been updated to say that it is ‘temporarily closed.’
In recent months, El Capo has received positive press coverage for its brilliant £1 taco Tuesday deal – with many local media outlets praising it as one of the city’s best dining deals.
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The kitchen also recently released a chippy tea burrito that had foodies in Manchester talking, but sadly – despite its popularity – it now appears that the venue has shut its doors.
First opened in 2014, the South American street food-themed restaurant first appeared as a bar before launching its hotly-anticipated basement eatery later that same year.
In response to a request for comment, El Capo confirmed to The Manc that the site’s closure was temporary whilst the business worked on a refurbishment of its kitchen and basement and that it was planning to open in the winter of 2023.
A spokesperson said: “We plan to reopen by winter 2023, with a new refurbed basement and large kitchen extension, so that we can successfully reopen our doors and welcome back our regular customers to a new and improved El Capo.”
Featured image – Google Business
Eats
A tiny new train station pub is set to open at Manchester Oxford Road
Daisy Jackson
A tiny craft beer pub is set to open at Manchester Oxford Road, making all those inevitable train cancellations a little sweeter.
The new boozer will come from the same team behind some of the UK’s best train station pubs, who already have bars at Manchester Piccadilly and Manchester Victoria.
A licensing application has now been submitted by Bloomsbury Leisure Holdings Limited to take over the former cycle hub at Manchester Oxford Road.
The small building is directly opposite the entrance to the busy train station on the southern side of the city centre.
If approved, it will be the third site for the pub group in Manchester.
They already operate the Piccadilly Tap, that two-storey beer bar on Piccadilly Approach with a heated rooftop space and outdoor patio.
The team are also responsible for the more recently-opened Victoria Tap, which took over the former bin store at Manchester Victoria.
That particular pub has a heated beer garden constructed just inches away from where the trams tootle past and has a departures board where time is measured by pints (got 10 mins til your train leaves? That’s one pint, sir!)
As for the Oxford Road Tap, a new account on X appeared a few weeks ago that appears to confirm the imminent arrival of a new pub.
The Oxford Road Tap have applied to have opening hours through to half-past-midnight Sunday to Thursday, and until 1.30am on Fridays and Saturdays.
They teased a mocked-up photo of posters outside the station with the new pub logo, plus a slogan of ‘Great beer is just a few steps away…’
They later shared ‘Triple threat incoming’ with all three pub brands lined up as a deck of cards.
Northern Quarter favourite Pie and Ale has sadly closed down
Danny Jones
Beloved Northern Quarter eatery and pub Pie and Ale has sadly and quietly closed its doors this week in yet another gutting bit of news for the Manc hospitality sector.
Known for its legendary homemade pies, great selections of ales, craft beers and lagers, not to mention a great little pub when it comes to watching live sport, it’s long been considered an NQ institution.
Unfortunately, however, as confirmed by a sign posted in the window, Pie and Ale has now closed for business after more than a decade.
Safe to say, we’re absolutely gutted, as we’re sure everyone else is.
Credit: The Manc Eats
While no official announcement has been made on their social media as yet, which will no doubt receive love and sadness from its loyal following, the sign in the window simply reads: “Pie and Ale has unfortunately ceased trading. Apologies for any inconvenience.”
The local favourite which was always hailed for being great value for money – celebrated especially for its popular pie and a pint for under a tenner deal – also served up great nibbles and light bites as well as dessert specials.
Although the Lever Street spot previously shut down for a short spell back in 2018 due to what they labelled as “unforeseen circumstances” before reopening just two months later, this latest update looks pretty definitive.
Sister-site Bakerie also ceased trading back in April 2019, with husband and wife founders, Alyson Doocey and David Cook, admitting that all independents had been “feeling the squeeze”.
While we have few other details at this stage, it does look like Pie and Ale has indeed closed down for the foreseeable future.
A mainstay on our list of the best pies in Manchester since day dot and just the latest in the list of losses in 2024 so far, they will be sorely missed.
We sincerely hope this is like last time and will keep our fingers crossed that we see the pie pros and expert pourers back in business at some point.
Georgina Pellant -
18th May 2023 
