Eats

A brand new two-level food hall is coming to Manchester city centre

It's being headed up by the former operations manager of Mackie Mayor.

Danny Jones - 5th February 2025

Get ready, diners and drinkers, because another exciting food hall is coming to Manchester city centre very soon.

Greater Manchester is well and truly in its food hall era, it seems, with the likes of Mackie Mayor, Alty Market, Society, Kargo, Stockport’s Produce Hall, The Egyptian Rooms in Oldham, New Century Hall and many more that we could reel off.

We’re not complaining by the way: being able to go to a place where you can sample various different cuisines and pretty much any drink of choice is ideal for keeping things interesting – plus, it always helped appease big groups where not everyone wants to eat the same thing.

With that in mind, prepare to welcome Manchester’s latest food hall, which is being developed by a man who knows all about the industry alongside Vita Group, whose local presence continues to grow.

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Being spearheaded by Jake Atkinson, the former operations manager of the widely popular Mackie Mayor, Altrincham Market and Macclesfield’s Picturedrome – all of which serve as the blueprint for a successful food hall – his new venture will be called House of Social.

Set to host five kitchens tucked between statement arched windows and spread across two levels, Jake and co. have spent a year building a brand new collective of operators, with some much-loved regional food and drink brands bringing new ideas to the table.

The House of Social food hall will open just a few yards away from fellow cultural hotspot HOME Theatre on First Street, itself an ever-flourishing Manchester district, not to mention just a few minutes walk from both Oxford Road and Deansgate-Castlefield stations.

Hoping to serve as both a prime destination for a great night out, somewhere to grab breakfast on the go, enjoy a quick bite on your dinner or waste hours chatting rubbish with your friends over a few drinks, House of Social aims to be a place for all seasons and occasions.

You can get a close look at the early CGI mock-ups of how it’s going to look here:

As mentioned, the project is in collaboration with Vita, who are developing another brand new university accommodation block within which the food hall will sit, meaning that students will also be able to dive into Manchester’s diverse food and drink scene of the city quite literally on their doorstep.

The five independent kitchens at House of Social will be revealed in the upcoming months. Locals and visitors alike can expect a variety of vendors serving pizza to dumplings, all from growing businesses excited to get stuck even further into Manchester’s thriving hospitality scene.

Atkinson said of plans: “It’s such an untapped location, we’ve got this beautiful building with loads of natural light from soaring arched windows and also some gorgeous interior details with that curving staircase – it’s going to have so much character.

“We’ve tried to match that with the traders we’re working with – we’ve got some big names and some big personalities coming along – they’re creating menus which work in a food hall setting but with so much more attention to detail than anything I’ve seen before in this space.”

Jake went on to add: “The offerings will really complement each other but I also think the traders are going to gel well too. I just can’t wait to get started.”

Set to open Summer 2025, House of Social really can’t come soon enough; we’re all dreaming of sun-soaked days with a belly full of scran and booze. Bliss.

Speaking of food halls, another city centre favourite of ours is doing something very fun for us Mancs this Valentine’s Day…