A brand-new ‘high-tech’ activity bar dedicated to shuffleboard is coming to Manchester and it sounds electric – pun very much intended.
Electric Shuffle, the glamorous sister site to nightlife favourite Flight Club, is coming to the city centre later this year and it’s set to be just the second to open outside of London.
After opening their third location in Leeds back in 2022, the team behind two of the best activity and games bars in the UK are bringing their shuffleboard expertise to Manchester in time for the summer.
Promising addictive and high-energy games, semi-private shuffleboard areas dotted around a stylish art-deco-inspired central bar, an impressive cocktail list and a mouth-watering menu, the aim is to make sure you don’t need to spend the night anywhere else, with a resident DJ on-hand all night too.
You can find bars with shuffleboards all over town these days, but what sets this one apart? Well, they market their offerings as ‘supercharged shuffleboard’ that uses state-of-the-art camera vision technology to track and score every puck, much like the sensors used on Flight Club darts boards.
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Again, like their big brother, the games also capture guests’ best moments with live shareable replays, and can seamlessly integrate up to 32 players – or up to 150 players at once for corporate events. Now that sounds like the kind of chaos we’d love to see.
There are four immersive and fast-paced games to choose from, each designed for team-play while still giving individuals their glory. Games include Eclipse, which sees players aiming to slide and land their puck on (or as close as possible) the target between the middle two zones of the board.
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Then there’s Equaliser, which challenges players to land their puck in the zones at the far end of the table to get the highest score. As for the bar side of things, they’ve got that all worked out too.
Credit: Supplied
Food and drink for all times of day
If anyone’s been guilty of screaming down the roof of one of these activity bars before, you’ll know that like most shuffleboard is best played as a team sport and that group mentality transfers over to the food and drink selection too.
We’re talking small plates, big sharing pizzas, as well as an epic and extensive cocktails menu – all of which will be coming to Electric Shuffle Manchester.
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From staple dishes already proved popular at their Leeds venue such as buttermilk chicken bites with ranch and BBQ dips, spiced cauliflower wings with red pepper tapenade and jalapeño green salsa, big sourdough pizza paddles, loaded fries and more, think big picky tea only levelled up.
As for the booze (it is a bar after all), they’re known for signature cocktails with a twist, like ‘Salted Caramel Euphoria’ – a take on the espresso martini – frozen options for those balmy summer nights and big sharing ones served in a trophy cup. And don’t worry, they’re not only for the winners.
Oh yeah, and they’re also bringing their brunch deal to our shores. Available on Saturdays and Sundays for two hours, guests can enjoy a bottle of Prosecco each and unlimited pizza from start to finish. Costing £35 for 60 minutes of shuffleboard and another hour around the table, it’ll be one of the best value bottomless brunch deals in Manchester.
You’ll have all this and more to get stuck into when Electric Shuffle lands on Deansgate in a couple of month’s time.
While we’re not giving you an exact address just yet, we can confirm that Manchester’s newest shuffleboard bar is set to open on 21 June and will take up an 11,400 sq/ft space to become their biggest site in the county, capable of hosting up to 450 people. Now that’s how you make an entrance.
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CEO, Steve Moore, who co-founded Electric Shuffle and Flight Club alongside Paul Barham, said: “We couldn’t be more excited to bring Electric Shuffle to Manchester. We have loved our time in Manchester so far and the welcome that Flight Club has received over the past five years has been incredible…
“From couples’ date nights to corporate events and everything in between, Electric Shuffle is a place that is built for friends by friends, and we can’t wait to show everyone in Manchester what we’ve been working on”.
Manchester’s smash burger and ice cream legends Big Licks launch huge crowdfunding effort
Daisy Jackson
Big Licks, the Manchester restaurant that’s found the ‘sweet spot’ between amazing burgers and delicious desserts, is sailing through a huge crowdfunding campaign.
The restaurant, which has an eye-catching location down on Liverpool Road as well as two sites in Scotland, has already raised a whopping £135,000 for its expansion dreams.
It’s now pushing to hit £150,000 so that it can open new restaurants and franchises across the UK.
Big Licks was first launched by two teenagers in 2009 as a takeaway – it’s now gone on to be a rapidly expanding name bringing in £3m in sales and more than 400,000 customers in the last 12 months alone.
On their menu you’ll find incredible smash burgers (with up to four patties in each bun) made with free-range grass-fed beef that they source directly from farm, or buttermilk chicken topped with their signature ranch sauce.
There’s also an impressive menu of house-churned ice cream made with quality local ingredients, and cakes, cheesecakes and brownies all baked in house daily.
All that is alongside fried chicken, loaded fries, and other mouth-watering sides.
Next on the agenda for Big Licks is expansion across the country, offering up the chance to become a shareholder in this bright young business.
They want to use the money raised to prepare the business for franchising, with a target to open 18 restaurants by 2027.
Then any extra money raised will be used to open more company-owned restaurants.
And there are rewards on offer for those who choose to invest in Big Licks.
If you invest £100, you’ll get a Big Licks White Card which gets you 10% off in store, as well as owning a share of the business.
Then the rewards continue with other things like free burgers and shakes all the way to merch and much bigger discounts.
Co-founder Anees Ahmed said: “It is clear that the potential is great.”
He added: “We believe one of the key ingredients to a successful restaurant is creating a hangout spot, a vibe. That will always be our aim when you come to Big Licks.”
The businessman then said: “We won’t compromise on quality. We will always keep sourcing within head office. This means we keep producing our own ice cream using locally sourced organic milk and the finest Italian flavours.
“We’ve found that sweet spot. The combination of sweet desserts and smashing burgers that opens up audience’s doors, covering off every craving.
“We want you to be part of the journey and become a shareholder in Big Licks.”
You can find out more about the Big Licks crowdfunder through Crowdcube here.
*Don’t invest unless you’re prepared to lose all the money you invest. This is a high-risk investment and you are unlikely to be protected if something goes wrong.
Eats
Electrik Bar in Chorlton is giving away 100 FREE frankfurters to celebrate their latest kitchen collab
Danny Jones
We all love a freebie, so we thought we’d spread the good word of the scran lords by letting you know that Electrik over in Chorlton is giving away 100 free frankfurters to celebrate their newest menu takeover.
The popular neighbourhood bar and kitchen on Wilbraham Road in the South Manchester suburb has had a couple of different foodie collaborations over the past couple of years, with local residents Paramogeddon and Four Side Vegan Pizza being the most recent, but now they’re doing hot dogs.
Welcoming their latest vendors Tisch Und Teller, Electrik will be giving away a total of 100 free frankfurters to the first century of people there this evening.
Bringing a taste of Berlin, Bavaria, Frankfurt and more (with a Manc twist, of course) to the popular pub for the Thursday launch party, all you need to do is order a drink upon arrival to get your hands on a free frankfurter sandwiched between a lovely fluffy roll.
Who doesn’t love a hot dog? Especially when they’re giving them away.
As for Tisch Und Teller (TuT), they’ve been serving up German-inspired favourites from the likes of The Shakespeare in Manchester city centre and Nip and Tipple in Whalley Range since September last year, including some very impressive brunches and Sunday roasts.
But the brand just keeps gaining more traction and now they’re setting up shop in Electrik, we’re sure the word will continue to spread – and fast.
Better still, as advertised on the promo poster, not only will TuT now be serving up their delicious food from Electrik every Thursday-Sunday for the foreseeable but the launch party will also live music by local legend and DJing veteran, Abigail Ward of Ghost Assembly.
Free food, pints and top tunes – what more could you ask for on a random weeknight?
The offer will be available from 6pm tonight and, once again, you have to be among the first 100 people to buy a pint to be eligible for a free frankfurter.
Danny Jones -
22nd April 2024 
