Pieminister’s legendary pie bottomless brunch with free-flowing drinks is finally making a comeback from next week.
The popular pie restaurant chain – which has two sites here in Manchester city centre on Church Street in the Northern Quarter, and on Deansgate – is known and loved all across the UK for its thick and chunky pies.
And now finally, after countless calls from foodies, the chain‘s beloved bottomless brunch is set to return to our city from next week… and we are so absolutely here for it.
Pies dished up in any Pieminister restaurant are typically served on a bed of hot and creamy mashed potatoes, with the option to choose from several vegetable sides and accompaniments of crispy onions, cheddar cheese, and more, all before they are topped-off by being slathered in homemade gravy.
But, as part of the bottomless brunch offering kicking off on Saturday 13 April, you can add non-stop cocktails and pints to the party too.
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Pieminister’s popular pie bottomless brunch with free-flowing drinks is back / Credit: The Manc Group (via The Hoot Leeds)
Thankfully, whether you’re a meat lover, a veggie, vegan, flexitarian, or gluten free, there’s something to suit everyone on the returning bottomless brunch lineup, with a selection of all the best Pieminister pies from the menu to take your pick from.
There’s the ‘Mooless Moo’ jackfruit ‘steak’-like pie with craft ale and black pepper, the ever-popular ‘Kevin’ Chestnut mushroom, tomato, quinoa, baby onion, and red wine option, plus the ‘Wild Shroom’ or ‘Heidi’ pies for veggies, whilst meat eaters can tuck into the likes of the ‘Free Ranger’ chicken, ham, and leek pie, the ‘Fungi Chicken’, the classic British beef and ale pie ‘Moo’, the ‘Moolin Rouge’ with steak and bacon, the ‘Moo & Blue’ with beef and Cropwell Bishop stilton, or the ‘Kate and Sidney’.
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The Mooless Moo, Moo, and Free Ranger can all be made as gluten free pies as well for an additional 50p.
You’ll choose your pie, then opt for either the ‘pick of the brunch’ deal – which comes with any award-winning pie, one side, and gravy for £27 – or alternatively, you can opt for the ‘Mother of all brunches’ for £30, which includes pie, mash, minty mushy peas, cheddar cheese, crispy onions, and gravy.
The legendary deal returns to Manchester next weekend / Credit: Pieminister
And, of course, you’ll be able to grab two hours of unlimited drinks with both of these options.
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Prosecco, mimosas, draught pints, Aperol spritz, passion fruit martinis, espresso martinis, and select soft drinks are just some of the bottomless drinks you can sip on.
The Pieminister bottomless brunch will be available every Saturday (and bank holiday Sunday) from next Saturday 13 April 2024.
Deansgate bar Simmons closes just over a year after opening
Danny Jones
London-born bar brand Simmons has closed their Manchester site just over a year after opening their first Northern location.
They’ve lasted roughly 15 months on one of our busiest nightlife strips.
Opening on Deansgate back in October 2024, Simmons Manchester wasn’t just their first foray here up in this half of the country but their only other venue outside of the capital.
An otherwise well-established and popular chain down south, they have a total of 15 different bars in central London, but things clearly haven’t quite taken off as planned here in Manchester.
Placing a poster in the unit’s shopfront besides the likes of Be At One, Yours, The Moon Under The Water Spoons and the Deansgate branch of Slug and Lettuce, as you can see, the fellow franchise founded over a decade ago said: “After much consideration, we’ve made the difficult decision to close our doors.
“It’s never easy to say goodbye”, they add, “We’re incredibly proud of what the team built here and so grateful to them, as well as everyone who joined us over the past year.
“We’ve had some unforgettable nights. We love Manchester, and we hope to be back under the right conditions.”
They go on to thank everyone for being “part of the journey”, but for now, it looks like the room has closed effective immediately.
Simmons started back in 2012 when founder Nick Campbell opened the first bar below his flat in Kings Cross, and their presence has grown hugely since then. The closing sign was spotted and shared on social media earlier this week.
Offering everything from stylish cocktails to New York-style pizza, live music and even private karaoke booths, the place had plenty going on.
With rising business rates, energy bills and more dovetailing with the continuing cost of living crisis that is still hampering both hospitality and the nightime economy, they are just one of many to unfortunately close their doors of late.
For instance, it was only earlier this month that we saw multiple well-known names shut up shop here in the city centre or elsewhere in Greater Manchester, including another long-standing late-night favourite, Revolution.
It’s a shame for any business to close, and we certainly hope they’ll return someday with a model that can be sustained in the current climate.
Inside Butter Bird – Ancoats’ hottest new neighbourhood rotisserie with a menu dedicated to butter
Clementine Hall
A new restaurant has opened its doors in Ancoats serving up two of life’s greatest pleasures.
Those two things being chicken and butter. And coincidentally, they go very well together.
Introducing Butter Bird, a new neighbourhood rotisserie restaurant that has taken over the old Counter House site on Blossom Street.
If you’ve been living under a rock or you have a healthy relationship with social media, then you won’t know that rotisserie chicken is very much ‘in’ for 2026.
Images: The Manc Eats
So of course, just like anything, Ancoats is first to hop on that trendy bandwagon.
When simple things are done properly then they’re very satisfying indeed, and that’s exactly what Butter Bird have achieved.
Built around classic spit cooking and time honoured technique, with an impressive Rotisol Millenium rotisserie oven at the heart of the space, the chickens are seasoned and brined in house, then slowly rotated over open heat so the meat self bastes as it cooks.
Images: The Manc Eats
The result? Moreish, crisp, golden skin, succulent meat and deep flavour.
If that doesn’t sound enticing enough, they’ve also got a section of their menu dedicated entirely to their house butters.
Flavoured, complex butters designed to compliment your bird in however you desire.
My personal favourite was the moroccan-spiced Chermoula, but the tarragon with wildflower and mustard was also stellar.
Images: The Manc Eats
Drinks wise they’ve got a great selection of Crémant, chosen to cut through the chicken fat, as well as fun cocktails and decent wines.
Obviously you’ll need some sides to go with your bird which you can order as a quarter or half, and they’ve got everything from rotisserie potatoes which you can douse in chicken gravy to a Caesar salad stuffed with enough croutons it’s probably not classed as a salad anymore.
Butter Bird opens to the public on Thursday 29 January, with a launch offer offering 50% off rotisserie chicken when booked in advance for the first two weeks.
Emily Sergeant -
3rd April 2024 
