Inside Stockport’s beautiful and historic Market Hall is where you can find Auntie Lou’s, a down-to-earth cafe serving up some top tier drinks and seriously hearty home-cooked meals.
Since opening late last year, Auntie Lou’s has rapidly grown in popularity, with food flying off the shelves at their first time taking part in Stockport’s Foodie Friday – and once you’ve tasted it you’ll understand why.
The food on offer is a combination of dishes influenced by owner Emily’s Irish and English heritage, with recipes passed down from generation to generation, from all of the amazing women in her family.
Their seasonal and carefully crafted menus play into nostalgia, with freshly made stews, warm focaccia sandwiches, savoury tarts and sausage rolls on offer, with a lot of dishes served with a slice of bread and butter – just like nan used to.
Emily prides herself on a homely, nostalgic and welcoming atmosphere, with a range of thrifted crockery, their signature paper doilies and all of the mugs made and hand-painted by her mum.
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This space truly is an ode to Emily’s family members, with the name originating from their family middle name Louise.
And just when you thought Auntie Lou’s couldn’t possibly get any better, they’ve only gone and added a brand new outdoor seating area, just in time for summer.
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Emily’s mum makes all the mugs for Auntie Lou’sAuntie Lou’s has just added a sunny outdoor seating areaA lot of dishes come with bread and butter, the old fashioned way
The new outdoor area is positioned on a sunny street right on Market Place and is the perfect spot for people watching. It is made up of second-hand wooden furniture, which cleverly feeds into the feeling of going round for tea at your aunty’s house.
Currently, Auntie Lou’s menu includes a rich sausage and pecorino pasta, french omelette with locally sourced sourdough, and a butterbean, courgette and asparagus stew, along with their consistently great selection of bakes and coffees.
Not to mention their recently sourced slushie machine, facilitating a variety of iced drinks to quench your thirst this summer.
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Emily has always shared with her followers the raw experience of building this cafe from the very beginning with just a dream, some cleaning products and a whole lot of DIY. She really has built the cafe from scratch and we think that it truly deserves all of the praise it gets.
Dishes change regularly but currently include this beautiful pasta dishAuntie Lou’s cafe in Stockport Market Hall
If you’ve not given her a follow already, go and check out @auntielouscafe on Instagram and see her progress from the very beginning.
This cafe is definitely one well worth travelling for, so why not make a day of it and explore some of the other new spots in Stockport Old Town?
Auntie Lou’s is open Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday 9.30am to 3pm (or until sell out) – go on down, show some support and see what all the fuss is about.
A new restaurant serving seafood boils is opening at Printworks in Manchester
Daisy Jackson
Shrimp Shack is set to open its first restaurant outside London this summer, with a new site in Printworks in Manchester.
The new restaurant will be serving seafood boils, as well as huge £19.95 platters, £10 lunch deals, and cocktail pitchers.
Shrimp Shack is set to open in the former Frankie & Benny’s site, beneath Printworks’ dazzling digital ceiling.
The restaurant is already cult-followed with its London locations, where it’s built a solid reputation for generous portions and bold flavours.
Shrimp Shack favourites include various seafood boils, a dish with its roots in the Southern states of the USA, including their shrimp boil, seafood boil, and the lux lobster boil.
Each boil is loaded with shrimp, seafood, sausages, corn on the cob, boiled eggs, spiced rice and peri chips, in the brand’s signature secret sauce.
There’s also set to be a Shack Savers Selection, with five huge dishes (battered fish and shrimps, a 12oz Wagyu steak, grilled salmon with prince shrimps, surf and turf, and grilled shrimp and calamari) priced at just £19.95, including two sides and a choice of sauces.
At lunchtimes, there’ll be £10 dishes like the Sprimp Rich Po’ Boy sandwich, the double cheese smash burger, and a veggie option (or you can upgrade to a lobster roll for £5).
And there’ll be refillable soft drinks, freshly-blended smoothies, milkshakes, mocktails, and sharing pitchers.
Shrimp Shack opens in Printworks this summer, serving seafood boils and platters
Rish Gola, co-founder of Shrimp Shack, said: “Shrimp shack was born in London to redefine how people enjoy premium seafood; served fresh and fast, where bold flavours are brought together with everyday dishes.
“Shrimp Shack has a strong appeal with ethnic communities, family diners, and groups of friends who come together over big flavours and generous seafood feasts.
“Our accessible pricing and high-quality dishes create apremium fast experience that welcomes everyone.”
Dan Davis, general manager at Printworks, said: “We’re delighted to have secured Shrimp Shack as Printworks’ latest tenant, its first location outside of London and another exciting restaurant to add to our offering.
“Shrimp Shack’s unique and distinctive offering is perfectly aligned with our aim to deliver high quality experience-led concepts right in the heart of Manchester.”
Top Manchester restaurant ‘so chuffed’ after receiving glowing national review
Daisy Jackson
Top Manchester restaurant Skof has received a stunning review from a national critic, with the team saying they are ‘so chuffed’.
The acclaimed NOMA restaurant, headed up by chef Tom Barnes, has rapidly become one of Manchester’s most decorated restaurants.
Not only does it proudly display its first Michelin star – earned in less than a year after opening – but it’s also been named the coveted AA Restaurant of the Year.
And now Skof can add a rave Guardian review to the list too, with critic Grace Dent heaping praise upon the business.
She said that Skof is ‘well worth the hype’, describing it (much like its parent restaurant L’enclume) to be ‘one of those intensely relaxed yet still ferociously fancy restaurants’.
Dent praised ‘hugely scoffable’ snacks like a cheese biscuit topped with broad bean, pike roe and shiso, as well as a lightly set custard with truffle and mushroom dashi (‘a quiche filling on steroids’).
In her Guardian review, she also loved the final course always served at Skof no matter how much the menu changes with the seasons – the tiramisu served from a giant bowl, tableside.
“The final hurrah: that scoop of Tom’s dad’s tiramisu, served from a big bowl,” Grace Dent wrote.
“It’s a clunky, sentimental and, ultimately, glorious end to the meal. Many Michelin-starred restaurants bookend your visit with a gift of seeds, teabags or fancy chocolate, but at Skof they send you on your way with this tiny taste of boozy stodge that’s both incongruous with everything that went before but at the same time is also symbolic of Tom Barnes’ life and everything that went before.”
Grace Dent heaped praise on Skof in a recent Guardian reviewSkof placed 29th in the National Restaurant Awards
The amazing review also said: “Fine dining can at times be truly maddening, and leave diners hungry and hoodwinked, but Skof is proof that this often precarious blend of pacing, staging and portion size can be properly magical.”
She signed off by saying: “Skof is clever and emotional… It’s also well worth the hype, so do try to nab a table, if you can. It’s fancy, yes, but it also fills you up. This is fine dining that even a naysayer would like.”
Skof has said that it’s ‘so chuffed’ to receive the review, which landed in The Guardian on the restaurant’s second birthday.
They wrote: “Our 2nd birthday just got a quite a bit more special with an absolutely amazing review from @gracedent. We’re so chuffed with the write up. Hope the man from the traitors comes down, so we can serve him a crumpet.”
You can read Grace Dent’s full Skof review in The Guardian here.
Lydia Mastrolonardo -
4th May 2026 
