We know the new year has just landed, but already we’ve plenty of new restaurant and bar openings to look forward to in Manchester.
Following on from the opening of a new Jane Eyre restaurant and bar in Chorlton in December, this January we see a few more additions in the suburb – including a cosy new neighbourhood cocktail bar from the Tariff & Dale team and the arrival of delicious vegan dumplings at 99 Reasons.
Elsewhere there are several new taprooms to look forward to, a new bar and kitchen in the Northern Quarter, stuffed bao at Circle Square, plus the promise of more new openings around the corner in the form of Higher Ground, Treehouse Hotel and more in early 2023.
Keep reading to see where to put on your list this month.
97, Chorlton
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Image: 97
Image: 97
A cosy new neighbourhood cocktail bar from the team behind The Lead Station and Tariff & Dale, 97 is expected to open on Chorlton’s Beech Road at the end of January.
With room for just 35 covers, drinks will combine innovation and progressive mixology with legendary classics, offering signature serves alongside timeless classics with a twist.
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TBC
Desert Island Dumplings, Chorlton
Having just completed a residency at Ancoats General Store, vegan eatery Desert Island Dumplings has revealed plans to take over the kitchen at 99 Reasons Chorlton this January.
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With a tempting salt and pepper margarita dumpling sharer on the cards, for those thinking they might do dry January this is enough to make you cancel your vow (or so we hear).
Open now
Disorder, Northern Quarter
Image: Disorder
The burger is made with beef and black pudding, the team call it ‘the Manc-hi topped with Japanese mustard mayo and apple Sause’ / Image: Disorder
Opened by Stockport friends Sam and James inside the old Walrus venue (more recently Man With The Fish), Disorder is tipped to open at 78 – 88 High Street at the end of January.
Its ground floor will host an eatery with Asian-inspired street food alongside lagers and sour beers from around the world, whilst below ground the bar will offer more of a speakeasy, dive bar feel with live music from bands, DJs and rap artists.
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On the menu, Japanese sandos will be given a twist with the addition of black pudding whilst cocktails include an Asian-inspired Japanese slipper.
When popular taproom Beer Nouveau announced its closure in 2022 drinkers were sad to see it go indeed, so we expect many will be delighted to hear the space is being brought back to life under new ownership.
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Now set to be known as Temperance Street Brewery & Tap, owner Katie Sutton – who also works full time in the NHS but fell in love with beer thanks to encouragement from her CAMRA stalwart father Dave Hannan – will initially open the bar on Fridays and Saturdays with support from Matt Gibson of Temperance Street Cider.
Open now
North Taproom
Image: North Taproom
Image: Little Bao Boy
With eighteen different keg lines, one cask, plus cocktails on tap and stuffed bao from Leeds favourite Little Bao Boy, we’re very excited for the arrival of North Taproom in Manchester.
Opening at Circle Square this month, North Taproom will see popular beers from its core line poured alongside an ever-changing line-up of beers, wines, cocktails, ciders, and spirits.
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North Taproom will feature 24 draught lines, including eighteen lines of keg beer and one cask, all pouring North’s ever-evolving range of classic beers, specials and collabs with seating for 100 inside and 30 outside.
TBC
Feature image – North Taproom
Eats
Man replicates Manchester pizza restaurant’s loo in his own home
Daisy Jackson
A man has fallen so in love with the loos at a Manchester pizza restaurant that he’s recreated it in his own home.
Yep, while most of us spend our time trawling Pinterest or Instagram for our interiors inspiration, local Matt Hatt got his inspo on a trip to the toilet in town.
He was so obsessed with Nell’s vibrant orange bathroom interiors that he’s now created his very own cookie cutter version in his own house.
And Nell’s has been so impressed, they’ve even got stuck in to lend a hand with the finishing touches.
We are totally on board with Matt’s appreciation for a good restaurant loo – you can spend all the money in the world fitting out a dining room, but it really can fall apart if you head to a toilet with a wonky seat or a door that doesn’t shut or hideous fluorescent lighting.
Thankfully you don’t find too many of those around town these days.
From the ultra-luxury bogs around Spinningfields to the cheeky nude-covered toilets in the Northern Quarter, Manchester has a load of brilliant restaurant loos to explore.
The loos at Nell’s Pizza in Manchester. Credit: Nell’sMatt Hatt’s recreation of the Nell’s loo in his own home. Credit: Instagram @hattathome
One of the best is Nell’s, the New York-style pizza joint down at Kampus, which is painted a vibrant shade of orange.
Matt has nailed that bright toilet decor in his Victorian home in Manchester, down to the white subway tiles, the rounded wall mirrors, and the globe light fixture.
He even slid into Nell’s DMs to let them know about his project, and they offered to give him a branded pizza box, which Matt framed and hung on the wall.
Sharing his inspiration in a video filmed at Nell’s, Matt said: “If you’ve never been in a men’s toilet before, welcome. This is Nell’s Pizza in Manchester and this is the inspiration for our downstairs loo. Isn’t it fab?
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.
Georgina Pellant -
2nd January 2023 
