The new restaurants and bars opening in Manchester this week
Think a new dive bar selling hotdogs in a doughnut dough casing, plus the return of Piazza's burrata-loaded pasta, a new food hall in Sale and loads more
As we roll full steam ahead into Christmas, hospitality is showing no signs of slowing down. The Manchester Christmas markets are in full swing, and there’s a whole host of new restaurants and bars opening their doors in Manchester.
This week, we’ve got plenty to talk about – from a new beer shop by suburban craft heroes The Epicurean, to the return of the burrata-loaded pasta kitchen known simply as Piazza.
Elsewhere, Northern Soul Grilled Cheese’s Church Street home has been transformed into dive bar Dust Dogs and is selling beef and plant-based hot dogs encased in doughnut bread, whilst Sale prepares to welcome its new food hall.
Keep reading to discover our top food and drink picks from the new restaurants and bar openings in Manchester this week.
Burger slingers What’s Your Beef will be a permanent addition to the new Sale Food Hall alongside artisan pizzeria Basilico / Image: What’s Your Beef
Sale Food Hall
Opening this Thursday, November 18, the newest addition to General Store’s popular foodhall concept lands in Sale with artisan pizza from Basilico and oozing smashed patty burgers from What’s Your Beef, plus a stint from Eat Dutch.
ADVERTISEMENT
The mini pancake slingers will be in residence in the pop-up kitchen here throughout November and December bringing a taste of the Christmas markets to Sale’s newest foodie addition.
The new 150-cover food hall replaces the former Groceries and Beer unit, and also includes a bar serving local craft beers, wine and spirits, a coffee shop with a bakery, and a General Store retail space.
ADVERTISEMENT
Find it at Stanley Square, Sale M33 7XZ.
Image: Dust Dogs
Dust Dogs
A new hotdog spot from the team behind Manchester restaurant Northern Soul Grilled Cheese, here at Dust Dogs you’ll find premium quality hotdogs delivered in a dive-bar setting.
Made using either beef or 100% plant-based ingredients, its buns are created using doughnut flour and are all vegan. The team has turned its old Church Street unit into a dive bar and is now slinging out hot dogs and ‘American mouth water’ beers hand over fist.
ADVERTISEMENT
Dogs come drizzled in sauces and a variety of toppings, whilst drinks-wise think craft beers and classic cocktails with a twist. The house signature here is the beerita (yes, that is a margarita topped with beer), but you can also opt for the likes of PBR or Red Stripe.
Find it at Unit 10, 11 Church St, Manchester M4 1PN.Open Wednesday to Sunday, 12 – 10 pm.
Image: The Epicurean Ancoats
The Epicurean
Already a popular neighbourhood go-to for craft beer lovers in the suburbs, with established shops in Didsbury, Chorlton and Heaton Moor, you can now also find The Epicurean in Ancoats as it opens its fourth Manchester site – its first in the city centre.
Inside, you’ll find over 500 beers – including some rare and niche selections – split across nine fridges at the new Henry Street store. Look out for selections from local breweries like Track and Pomona Island alongside international favourites Amundsen, Cassel and Ayinger.
Find it at 5 Henry St, Ancoats, Manchester M4 5DD.
ADVERTISEMENT
Piazza
Founded by the team behind popular Ancoats pizzeria Ciaooo, Manchester restaurant Piazza specialises in pasta dishes – but hasn’t been available at its home in the Arndale Market for a while. Fans of its burrata-loaded pasta dishes will be chuffed to hear it’s returned and is now cooking out of the same kitchen as Ciaooo on Swan Street.
There’s eight different pastas to choose from, including three vegetarian options, with classic choices like pomodoro, carbonara, arrabiato and bolognese listed alongside the likes of ‘abruzzo’ (truffle and mushroom pasta with sausage, burrata and parmesan) and ‘pesto’ (pesto, mushroom, chilli, sundried tomatoes, parmesan, burrata).
Find it at 62-64 Swan Street, Manchester, M4 5JU. Open Tuesday to Thursday (5 – 10 pm), Friday and Saturday (4 – 11 pm), Sunday (1 – 9 pm).
Image: Namii
Namii
Newly opened inside the former Blackhouse Grill site on New York street, new Vietnamese-style Manchester restaurant Namii is serving up traditional favourites like Pho, Bahn Mi, and summer rolls.
The new restaurant and bar also offer twists on classic brunch dishes, and an innovative cocktail menu inspired by Vietnamese mythology and folklore.
ADVERTISEMENT
Find it at New York St, Manchester M1 4HN.
Feature image – Piazza / Namii / Dust Dogs
Eats
There’s a new summer terrace in town with a weekend spritz happy hour
There’s a new summer terrace in Greater Manchester that’s the ideal spot to soak in some rays – and enjoy a few discounted spritzes while you’re there.
Over on Chapel Street – just across the river from Manchester Cathedral – you’ll find Embankment Kitchen, which has opened up its terrace for the season.
This stylish spot is part of the CitySuites aparthotel, and has a menu rooted in the warm spirit of Northern hospitality.
It’s worth a visit all year round for their seasonally-focused, local-as-possible menus, but the summer terrace at Embankment Kitchen is a real added bonus in spring and summer.
And following that spell of absolutely glorious weather, they’re opening up two hours earlier every day too for maximum sun-soaking from 2pm.
At Embankment Kitchen you can tuck into a drinks and nibbles menu from 2pm until 5pm, and Happy Hour drinks deals from 4pm until 7pm.
That means two-for-one cocktails, plus discounted wines, prosecco and beers – an ideal post-work haunt.
Cocktails at Embankment Kitchen in Manchester. Credit: The Manc GroupSmall plates on the Embankment Kitchen terrace. Credit: The Manc Group
It’s usually almost impossible to find a happy hour in Manchester at weekends, but these guys are doing two-for-£12 spritzes every Saturday and Sunday between 12pm and 4pm, with flavours including Aperol, Hugo, and limoncello.
Drinks on the menu include signature cocktails that are inspired by the city’s industrial roots, like The Emmeline, Manchester Exchange (a take on an old fashioned), and the Atomic Zombie, as well as classic cocktails such as an espresso martini, limoncello negroni, amaretto sour, and strawberry daiquiri.
As for nibbles, tuck into treats like garlic bread, edamame beans with smoked salt, garlic and parmesan fries, salt and pepper tater tots, and halloumi fries.
Surrounded by lush plants and gigantic parasols, it’s hard to believe you’re just across the river in Salford when you’re soaking up the sun at Embankment Kitchen. To find out more, head HERE.
A cocktail bar in Manchester city centre that opened only last December has reportedly closed down, with its final service today.
Ego Death, a ‘hidden’ speakeasy-style bar in the Northern Quarter, told CLASS magazine that they were told by backers that they would have to close.
It opened under the steer of acclaimed bartender Cressida Lawlor, co-founded by Beau Myers, who also founded the original Almost Famous.
The bar is beneath newcomer smash burger joint Super Awesome Deluxe and accessed through an unmarked door within the takeaway.
Shortly after Super Awesome Deluxe opened, Almost Famous went through a high-profile closure of all of its restaurants this year, later bought out and reopened by D2.
And now just six months after launch, Ego Death looks set to be closing for good.
Cressida told CLASS: “The team here is wildly talented so the goal now is to get them into jobs so they can pay their bills and keep a roof over their heads.
“No one wants Ego Death to die and I think we’ve made enough of a stir in the six months that we’ve been open to find a new site and investment.
“Our last day is going to be Sunday, so anyone who can get here for one final party should come down.”
She later added on Instagram: “Truly gutting but there is always light in any form of darkness. Come see us this Sunday for the final service as we go through a true ego death.”
Ego Death came from the same team behind Socio Rehab (which if you remember it from 2004 was a bit of a local institution) and had a cocktail menu inspired by the speakeasy bars of New York City.
Behind the bar the stars were bourbon and champagne, plus cocktails inspired by the Big Apple – including one named after Sex and the City’s Samantha Jones.
Beau Myers, co-founder at Ego Death said at the time of its opening: “It’s been 20 years since we opened Socio Rehab so it seems pretty poignant to be opening another amazing cocktail bar. We changed the landscape of cocktail bar culture then and that’s something we’re trying to do again.
“We’ve partnered with Cressida Lawlor to make this dream happen. She’s a total firecracker and reminds me a lot of myself 20 years ago, she’s the future of cocktails and bartending and has that maverick spirit.
“Together we’ve created Ego Death, hidden in a basement behind an unmarked door at the back of a burger shop will be this cocktail haven. An underground escape throwing out the best classic cocktails, bourbon, and champagne from top level bartenders.”
Georgina Pellant -
15th November 2021 
