A new bar has opened underneath a shopping arcade in Bolton, taking over the former home of the town’s infamous Oasis-inspired venue Definitely Maybe.
New pink and green cocktail den Upside Down has just moved into the underground unit in Mawdsley Street, which has sat empty since Bolton’s own Gallagher brothers Paul and Mark decided to up sticks and move their hit bar into a bigger home nearby.
Promising to bring the ‘boujee’ cocktail bar atmosphere of Manchester out to Bolton, co-owner Sinclair Little revealed that he has secured a late license so that Upside Down can serve drinks until 4.30am.
There will also be some live music at the venue as well as drag acts and tribute acts, but Sinclair insists he doesn’t want to compete with Definitely Maybe.
Rather, guests can expect a playlist of feel-good ‘cheesy’ hits from over the decades as well as old school R&B.
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Sinclair, who is opening the bar with his partner Rebecca Smith, told the Manchester Evening News: “We may go down the clubby route a bit later on but early doors, it will be more of a boujee cocktail bar.
“Every now and again we’ll have some live music but we don’t want to really compete with Definitely Maybe and places like that.”
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He continued: ” “We want a Manchester quality bar, where instead of people getting a taxi there, they’ll want to come here instead. If we brought you in here with a blindfold on and took it off, you wouldn’t know that you was in Bolton.”
Drinks-wise, alongside crowd pleasers like pornstar martinis and zombies Upside Down is also serving a signature cocktail named after the bar.
The Upside Down, made with raspberry vodka, blue curacao, lemon sour, bitters and pineapple juice, puts a twist on a classic French martini – a cocktail first invented in the 1980s at one of Keith McNally’s New York City bars.
Other intriguing signatures at Upside Down include the Terry’s Chocolate Orange Delight (triple sec, Baileys, creme de cacao white, and espresso), and Hubba Bubba Baby (gin, bubble gum syrup, blue curacao, cranberry juice, and lemonade).
As for that all-important Instagram photo opportunity, owners have already installed flower walls inside the pink and green-themed cocktail bar and plan to add a swing further down the line.
Open from 8pm beneath St Andrews Court shopping centre, to find out more about Upside Down head over to its Instagram page here.
Feature image – Upside Down
Eats
Bundobust is giving away free beer after ’embarrassing mess-up’ – on one condition
Daisy Jackson
Bundobust has hit the free beer klaxon again, giving away hundreds of pints next week after a ‘real mess-up’.
The beloved Indian street food brand, which has two sites in Manchester as well as its OG restaurant over in Leeds, shared a statement that says ‘Well this is embarrassing’.
Bundobust has revealed it had planned a huge free pint giveaway for National Beer Day on Monday…
Except National Beer Day isn’t actually until June. They were looking at the American calendar, the silly sausages.
But not one to throw a good marketing stunt away, Bundobust has decided to crack on with its free beer giveaway as planned, on one condition – you must order in an American accent.
The restaurant will be handing out hundreds of free pints of its own Bundobust Brewery beer on Monday 7 April.
Just pop in with a friend, and any time one of you orders a beer and wishes them a ‘Happy National Beer Day’ (don’t forget the accent) you get a free beer for you and your mate.
Bundobust said: “Well this is embarrassing. We’ve really messed up this time.
“For weeks now, we’ve been planning to give away hundreds of FREE PINTS of Bundobust Brewery beer this National Beer Day, Monday 7th April.
Bundobust is giving away free beers after ’embarrassing mess-up’. Credit: The Manc Group
“All you’d have to do is bring a friend in, any time one of you got a Bundobust Brewery beer and wishes us “Happy National Beer Day” you’d get your beer PLUS a free one to give to your mate.
“So simple. So elegant! Only one problem though. Monday 7th April is National Beer Day in America. Ours is 15th June.
“We don’t want to wait that long though!! Also we’ve already programmed the “free beer for a mate” button into the till, which takes a good 5 minutes, so we’re going to go ahead with it this Monday 7th April!
“There’s one catch though: you have to do an American accent when you say “Happy National Beer Day”. Deal? See y’all on Monday, pardner.”
Their cock-up is our win – free beer deal is available at all Bundobust sites from 12pm on Monday.
One of Manchester’s best-loved independent cafes is coming to Bolton
Danny Jones
A much-loved independent Manchester cafe is heading out of the city centre for the first time as they plan to open a brand new premises over in Bolton.
Bolton as a town and wider borough has no shortage of cosy little caffs, but the addition of this latest place for a brew, butty and a bake is sure to be an instant hit just as it was in Ancoats.
To call Cafe Cotton a cult favourite would be grossly understating things at this point: the Blossom St spot tucked into Hallé St Peter’s is not only a beautiful space inside but looks out onto Manchester’s trendy and ever-bustling Cutting Room Square, making it a great place to sit with a coffee.
With that in mind, as they prepare to open their third location further out towards Lancashire, Boltonians have every reason to be very excited.
Cafe Cotton is coming to a town in Bolton. (Credit: The Manc Group)
The indie success story began way back in 2013, if you can believe that, serving sandwiches, sweet treats and more to the Manc masses.
Oh yeah, they also do bloody brilliant coffee that’s considered some of the best in the city.
Opening another venue on the ground floor of Neptune Mill in neighbouring Piccadilly East just this past January, the expansion of the brand has been a relatively steady one despite more than a decade of loyal patrons and new customers becoming each year.
However, good things come to those who wait, as we’re sure the Bolton natives will vouch for when the next Cafe Cotton opens up in Farnworth Green.
The opening date might still be up in the air, but here’s a little glimpse at the kind of goodness they can expect to enjoy:
The new addition is part of the overall Farnworth regeneration project, which is being headed up by investors Capital and Centric, who are famously responsible for numerous new developments in and around Manchester in recent years. Over £20 million has been set aside for the wider plans.
Cotton Cafe’s founder, Chris Griffith, said of the soon-to-open site: “We’ve been on an amazing journey growing Cotton, and we’re incredibly grateful for the loyal following we’ve cultivated. Now, Farnworth Green feels like the perfect next step.
“This isn’t just about opening another café; it’s about investing in a community. The bakery is a big move for us too, allowing us to craft everything from scratch and supply all our locations with freshly made goods.
“We’re also buzzing to team up with Bolton Council to offer apprenticeships, helping young people take their first step into the industry.” The authority itself is actually looking for a project lead as we speak.
Is this the start of a big period of change for Bolton?
Georgina Pellant -
13th March 2023 
