One of Manchester’s favourite food halls has just been named the best in the whole of the UK, beating competition from the likes of London, Bristol and Sheffield.
Praised for its ‘exceptional’ food, Mackie Mayor – housed in an 1858 Grade II-listed building that was once a part of the bustling Smithfield Market area – was name-checked by global travel site, Big 7 Travel, and hospitality specialists Enjoy Travel.
Originally used as a meat market, the building ran into disrepair during the 1970s before reopening as a food hall in 2017.
Today, it is home to some heavenly food traders including Mexican foodies Pico’s, New Wave Ramen, Honest Crust sourdough pizza, Tender Cow, Chilli B Thai and Mumma’s Fried Chicken.
Tommy Fury recently popped into Tender Cow at Picturedrome (owned and run by the same team as Mackie Mayor) for a celebratory burger post-fight. / Image: Tender Cow
Eagle St Coffee is the newest trader at Mackie Mayor, taking over from Lancashire-based Atkinson’s Coffee who moved out in January 2023. / Image: Eagle St Coffee
On top of that, it also houses the Reserve wine shop, BlackJack Brewtap’s award-winning beer and cider shop Jack in the Box, and Eagle Street Coffee – the latter a relatively new addition after Mackie’s longstanding coffee trader Atkinsons Coffee closed its cafe in January.
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Also appearing on the list in top 10 positions are Manchester food halls Altrincham Market House (no surprise really considering it is run by the same team as Mackie Mayor) and Society in fourth and eighth place. Eataly in London, meanwhile, scooped second place.
Liverpool’s Baltic Market ranked at number 5, with Sheffield’s Cutlery Works coming in at third place.
In order to create the ranking, venues were rated on a number of factors including their range of cuisines, selection of vendors, unique and special events, and overall atmosphere.
Mackie Mayor is described as “one of Mancheester’s most popular spots”, “crammed full of top-notch food and drink vendors […] with space for at least 500 people”.
However, the list also name-checks former food traders Fin fish bar and Baohouse. neither of which feature at Mackie Mayor any longer.
Feature image – The Manc Eats
Manchester
Everything you need to know about St. Patrick’s Day at Mulligans, Manchester’s biggest Irish party
Danny Jones
With Manchester’s deep-rooted connections to Ireland, St. Patrick’s Day in the city centre is one of the biggest parties of the year, so it only makes sense that thousands spend it at the ultimate Irish bar: Mulligans.
And no, we’re not exaggerating; hordes of punters pass through this pub over the full Paddy’s Day weekend, which this year lands on a Monday, but you’ll still see countless people filing in and out of the place from Friday onwards.
Considered by many as Deansgate’s crowning glory, this legendary venue is a pure gold-grade bar serving the best Guinness outside of Ireland. It’s a reputation we don’t need to bang on about too much, they built it up themselves over so many years that you’ll all have heard it by now.
While Manchester has some of the best Irish pubs around beyond those you’ll find in the Emerald Isle (yes, we firmly believe that), you won’t find anywhere in town putting on quite as big a St. Patrick’s Day celebration as Mulligans. Here’s what they’ve got on offer:
Paddy’s Day at Mulligans of Deansgate
Well, the obvious place to start is with what’s behind the bar, i.e. lots of whiskeys, lager, spirits and, of course, they’ve got the best Guinness in Manchester – scratch that, the ‘best outside of Ireland.’
Mulligans averages 13,000 pints of ‘The Black Stuff’ every week and they’re expecting to pour well over 4,000 pints of the stuff from their total 24 taps on Paddy’s Day alone, each as perfect as the last.
So, what time is the party getting underway? The answer is obviously all weekend as many people may not have booked Monday, 17 March off itself but, for those who have, they’ll be opening from 11am.
However, we hope we don’t need to tell you that there’ll be queuing from the crack of dawn, so the earlier you get there the better. It’ll cost you £20 to get in, by the way, so have your card/cash ready.
For context, we got there 10:30 a couple of years back and still weren’t guaranteed to get in, we just waited patiently and prayed to St. Patrick himself.
As for what time they’ll be closing on Monday, Mulligans is staying open until 1:30am as more than 1,200 guests are expected to visit the pub throughout the course of the day.
Entertainment
One thing that Mulligans is famous besides the obvious rivers of black gold and good craic is virtually non-stop live music throughout the week and Paddy’s Day is no different.
Instead, they try and cram as much of it into 24 hours as possible.
Now featuring two floors for the first time on Ireland’s national holiday, there is set to be an incredible lineup of eight different live bands performing throughout the day, playing everything from classic Irish reels and covers to get you up and dancing, as well as plenty Manc anthems to play to the home crowd.
2025 also marks the first St. Patrick’s Day at Mulligans to make us of the recently renovated first floor, which has seen the pub more than double in size, and the capacity along with it.
The expanded space, complete with timber-beamed vaulted ceilings, a mezzanine-level performance area and two brand-new bars, sets the stage for an unforgettable day and night of high-energy live indie bands, while Irish folk tunes will fill the downstairs.
Between the beloved exposed brick walls, cosy snugs, Guinness memorabilia galore as well as room to dance a proper auld jig upstairs and down, it won’t just be Mulligans at its very best but akin to being in the heart of Dublin itself for the big day.
Plus, since it’s a bunch bigger now, you stand an extra chance of getting in – or at least less time spent in the queue with all the other die-hards.
We often get people asking why all the faff surrounding Mulligans and all we can say is if you haven’t been before, you’ll only really know once you’ve been.
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Pádraig Brady, owner of Mulligans, said: “St. Patrick’s Day is always special at Mulligans, but this year will be extra special with the new space upstairs.
“We have gone above and beyond to provide an extensive live music schedule that will guarantee an unbeatable atmosphere all weekend. And – as always – we’ll have measures in place to make sure every single pint of Guinness served is nothing short of exceptional.”
There’s no booking and no advance ticket purchase available either; everyone lines up the same and is guaranteed the same unbelievable night. Trust us, it’s worth the wait. But don’t worry if you’d rather skip the queueing and try somewhere else, there’s still plenty of good Guinness to be found in the city centre.
Manchester Pride 2025 line-up announced, with headline performances from Olly Alexander and Leigh-Anne
Daisy Jackson
Manchester Pride has revealed its 2025 line-up and headliners ahead of the city’s huge LGBTQ+ celebration.
Set to take place, a usual, over the August bank holiday weekend, this year’s live entertainment features headline slots for Olly Alexander, Leigh-Anne, and Billy Porter.
The line-up is packed with LGBTQ+ icons and allies once again as summer’s event calendar heats up.
This year’s Manchester Pride festival will take place between Friday 22 and Monday 25 August, culminating in the candlelit vigil at Sackville Gardens.
Topping the bill this year is Brit Award winner and Years and Years frontman Olly Alexander, along with multi-platinum pop star Leigh-Anne, of Little Mix fame, and Hollywood superstar Billy Porter.
Also announced by Manchester Pride today are special guests including Tulisa, Big Freedia, Sonique and Louisa Johnson, Jodie Harsh, and multi-award winning cabaret artist, Danny Beard with The Danny Beard Show.
Manchester Pride has also worked with community collectives to commission a number of immersive shows, including House of MCR, which will bring together dance, singing, lip-syncing and fashion.
Kulture Cabaret will be a celebration of queer South Asian and Middle Eastern performers, and Queenz: Drag me to the disco will feature during the bank holiday celebrations.
Bongo’s Bingo will kick off the Manchester Pride celebrations each day.
This is all part of the first-ever line-up for the brand new Mardi Gras event, which will take place on the Saturday and Sunday and has an ambition to better represent marginalised communities such as trans, non-binary, and queer local talent.
The Gay Village Party will be back in Manchester Pride’s spiritual home from Friday 22 to Monday 25 August, featuring Samantha Mumba, B*Witched and Sister Sledge featuring Kathy Sledge – with more still to be announced.
These performances will be across two stages, the Alan Turing stage and the Indoor Arena, alongside a funfair, market stalls, and pop-up food vendors, plus Ginny Lemon’s Dog Show.
Mark Fletcher, CEO at Manchester Pride, said: “Manchester Pride is the city’s celebration of LGBTQ+ life and culture and each year we’re challenged to respond to the diverse needs of our communities.
“Working closely with LGBTQ+ groups and collectives from Greater Manchester we’ve been able to respond to the needs of our communities in presenting a queer focussed, intentional line up of performers who will elevate and lend their support to the rich bed of LGBTQ+ performers that this city has to offer.
“With the introduction of the new Mardi Gras event we needed to make sure that we stayed true to what Pride is about in this city.
“Our communities were clear that they wanted to see LGBTQ+ performers front and centre and we’re thrilled to announce a line up which serves.
“With so many stages available across the two live music based events we’re confident that there’s something for everyone; whether that be multi platinum selling pop artists, drag queen royalty or ballroom fierceness that you can expect to see at the special House of MCR Show.”
Manchester Pride 2025 line-up
Friday 22 August
Gay Village Party
Samantha Mumba
Saturday 23 August
Mardi Gras
Leigh-Anne // Billy Porter
Special Guest: Big Freedia
Gok Wan // Sonique // Booty Luv // Joshua James // Bestley
The Danny Beard Show // Dean Mccullough’s Pop Machine // Bongo’s Bingo
Queenz: Drag Me To The Disco // Black Pride Mcr // Runway X Banksie
Georgina Pellant -
16th March 2023 
