Food & Drink

Gail’s Bakery confirms opening date for Altrincham, with Manchester cafe up next

Gail's Bakery is coming to Trafford this month

Georgina Pellant Georgina Pellant - 15th March 2023

Famous bakery Gail’s has confirmed the opening date for its new cafe in Altrincham as it prepares to open its second bakery in the north of England.

Set to open in the Trafford market town this month, bosses have revealed the new bakery and cafe – famed for its artisan sourdough breads, pastries, sandwiches, and cakes – will open its doors on Shaw’s Road on Monday 27 March.

Already well known and loved by its customers in the south of England, the bakery recently opened its first northern site in nearby Wilmslow. Now, it’s gearing up to open in Altrincham with a third site planned for Manchester later this year.

The Altrincham bakery will open on Shaw’s Road, trading from 7am-7pm daily, followed by an opening on King Street in Manchester city centre later this year.

Image: Gail’s Bakery
Image: Gail’s Bakery

The bakery group already has strong ties with Manchester, having run its sister wholesale bakery The Bread Factory – which supplies bread to some of Manchester’s premium restaurants, cafes and bars – in Openshaw since 2017.

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First formed in the early 1990s as a wholesale-only operation, Gail’s opened its first cafe on Hampstead High Street in 2005.

Today the brand has over 70 sites spread across London, Oxford, Brighton and further afield, and is known more as a customer-facing cafe and bakery whilst The Bread Factory continues the company’s original wholesale legacy.

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Gail’s CEO Tom Molnar told The Manc: “What an amazing city Manchester is, I mean it’s so creative – I’d love London to be as creative as Manchester is.

Image: Gail’s Bakery
Image: Gail’s Bakery

“We’re really excited about opening up [cafes] in Manchester, we’ve been there for about six years now.”

Gail’s believes in supporting local charities in their neighbourhoods. Their bakery in Openshaw has been supporting FareShare as well as local schools, presenting and teaching students about the benefit of healthier craft bread.

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Read more: Karen’s Diner hit with zero food hygiene rating following inspection

A newly established partnership with Manchester-based EatWellMCR will allow the distribution of any surplus food to those in the region who need it most in Altrincham and the surrounding neighbourhoods.

Featured image – Gail’s Bakery

Food & Drink

Manchester’s popular Winter Beer Festival is back this month and tickets are only £5

Emily Sergeant Emily Sergeant

Fancy sipping on a pint in cosy place? Hard to say no.

Once the hustle and bustle of the festive season dies down, there’s often not a great deal to look forward to in January. But luckily, Manchester has got you covered, as the now-legendary Winter Beer Festival is back by popular demand for 2026, moving from its original home at GRUB to its sister site of Fairfield Social Club.

Tickets are already on sale, if you’re keen to kick off your new year with a pint or two.

The social hub is known for hosting a wide range of cultural events and rotating food and drink vendor pop-ups all year round, but this month is perfect excuse to pay a visit, as this year’s Winter Beer Festival will take place across three days.

The Winter Beer Festival gives beer lovers the chance can sip creations from some of the best local breweries.

Running from Thursday 22 – Sunday 24 January 2026, you can expect there to be plenty of local brews to taste test over the course of the four-day festival – with loads of pop-up brewery bars and more than 30 guest taps too.

Abyss, Brew York, GlassHouse, Pastore, and Vault City are just some of the breweries you can sample tipples from.

If you’re not the biggest beer fan, you can also expect a street food, mulled cider and other winter warmers, and lots of other events over the extended weekend.

Fancy it then? Tickets for the GRUB Winter Beer Festival 2026 are now on sale, setting you back just £5 plus a small booking fee across all three days – with a limited number of tickets available on the door too.

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Tickets include entry to the festival, access to the full range of beers – including all the brewery bars and guest taps – a branded WBF glass to take home with you afterwards, and FREE optional entry to any of the entertainment events taking place during your session too.

Grab tickets on the Fairfield Social Club website here.

Featured Image – FSC

Food & Drink

‘F***cia mi’: Conni’s new Manc pizza bar and bakery is looking to lock down the lunch spot game

Danny Jones Danny Jones

Yes, local favourites Conni’s Focacceria are well underway for 2026 with their latest venue, and besides nailing unreal Neapolitan scran like they always have, these guys are looking to be THE place to go for those on their dinner hour in Manchester – and then some.

After years of serving Salford and popping up at various events in the city centre and beyond, such as the annual Festa Italiana celebrations, Conni’s has a new home at the base of Collier’s Yard in the Greengate area.

Now looking not only to dish out their unbelievable focaccia recipe but also other baked goods and desserts, they’ve now decked themselves out with a full brunch menu that can be made bottomless too, as well as other light bites, drinks and authentic dishes from morning till night.

Aiming to be bigger, better, bolder and louder than ever this year, Conni’s over in Unit 4 at 12 Bankside Boulevard has every intention of becoming the next lunchtime hotspot and winning you over to stay there for hours and/or come back in the evening.

The star of the show – besides the ever-frenetic foodie frontman, Francesco, himself – is their now increasingly popular panuozzo.

Like a fine wine, their recipe only seems to have gotten better with age, and with Naples-rooted Manc adoptee ‘Frankie’ tossing the freshly made pizza dough right then and there in the clean and stylish new shop before baking it rapidly in their oven,

Whether you want a full ‘pie’, a classic Napoli slice or their trademark authentic twist on the pizza-inspired but still focaccia-esque sandwich, this is quite simply some of the nicest, most perfectly crispy and perfectly blistered yet soft on the inside carbage you’ll ever stick in your mouth.

The variety of flavours had us almost literally salivating all over their shiny new floor, from the highly traditional mortadella, pesto rocket and fior di latte, to the smoked salmon with lemon ricotta and capers, we almost yelped reading the new menu at one point.

Meanwhile, their antipasti, charcuterie, salads and well-honed pizza varieties, rather fittingly, it’s their absolute bread and butter. Absolutely no notes.

conni's focacceria opens new location
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Credit: The Manc Eats

And then there’s Mama Conni’s (Concetta, if you want to be all formal about it) famous pasta dishes; busy experimenting in the open pass whilst we filmed, she whipped us up a quick portion of a simple but hearty and super satisfying pasta e patate. Yes, pasta and potatoes in sauce, and it was great.

Born out of the ‘cucina povera’ culture, i.e. poor kitchens simply putting out straightforward, affordable but nevertheless delicious food of the people, it was rich, creamy and perfectly filling.

It’s not exactly a revelation to state that Italian‘s like to ensure a full belly, but what we will say is that these guys do make you feel like a guest invited not only into their dining room but in full view and well within earshot of their little slice of chaos.

Francesco joked that they told his dad to crack on in the back, as he was “even crazier” than anyone else working for them, but one thing we really do love is that this place is a family-led independent through and through.

And we don’t just mean those born with the same surname…

Be it his best mates helping out behind the counter or coming in to sample the most recent iterations on the meals we’re sure they’ve had hundreds of times, to nearby residents being welcomed in as regulars, their idea of family is about building a wider community and making them feel like one of your own.

There are some big characters behind this incredible indie business that shows no signs of slowing down, arguably none more so than ‘r Frank, but one of the biggest compliments that we can give to any hospitality venue is when you can feel that it’s a team with real personalities all pulling together.

It’s that classic thing of those contributing to help this place become something greater than the sum of its parts.

Conni’s Pizza Bar and Bakery is proper song and dance, quite literally, that also happens to be delivering consistently brilliant food and drink; it’s fast, fun and noisy but in the most charming way, plus it feels like they’ve invited customers to buy into the whole package. In fact, that’s exactly what they’ve done.

Anyway, we’re off to try another type of panuozzo and see exactly where it ranks on our list of Manchester’s best butties.

Where to find the best sandwiches in Manchester city centre and beyond

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Featured Images — The Manc Group

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