Six of Manchester’s cult-favourite restaurants have beat out stiff UK-wide competition to scoop prestigious awards.
It’s official… the results of the 2024 Deliveroo Restaurant Awards are in, and six of our city’s most-popular and best-loved eateries have been announced as claiming coveted prizes, after the food delivery service’s loyal customers voted with their hearts – and stomachs – for their favourite local establishments.
Deliveroo‘s annual Restaurant Awards honour the best independent food businesses across the UK and Ireland, with everything from local burger joints, to neighbourhood sushi restaurants, and all the dishes, cuisines, and flavours in-between celebrated.
Slap & Pickle, Double Zero Pizzeria, and Mughli are among the local restaurants in Manchester that fought off competitors across the North and Midlands to take a title.
Six cult Manchester restaurants have scooped prestigious Deliveroo awards / Credit: The Manc Group
Gourmet burger restaurant, Slap & Pickle, takes home the top regional gong as ‘Independent Restaurant of the Year North of England & Midlands 2024’ after fans casted their votes online to help decide the winners.
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Then, a further five restaurants were recognised in the region’s best cuisine awards – with winners including Burgerism for ‘Best Burger & American’, and Unagi Street Food & Sushi for ‘Best Japanese’.
A total of 60 honours were up for grabs in this year’s Awards.
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Over 66,000 votes were cast by hungry Deliveroo users over a two-week period to crown all the cuisine-led winners, from ‘Best Thai’ and ‘Best Burger’, to ‘Best Pizza’, ‘Best Chicken’, and beyond.
Each local eatery beat stiff competition to clinch their coveted titles / Credit: The Manc Group
James Tabor, who is owner of Slap & Pickle – which is based in Manchester city centre street food hall, Society – called his businesses’ win an “incredible start” to the year, and said he is “absolutely thrilled” to take the 2024 title.
He added: “We’ve been proudly serving our burgers to communities across the North since 2018, and we are grateful for our loyal customers and partners – like Deliveroo – who have helped us on our journey, so this win and recognition means the world.
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“As we continue to expand and seek new adventures across the UK, you never know where we’ll be popping up next.”
The Manchester winners in the Deliveroo Restaurant Awards 2024 are:
Independent Restaurant of the Year North of England & Midlands 2024: Slap & Pickle
Best Burger & American in North of England & Midlands: Burgerism
Slap & Pickle, Double Zero, and Mughli are among the Manchester winners / Credit: The Manc Group
As all the 2024 winners were announced today, Deliveroo’s founder and CEO, Will Shu, commented: “I say it every year, but the standard of finalists and winners for this year’s Restaurant Awards has been incredible, and i’ve had the pleasure of meeting a number of restaurant owners to hear about their stories, food, and the positive impact they’ve had on their local communities.
“We are proud to partner with such an brilliant array of dedicated restaurants to deliver food from around the world to doorsteps across the UK and Ireland.
Mongrel – New taproom and pizzeria set to move into the former Street Urchin site
Daisy Jackson
A brand new taproom, coffee shop and pizzeria concept has announced plans to move into Ancoats.
Mongrel will come from the same team behind Crust, a much-raved-about pizza joint that operated off a Stockport industrial estate until earlier this year.
They’ve now confirmed they have their sights set on the city centre, specially the magnificent corner unit that was previously home to the beloved Street Urchin.
Street Urchin suddenly closed earlier this year after co-founder and head chef Kevin suffered a heart attack, leaving them ‘unable to continue as a business’.
Rachel Choudhary, Kevin’s partner and co-founder of the neighbourhood restaurant, wrote at the time that they were ‘heartbroken’ to close the business.
Street Urchin was quietly one of the top restaurants in Ancoats and operated in a market diner fashion, creatively cooking the best catch of the day for an ever-changing menu that honoured each season.
Thankfully, this key corner unit won’t be quiet for much longer, with another local operator now lined up to move in.
Inside Street Urchin before its closure – the site will now become a pizzeria called Mongrel. Credit: The Manc Group
Mongrel has so far shared that it’s set to be a ‘coffee shop, pizza place and taproom, all under one roof’.
Upon closing Crust in Stockport they confirmed this will be ‘a huge step up from the Crüst you know and love’.
They posted on Instagram: “Thanks to everyone who’s popped down over the last year. We’re eternally grateful for the support from our fantastic customers, and will look back on this period with huge gratitude.
“It’s with great sadness that we announce our departure from Stockport. We know this will come as a disappointment to our Crüst family – we haven’t made this decision lightly.
“We have been looking for a new premesis in Stockport for a while, however after multiple applications going nowhere, we have finally found a new home in Manchester City Center!
“Our new home will be a huge step up from the Crüst you know and love… We can’t to reveal what’s to come!
Mongrel is set to open its taproom and pizzeria on Great Ancoats Street, in the former Street Urchin site, in November.
Wet Leg announce huge outdoor gig in Manchester as part of landmark live dates
Clementine Hall
Isle of Wight five-piece Wet Leg have announced their biggest headline shows to date, announcing a trio of huge outdoor gigs, including one right here in Manchester at Castlefield Bowl.
The multi-award-winning indie and alt outfit rose to fame back in 2022 with iconic tracks like Chaise Longue and Wet Dream, packing out stages at Glastonbury not long after releasing their critically acclaimed debut album.
Becoming their second consecutive number one in just as many attempts, moisturizer, is equally as fun and fabulous as the first – we cannot wait to hear it live in these.
Comprised of two lead singers in Rhian Teasdale and Hester Chambers, Ellis Durand on bass, drummer Henry Holmes and guitarist Joshua Mobaraki, this lot can make plenty of noise.
And as you can see, to make things even better, they’ll be joined by Leeds’ very own English Teacher as the main support act at each one of the landmarks shows.
As for their down south show, they’ll also be playing Alexandra Palace Park down in the capital to round out this run of live dates next summer.
It goes without saying that we’re obviously buzzing to see them become the latest name on the lineup for the 2026 Sounds of the City series, with a hometown hero also joining the ranks as of this month:
Wet Leg are in good company when they rock up to Castlefield Bowl.
Set to play the Bowl on Wednesday, 8 July, before heading to Leeds and then London for consecutive nights, we’re sure you’ll see them playing tonnes more big stages throughout festival season.
Tickets for all three of Wet Leg’s confirmed dates for 2026 go on sale this Friday, 31 October from 9:30am, and you can get ready to grab yours HERE.
We reckon this one will be a real ticket scramble, so we wouldn’t mess about if you want to bag yourself a ticket; in fact, given that all of their live shows this year sold out, we know it will…
Emily Sergeant -
21st February 2024 
