Food & Drink

Look inside Greater Manchester’s huge new street food venue, opening VERY soon

Big moves in the old Debenhams site

Daisy Jackson Daisy Jackson - 15th November 2026

There’s not long to go until a massive new street food venue opens its doors in Greater Manchester – Stack Wigan is almost ready to launch.

The 2,000-capacity food, drink and entertainment venue is transforming the old Debenhams in Wigan, filling it with six street food kitchens and five bars.

There’ll also be a coffee shop, a pool table area, and an outdoor terrace, plus big screens for major sporting events and a live stage for music throughout the week.

Stack Wigan will be the latest addition to Greater Manchester’s street food scene, with the same company also taking over the much-loved former Hatch site on Oxford Road.

With the doors to Stack Wigan set to open this month, they’ve now confirmed the full street food line-up, with Pattersons, Acropolis, ZZA Pizzeria, Tikka Bros, Smash House and Hello Oriental all joining the venue.

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Tikka Bros will be a familiar name to most from Wigan, having opened its first outlet in the town centre before expanding to Southport Market – in this new site, they’ll serve fresh, tandoor-cooked dishes.

Smash House will bring smash burgers, while Pattersons will be serving their famous fried chicken (with Exorcist sauce, if you can handle it).

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Stack Wigan opens in November
Stack Wigan opens in November
Stack Wigan has taken over the old Debenhams site
Stack Wigan has taken over the old Debenhams site

Manchester’s Hello Oriental will also be expanding to Stack Wigan, with a menu from across South East Asia; Acropolis will be on hand with chicken gyros in fluffy Greek pitta; and ZZA Pizzeria (a firm favourite at existing Stack venues) will serve stonebaked pizzas.

The opening will be transforming one of the largest units in Wigan, and will create around 140 jobs.

Gemma Dishman, Director of Strategy and Development at STACK, said: “Independent street food is a big part of what makes STACK special, and we’ve brought together a strong mix of local talent and well-established food operators for Wigan.

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“Each brings something different to the line-up, giving customers plenty of choice and the opportunity to discover new flavours alongside their favourites.

“Bringing the former Debenhams back to life is about more than filling an empty building. We’re creating a place where people can come together for food, live entertainment and shared experiences, giving them more reasons to spend time in Wigan town centre.

“We’re looking forward to welcoming everyone this November.”

Mike Matthews, Centre Manager at Grand Arcade, said: “STACK will significantly expand the food offer at Grand Arcade, adding six street food kitchens alongside our existing coffee shops.

“It gives shoppers much more choice when stopping for lunch or meeting friends, encouraging them to spend longer in the centre and supporting our retailers. With its own evening opening hours, STACK will also bring activity to Grand Arcade beyond the shopping day.

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“Securing a new use for a unit of this scale is a significant milestone for Grand Arcade. STACK complements our retail offer and reflects our focus on developing a carefully curated mix of shops and leisure that responds to how people want to use the centre.”

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Featured image: Stack Wigan

Food & Drink

A festival dedicated to cheese is coming to Manchester next week

Daisy Jackson Daisy Jackson

A cheese festival will be launching in Manchester next week, where you can samples cheese, eat cheesy specials from food vendors, and drink some great beers too.

The newly-announced Cheese Fest, which plans to be an annual festival, will bring together eight different cheesemakers, top local food traders, and a beloved Manchester brewery.

And what would cheese be without pickles? Holly Pickles, who runs Pickle Fest and Track’s Pickle Club, will be on hand with the perfect accompaniments.

Cheese Fest has been set up by The Crafty Cheeseman, and all for a very good cause, raising money to support the vital work of The Christie.

Jonathan Pearcey, aka The Crafty Cheeseman himself, was diagnosed with an extremely rare form of cancer back in 2024, and has been receiving treatment at The Christie.

It’s not the first time he’s set up a fundraiser for the charity, but he’s hoping that Cheese Fest will grow bigger and bigger every year, with vendors all donating a portion of their takings to The Christie Charity.

As well as having the chance to sample, buy, and learn about different cheeses from eight producers, you can feast on cheese toasties from Fred’s, and pizzas from Slice Culture.

The event will be taking place next weekend at Track Brewery’s home near Manchester Piccadilly – so you’ll also have some of the city’s best beers on hand to pair with your cheese.

Jonathan said: “Okay, so, huge news. We are launching, in collaboration with the beautiful Track Brewery, a cheese festival in Manchester. 

Slice Culture will have pizza specials for the Cheese Festival
Slice Culture will have pizza specials for the Cheese Festival
Track Brewery will host Cheese Fest
Track Brewery will host Cheese Fest

“Now as far as I’m aware there’s not been one before, or not for a long time, it’s something that I’ve been desperate to do, Track Brewery are the most wonderful people to be doing it with. 

“We are doing it on the 22nd November, it’ll be 12 til 5, there’ll be cheese producers there to talk to you about the cheese, you’ll be able to taste their cheese, and more importantly, buy their cheese. 

“There’ll be food vendors there doing awesome cheese specials, we will also have obviously all the extra bits you need with cheese – there’ll be someone doing pickles, there’ll be bread. You know, this is about celebrating the wonderful thing that is cheese.”

He added: “The biggest part of this for me is that we are doing it in collaboration with The Christie Charity. As a lot of you know, the journey I’m going through it’s The Christie who treats me, I’ve done previous things to raise money for charity and Track have been amazing getting behind me with this.

“I think it’s super important to try and support places like The Christie as much as we can, which is why all the vendors will be donating a portion of what we take to The Christie.”

Announcing the event online, The Crafty Cheeseman posted: “Please come down and support this cheesy event as where else can you eat and buy cheese whilst donating to charity.”

Cheese Fest will take place at Track Brewery on Sunday 22 November, from 12pm until 5pm.

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Featured image: The Manc Group

Food & Drink

Inside Chinatown’s enormous new three-storey restaurant, with futuristic karaoke booths

Daisy Jackson Daisy Jackson Sovereign Clouds, Manchester's new Chinese restaurant and karaoke bar

A gigantic three-storey restaurant and karaoke bar has just opened its doors in Chinatown in Manchester.

Sovereign Clouds is the newest addition to one of the city’s most beloved and ever-evolving neighbourhoods, taking over a sizeable building on Faulkner Street that’s been vacant for 10 years.

Inside the 1,000 sq metre space, you’ll find a glittering restaurant adorned with marble and gold, where you can tuck into a massive menu of dim sum and traditional dishes.

One floor up and you’ll find yourself surrounded by live lobster tanks and the massive kitchen, alongside several flexible private dining spaces.

And up on the top floor are the most futuristic karaoke rooms in town, where you can customise lights, LED ceilings, and even sing through an autotune microphone.

Three roast meats from Sovereign Clouds
Three roast meats from Sovereign Clouds
Delicious dim sum
Delicious dim sum
Authentic Chinese cooking from Sovereign Clouds
Authentic Chinese cooking from Sovereign Clouds
Black Gold Lava Buns with salted custard filling
Black Gold Lava Buns with salted custard filling
The massive Sovereign Clouds restaurant
The massive Sovereign Clouds restaurant

On the menu you’ll find tonnes of steamed dim sum, stir fries, traditional claypot stews, roast meats, and loads more.

There’s seafood like stir-fried lobster with salted egg yolk, and traditional Cantonese steamed grouper; a whole section for abalone (advance orders only) including braised goose feet and fish maw; and a good selection of spicy Sichuan dishes.

The chefs here also have an impressive array of Chinese roast meats, like Peking crispy duck, pork belly, and char siu, as well as three roast meats with rice.

Futuristic karaoke rooms
Futuristic karaoke rooms
The main restaurant at Sovereign Clouds
The main restaurant at Sovereign Clouds
Futuristic karaoke rooms
Futuristic karaoke rooms

And that’s alongside ingredients you don’t find on a lot of menus in Manchester, like jellyfish, tripe, and century eggs.

It’s all led by Terry Ni, who has been behind the popular Dynasty Chinese and Thai takeaway in Timperley for more than a decade, and has spent years transforming this empty old building into one of Chinatown’s most glittering restaurants.

Come for dinner, stay for a turn on the karaoke upstairs, and tell everyone – Sovereign Clouds is a fantastic addition to Manchester.

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Featured image: The Manc Group

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