Manchester’s Deaf Institute is giving out free burgers this weekend– and all you have to do to get your hands on one is buy yourself a pint.
The Grosvenor Street bar is teaming up with The Koffee Pot’s sister brand DD’s for the promotion – with burger chefs taking over the kitchen and slinging out free patties on Friday and Saturday (June 5 & 6).
The offer applies to any beer and any burger, be that a breakfast version or a full-on all-day brioche.
All DD’s patties are ground fresh each morning using 35-day aged Aberdeen Angus and Herefordshire rib-eye steak trim from Littlewoods butchers. They’re also served pink unless requested otherwise.
Choices include classics like the cheeseburger, bacon cheeseburger and ‘blue burger’ – a mix of beef crumbled with Shropshire blue, streaky bacon and veal jus onions.
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There’s also a vegan burger, comprised of vegan patty, garlic mayo, heritage tomatoes, lettuce and vegan brioche, and a Reuben which mixes together salt beef, DD”s patty, Swiss cheese, thousand island sauce, pickles and sauerkraut.
Free burgers will be available on a first-come-first-served basis, with 50 up for grabs each day.
A long-standing student favourite with the city’s student community, The Deaf Institute is the sort of place you fall in love with as an undergraduate and still find yourself going to a decade later.
Just as popular with lecturers and PHD students as it is fresh-faced first years, it’s an iconic Manchester spot – lauded for its tasty scran and underground music nights in equal measure.
The purchase stopped the loss of a huge number of jobs and saved staff from being plunged into uncertainty in the middle of the pandemic.
Deaf officially reopened in May after being closed for over a year – so go and show them some support. And get that free DD’s burger down you.
Food & Drink
Northern Quarter favourite Pie and Ale has sadly closed down
Danny Jones
Beloved Northern Quarter eatery and pub Pie and Ale has sadly and quietly closed its doors this week in yet another gutting bit of news for the Manc hospitality sector.
Known for its legendary homemade pies, great selections of ales, craft beers and lagers, not to mention a great little pub when it comes to watching live sport, it’s long been considered an NQ institution.
Unfortunately, however, as confirmed by a sign posted in the window, Pie and Ale has now closed for business after more than a decade.
Safe to say, we’re absolutely gutted, as we’re sure everyone else is.
Credit: The Manc Eats
While no official announcement has been made on their social media as yet, which will no doubt receive love and sadness from its loyal following, the sign in the window simply reads: “Pie and Ale has unfortunately ceased trading. Apologies for any inconvenience.”
The local favourite which was always hailed for being great value for money – celebrated especially for its popular pie and a pint for under a tenner deal – also served up great nibbles and light bites as well as dessert specials.
Although the Lever Street spot previously shut down for a short spell back in 2018 due to what they labelled as “unforeseen circumstances” before reopening just two months later, this latest update looks pretty definitive.
Sister-site Bakerie also ceased trading back in April 2019, with husband and wife founders, Alyson Doocey and David Cook, admitting that all independents had been “feeling the squeeze”.
While we have few other details at this stage, it does look like Pie and Ale has indeed closed down for the foreseeable future.
A mainstay on our list of the best pies in Manchester since day dot and just the latest in the list of losses in 2024 so far, they will be sorely missed.
We sincerely hope this is like last time and will keep our fingers crossed that we see the pie pros and expert pourers back in business at some point.
You can get FREE cookies at this ‘munchie exchange’ in Manchester on Saturday
Emily Sergeant
You can get your hands on free cookies in exchange for other unopened snack foods at a popular Manchester park this weekend.
That’s right, this Saturday is 4/20… and if you don’t know what that means, just Google it.
In a bid to mark the global event, Insomnia Cookies has decided to “spark up excitement” with it’s calling its most “blazing” offer yet.
The cult late-night bakery – which has two sites here in Manchester city centre, on Cross Street inside the Royal Exchange and off University Green, as well as a newly-opened shop in Fallowfield – has aptly-named the event the ‘Munchie Exchange’, and is inviting foodie fans down to a popular park in Fallowfield for some freebies.
You can get FREE cookies at this ‘munchie exchange’ in Manchester on Saturday / Credit: The Manc Group | Insomnia Cookies UK
Set to be hosted across “the green green grasses” of Platt Fields Park on Saturday 20 April, the company‘s dedicated pop-up will offer laid-back Mancs the chance to upgrade their snacks with a one-of-a-kind deal.
All 4/20 celebrators will need to do is bring unopened, non-perishable snacks either to the Platt Fields pop-up, or any of the other three Insomnia Cookies stores in Manchester on the day, and exchange them for a freshly-baked warm and delicious cookie – and no, no that kind of cookie.
The munchie trade-up isn’t only a treat for your taste buds either, as every snack collected will be donated to local Manchester foodbanks.
Beyond the exchange, there’ll also be a ‘secret’ 4/20 offer that’s available for one day only too, and it means you can get yourself a box of four classic cookies for only £4.20 when you head to any of the three Insomnia Cookies stores in Manchester and say “I’ve got the munchies” to the cookie crews serving them to redeem.
“We’re all about bringing joy and deliciousness to our fans, and will be serving up in Platt Fields Park for one-day only,” commented Millie Ralston, who is the Senior Marketing Manager at Insomnia Cookies, ahead of this Saturday’s event.
Georgina Pellant -
2nd June 2021 
