The hangover is biting, you’ve got a thirst you can’t quite quench, your sugar levels are dipping – what you need is cold, fizzy, liquid sugar.
Imagine, now, popping in to an ordinary-looking corner shop, expecting to grab a Lucozade or maybe a Fanta, and being greeted by something beyond your wildest dreams.
A wall of soft drinks in just about every imaginable flavour, like Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory, but for pop.
This isn’t a weird gimmicky hipster hangout though.
Manchester Mini Market. Credit: The Manc Group
It’s just a standard corner shop that’s quietly developed a niche and a massive following.
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The Manchester Mini Market is on Oldham Street, just off Piccadilly Gardens.
Past its Coca-Cola-red facade and the ATM poking out of the wall, beyond the wall of scratch cards, and you’ll find a glowing wall of cold drinks.
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There’s an entire range of energy drinks, flavours of 7up and Fanta we’ve literally never seen before, and a full spectrum of Vimto.
The wall of Coke at Manchester Mini Market. Credit: The Manc Group
And despite many of the drinks being imported at Manchester Mini Market, they’re not sold at inflated prices like some of the American sweet shops tend to do.
There’s fizzy Ribena, Tizer, Capri Sun and Oasis.
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Strawberry Coke, vanilla Coke, lime Coke, and all its siblings.
There’s a selection of cans inspired by Chupa Chups lollies, with flavours like grape, strawberry and melon.
You’ll find a Mojito 7up from France and a Vietnamese sasparilla Fanta that’s vaguely similar to root beer.
You want a Tango? What about a dark berry one, or a strawberry watermelon flavour?
These are new! Credit: The Manc Group
There are even some of the pink mystery flavour Fantas if you want to play a game of what-the-hell-am-I-drinking.
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And energy drink fans can raid Monsters in pacific punch and mango loco, Rubicon Raws in pomegranate, mango and blueberry, and a massive range of Relentless cans.
Honestly, The Manc staff dash in here every week and we’re always surprised by new drinks to try.
What a gem.
Featured image: The Manc Group
Food & Drink
Viral juice brand Joe & The Juice makes a BIG return to Manchester
Daisy Jackson
Popular coffee shop Joe & The Juice is making a grand return to Manchester, taking on a huge unit in the city centre.
The Danish-based business is famed for its juices, shakes, and sandwiches, including its best-seller, the Tunacado.
Joe & The Juice used to be based within Debenhams in Manchester, but moved out of town when the retailer collapsed.
Now it’s back, signing a 10-year lease on a 2,685 sq ft unit at Manchester Arndale, in the former EE store.
With more than 300 juice bars and coffee shops around the world, Joe & The Juice’s pink branding has become a familiar site globally since its launch in 2002.
It’ll be joining the likes of Michael’s Coffee House, HOP Vietnamese, Sides, Creams, Black Sheep Coffee and Lazy Sundae in the Manchester Arndale’s ever-growing food and drink line-up.
Scott Linard, Portfolio Manager for M&G Real Estate, said: “It is great to welcome Joe & The Juice back to Manchester city centre.
“They have built a brand which has become synonymous with meeting spots across UK towns and cities, so we expect them to thrive at Manchester Arndale thanks to our close proximity to city centre businesses and students keen to catch up over a bite to eat.
“Joe & The Juice adds to our already strong F&B mix as we strive to create a full day out experience for visitors to Manchester Arndale.”
Steve Gray, Head of European Retail Asset Management at Global Mutual, added: “Joe & The Juice selecting Manchester Arndale for its city centre return highlights the continued demand we are seeing from international F&B and retail brands for space at the centre.
“Having a mix of established and growing brands helps to ensure Manchester Arndale continues to be an attractive destination for visitors and allows us to draw in shoppers from across the North West.”
Matcha latteInside Joe & The Juice ManchesterThe limited-edition steak sandwich The Green Shield juiceJoe & The Juice on Cross Street, ManchesterThe Green Shield juice and a steak sandwichInside Joe & The Juice ManchesterA fruit juiceCredit: The Manc Group
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.
Daisy Jackson -
18th February 2022 
