When it comes to finding a quick lunch in Manchester city centre, you can never go wrong at Pancho’s Burritos.
Nestled into its own very colourful corner of the Arndale food Market (just upwind from our favourite fishmonger), it has been a fixture in this bustling wing of independent food traders since 2010.
A hallowed stop-off for burrito fans in the know, for the past thirteen years chef-owner Enrique Martinez has been dealing in big, fat wraps and tacos stuffed with flavourful slow-cooked meats.
Cochinita pibil (pulled pork marinaded in achiote spices and lime), chicken tinga and beef in chipotle are longstanding favourites, served alongside an array of homemade salsas – all made as they would be in Mexico City using a Volcanic stone called a Molcajete.
A grande burrito at Pancho’s Burritos in the Arndale Market filled with cochinita pibil (pulled pork marinated in lime and achiote spices). / Image: The Manc Eats
A packet of chilli lime ‘fuego’ Mexican Taki crisps, the best selling rolled corn snack in Mexico. / Image: The Manc Eats
Homemade sides and salsas here include Enrique’s special taquero sauce, own-recipe guacamole and XXX Habanero hot sauce. The latter is made using a recipe that has remained unchanged since 2009, and is to be treated with serious caution thanks to his use of fresh Habanero Chilies.
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Other interesting morsels on offer include packets of chilli lime ‘fuego’ Mexican Taki crisps and a tangy portion of nopalitos (cactus leaf salad) – a staple in Mexican cuisine used widely in tacos, salads and stews.
There’s plenty for vegans too, with plant-based fillings choices spanning a vegan chilli, vegan fajita tofu and vegan jackfruit with broad beans in green salsa.
Open from 10.30am in the week and 11am on Sundays, Enrique also serves up a handful of breakfast dishes.
Fans of the stall will know that his 10 inch burrito stuffed with eggs, ham, black beans,cheese and homemade pico de Gallo salsa is just the thing to fix a hangover.
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Priced at £7.50 as part of a breakfast meal deal, you can also secure a coffee, hot chocolate or tea to kick start your day. It’s also available as a quesadilla, but for us the burrito wins hands down every time.
Elsewhere on the menu, you’ll find soft-corn Masa Harina Mexico City tacos stuffed with Mexican red rice, your choice of fillings and Taquero salsa, 12-inch quesadilla ‘Gringas’, and Pancho’s nachos loaded with melted cheese, fresh jalapenos, sour cream, pico de gallo, guacamole and beans.
Add to that Enrique’s freshly-made Mexican flan and a variety of brightly-coloured Jarritos Meixcan soft drinks in flavours like guava and pineapple, and it truly is a lunchtime dream.
Homemade traditional Mexican creme caramel flan at Pancho’s Burritos. / Image: The Manc Eats
Mexico City tacos at Pancho’s Burritos with guava Jarritos. / Image: The Manc Eats
The family-run business has been a fixture in the Arndale for as long as we can remember. Owned by couple Enrique and Collette, the magic all began when the pair met in 2006 whilst Enrique was studying in Manchester.
The pair moved to Mexico for a couple of years, then had the idea of returning to start their own food business in the north of England. Having landed back in the UK in late 2009, their company was quickly formed and in in January 2010 Panchos Burritos opened inside the Arndale Market.
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Enrique grew up on his Mother’s home cooking and the street food of Mexico City, a mixture of tacos, quesdillas, sopes, tortas, enchiladas and Sunday morning markets selling Mixiot – a traditional pit-barbecued meat dish that is very popular in central Mexico.
It’s this heritage that inspires the dishes he cooks up on the market stall every day.
Delivering big flavours for a pretty minimal price, it’s no wonder that this tiny little spot is constantly pulling in big queues at lunchtime.
We recommend heading down early or preparing to queue for a while, it’s always incredibly busy between the hours of 12 and 3 – but entirely worth the wait.
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Being such huge fans of the place, we headed down to grab ourselves a big fat order Enrique’s Meixcan – and we even managed to score a discount code for you to get a tenner off when your order from Pancho’s with Deliveroo.
To see the full menu click here and to find out more about Pancho’s Burritos head over to their Instagram page here.
Oh, and to save on your next Deliveroo order from Pancho’s make sure to use the code 2X5@PANCHOS when you check out (note that the code can be used twice for two £5 savings on separate orders).
Feature image – The Manc Eats
Manchester
A Manchester-based runner has broken an ultramarathon record by running across the desert
Danny Jones
Greater Manchester has a growing obsession with running and endurance events, in particular, did you hear about a locally based runner who’s set the record for legging it across a literal desert?
That’s some ‘Hardest Geezer’ stuff right there.
Yes, whether it’s the likes of the Great MCR Run and October Half, the fully fledged Manchester Marathon, or dare we say it, an extra hard ultra, the region seems to be absolutely chock-full of runners and events these days.
That being said, despite being inspired by countless individuals over the past few years, the feat that has impressed us most this year is the incredible achievement by one man: Alex Welch from Wilmslow.
We’re pretty sure this is the bloke The Pretenders must have been talking about.
Based right here in 0161, by day Alex Welch is employed as a senior cyber security sales specialist at a major European IT services company, SCC, over in Stretford.
However, by both day and night for a full working week late last month, the 29-year-old swapped his computers for a very sturdy pair of running trainers; trail shoes, to be specific, as he trekked across the Namib Desert in Africa.
Stretching more than 2,000 kilometres in total, spanning the reaches of Angola, Namibia and parts of South Africa, the talented distance runner ran approximately 12.5% of that entire landmass over the course of five days.
Broken up into five stages – 50km, 50k, 42k and 22k, as well as a truly brutal 92k day to finish – not only did the indefinable Cheshire-born bloke reach the finish line, but he did so in record time.
Let’s be honest, anyone challenging themselves with the course is clearly an absolute machine, but as seen above and now fully verified, Alex here did so in 24 hours and 27 minutes.
Taking just over a day to complete the entire thing, Alex led every beating everyone else in every single stage and ended up surpassing legendary American ultra runner and now race director Adam Kimble’s time from 2018 by almost 40 whole minutes. Utterly staggering stuff.
Signing up as an official OOSH-sponsored athlete for the event, having only just podiumed at the Ice Ultra round the Arctic Circle back in February, AND the Mountain Ultra across Kyrgyzstan this past June, he’s quite literally ‘endured blistering cold and scorching desert’ (one for Shrek 2 fans, there).
Commenting on the unbelievable achievement, the local lad said: “Namibia was unlike anything I’d ever experienced. The heat was on another level, and every stage demanded absolute focus. To come away with the win – and a course record – is overwhelming.
“After the Arctic and Kyrgyzstan, this was the challenge I had been building towards all season. I’m grateful for everyone who has supported me, particularly my colleagues at SCC who have backed me every step of the way.”
Well done, Alex – we’re off to have a lie down because we’re tired just thinking about what you’ve just done, so hope you’ve at least got a few weeks of relaxation and victory pints lined up. That’s how we toasted our taste of an ultra, anyway…
Manchester’s 2025 Christmas Parade in pictures as tens of thousands turn out for festive event
Emily Sergeant
Tens of thousands of residents flocked to the city centre this past weekend for Manchester’s annual Christmas Parade.
Over the past few years since it first took place in 2022, Manchester Christmas Parade has become a festive favourite with both locals and visitors alike, and with more than 400 participants and performers gracing the city’s main shopping streets this year, it’s really not hard to see why it’s a much-loved fixture in the city’s countdown to Christmas.
Seen by many as the heartwarming event of the festive season, Manchester Christmas Parade was even ‘bigger and better’ than last year’s fantastic crowdpleaser.
Even a drop of the classic Manchester rain didn’t stop play on the day, as the fabulous festive Parade made its way through the packed city streets to the smiles and cheers of all those watching.
Despite the Manchester weather, tens of thousands of you turned out to make Sunday’s Christmas Parade truly magical. 🎅 👼 🥁
A huge thank you to everyone who joined us for the heart-warming event of the season.
“I remember thinking at the end of our fabulous Manchester Christmas Parade last year that we would never be able to top it,” commented Cllr Pat Karney, Manchester City Council’s Christmas spokesperson. “But this year’s parade has been off-the-scale brilliant – it was so much fun and you could see how much all the children loved it.
“The city centre was heaving, it felt like millions of Mancs had turned out for the parade, and what a performance we put on for them.”
The streets were filled with music and laughter this year, as well as the return of Manchester’s very-own Elf Express, complete with VIP passenger Santa hitching a ride on his way to the North Pole, together with his trusty team of elves.
Tens of thousands of people turned out for Manchester Christmas Parade 2025 this past weekend / Credit: Manchester City Council
Not only that, but Nutcracker-inspired toy soldiers also sweept their way through the Parade on segways, alongside a roaming Christmas tree, a pair of gentle giant-sized reindeer, a stunning arctic fox, and Jack Frost himself.
Brand-new for this year will be the fantastic Festive Fantasy Candyland Castle, which stood over three-meters tall and truly was the stuff of fairytales.
“Manchester once again helped make the magic and the memories for a whole generation of families from across the city and beyond,” Cllr Karney concluded.
Georgina Pellant -
6th March 2023 
