It’s an end of an era for the undisputed trailblazers of Manchester’s dirty burger scene.
Almost Famous has confirmed it is closing down its original Northern Quarter site a full decade after it first opened its doors on High Street in 2012.
Back then, the ‘secret’ burger bar offered something distinctly different to diners – an intentional lack of signage, no reservations, and ‘off menu’-only vegetarian items leading only the most committed of burger enthusiasts to venture up those dark stairwells in search of the best buns in town.
Mac and cheese balls, Molotov cocktails, ‘bacon bacon’ and ‘winning’ fries, not to mention those famous loaded burgers drenched in a variety of house-made sauces, all set the tone for a dirty food obsession that would prevail for years to come.
Image: Almost Famous
Trends have moved on, but Almost Famous is still a stalwart on the Manchester burger scene. In that time, it survived a fire, opened a second site in Manchester, and expanded its meaty, cheesy goodness into other cities like Leeds and Liverpool.
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Now, after ten years on the scene, the team has revealed it is gearing up to move out of its original Northern Quarter location to a brand new home – leaving behind the site where it all began for good.
Sharing the news on social media this week, the restaurant said: “ANNOUNCEMENT: I’m like a sherbet dibdab of emotion telling this… AlmostFamousNQ is closing forever at the end of next week.
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Image: Almost Famous
“The legendary hang out where it all began is moving home – thank you all for making it what it was – come say hey, party all week, last one Saturday.”
The restaurant is yet to reveal where it will be moving to, leaving fans to guess as to where the new location could be.
The news has caused an outpouring of love on social media, with one person commenting: “Thanks for the memories! Feels like a lifetime ago”
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Another said: “A part of my heart goes with it”
A third added: “I’m forever grateful for the legends I got to meet working here, especially my best friend and godmother to my daughter, @em_hull I love you babes, may we forever slag off the nutcases we called colleagues xxx”
Image: Almost Famous
Image: Almost Famous
Image: Almost Famous
The news marks a change for the brand, which has also just revealed it will be teaming up with Bowling Alley chain Lane7 to offer its famous burgers at their Bristol and Leicester sites.
However, The Manc has had confirmation that Almost Famous will not be moving into the Lane7 site at Great Northern Warehouse.
Jenn Quinn, Marketing at Almost Famous, said in a statement: “Manchester burger lovers, fear not, as Almost Famous will continue to serve your favourite, super juicy dripping, no nonsense burgers from our venue at Great Northern Warehouse.
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“Almost Famous is also proud to now operate from within Lane7 in Leicester and Bristol.
The announcement also follows news shared last week that Beautiful Drinks, the company behind Almost Famous, will also be permanently closing down its Home Sweet Home restaurant on Edge Street.
Almost Famous NQ will close its doors this Saturday 23 July after one final service.
Feature image – Google
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Details released of Andy Burnham’s meetings with Manchester City owners while Mayor
Emily Sergeant
Details of Andy Burnham’s meetings with Manchester City owners during his tenure as Mayor of Greater Manchester have been released.
In case you need bringing up to speed on the situation a little first, Manchester City was found guilty back in September all of its charges related to the Premier League’s financial rules over a nine-season period, and on top of that, was also found guilty of the majority of charges in relation to its failure to co-operate with the League’s investigation.
According to the Premier League, the independent Commission found that Manchester City had arranged so-called ‘sham’ commercial deals with a number of its sponsors.
These were part of a disguised funding scheme – with those sponsors only required to pay a portion of the relevant sponsorship fees.
The remainder was then funded by Abu Dhabi United Group Investment & Development Ltd (ADUG), which owned the club.
The Commission also concluded, as quoted by the Premier League, that the club had ‘made concerted efforts to stop and frustrate the Premier League investigation’.
Within the past week or so, it has since come to light that now-Prime Minister Andy Burnham had dealings with Manchester City during his tenure as Greater Manchester Mayor, and Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) has now issued a public statement, giving details on the matter and what these ‘dealings’ entailed.
A spokesperson for GMCA confirmed that Burnham had a ‘formal meeting’ with Man City Chairman, Khaldoon Al Mubarak, back in October 2021.
The statement reads in full: “In October 2021, Andy Burnham, in his role as Mayor of Greater Manchester, had a formal meeting with Khaldoon Al Mubarak at the UK Government’s Global Investment Summit arranged by the Department for International Trade.
“In his capacity as Mayor, he was a guest of Manchester City FC at home matches on a small number of occasions, including attending Vincent Kompany’s testimonial match in September 2019, where he met the Chairman informally in the stands. These have been declared in the usual way.
“Also during his time as Mayor, representatives of Greater Manchester sporting clubs would routinely join business delegations as part of Mayoral international visits.
“This included representatives from Manchester United travelling to Austin and Dublin, Lancashire Cricket Club joining a delegation to India, and Manchester City FC staff supporting visits to China and Japan.”
Featured Image – Lauren Hurley / Number 10 Downing Street (Press Image via Flickr)
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Multiple arrests made for ‘tragedy chanting’ and police officer assault as Man City defeated Liverpool
Emily Sergeant
Multiple people were arrested over the weekend as Manchester City defeated Liverpool in a Premier League clash.
Merseyside Police have confirmed that a total of 10 people were arrested during the policing operation at Liverpool’s home ground of Anfield as they hosted Manchester City on Sunday 11 October.
One man was arrested on suspicion of assaulting a police constable, five were on suspicion of tragedy chanting, one on suspicion of being drunk and disorderly, two for affray, and one on suspicion of throwing items onto the pitch.
Police are now appealing to the public, and are particularly looking to speak to witnesses of the assault of the officer.
At around 6:35pm, as fans left the stadium, a police officer sustained a ‘serious facial injury’ during the arrest of a man on Anfield Road, and was subsequently taken to hospital for treatment but is now recovering at home.
Investigating officers are now conducting enquiries, speaking to witnesses, and analysing CCTV and camera phone footage.
Chief Inspector Leanne Hobin said it’s ‘extremely disappointing’ that an officer has sustained a serious injury while carrying out their duty.
“I hope the arrests send a clear message and act as a deterrent to others,” Chief Inspector Hobin continued. “Anyone who engages in this abhorrent behaviour risks ending up in custody and getting a criminal record.
“Despite the actions of a few, the overwhelming majority of the 60,000 fans in attendance behaved well and I want to thank them for their co-operation.”
Manchester City ended up defeated Liverpool 3-0 during the Premier League clash at Anfield.
Georgina Pellant -
18th July 2022 
