One of Manchester’s most long-standing restaurants, Kosmos Taverna, has permanently closed its doors.
The Greek restaurant in Fallowfield said it had had ’40 successful years’ here but the pandemic has proven too difficult to recover from.
Kosmos Taverna also cited recruitment challenges as a reason for its closure, with many hospitality professionals leaving the industry due to Brexit and nationwide lockdowns.
In a statement posted on their social media pages, the Wilmslow Road restaurant said it had decided ‘now is the right time to say farewell’.
Komos Taverna has been on Wilmslow Road for 40 years. Credit: Google Maps
They wrote: “To all our loyal customers, new and old. It is with a heavy heart we announce that Kosmos Taverna has closed its doors after forty years for its final time.
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“The last few years have been extremely difficult with Covid 19, recruitment challenges and the social change of the area.
“We have had forty successful years with many happy memories and have decided now is the right time to say farewell.
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“Thank you for supporting us, it may not be goodbye forever, watch this space. Loulla, Vasos, Solos and Stefanos x”
Speaking to the Manchester Evening News, owner Loulla Astin added: “I was getting stressed with sleepless nights, it was my health or the Kosmos.
“It’s sad, you know, closing. It’s been 40 years now and it’s been very successful.
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“People are scared to go out, which I don’t blame them (for), but I cannot keep a business afloat.”
Mancs say they’re ‘gutted’ to hear the news, with one Kosmos Taverna customer writing: “So sad to read this. Have been visiting Kosmos for 25 years, we have loved your food and you were a part of many happy celebrations for us.
“Thank you so much for the lovely times (nobody makes garlic mushrooms like you do). Good luck in whatever is next.”
Featured image: Facebook, Kosmos Taverna
News
Trailer released for new romcom Finding Emily set and filmed all across Manchester
Emily Sergeant
The first trailer for a new romcom that’s set and filmed all across Manchester has been released.
The film, titled Finding Emily, tells the story of a lovesick musician, played by Spike Fearn, who meets his dream girl on a night out, but ends up with the wrong phone number, and so teams up with a driven psychology student, played by Angourie Rice, in a bid to find her.
Together, the unlikely duo spark a hilarious campus-wide frenzy that tests their own hearts and ambitions along the way.
The film – which is directed by Alicia MacDonald, and based on a screenplay written by Rachel Hirons – is produced by Working Title Films, is set in the fictional Manchester City University, and is due to be distributed by Focus Features and Universal Pictures across the UK and internationally this spring.
The talented ensemble cast groups together big names like Minnie Driver with rising stars like Ella Maisy Purvis, Yali Topal Margalith, and Kat Ronney, as well as other established actors including Timothy Innes and Nadia Parkes.
Filming took place in Manchester between August and September 2024.
The two and a half-minute trailer has been shared with the world today, and when we say it’s a Manc film, we mean it… we quite literally lost count of how many of our city’s famous locations can be spotted in just the trailer alone.
The trailer has been released for new romcom Finding Emily set and filmed in Manchester / Credit: Universal Pictures & Focus Features (via YouTube)
There’s everything from Manchester Central Library and Piccadilly Records, to Canal Street and the Gay Village, the Northern Quarter, the Crown & Kettle pub in Ancoats, and even the Emmeline Pankhurst statue in St Peter’s Square featured for all to see, alongside what’ll, presumably, be dozens of other famous locations.
Oh, and not to mention, if you keep your eyes peeled when watching the trailer, you can even see a small clip of Stockport band Blossoms playing a gig in there too.
Finding Emily is set to be released in cinemas across the UK on 22 May, before it debuts in the US on 28 August.
Featured Image – Matt Squire / Focus Features
News
Man jailed following series of ‘violent’ knife attacks in Wigan town centre last summer
Emily Sergeant
A man has been sentenced this week following a series of ‘violent’ knife attacks in Wigan town centre last summer.
Charles McMurray, of Satchel Close in Wigan, appeared at Bolton Crown Court yesterday where he pleaded guilty to multiple counts of Section 18 wounding with intent, threatening a person with a bladed article, and threats to kill following a distressing incident in Wigan town centre last summer.
The court heard that McMurray arrived on Wallgate at around 6:33am on 9 August 2025 before entering a taxi office, where he stabbed two men without warning.
The victims fled, and McMurray pursued them towards the town centre.
McMurray then went on to threaten a passer‑by at Wigan bus station and held a knife to the man’s stomach. A short time later, he located the injured victims on Standishgate and assaulted one of them again. Following that assault, he chased after another member of the public with the knife shouting that he was going to kill him.
Greater Manchester Police (GMP) officers arrived shortly after 6:50am and found McMurray in possession of the knife, before he was subsequently quickly arrested at the scene.
McMurray has now been sentenced to nine years and nine months behind bars, which police say is a ‘testament to the brave victims’ who gave their accounts.
Speaking following McMurray’s sentencing this week, Detective Constable Harris from Wigan CID, who led the investigation, said: “This was an entirely unprovoked attack which left multiple victims requiring hospital treatment. McMurray is a dangerous and violent offender who is now safely behind bars.
“Knives have no place on our streets, and we hope today’s sentence shows just how seriously we take knife crime. Our communities should feel safe where they live and work, and we are committed to tackling knife crime to ensure no family has to face their loved ones being harmed.
“It is a testament to the brave victims who not only endured this attack but had the courage to provide detailed accounts together with the impact this has had on them, that we have been able to ensure McMurray has been brought to justice.”
Daisy Jackson -
22nd December 2021 
