News
Northern Quarter institution Black Dog Ballroom quietly closes its doors for good
The NQ mainstay has officially shut.
Danny Jones -
9th January 2024 
Long-standing Northern Quarter bar Black Dog Ballroom has sadly and quietly closed for business after a decade and a half as one of Manchester’s favourite nightlife hotspots.
The rumblings of the Black Dog’s closure slipped somewhat under the radar but were all but confirmed when the city centre bar and pool hall’s website updated to simply read: “Black Dog Ballroom is now closed“.
Black Dog hadn’t posted on social media in a number of weeks, the last post being shared via Instagram on 13 December which simply invited patrons in for happy hour and food until late — Smash and Dash Burgers being their most recent food pop-up.
Black Dog Ballroom is yet to issue a response addressing the closure but the venue has also now been marked as “permanently closed” on Google.
Opened back in 2009 by local entrepreneurs Ross Mackenzie and Jobe Ferguson of The Liars Club, it sat on the corner of Church Street as a cult favourite among Manchester’s bar culture for the best part of 15 years.
The business was ultimately sold to fellow NQ bar boss Andy Haygarth and former Black Dog area manager Matt Robson in 2018 who currently run the NQ64 sites around Manchester.
To our knowledge, the Ballroom’s sister site on Whitworth Street, Dog Bowl, will thankfully be staying open but fans of both venues will no doubt be saddened by the news of the OG calling it a day.
We know we certainly are.
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As a mainstay in the city centre for so long, we’ll be sad to see it go. Questions also now linger over its in-house and industry-only speakeasy bar Sherlock’s and whether it will also close or relocate elsewhere.
Sadly, this is by no means the only hospitality closure of late either, with the likes of the similarly beloved Nothern Quarter bar and restaurant, Cottonopolis, also ceasing trade at the start of the year.
Gone but not forgotten.
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