For those who are willing to look, Manchester has quite a lot of hidden and ‘secret’ bars to explore.
From prohibition-style cocktail dens, to tiny brewery taprooms, arcade-themed hideouts and grimy dive bars, we’ve got a fair bit of variety going on too.
That said, not all are created equal – especially if these new rankings from The Bottle Club are to be believed.
The online drinks seller has conducted a study ranking the UK’s hidden and secret bars by a number of factors such as secrecy, creativity, cocktail range, cost and Google ratings, and three in Manchester have come out on top as amongst the ‘most secret’ in the UK.
Image: Wood and Co Image: Wood and Co
According to the new rankings, Manchester bars The Washouse, Wood and Company, and Bunny Jackson’s all rate in the top ten for secret UK bars that have ‘actually stayed secret’ – coming in at numbers four, nine and ten respectively.
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Whilst we can definitely get on board with Wood and Company and The Washouse’s inclusions (yes, the latter does have a sign, but it also has a relatively convincing laundrette front and some incredible cocktails), we’re not entirely sure that Bunny’s counts – or that it would even consider itself a secret bar, to be honest.
According to the site, it seems that the American-style dive bar on First Street has mostly been included for its lack of social media presence – ranking tenth with just 2,728 followers. Surprising, actually, as it’s nearly always packed in there (and their content is pretty hilairious).
One of the imaginative cocktails on the menu at The Washhouse, a ‘Soft Brex-fast’ made with cocopop vodka, chocolate and honey liqueurs with vanilla foam / Image: The Washhouse Image: Bunny Jacksons
Still, If that’s all the criteria you need to become one of the UK’s most ‘secret’ bars, we can think of a few more in Manchester that should maybe be added to this list too.
Alongside the ‘most secret’ list, The Bottle Club has also published a top 20 ‘most mysterious’ list, which rings a little bit more true.
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Manchester has five entrants in the top twenty here, with two of them – namely Science and Industry and The Daisy – even making it into the top ten.
Image: Science and Industry
Science and Industry, the secret ‘bar within a bar’ cocktail laboratory on the first floor of Cane and Grain, comes in at a respectable number seven, whilst following close behind at number eight is The Daisy – a former members-only club beneath Evelyn’s now open to all those in the know.
Wood and Co, Bunny Jackson’s and The Washouse all appear again, coming in at 14, 15 and 20.
All great bars, all deserving of a visit, but – dare we say it again – not all exactly ‘secret’ or ‘mysterious’.
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Check out the full list of ‘most mysterious’ UK bars from The Bottle Club here.
Feature image – The Washouse / Wood and Co
News
Beloved plant-based independent street food business Herbivorous is set to close imminently
Danny Jones
We hate writing this, but we have news of yet another local hospitality closure as beloved Manchester-born and pioneering plant-based brand Herbivorous has confirmed they’ll soon be calling it a day.
If you can hear us sighing through the screen, apologies – we’re just getting really fed up of saying farewell to our favourites, so god knows how rubbish those involved feel.
As you can see, the team behind the multi-location vegan street food specialists began by writing: “It’s a long one so stay with me… It seems you can’t open social media at the moment without reading about another hospitality business closing down.
“Throughout 8 years of Herbivorous years we’ve come up against many challenges from Covid 5 years ago to watching all the big vegan brands from London and beyond come to Manchester and largely disappear again to the closure of Hatch our busiest site, but with continually increasing costs its becoming really difficult to maintain a thriving business.”
Herbivorous started out life back in 2016 as a cult hit at the old outdoor food, drink and entertainment hub centring around a ‘container village’, the first of its kind in the city and soon to reopen under new owners and a new name.
Since then, co-founders Robyn and Damian have gone on to expand not just to one permanent site over in Withington but with outposts in Sheffield and York, having gained a strong reputation with stalls and pop-ups all over.
Their hospitality story might not have the ending we personally would hope for, but it’s been a brilliant one for so many foodie fans – us lot included.
Nevertheless, they go on to add in the emotional statement that external pressures such as a recent bereavement and their own ever-growing family have also contributed to the decision which, despite being an understandably hard one, “feel like the right time.”
“We are so incredibly proud of how far we’ve come from spending long days slinging duck wraps from our green vintage horse box at festivals to three Herbi locations across the North of England”, they continue, “and with that we’ve also met so many fantastic people!”
“Whether you worked for us at a few festivals over [the] summer or for years at our restaurant, we just wanted to say and massive thank you! The memories will stay with us forever and, of course, how can we not mention our fabulous customers!
“Thank you all so much for choosing Herbivorous over the years. Those of you who had our food at Festivals and then found us at one of our permanent locations, those of you who came back week after week to Hatch, Spark, Withington and beyond.”
They signed off by detailing their final business days, with their Sheffield Kommune spot having already shut for refurbishment; meanwhile, their spot in SPARK York will be wrapping up on Saturday, 19 April.
As for their flagship brick-and-mortar venue here in Greater Manchester, Herbivorous Withington will be shutting on Friday, 25 April.
Once again, there’s nothing we can say other than thank you for years of delicious food, that we’re guttted to see you go, and that everyone at The Manc Group wishes you the best whatever comes next.
AJ Tracey is playing a VERY intimate gig in Manchester next month
Thomas Melia
London rapper and respected grime artist AJ Tracey is ‘live and direct’ once again, announcing a whole host of UK dates, one of which is a rather intimate gig right here in Manchester.
It’s official: one of UK rap’s leading gents is getting back on the road and he’s showing a ‘Little More Love’ to lots of cities, including Manchester.
In a post on the UK star’s socials, AJ Tracey trades his music persona for that of a sports pundit as he announces the dates for his upcoming tour while impersonating an F1 commentator.
Anyone looking to attend Tracey’s ‘Not Even A Tour’ can catch the star up and down the country on his over 20-date tour with a stop in Manchester as soon as this month.
The rapper has reached phenomenal heights since dropping the unforgettable ‘Ladbroke Grove’ in 2019 and is heading out across the nation to make sure everyone knows about it.
Get ready to spit bars left and right as this rapper’s discography is stacked with serious tunes like ‘Dinner Guest’, ‘West Ten’, ‘Thiago Silva’ and more.
More recently, he collaborated with Walsall’s finest Jorja Smith for a flirty garage beat also known as ‘Crush’ with the video being the two artists talking it out in a good old fashioned caff.
The latest collaboration with Smith marks the start of a new era for Mr. Live and direct as it fell in line with the announcement of his third studio album.
Titled Don’t Die Before You’re Dead, we’re sure he’ll be “building a vibe” wherever he goes and probably previewing a few exclusive tracks from his upcoming project too.
This gig may come as quite a surprise for any hardcore fans of the ‘Ladbroke Grove’ star as the venue in which he’s performing is definitely intimate only, holding just over 250 guests.
This rap giant is bringing his unbelievable beats to none other than the legendary small-cap city centre live music venue, The Deaf Institute, at the end of this month.
It’s safe to say you won’t get many more chances, if any, to see him in such a tight-knit space again.
AJ Tracey is bringing ‘Not Even A Tour’ to Deaf Institute in Manchester on 30 April, with tickets on sale Friday 4 April from 12 noon.
Georgina Pellant -
7th January 2022 
