August has arrived, and with it, we’ve unearthed some cracking Manchester restaurant and bar deals.
Plenty of local bars seem to be capitalising on the terrible weather we’ve been having by launching rain-specific happy hours, and the proliferation of 50% off dining deals doesn’t seem to have slowed down at all.
There is also a pub in Salford giving its diners the chance to win £72,000 worth of prizes when they dine from its £22 set menu this month that is well worth a look-in.
Keep reading to discover the best dining deals and drink offers in Manchester this August.
50% off food and drink – Manchester August dining deals
Image: The Bay Horse
Image: The Firehouse
Corbieres
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The offer: Free pizza
T&Cs: Free pizza when you buy a drink, every Tuesday to Friday from 4-7pm
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Disorder
The offer: 50% off bottles of prosecco, 50p wings
T&Cs: Drinks offer only available when it’s pouring down with rain. Say ‘If it rains, it pours’ at the bar to get the deal. 50p wings every Wednesday.
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Ducie Street Warehouse
The offer: £5.55 selected drinks and dishes
T&Cs: Available Monday to Thursday from 5 to 5.55pm.
Elnecot
The offer: Soup and sandwich £8
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T&Cs: Available Monday to Friday, 11am to 3pm.
Italiana Fifty Five
The offer: 50% off food
T&Cs: Available Sunday to Thursday throughout August, booking required.
La Bandera
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The offer: 50% off food
T&Cs: Mondays and Tuesdays, maximum six per booking. Booking required.
Muse Uppermill
The offer: 50% off the menu*
T&Cs: *some exclusions apply. Available every Thursday
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On The Hush
The offer: 50% off food
T&Cs: Available to walk-ins 12pm to 2pm, Thursday and Friday
The offer: Three small plates £17.50, five for £27.50
T&Cs: Available Wednesday to Saturday, 4 to 10pm.
El Gato Negro
The offer: Three dishes for £18
T&Cs: Available Monday to Friday 12 to 4pm, all day Sunday.
Exhibition
The offer: A dish and a drink for £10
T&Cs: Available Wednesday to Friday, 12 to 4pm.
Habas
The offer: Main, side and a drink for £15.
T&Cs: Available Tuesday to Friday, 12 to 5pm.
Hawksmoor
The offer: Two courses for £26, £15 steak and frites ‘strike offer.
T&Cs: Set menu available for reservations made Monday-Saturday until 6.30pm and all day Sunday. Steak and frites offer applies whenever there is a rail strike (book quoting ‘strike steak’).
Henry C
The offer: £5 negronis (from a choice of ten)
T&Cs: Available Thursdays 4pm-late.
Juice Box
The offer: £5 negronis
T&Cs: All day every day, 12-10pm.
Our Neighbourhood Bar
The offer: 30% off pizza
T&Cs: Available every Monday in August
The Black Friar
The offer: Two courses for £22
T&Cs: Available from a set menu all day Monday, 12 to 6pm Tuesday-Friday. Walk-ins and bookings welcome
The Famous Crown
The offer: Four bar snacks for £22
T&Cs: Available throughout August.
The Jane Eyre Ancoats
The offer: £7 cocktails, £30 house wine with two snacks, £8 classic cocktails on Sundays
T&Cs: Tues – Thurs 3 to 6pm ongoing, every Thursday throughout summer, Sundays from 6pm.
The Jane Eyre Chorlton
The offer: Lunch menu 3 for £15
T&Cs: Tuesday to Friday, 12 to 5pm.
Public
The offer: £4 pints and wine, £6 daiquiris
T&Cs: Available only when it’s raining, weekdays until 8pm.
Santé
The offer: £15 for 3 small plates or tapas
T&Cs: Available weekly, starting from 4pm Tuesdays and finishing at 5pm Fridays.
Featured image – The Manc Eats
Eats
‘We were so lucky to have it’ – Has Manchester’s hospo scene reached a dangerous tipping point?
Danny Jones
Greater Manchester’s hospitality sector is calling for change and better support, both for the local community and the UK government, following the latest raft of closures.
Various well-known independent businesses have closed in the first quarter of 2026 across the city centre, let alone the numerous others across the ten boroughs over the past year or so.
In truth, this worrying trend has been going on for much longer than the last 12 months, and it seems that it’s not just new openings that are most at risk of closing before they can even get going, but now well-established regional institutions are struggling to stay afloat.
Case in point, our oldest Turkish restaurant – which had been serving central Manchester for nearly half a century – Topkapi Palace, has now closed seemingly for good.
A recent addition to the city centre itself, French-Vietnamese cafe and restaurant Doux Chaton wrote on social media: “This is genuinely so sad to see. Topkapi Palace is part of Manchester’s fabric. Running an independent spot is no joke — it takes everything.
“If we keep letting places like this go, we lose more than food; we lose culture, history, identity. Please support your local independents where you can. It matters more than ever – our representatives need to support our community not only regionally but nationally.”
They went on to tag the likes of Mayor Andy Burnham, Chancellor Rachel Reeves and others to call for crucial intervention sooner rather than later.
For some, it’s unfortunately already too late.
Currently, their Stockport in Hazel Grove looks to be remaining open, but we’ve seen this story before; Almost Famous, Seven Brothers, Greens, and SO many others have sadly had to shut up most, if not all, of their locations.
As of this May, we’ve already had to say goodbye to the likes of Topkapi, KAJI, Climat and House of Fu; Project Halcyon, Örme, the long-standing TNQ, the first-ever Northern Simmons site, a branch of Banyan, just to name an unlucky few.
This is just heartbreaking. We can’t carry on with either this PM or Chancellor. Both need stepping to one side and allowing others mop up their disaster of a tenure.
And that’s just the ones that shut down in the first few months of this calendar year; 2025 was a gut-wrenching year for the food and drink industry, with indies all over the region and beyond having to fight tooth and nail to stay open for even just a few days of weekly trade.
Almost just as concerning has been some of the behaviour by some patrons, even here in our own city.
From more than one or two reports of people walking out on their bills, people even nicking the most petty stuff, such as decorations and bar’s cushions, to a troubling number of no-shows that don’t just mean one less reservation – it can mean the next person missing out on a seat and people losing money.
Another nearby native commented: “I honestly think Manchester is on a tipping point for many people – what was ‘old’ Manchester, which many of us loved, is being slowly erased by the new. People here are saying basically ‘use it or lose it’.
“Fair enough, but there’s very little spare money about, and I hear lots of people saying they don’t go into town for the day to spend that money shopping and for a meal or treat-day because they don’t ‘recognise the place’.”
They go on to add: “Most importantly, they often say they don’t like Manchester now. The towers that are shoved in places where you could see daylight and there was space to walk and breathe are overwhelming.
“I’m not being reactionary – I love New Islington and Cutting Room Square, etc., but NQ has lost its grit, and I find Deansgate really soulless and depressing when once I used to go out every night after work for drinks, and go in every month with the family on a Saturday for culture, shop and a meal.
“No more. Love Manchester, but I’m not in love with it anymore. Topkapi was great once, and it’s sad it’s gone.” A passionate appeal, indeed.
It goes without saying that rising energy bills, untenable business rates, rent, and a general cost of living crisis mean that people simply don’t have enough money to go out for tea, treat themselves to a drink in a nice bar, or even just go to the pub as often as they once did.
We’re by no means experts, but it’s easy for all to see that something needs to be done and fast, as we’d like to avoid seeing any more of our hard-working Manc favourites falling by the wayside and joining the list of those that we’re still mourning to this day.
A Withington boozer has been named ‘Pub of the Year’ in South Manchester for 2026
Danny Jones
A pub in Withington has just been named the best pub in the South Manchester area for 2026, as the area continues to back CAMRA and proper boozers.
It’s not the first time they’ve picked up this kind of gong either.
Technically, it’s picked up the award for ‘Pub of the Year for Stockport and South Manchester’, but the venue itself sits on the edge of Withy and the outskirts of Fallowfield.
Operated by legendary local business, Hydes Brewery, they claim the trophy after having just missed out on the top spot in 2025, coming second behind The Crown in Heaton Mersey.
Not this time, though, as the Hydes pub located along Wilmslow Road won this year’s prize by some distance, in fact.
The Salford-born beer makers obviously have lots of sites all over Greater Manchester, many of whom regularly pick up monthly Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) awards – not to mention collecting a fair few annual ones – The Vic in Withington is one thought to have been long overdue for the grand prize.
Beloved by regulars and other nearby residents in and around the borough alike, the local community believe this place to be much more than just another watering hole.
For example, it’s been celebrated for its diversity and grassroots work throughout the area, with the team receiving praise for their extensive charitable efforts, such as with the Mero’s World Foundation.
The organisation was established by native Manc mum, Kelly Brown, in memory of her son Rhamero West, who was tragically stabbed to death in Manchester in 2021 at the age of 16; the charity aims to combat knife crime and support youth in the community through various initiatives.
As for The Vic, they’ve helped support the cause for many years, raising vital funds through their New Year’s Eve ticket sales, raffles, and with the management team taking on multiple athletic and endurance challenges on behalf of the cause.
Put simply, husband and wife landlords, Alyson and Paul Mitchell, are absolute legends.
Commenting on the win, Alyson said in a statement: “We’re so proud to win this award, and it is a real honour to be named the best pub in the region by CAMRA. We love what we do, but we couldn’t do it without our amazing team and the incredible support and top-quality ales we receive from Hydes.
“The Victoria is a truly special place for us, and we genuinely have the best customers you could ask for, from students to our local regulars. Winning this year after coming so close previously proves that our collective hard work has really paid off.”
Aside from serving a regular lineup of five or five Hydes cask beers, showing all the games on the box, and generally becoming a bit of a cornerstone of the community, Vic customers also helped raise £1,000 for the Withington Civic Society to install a much-needed community defibrillator outside the premises.
These are the kinds of things we want to hear happening in public houses across the ten boroughs, and it’s yet another instance of South Manchester, specifically, enjoying its moment in the sud-soaked sun.
Georgina Pellant -
5th August 2023 
