Eating, drinking and dancing
We've tracked down the best cafés for people-watching, the bars with the coolest cocktails, the most accomplished restaurants and the liveliest local nightlife in Manchester.
Restaurants
Opus One
Housed in the Radisson Edwardian Hotel, this dramatically theatrical restaurant with high ceilings, red velvet walls, antique gold wall coverings and black crocodile-skin furniture, dishes up modern British food.
Free Trade Hall, Peter Street,
(+44 (0)161 835 8904)
Lounge 10
Between courses at this luxurious Moulin Rouge-esque restaurant, you can have your palm read, relax to the lounge-core musings of the in-house crooner, watch the Latino dancers shimmying among the tables, or check out the erotic art on the walls.
10 Tib Lane
(+44 (0)161 834 1331)
Living Room
Stars of Street and pitch gather here for the quality menu, bar snacks and classic cocktails, this place has character despite being part of a chain.
80 Deansgate
(+44 (0)161 832 0083)
The Restaurant Bar and Grill
The downstairs bar and popular, contemporary first-floor restaurant with an Italian-inspired menu are linked by a stunning suspended staircase.
14 John Dalton Street
(+44 (0)161 839 1999)
Room
This restaurant serves up a very contemporary take on classic English dishes from the 1970s; the antique-retro surroundings of the old Reform Rooms are very impressive, too.
81 King Street
(+44 (0)161 839 2005)
Harvey Nichols
You’ll struggle to choose between visiting the oh-so-stylish bar, brasserie and restaurant on the second floor of Harvey Nicks in the heart of the city, perfect for a breather during a shopping spree and each worth a visit in its own right.
Exchange Square
(+44 (0)161 828 8898)
Love Saves the Day
The environmentally conscious owners of this café recycle all its cardboard, cans, bottles and oil, give away coffee grinds to customers for composting, minimise food waste and reduce the price of healthy, wholesome deli items before their best-before date.
57 Thomas Street
(+44 (0)161 839 0470)
Bars and clubs
Panacea
Part restaurant, part cocktail bar, this is a venue to see and be seen while sipping champagne cocktails and listening to the team of handpicked resident DJs.
14 John Dalton Street
(+44 (0)161 833 0000)
Socio Rehab
The bar staff at this independent boutique cocktail lounge grind fresh ingredients before your eyes, with the resulting delicacies all at around £7. It remains the retox venue of choice for the city’s over-stretched socialites.
100-102 High Street, Northern Quarter
(+44 (0)161 832 4529)
Pubs
Mr Thomas’s Chop House
Probably the best-preserved Victorian pub in Manchester, Tom’s dishes up traditional English fare such as fish and chips, black pudding, sticky toffee pudding, and naturally, chops.
52 Cross Street
(+44 (0)161 832 2245)