Once a rundown area on the edge of the city centre, the Northern Quarter is now one of Manchester’s trendiest neighbourhoods. Back in the 1990s, low rents meant it was adopted by artists and creative businesses, giving it a bohemian, counter-cultural feel. As is often the case, the rents increased as the area got ‘cooler’ and the artists moved to the edges once more.
Despite this the Northern Quarter has retained its youthful, alternative feel. It’s packed with fantastic indie bars and quirky retailers – and it’s a goldmine for great food.
Here are 21 of the best spots for eating out in Manchester’s NQ including longstanding favourites such as TNQ and Trof, and more recent additions like The Green Lab and Ramona. From burgers to baked goods, ramen to risotto… whether you’re after a sit-down meal for a special occasion, a quick snack, or a brunch catch-up with friends, there’s one that’ll suit you.
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Book Now Northern Quarter
63 Degrees
Ran by husband and wife team Eric and Florence Moreau, 63 Degrees is a classic chef-proprieteur French restaurant with roots in the refined cuisine of their home city of Paris.
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BAB NQ
If you feel it’s time to spice up your life, look no further than this Northern Quarter indie, where the main offer is ‘kebabs worth sitting down for’. Yep, BAB by name, ‘babs by nature, but that’s not doing the menu full justice – there are also meze small plates to mix and match, skewers and shawarmas, and non-babs such as an epic surf & turf spread.
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The Bay Horse
The Bay Horse Tavern, to give it its full moniker, describes itself as “a modern take on a Victorian Pub” and, with its dark hues and warm woods, puttering candles and kitschy knick-knacks, and range of gins, craft beers and “other libations”, it may well straddle the eras.
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Northern Quarter
Ciaooo
Cult pizzeria Ciaooo may not be as well-known as some of its beautifully blistered-based brethren, but that’s all to the good. At least there’s a chance of getting a table. As it is, it’s often full of savvy locals who know just where to get some of the best pizzas in Manchester – on Swan Street at the top of Great Ancoats Street it transpires.
Service is excellent and the pizzas are even better. There is a wide selection with a mix of classics and modern inventions. Most importantly, the dough rises above its competitors. It is puffed-up pillowy perfection.
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Northern Quarter
Cottonopolis
Coined from the 19th-century nickname for Manchester, Cottonopolis is a quintessential Northern Quarter joint, with its wooden floors, towering beams and exposed brick in a grade II listed building. Walk through the grand entrance and you’re greeted with high tables, booth seating and atmospheric lighting, as well as a sweeping bar and an open kitchen producing billows of steam from bamboo baskets.
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Northern Quarter
Ducie Street Warehouse
Ducie Street Warehouse is all sorts of things, but one of those things is a restaurant. It’s an all-day affair with everything from classic brunches to late-night cocktails. On the menu you’ll find a good selection of small sharing dishes and large plates – it’s a sociable kind of place. And of course, you’ll also find Ducie Street Warehouse’s signature focaccia flatbreads.
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Northern Quarter
Evelyn’s
Evelyn’s is a very clever restaurant. It’s from the chaps behind Mughli so expect a quality operation although it is very different to the standout star of Curry Mile.
It’s a light and leafy sort of place, both in the surroundings and on the plate. Evelyn’s offers a fresher, healthier take on dining out but despite that, it won’t leave you feeling like you’re at a well-being bootcamp. There are still things like apple crumble and custard on the menu.
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The Firehouse
Found in the former E & A Auto Services garage depot on Swan Street, Firehouse is the sister restaurant to Ramona’s Detroit-style pizzeria. Promoting “Wild. Slow. Days.” the Firehouse is part restaurant, part bar and part performance venue where tables are available to book for dinner and “after dark drinking”. The space is open and airy with a real laid-back feel. White shutters, bleached brick and glitter balls hanging from the high ceiling complete she chilled out party ambience.
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Northern Quarter
Gooey Bakery & Café
If you’re a fan of brunch and baked goods but it just has to be Instagrammable, Gooey should be top of the list.
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Northern Quarter
The Green Lab
Founded in May 2019 by sisters Nikita and Kanika from Manchester, The Green Lab is described as a health and well-being lifestyle store. The pair aim to make it easy for their customers to find fresh, quick and healthy food in the city.
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Northern Quarter
Mackie Mayor
Mackie Mayor is a cosmopolitan food hall located in an 1858 Grade II listed market building on the edge of Manchester’s Northern Quarter.
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Noi Quattro
If it’s a taste of Italy you’re after, think NQ for proper pizza – Noi Quattro, to be precise. Meaning “us four”, Noi Quattro is owned and run by four friends from Turin who wanted to share their proud Italian heritage through the food they put on your plate.
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The Pen & Pencil
Whatever level of hunger you’re anticipating, you’ll not have a rumbling tum for long next time you head on up to the Northern Quarter, with the host of all-day eating options on offer at The Pen & Pencil ranging from light bites to proper sit-down dinners.
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Purezza
Sitting in the old Dough Kitchen spot in the Northern Quarter, Purezza is yet another pizza restaurant for Manchester – but one with the distinction of offering solely vegan pizza and a menu that’s 96% gluten free.
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Ramona
Predominantly a pizzeria, Ramona incorporates a bakery, margarita bar, coffee counter, stage and Firehouse restaurant, and is found in the rollershuttered ex-E & A Auto Services garage depot on Swan Street, complete with a tree-lined forecourt, now the campfire beer garden.
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Sicilian NQ
Based in the Northern Quarter, this friendly neighbourhood bistro and bar is the place to avanti if it’s a taste of traditional Sicily you fancy – from authentic street food snacks through big plates of pasta to desserts and holiday memory gelato, eat in or take away.
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Street Urchin
For Street Urchin, think less about raggedy kids hanging about Victorian mills (although it is on the edge of Ancoats) and more about seafood delicacies. Fish is plentiful on the menu at this English market diner, although meat gets a look-in too.
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TNQ
This unassuming, independent restaurant overlooking the historic Smithfield Fish Market is a stalwart of the Northern Quarter’s dining scene. Co-owner and chef Anthony Fielden has been cooking up a storm at TNQ since 2004, winning various awards and accolades along the way.
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Tokyo Ramen
Spartan and stripped back is the only description for Tokyo Ramen – and that’s both the menu and the restaurant itself. With barely enough space to swing a noodle, the place only accommodates 20 walk-ins. It’s not a sociable place, more a utilitarian slurping station.
As it is all about the food, is it any good? In a word, yes. The selection of drinks is limited, even the word ‘selection’ seems like too generous a term and the menu is brief and to the point. It’s the ramen which are the one-pot wonders with Tokyo Ramen billing itself as ‘Manchester’s #1 ramen shop’. It’s all in the broth – in this case 10 hour chicken bone broth, or mushroom dashi in the vegan option – which lifts the food to Mt. Fuji-like heights.
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Trof
Trof was the OG Mission Mars bar in Manchester and it’s still got ‘top Manchester night out’ written all over its labyrinth three stories.
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Yard & Coop Manchester
We’d rather see a restaurant that does one thing well than one that does a wide variety of dishes to the same average standard. Yard & Coop Manchester is firmly in the former category. It serves buttermilk fried chicken and that’s about it, unless you’re a veggie in which case you can have halloumi instead.