Happy Mondays: 50 bars open on a Monday in Manchester

Atlas Bar is known as one of the originals of Manchester’s modern cafe-bar scene. And for its extensive collection of gins – over 570 varieties and counting.

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.

The Black Friar stood empty and unloved for almost 20 years before reopening in summer 2021 after a substantial renovation project. Now a modern British restaurant and a traditional pub, it has two distinct settings with menus to match.

Manchester’s highest restaurant, bar and terrace 20 Stories was the opening of 2018 and still maintains its status as one of the city’s most popular place to eat, drink, be snapped and be seen.

October 2003 saw the first of the four Evunas open, grabbing a prime position on Deansgate and a reputation for being a go-to place for Spanish cuisine. Plenty of exposed brick, wine-lined walls and low, dark lighting all add to the atmosphere, perfect for cosying up over those authentic small plates.

The second city centre Evuna, open since 2013, bagsies a corner spot in the Northern Quarter that provides the outward-facing window seats with a prime people-watching position. Wood panelling, Moorish tiles and rustic blackboards offer atmosphere, perfect for cosying up over those authentic small plates.

Grand Pacific is the work of Living Ventures and it easily outshines its sibling venues in terms of pure glamour. Not in a big chandeliers, glass and chrome Spinningfields way, but with a decadent blend of colonial Raffles-style grandeur and some of the best of the city’s Victorian architecture.

When Peter Street lost its Caffe Nero it gained Haunt, an independent coffee shop and wine bar. Stepping inside, you feel like this corner spot in the beautiful St George’s House, with its views of the Midland Hotel and Central Library, has finally got the classy occupier it deserves.

The Pen and Pencil is the Northern Quarter’s cool all-day hangout, modelled on the New York bar of the same name popular with the city’s journalists and ad men in the 1950s and 1960s. It has a reputation for great cocktails, quality food and an atmosphere that makes it stand out from nearby imitators.

This bar on Cutting Room Square from the Seven Bro7hers Brewery clan is perfectly placed to cater for the craft beer drinkers of Ancoats.

With its neutral hues and natural foliage, stripped-back bricks and leather booths, The Alan is a tranquil space in which to enjoy breakfast, lunch or dinner – the open-plan kitchen serves all day from first thing till late evening – or indeed coffee and cocktails in the bar.

Albert’s Schloss is a Bavarian-inspired fun palace of extraordinary dimensions and clever design. Behind the glistening tiles of the former Manchester and Salford Wesleyan Mission building (est in 1910) you’ll discover a vast bar, real fires, perfectly preserved original plaster, and a wall stuffed generously with flowers by floral artists’ Frog. You’ll also find a stage, DJ booth and network of beer pipes and tanks serving unpasturised Pilsner Urquell to hordes of adoring punters.

The Alchemist in Spinningfields was the original of three Manchester venues and has a good-sized outdoor terrace and plenty of copper colours and bronze hues. And while base metals don’t magically become gold here, theatre is promised at The Alchemist.

Atomeca at Deansgate Square is an all-day European drinkery. It’s a small, comfortable space with tables breaking out into the airy foyer.

Cool Pacific Rim fusion fare for the fashion set. Australasia combines a sense of theatre with professionalism and culinary wizardry, making any occasion feel special.

The Blues Kitchen Manchester is the first opening outside the capital for Columbo Group, which also owns the Jazz Cafe chain. And while we always enjoy treating cut-and-paste transplants from London with a healthy dose of scepticism, this one serves Manchester’s food (and music) scene well.

A real Northern success story, the second location for Bundobust in Manchester and the fourth in the family of northern-based restaurants (Manchester Piccadilly, Leeds and Liverpool have come before), the Bundobust Brewery is a welcome addition to Oxford Street at the southern part of the city.

With a menu that mirrors its sister restaurants, the food is a reliable selection of Indian-style vegetarian small plates. Expect to find crisp okra fries dusted with black salt and mango powder and the iconic vada pav – a deep-fried mashed potato ball in a bun, with red and green chutneys.

Bunny Jackson’s touts itself as a dive bar and, while there is indeed ‘cold beer, frozen margaritas and a lot of whisky’, you can still line your stomachs as burgers, bar snacks and BJ’s wings are served every day from noon until nine.

BOX is all about big-screen sports, booze (including two-for-one cocktails) and blokes singing – ‘bandeoke’ is a thing and it exists here. The Manchester outpost of a popular Yorkshire concept, head here if you want a front-row seat at every match, game, fixture and fight on a high-definition wide screen. Whatever sports are being shown by Sky, BT and Box Office, you will find them on one of the 25 screens.

All dark wood and polished brass, leather seating and stained glass, this former banking hall is cavernous yet intimate all at the same time – and the perfect decadent backdrop to afternoon tea, Champagne and lobster, or one of the freshly carved succulent Sunday roasts.

Describing itself as a full-time party bar and part-time pizza parlour, Crazy Pedro’s is hot on super-chilled drinks, from frozen margaritas to ice cold beers. It’s also the place to head if you haven’t settled the Hawaiian-pizza-isn’t-a-real-pizza argument.

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.

Elektrik is an award-winning independent bar with great coffee and a wide selection of beer, wine and cocktails. They offer a people-pleasing menu in collaboration with street food pop-ups. Pop in for Parmogeddon.

Named after the first recorded name for Ancoats, Elnecot (meaning ‘lonely cottages’) takes its influence from historical cooking methods with lots of fermenting, a little foraging and a few nose-to-tail dishes.

The Fountain House is the newest lodger of the Gothic-arched Memorial Hall sitting one corner of Albert Square, and its modern old-fashioned surrounds and plentiful portions of proper pub grub – mostly British but with a little European inspiration – do the imposing building proud.

One of Manchester’s flagship buildings, HOME is many things including cinema, theatre, art gallery and, of most interest to Confidential Guides, a restaurant and bar. In fact, make that a restaurant and two bars.

The Ivy Manchester is an exuberant over-the-top place that’s perfect for glamming up and going out. The décor is wild yet smart and service is smooth and professional. The roof garden is a must.

There’s an abundance about The Ivy with the costumed doorman, and the levels and levels of fun: The Ivy Asia; The Brasserie; The Ivy Roof Garden; the lurid floors; the lacquered screens; the mirrored central bar. It all adds up to a sense of occasion, a place where dining out is something special, something to dress up for.

The Jane Eyre is a self-styled ‘neighbourhood bar’ offering seasonal food, classic cocktails and local beers. Presided over by Eyre siblings Jonny and Joe, it is, mildly disappointingly, not a Gothic homage to the Yorkshire based tragic-heroine but actually named after their late mum. 

Don’t be distracted by the flowers – walk through the florists out front and follow the neon sign (“cheap food and fancy drinks”) to two floors of fun, with late-night bevs, daily happy hour, BOGOF cocktails, scran every day 5pm to 10pm, and bottomless brunch and DJs on weekends.

“Tacos, dreamos and burrito supremos”, that’s what the Northern Quarter’s Luck, Lust, Liquor & Burn is peddling in its dive bar-cum-restaurant, with a dirty food and drink offer that straddles the Mexican-Californian border and a “killer happy hour” that straddles time zones.

Manahatta is a New York-inspired cocktail bar on Deansgate. It’s well known for its party atmosphere, great drinks and bottomless brunches. The food menu focuses on American classics like burgers, dogs and BBQ chicken as well as healthier options like the superfood burger and the lean green powerbowl.

Let’s get this party started… but not without lining your stomach first, fun fans. With tapas-style dishes for sharing as well as more substantial sit-down dinners, along with signature cocktails “designed to inspire”, Ménagerie is an immersive dining and drinking experience.

Motley is a bar and restaurant attached to Yotel on Deansgate. With its suntrap terrace, it’s definitely not just for hotel guests. Outdoor tables are screened by planters that always seem to be bursting with life. It’s a bit of a green oasis on Deansgate’s muddle of concrete, glass and imposing Victorian brickwork.

It’s got neon, it’s got pastels, it’s got faux foliage, it’s got innovative cocktails and it’s got Pan Asian cuisine with a definite lean Vietnam-wards. It calls itself “authentically modern”, but faithful to the Vietnamese way of life, it recommends ordering food for the table, tapas style.

Winning small plate fusion in an iconic and glamorous setting. Housed in Manchester’s iconic The Refuge Assurance Company dating back to 1858, this DJ-run restaurant and bar is large and sassy.

The River Restaurant at The Lowry Hotel is Manchester’s classic fine dining restaurant. Huge names that have run the kitchen include Marco Pierre White, while diners have included Jose Mourinho and Kylie.

“Steins, brines, and good times” – that’s how the saying goes at American-inspired Salt Dog Slims, new over from Liverpool, although tbh it’s probably more of the former and mostly the latter, but then who wants to get in the way of a fine rhyme as we all just try and rub along in this world?

Named after the rowdy 1980 album by The Clash, bar with food Sandinista is one part wild Latin spirit and one part punk rock.   

Located in between St Peter’s Square and The Bridgewater Hall, Society brings new life to the quiet yet elegant stretch of city between Oxford Street and First Street. The outside area is a sunspot bordered by a fountain and a garden, making it feel more like Madrid than Manchester (weather permitting of course).

You know those fancy places where there’s a flight of drinks matched to each food course? Well, here at Southside, it’s more like the food is matched to the drinks. And the drinks – particularly tequila and tequila-based cocktails – definitely come first, with happy hour, we’re told in no uncertain terms, “every damn day”.

Tariff & Dale is a Northern Quarter institution – one of the first to colonize the Rochdale Canal frontier, bringing craft ales, cocktails, pizza and small plates to a previously ignored part of the area.

It has industrial detailing that celebrates its location smack bang in the middle of former cotton warehouses – how about a hydraulic cotton press for character and a cosy romantic booth in the former lift shaft?

Located in the heart of the Spinningfields business district, Tattu Manchester is an Instagrammer’s dream. Think penumbral lighting, body art-inspired cocktails and a full-size cherry blossom tree with hand-sewn silk petals. You’d be forgiven for expecting such opulent surroundings to outshine the food. Not so.

Terrace NQ has really grown into its name over the years. Instead of just one terrace up on the roof, it now has four outside seating areas: there’s a gorgeous courtyard at the side, seats at the back on Edge Street, and more at the front on Thomas Street. Plus that original, leafy rooftop garden which has its own bar. This is as well as their light and airy interior which you get to through ‘the prettiest ginnel in Manchester’.  

Nelson Lam and Leo Tran’s Viet Shack empire started with a humble takeaway stall in the Arndale Market which quickly gained a reputation for its dazzling lunch dishes at bargain prices.

NQ bar and eatery Wilson’s Social is equally popular with daytime brunchers, co-workers and late night drinkers. Situated on the corner of Stevenson Square and Oldham Street, this glass-fronted space is light and airy in the daytime and buzzing at night with DJs and live music every weekend.

The team behind Wolf At The Door know a thing or two about adaptation. They launched as a highly stylised restaurant and cocktail bar serving NOMA-influenced small plates. Then changed their name (they were formerly known as Wilderness) and completely overhauled their menu. Nowadays they serve tacos and bao buns that keep the playful feel of the original offering, but with much more accessible prices.