Rays for days: the best beer gardens and roof terraces in Manchester

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 established a reputation for hearty, thoughtful, home-made dishes that keep people coming back.

Founder’s Hall is a smartly-refurbished pub with an enviable position on Albert Square. It serves up comforting pub food and a vast range of beers.

Get your game face on with an afternoon of pool, shuffleboard and table tennis at Pong & Puck in The Great Northern.

With its Tudor-style facade and picturesque setting overlooking Chorlton Green, the Horse & Jockey has always had the potential to be one of Manchester’s most notable pubs. In 2025 (a mere 200 years since it first opened) it finally secured its place on that list.

Rain Bar is a pub from JW Lees in an old umbrella factory. It’s a beautiful building and looks even better now after its recent refurb. The jewel in the crown though, or the spoke in its brolly, is a large outdoor area to the rear overlooking the Bridgewater Canal.

Albert’s Shed is a family-owned restaurant in Castlefield with modern British cooking, a canalside terrace, and private event spaces for weddings, parties and corporate gatherings.

The Alchemist at Salford Quays is the most recent of three Manchester venues and has an outdoor terrace overlooking the water and plenty of gold. And while base metals don’t magically become that precious commodity here, theatre is promised at The Alchemist.

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.

The original Manchester dive bar, Big Hands is a rock n roll institution and the site of many messy nights out. 

The Britons Protection pub has a place in the heart of many a Mancunian. It’s been here since the early 19th century and has Grade II Listed status thanks to its 1930s’ features and traditional layout.

Caravan Manchester is a 2024 opening from a small London chain started by three New Zealanders who settled in the UK a decade ago. They began as a coffee roastery, before expanding into restaurants, and chose Manchester’s new St John’s district for their first venue outside London.

The Carlton Club is Whalley Range. We’ve listed it as a pub, but it’s so much more than that. Originally a private gentleman’s club, The Carlton Club is now one of the most welcoming and diverse spaces in South Manchester. It’s a pub. It’s a bar. It’s a gig venue. It’s a club. It’s a community centre. It’s run as a community interest company and it’s a true social hub.

If it’s all-day eating you’re after, all-day eating you’ll get at Cosy Club Manchester, and as you study the menu under the watchful eye of a selection of taxidermy and portrait paintings, you’ll quickly notice that there really is something for everyone here.

The Crown & Kettle is Manchester’s most beautiful pub. The landmark Gothic building on the corner of Oldham Road and Great Ancoats Street is just as impressive inside with high ceilings that are wonderfully ornate and descending stonework which used to house chandeliers. But even though it dates from 1734, it feels fresh and modern.

Diecast is a party venue and ‘creative neighbourhood’ five-minutes’ walk from Manchester Piccadilly station.

The Deansgate is a bit of a landmark pub in Manchester, having been in this spot for 200 years.

You’ll find Dukes 92 in the dynamic district of Castlefield, just a short stumble from Deansgate and its bustling bar scene. The bar and restaurant looks over the canal making it a desirable spot for visitors and locals alike. 

Flawd was the first permanent space for the team behind Higher Ground. Sat waterside at Islington Marina in New Islington, it’s a specialist wine bar and bottle shop, with an outdoor terrace as well as indoor seating space to sit and sip before making off with one of the many takeaway natural and low-intervention wines.

If it’s a place in the sun you’re after, look no further than the Northern Quarter’s Flok, chilling out on the Lever Street corner of Stevenson Square. The large outside area here is a bit of a trap for the rays, and there are lots of options for the perfect alfresco pour.

Food hall meets music festival is how we’d describe Freight Island to anyone confused about what they’ll find at this regenerated rail depot beyond Piccadilly Station. 

With its terrace overlooking Oxford Road and its much-photographed spiral staircase, Fumo is a favourite spot in Manchester for dinner and drinks with friends.

With five cinemas, two theatres, a bookshop, and over 500 sqm of gallery space, HOME is one of Manchester’s biggest and most dynamic arts venues. 

This Brooklyn-style pizza joint was born out of a love of using the best ingredients with care and attention. Nell’s is known for its 22-inch pizzas with fresh, crisp bases and toppings that range from bright and fresh to classic and meaty.

From the same stable as The Botanists around town, The Oast House boasts those “famous” Hanging Kebabs and, with its copious outside space in the middle of Spinningfields, is a favourite as a bit of a city centre sunny spot.

PUBLIC is from the team behind Evelyn’s and The Daisy so you can expect quality cocktails – and you’d be right to do so. There’s also a brief menu of umami-filled Asian and American street food that really hits the spot.

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.

The Smithfield Social fits in well to the Northern Quarter bar scene. It doesn’t offer anything radically different but what it does, it does well. Like many places in the area, it’s a casual all-day affair from morning brunches to late night drinking.

The Wharf has one of the largest outdoor areas in Manchester and it’s in Castlefield, the canalside views aren’t bad either.

YES is a gargantuan place with four floors of fun. Despite that, it still has a low-key cool and something approaching a homely vibe for somewhere so big.