The best cocktail bars in Manchester

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

Banyan in Manchester’s Corn Exchange has something for everyone and one of the best outdoor drinking and dining spots in the city.

The name for Blinker Bar comes from a forgotten classic three-ingredient cocktail made from rye, grapefruit and raspberry. It’s this curious collection of ingredients that inspired ex-Gordon Ramsay bars boss Dan Berger to create a menu that changes seasonally but still honours the classics.

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.

Like the interloping bird that gives it its name, Cuckoo was an odd-one-out when it first opened in Prestwich back in 2013. Since then a whole flock of likeminded, indie cafe-bars have landed in this suburb, but Cuckoo is still the favourite for many.

Dakota Grill Manchester is the work of former Malmaison owner, Ken McCollough and it is as dark-hued and handsome as the successful boutique hotel chain. It’s an inviting place with flickering candlelight, very retro-sexy – sure to be the setting for many a first date.

The focus at Dakota is on steaks which are very good – all grass-fed, 28 day-aged, hand-cut Aberdeenshire beef cooked over hot coals.

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.

The best steakhouse in the North. Opening on Deansgate in 2015, the first Hawksmoor steakhouse outside of London is a confident affair. Well sourced steak and attention to detail have created a place like no other.

Hotel Brooklyn opened on Manchester’s Portland Street on Valentines day in 2020 as one of the world’s first fully accessible hotels inspired by cool the New York City borough. In fact, the hotel is well-known for setting a new Industry Gold Standard for Accessibility

The Hyatt Regency hotel is one of the most highly rated hotels in Manchester, with incredible views of the city and University Green from the rooms on the higher floors. 212 rooms are decked out in a modern style, all with floor-to-ceiling windows and king beds.

Part of the King Street Townhouse hotel, with its luxe bedrooms and rooftop terrace boasting infinity pool and views of the Town Hall, the Tavern is an all-day dining destination that serves British classics and encourages sitting, sipping and socialising at a slow pace.

The Japanese word MUSU translates as ‘infinite possibilities’ and while Chef Patron Michael Shaw’s quartet of menus may not be infinite they are certainly unique for Manchester at least. With a combination of Japanese and more locally-sourced ingredients, the guest is invited to choose the way they prefer to dine at MUSU.

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.

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. 

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.

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

With links to Atomeca on Deansgate Square (and the upcoming Sterling downstairs at Stock Exchange Hotel), their very own vermouth and a cocktail cookbook to boot, bartender brothers Joe and Daniel Schofield are also busy garnering awards.

Finding itself resting in the top 10 of the top 50 cocktail bars in the whole of the UK, Speaking In Code – SiC to his friends – makes everything in house and is passionate about flavour exploration, hospitality, oh, and hip hop, which inspires the drinks menu.

Sterling is probably one of the most luxurious bars to hit Manchester in recent years, located on the subterranean level of the historic Stock Exchange Hotel.

Three Little Words is housed under the arches at the lesser-visited end of Watson Street, near Beetham Tower. Inside you’ll find the Spirit of Manchester gin distillery, a cocktail bar, and a kitchen serving small plates with thoroughly decent cooking. It’s certainly a place worth knowing about.

Tucked away on Shudehill is the blink-and-you’ll-miss-it bar, The Washhouse. And, as it’s name suggests, it’s not what you’d typically expect from a place to drink cocktails.

With its disguised entrance and back street location, Wood & Co has the feel of a secret speakeasy only frequented by those in the know. The unmarked door is on South King Street, in between Cross Street and Deansgate. Descend the steps and you’ll find yourself in a tiled, sleek space centred on a marble bar that stretches the length of the room.