The best Northern Quarter bars

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.

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.

Ad Hoc is a wine shop and bar that’s about as unpretentious as it gets but still knows its albariño from its elbow. There is a huge range of wines with friendly and knowledgeable service plus a few quality snacks like fancy bellota ham and posh Spanish crisps . What’s more, it’s all available to drink in for £10 corkage.

Described as a ‘debauched cocktail bar’ in the heart of the Northern Quarter, Behind Closed Doors aims to bring ‘sex, rugs & funk ‘n’ soul’ to the people of Manchester.

One of the Northern Quarter’s original hipster hangouts, Common – bar, eatery, coffee spot – has been at its Edge Street address since 2005. Having spearheaded the booths and booze with bright colours and bold murals trend, Common has since gone stripped back and muted, decor wise. The drinks menu has always been easy to navigate and carefully curated, and food now comes courtesy Nell’s Pizza.

This self-styled party bar is hot on super-chilled drinks, from frozen margaritas to ice cold beers. It’s also hot on pizza, with a stiff trade in delivery and its click and collect service at the NQ venue.

Described as ‘late night escapism’, The Daisy is a subterranean haven of a cocktail bar in the Northern Quarter. Find it under Evelyn’s.

Dusk Til Pawn isn’t a pawn shop that trades around the clock as its name might suggest, but rather a suave and sophisticated speakeasy under the guise of somewhere you can cash in your unwanted trinkets.

Found in the former E & A Auto Services garage depot on Swan Street, Firehouse is the sister restaurant to Ramona’s Detroit-style pizzeria. It’s 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 the chilled out party ambience.

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.

Hinterland is a Northern Quarter speakeasy with a difference – the cocktails, wine and beer are all alcohol-free. This sober bar is located in the basement of the Buddhist Centre and offers an alternative night out for the growing numbers of people who prefer to socialise without alcoholic lubrication.

Nestled away underneath the Northern Quarter’s infamous Oldham Street, this is a tiny bar with a huge personality.

Lost In Tokyo is a Japanese basement bar on Stevenson Square. This Far East drinking den serves some far out cocktails inspired by travels to Japan and also has an extensive list of some of the best Japanese whiskies around.

Nightcap is a Northern Quarter speakeasy bar. That’s code for it’s underground and it’s quite dark. It sits in the subterranean space under Another Heart To Feed and is from the same team but it’s the very opposite of brunch with a definite nocturnal atmosphere, helped by moody red lighting.

Without Night & Day Cafe, the Northern Quarter as we know it probably wouldn’t exist. It was places like this, jazz club Matt and Phreds, and Factory Records-owned Dry Bar that kickstarted the area’s reputation for art, music, and banging nights out – and the apartment boom that followed.

Port Street Beer House is the beer lover’s drinking spot. It’s somewhere between a pub and a bar, mixing a dedication to coolest craft ales with some very comfy traditional touches. Ideal for a pint and a chat.

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.

If antique glassware and taxidermy squirrels are your thing, this is your kind of drinking den. Hidden above New York-style rum bar Cain & Grain, and behind a door disguised as a stack of crates, you’ll find Science & Industry – an eccentric speakeasy bar.

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.

This elegant, paired-back cocktail bar opened in the corner space of Mackie Mayor in November 2023, and fast became a favourite with people who appreciate the art of a well-mixed drink.

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?

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’.  

Longstanding Thomas Street bar Trof has got ‘top Manchester night out’ written all over its labyrinthine three storeys. But it’s just as well known for its morning-after comfort feeds as its cocktails. The Sunday Roast has a reputation for greatness, and the weekend brunch menu is popular. Go for the full English breakfast or the confit duck hash with sriracha and honey glaze.

Surely one of Manchester’s most inviting-looking bars, The Whiskey Jar gives you that warm, all-is-well feeling even before you’ve taken a sip of the elixirs behind the bar. 

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.