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Guide

15 family-friendly restaurants in Manchester city centre

Manchester Central

Planning a family-friendly day out in Manchester can be all sorts of hard work without even factoring in the pain of organising a meal to cater for everybody’s needs.

Confidential Guides is a great resource for finding restaurants that suit niche requirements, be that family-friendly, dog-friendly or vegan friendly. And this time we’ve even done that for you. We’ve found 15 restaurants that should make mealtime with kids in Manchester a bit of a breeze.

Burgers, kebabs and fish and chips rank highly on our list. People-pleasing pizza features heavily, too. There are even some wildcards that might take your fancy. Somewhere like Tampopo might not be the first choice for a fussy child, but show us a little person who wouldn’t annihilate a bowl of chicken and noodles and we’ll show you a liar.

Family-friendly dining in Manchester? We’ve got it in the bag.

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  • Inside Albert's Schloss, the Bavarian-inspired cook haus and bier palace in Manchester city centre.
    Manchester City Centre

    Albert’s Schloss

    Bars

    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.

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  • Bottomless brunch at Almost Famous
    Book Now Manchester City Centre

    Almost Famous Great Northern

    Restaurant - American

    Almost Famous Manchester Great Northern is a local legend. It’s OTT in every way. It’s brash, bold and doesn’t seem to care about pissing people off. None of that attention-grabbing means a thing if the burgers aren’t worth the hype. But they are. Almost Famous is the original dirty burger guru and it is by far the best.

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  • Book Now Northern Quarter

    BAB NQ

    Restaurant - Middle Eastern

    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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  • Bill's Spinningfields - a restaurant where kids eat free during school holidays.
    Spinningfields

    Bill’s Spinningfields

    Restaurant - European

    Bill’s has come a long way since it was a market café. The family business is now a sizeable chain but in Bill’s Manchester at least, you’ll still find a warm welcome, some pretty special specials and a crowd-pleasing selection of dishes that sometimes manage to deliver rather punchy flavours. You will be pleasantly surprised.

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  • The kids menu at The Black Friar - a family-friendly restaurant in Manchester.
    Book Now Manchester City Centre

    The Black Friar

    Pubs

    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.

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  • Book Now Northern Quarter

    Ciaooo Neapolitan Pizzeria

    Restaurant - Italian

    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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  • Book Now Manchester City Centre

    Gusto Italian Manchester

    Bars

    Gusto Italian Manchester may be the jewel in ever-expanding chain’s crown, even if the menu is the same everywhere from Heswall to Edinburgh. It’s a very polished affair with a definite Art Deco feel. This is a place that seems designed for good times and the service is slick.

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  • Battered squid rings from Hip Hop Chip Shop, the maverick fish and chip restaurant in Ancoats
    Ancoats

    The Hip Hop Chip Shop

    Bars

    A National Fish & Chip Award winner, the Manchester street food heroes opened up their first bricks ‘n’ mortar outlet in trendy Ancoats late in 2018, following a hard fought crowdfunding campaign. A kicked-back dining experience with proper comfort food, cool artwork and a cracking soundtrack, the HHCS collective have reworked the national dish with inventive additions like Jerk batter, Louisiana spiced crab cakes and their chilli battered sausage. Obviously the traditional fish ‘n’ chips are bang on too, livened up by their trademark flavoured salts and vinegars.

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  • Manchester City Centre

    HOME Restaurant

    Bars

    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.

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  • The Laureate restaurant at The Hyatt Regency - a family-friendly place to eat.
    Book Now Manchester

    The Laureate Restaurant

    Bars

    So named because of Manchester University’s 25 Nobel laureates, The Laureate Restaurant is a large and luxurious space located on one of the higher floors of Manchester’s Hyatt Regency Hotel.

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  • The terrace at Nell's York Pizza at Kampus in Manchester city centre
    Manchester City Centre

    Nell’s New York Pizza & Bar

    Bars

    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.

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  • Pizza and wine at Rudy's Neapolitan, Peter Street, Manchester
    Manchester City Centre

    Rudy’s Pizza Manchester Peter Street

    Restaurant - Italian

    Rudy’s mission is simple: to put proper Neapolitan pizza on your plate. Following the traditions and artistry of pizza-making from Naples – the birthplace of pizza – Rudy’s pizzaiolos reckon to have found the perfect technique to recreate the light Neapolitan classic. 

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  • Manchester City Centre

    The Refuge

    Bars

    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.

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  • Book Now Manchester City Centre

    Riva Blu Manchester | Corn Exchange

    Restaurant - Italian

    From the same team behind Piccolino, Riva Blu Manchester aims to bring a little bit of La Dolce Vita to The Corn Exchange. With a sleek cocktail bar, open kitchen, and alfresco terrace, it’s styled on the high-society glamour of the 1960s, and “modern Italian” cuisine is the name of the game.

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  • Tampopo Thai Restaurant Manchester Albert Square
    Manchester City Centre

    Tampopo Manchester Albert Square

    Restaurant - Pan Asian

    Tampopo Albert Square is the original venue in this Manchester-born chain from restaurateur David Fox. It was here that they devised and tweaked their winning formula of fast, fresh and affordable East Asian food served in an informal, canteen-style environment, ideal for quick lunches or evening meals with groups of friends.

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  • yard and coop fried chicken and chips NQ
    Northern Quarter

    Yard & Coop Manchester

    Bars

    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.

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