An insider’s guide to Stockport

Alfredo’s Social is a buzzy bar and restaurant in the parade of independents on Little Underbank in Stockport town centre. It’s a charming location and Alfredo’s Social is the most charming of them all, housed in the historic Grade II listed Winter’s building.

All Night Flight is an independent record shop specialising in left-field electronica, avant-garde and world music.

Bakers Vaults may be a Robbie’s pub but it’s a different pint of ale from those hostelries so ubiquitous around the Stockport fringes. It’s run by the same team as the much-esteemed Castle Hotel in Manchester’s Northern Quarter and Salford’s Eagle Inn. No surprise then that Bakers Vaults has such a good rep for live music and a very cool jukebox.

Bohemian Arts Club is a stylish speakeasy cocktail bar on Stockport’s Underbank, ran by Katie Ogden and Tom Ogden, the lead singer in Blossoms.

Serving a unique Caribbean-Colombian combo, Cafe Sanjuan is the creation of Luis Felipe Sanjuan, who hails from Barranquilla, a bustling seaport on the Caribbean coast of Colombia – his mum Viviana helps in the kitchen to keep it real; his dad, also Luis Felipe, does deliveries.

Cantaloupe is a simple yet brilliant Modern European bistro. The food is unfussy but with a team who have worked at Where The Light Gets In, Climat, The Creameries and The French, it’s no surprise that it’s also precise, achieving the almost unbelievable with humble and restrained ingredients.

The Cracked Actor is a small blues bar on Stockport’s Underbanks. It looks like a little old boozer but inside it has a pretty raucous atmosphere, live music and a great selection of craft ales.

Foodie Friday is Stockport’s food and drink festival, taking place between 6-9pm on the final Friday of each month.

The Good Rebel is part of the first wave of bars that put Stockport on an upwards curve of cool. It’s a relaxed place with a low-key, casual atmosphere and a good reputation for cocktails.

Grand Central is a leisure centre in Stockport. It’s best known for its swimming pool which has two slides but it also has a gym, exercise classes and a few basic spa facilities.

Hillgate Cakery is a fully vegan, family-run bakery and cafe in Stockport’s Old Town. Housed in a mock-Tudor building, the atmosphere is cosy and homely but it’s the cakes that everyone raves about.

Little Scarfs is a ‘culinary studio’. In practice that means it’s an attractive space which is available to hire for fully-catered private events with dinner parties the main draw. It’s also a pasta-centric supper club serving veg-forward cooking and great wines. Finally, it runs pasta-making workshops.

The Mekong Cat is a teeny restaurant in Stockport serving food from Cambodia, Vietnam and Laos. It’s the second opening from Y Sok who is also behind the hugely popular Kambuja in Marple.

Ōdiōba puts the audio in Stockport’s bar scene. During daytime hours, the venue is a relaxed coffee shop with the warm crackle of vinyl adding atmosphere and cosiness. Evenings see Ōdiōba come into its own as a listening bar with beats, inspired by Japanese jazz kissa.

This 19th-century market building became a buzzy food hall and bar in 2019 as part of Stockport’s transformation from ‘crap town’ to ‘decent place to live and hangout’.

SK1 Records is more than just a record shop. It’s an important part of the town’s current buzz and it feels like the heart of Stockport’s music community.

Staircase House is one of Stockport’s hidden gems. It sits there in the middle of town but many people walk past it without noticing its beauty. They’re missing out. This Jacobean building is full of atmosphere. It may be much smaller than National Trust stately homes but it has just as much to offer.

Stockport Air Raid Shelters were the largest purpose built air-raid shelters in the country, originally designed to provide shelter to 3850 people, they were extended during the Second World War to accommodate as many as 6500.

Stockroom is Stockport’s new cultural hub, housed in former retail units in the Merseyway Shopping Centre. It’s a light, bright and modern space that is so much more than just a new library for the town.

This Godless Place is a bar from the team behind The Good Rebel with a little more of a food focus. Housed in an old bank building with an ornate ceiling, the cavernous interior brings to mind a bingo hall crossed with a raucous rave. It’s more blue WKD than blue rinse though.

With no menu and esoteric wines, Where the Light Gets In doesn’t adhere to the typical fine-dining formula. But it’s been a success for Stockport, thanks to chef-patron Sam Buckley’s belief in doing things his own way.

Bread, buns and other bakes are the name of the food game at Where The Light Gets In spin-off Yellowhammer – but equally important is what else is being blasted to a high heat, and it’s not what you’d expect; if you fancy some ceramics with your sourdough, you’re in the right place.