33 brand new entries for you to get out and try

The Beeswing is named after a tartrate sheen which forms on the surface of port and some other wines that have been hanging around for a while, also seamlessly encompassing Manchester’s famous worker bee emblem. Wines are carefully chosen by Anna with a combination of natural and conventional bottles on offer that changes regularly.

If you “understand and appreciate the awesomeness of a properly fried bird”, this is the place for you – and if you’re not a fan of the finger-licking chicken thing, this is likely not somewhere you’ll be winging your way towards, er, be clucking up anytime soon, er, coming home to roost.

Starting life in a pick-up-only kitchen just off West Ashton St and Eccles New Road in Salford, Burgerism’s “lean, mean burger cuisine” has a cult following that lives for its smash burgers and fried chicken made with fresh, local ingredients.

Facing the Oxford Road Corridor in the CircleSquare innovation district, Canvas (from ents specialists BeSixth, of London’s Pickle Factory and Oval Space) features a subterranean live music venue, members club, late-night bar and restaurant – oh, and sauna and plunge pool.

Sunny spots with seats, scran and a bit of sauce are few and far between, but this popular independent family-run Didsbury Village cafe-cum-bar manages to tick all the boxes and stays open into the evening on Friday and Saturday – and they let your pooch tag along to boot. 

Whatever it is you want to eat, you can be sure you’ll find it, or some approximation of it, in the “sweeping array of delicious drinks and scrumptious food” on offer at The Crafty Pig – serving from breakfast right through to nine at night, and most main meals with a drink thrown in.

Head to the ground floor of the Citysuites aparthotel and non-residents are welcome at EK, to its friends, where plates of pizza and pasta are joined by a supporting cast of seasonally updated modern fish, meat and veggie dishes – and there’s even a pudding called chocolate nemesis.

A collaboration between NQ-based artisan meat gaff The Butcher’s Quarter and Monton’s own “purveyors of fine wine and indulgencies” Wandering Palate, this foodie-intended grocery store-cum-tasting room does what its name suggests: fresh fayre from field and sea.

Full of character and history, The Golden Pheasant is a cosy village inn with real fires, dog-friendly sections inside, and large gardens with a children’s play area and views of the Cheshire countryside. There’s also award-winning JW Lees cask ales and seasonal home cooked food.

TV chef Simon Rimmer’s famous non-meatery Greens has been going strong in Didsbury since 1990. In summer 2022, he branched out to Sale’s new social and dining destination Stanley Square, offering innovative and locally sourced vegetarian and vegan food, plus a rooftop bar and outside spaces.

This cosy country-style pub with ample outside space to enjoy a sunny pint or two is part of the JW Lees stable, so offers the brewery’s full range of cask ales and lagers, wines and spirits, plus a seasonally updated food menu and what they claim is “the best Sunday roast in Hale”.

No shortcuts are tolerated at indie pizzeria Homeboys, where everything is made from scratch using only the freshest, best ingredients and a secret recipe hybrid dough that blends the New York and Neapolitan styles and takes a full 48 hours to prove from start to finish.

Since opening at the far reaches of Didsbury Village in 2020, French boulangerie and pâtisserie La Chouquette has picked up awards, extended into the premises next door, and regularly had queues snaking down the street.

Located on a back street in Levenshulme, this women-owned and women-run neighbourhood bakery is well worth sniffing out for sweet treats and other fresh-from-the-oven delights – check their socials to see what’s cooking; speak to the team about wedding and birthday orders.

Don’t be distracted by the flowers – walk through the florists out front and follow the neon sign (“cheap food and fancy drinks”) to two floors of fun, with late-night bevs, daily happy hour, BOGOF cocktails, scran every day 5pm to 10pm, and bottomless brunch and DJs on weekends.

Whatever it is you’re after, “social sustainable store” Oats And Honey is likely to have it – from Aloë earrings designed and made in Liverpool by Alice and Chloe to roast ham and piccalilli sarnies dropped off by Albert Street Bakery up the road. Eat in, take out, shop till you drop…

As legend (or at least the song) would have it, it’s always cool at the carwash, and nothing’s cooler than a kulfi or salty lassi round the back of Levy-Longsight valet gaff Waterworx – while the parathas of the name are worth the drive, attracting folk from as far afield as Birmingham.

Located on the lobby level, the Hilton Hotel’s Podium Restaurant is chic and modern, as you might expect, and so too are the well-presented dishes – promised are locally sourced produce and seasonal flavours, with the menu reviewed every three months by an award-winning chef.

Pot Kettle Black is born out of owners Mark Flanagan and Jon Wilkin’s time travelling (and playing rugby professionally) down under, bringing back to the rainy city a sunny vibe along with the Antipodean art of brewing the best coffee and cooking up “vibrant, easy-going food”.

Pot Kettle Black is born out of owners Mark Flanagan and Jon Wilkin’s time travelling (and playing rugby professionally) down under, bringing back to the rainy city a sunny vibe along with the Antipodean art of brewing the best coffee and cooking up “vibrant, easy-going food”.

Clean lines, stripped wood, potted greenery, local art, yoga brunch… these are just some of the calming factors at newly hip Chapel Street’s one-stop coffee shot shop Procaffeinated, where your daily caffeine fix will leave you refreshed rather than climbing the whitewashed walls.

Rescued from the rural pub doldrums a few years back, Dunham Massey’s The Rope & Anchor, close to Bowdon, Hale and Altrincham, now offers a full food menu and Sunday roast, a range of JW Lees cask ales and lagers, a big beer garden with play area, and The Barn function space.

Housed in an old railway station building saved in 2018 and restored with Heritage Fund support, Station South is a “destination cycle café and bar”, complete with bike workshop and urban garden, that sits overlooking the Fallowfield Loop cycle path, once the Fallowfield Line.

SUD Pasta is a must-visit restaurant in Manchester. Since opening their first pasta kitchen in 2015, they’ve taken the city and suburbs by storm.

With restaurants in Altrincham, Ancoats and now Sale, they’re a firm favourite amongst locals and visitors alike.

When Nick Theaker took over The Stamford pub in Altrincham’s “posh bit”, Bowdon, he had a big job on his hands. He gave it more than just a zhuzh up on the decor front and took the pub menu up a few notches too.

Inspired by a trip to California, The Vurger Co started out as a market stall in 2016, its success seeing Rachel and Neil crowdfunding to get bricks-and-mortar premises in London hipsterland Shoreditch, then branching out to Canary Wharf, Brighton and, more recently, Manchester.

“Purveyors of fine wine and indulgencies” is how Emma and Will Evans describe their place and, as a neighbourhood deli, bottle shop and cocktail bar complete with small plates, one-half of Food & Fish (the other being Butcher’s Quarter) Wandering Palate covers all the buzz trends. 

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.

When a restaurant’s menu features lobster dynamite, you pretty much know straightaway that it might not be everyone’s cup of chai latte, and Yours, with its special red carpet-style Insta corridor and “dress to impress” reservation confirmation, isn’t going to appeal to style slouches.

A contemporary and chic take on the Curry Mile offer comes to Rusholme courtesy of Ziya, with its glass balcony, twinkly lights and copper hues, a menu that offers a few surprises while “not forgetting the more traditional devotee”, plus a comprehensive cocktail and mocktail list.