Whether you’re looking for a decent lunch, sophisticated cocktails, fine dining or a family meal, here is our curated list of recommendations close to Manchester Central’s iconic venue in the heart of Manchester city centre. There’s something for everyone and any occasion, plus plenty you won’t want to miss.
For breakfast you could try a highly recommended bacon naan at Dishoom or French toast at Federal (don’t forget to pick up some natas for later).
For lunch, try quick and spicy Pan-Asian lunches at Tampopo or modern British classics at Mount Street Dining Room & Bar.
You could try Crazy Pedro’s for a quick beer and pizza or the finest steaks in Manchester at Hawksmoor. There are pub lunches in the beer garden at Mr Thomas’ and evening pints and nibbles at Sam’s Chop House (it has a pretty impressive wine selection as well).
For Manchester’s top fine dining, Adam Reid at The French is next door to Manchester Central or you could venture a little further for sublime sushi at MUSU.
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Book Now Spinningfields
Australasia
Cool Pacific Rim fusion fare for the fashion set. Australasia combines a sense of theatre with professionalism and culinary wizardry, making any occasion feel special.
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Book Now Manchester City Centre
The Black Friar
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 Manchester City Centre
Evuna Manchester Deansgate
October 2003 saw the first of the four Evunas open, grabbing a prime position on Deansgate and a reputation for being a go-to place for Spanish cuisine. Plenty of exposed brick, wine-lined walls and low, dark lighting all add to the atmosphere, perfect for cosying up over those authentic small plates.
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Book Now Manchester City Centre
Exhibition
Exhibition is one of Manchester’s cluster of exciting multi-kitchen concepts (read: food halls) that just seem to be multiplying. In the former home of the Natural History Museum, the location makes it perfect for visitors to Manchester Central, the Radisson Blu and the Midland Hotel.
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Book Now Manchester City Centre
Hakkapo
Hakkapo is Manchester’s Izakaya – that is, a Japanese bar where people go to eat, drink and just generally hang out after a long day at work.
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Book Now Spinningfields
KAJI
The MUSU Collection is a group of innovative modern Japanese dining experiences, all under one roof. With three AA rosettes, this is the cutting edge of Manchester’s restaurant scene.
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Book Now Manchester City Centre
Piccolino Caffe Grande Manchester
With its terrace overlooking Albert Square and Manchester Town Hall, and a beautiful interior featuring a 40-seater private dining room, an open kitchen, and an oyster bar, Piccolino Caffé Grande Manchester is a real destination restaurant. (And, notably, it’s one that doesn’t price people out of the experience.)
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Book Now Manchester City Centre
Sora Manchester
Sora Manchester is a rooftop bar and restaurant serving up sushi, Pan Asian small plates and views across the city’s impressive Victorian neo-Gothic architecture.
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Book Now Deansgate
Suki Suki Street Food & Bar
Suki Suki Street Food & Bar is a Pan-Asian street food bar located on Deansgate under the arches of the Great Northern Warehouse.
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Book Now Manchester City Centre
Three Little Words
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.
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Book Now Greater Manchester
Wrights Fish & Chip Shop
This neon-lit, old-school tiled chippy on Cross Street is owned by local couple Trisha and Marcus and has plenty of fans including a few celebrities. There are queues out of the door regularly for their traditional fare done very, very well.
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Book Now Oxford Road
Zouk
Zouk specialises in ‘apna’ – home-style cooking shot through with colour and heat from the spices and herbs. In recent years it has incorporated elements of global street food to its menu (Lahori wagyu sliders for example) but the main focus is still the authentic Indian and Pakistani cooking that made Zouk a success.
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Book Now Manchester City Centre
Junction
Junction is the new all-day destination at Manchester Central. It’s ideal for conference delegates but it’s also open to the general public and thank goodness. This bar, restaurant and social workspace does everything from coffee to cocktails with consummate flair.
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Manchester City Centre
10 Tib Lane
10 Tib Lane was one of the brave new openings of summer 2021; a time when securing staff and supplies, never mind diners, was an ongoing challenge for everyone. If you can launch a new restaurant in that environment, you must be doing something very right – so it’s no surprise that three years later, it’s still going strong.
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Spinningfields
20 Stories
Manchester’s highest restaurant, bar and terrace 20 Stories was the opening of 2018 and still maintains its status as one of the city’s most popular place to eat, drink, be snapped and be seen.
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Manchester City Centre
53two
With a gentle gradient throughout and a lowered bar, 53two is one of Manchester’s most inclusive and accessible venues. Half bar and cafe, half performance area, this unique space under Manchester’s Grade II* listed railway arches is the perfect stop for a drink and a snack before hitting the town or the local theatres – including the one in-house.
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Manchester City Centre
Adam Reid at The French
Culinary rock and roll from Simon Rogan’s protege, Adam Reid, and head chef Blaise Murphy, formerly of Mana. Enjoy fine-dining in Grade II Listed Victorian surrounds – with a side order of Mancunian attitude.
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Manchester City Centre
Another Hand
There is quite some experience behind owners Julian Pizer and Max Yorke at Another Hand, including time spent at Cottonopolis, The Edinburgh Castle and Hispi. In this intimate restaurant on Deansgate Mews, they put it to excellent use on an ever-changing, seasonal menu that takes advantage of some of the best suppliers in the region.
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Manchester City Centre
The Anthologist
The Anthologist fits well into the cosmopolitan city vibe of the regenerated St Peter’s Square. When you step off the tram here, you’re a world away from one stop on at Piccadilly Gardens, and this slick, stylish venue from restaurant and bar group Drake & Morgan perfectly reflects the change in tone.
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Manchester City Centre
Asha’s
Modern Indian restaurants come with their own USPs such as street food, home cooking and regionally-specific cuisine. Asha’s, near the library end of Peter Street, has decided to go high-end with proper posh Rogan Josh nosh.
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Manchester City Centre
Climat
The first thing you notice when you step into fine-dining restaurant Climat is the view. Situated on the roof of Blackfriars House, you’re just above the city skyline, close enough to see the details of the architecture, but high enough to feel like you’re in the clouds.
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Manchester City Centre
Dimitri’s
Dimitri’s has been serving up mezze for over 30 years now. It’s a stalwart of the city’s food and drink scene and with its vibrant atmosphere and happy holiday food, it will probably keep going for 30 more.
It’s sharing food that will bring back memories of trips to Crete or Kefalonia with hummus and generous baskets of pitta breads, juicy olives, stuffed vine leaves, moussaka, herby lamb chops and kebabs all featuring on a typical menu.
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Spinningfields
Dishoom
Dishoom is a legend in its own lunchtime and that’s exactly how it likes things. It’s not enough to serve up top-notch Indian dishes in grand surroundings; there’s a story behind the menu too. But when the food is this good it doesn’t need to hide behind tall tales.
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Manchester City Centre
The Fountain House
The Fountain House is the newest lodger of the Gothic-arched Memorial Hall sitting one corner of Albert Square, and its modern old-fashioned surrounds and plentiful portions of proper pub grub – mostly British but with a little European inspiration – do the imposing building proud.
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Oxford Road
Fumo
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.
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Manchester City Centre
Gaucho Manchester
For many people, Argentinian restaurant Gaucho Manchester is the destination in the city for very good steak paired with very good wine. Housed in a converted Methodist church on Deansgate, with an open kitchen, and the original church organ still in-situ, it’s also known as one of Manchester’s best-looking spaces for dining.
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Manchester City Centre
Haunt
When Peter Street lost its Caffe Nero it gained Haunt, an independent coffee shop and wine bar. Stepping inside, you feel like this corner spot in the beautiful St George’s House, with its views of the Midland Hotel and Central Library, has finally got the classy occupier it deserves.
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Spinningfields
Hawksmoor
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.
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Spinningfields
Masons
Nestled in the Grade II Listed former Freemasons Hall, Masons Restaurant and Bar serves retro fine-dining fare in princely surrounds.
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Manchester City Centre
Mount Street Dining Room & Bar
Set inside Manchester’s iconic Midland Hotel, Mount Street Dining Room & Bar is a chic space with an all day menu that offers a modern take on British classics using top-notch, locally sourced, fresh seasonal ingredients.
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Greater Manchester
Mr Thomas’s Chop House
Thomas Studd and his wife Sarah established their Chop House in booming Cottonopolis in 1867, and it’s still going strong, serving up top-end pub grub in the famous tiled back room restaurant along with flagons and snifters in the bar and on the sunny St Ann’s Square terrace.
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Manchester City Centre
Sam’s Chop House
The acclaimed and atmospheric Sam’s Chop House serves British classics from a kitchen where flavour is king. Part of the Victorian Chop House company, the menu is similar at Mr Thomas’s Chop House and the Albert Square Chop House.
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Manchester City Centre
Society
Located in between St Peter’s Square and The Bridgewater Hall, Society brings new life to the quiet yet elegant stretch of city between Oxford Street and First Street. The outside area is a sunspot bordered by a fountain and a garden, making it feel more like Madrid than Manchester (weather permitting of course).
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Manchester City Centre
Tampopo Manchester Albert Square
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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Spinningfields
Tattu Manchester
Located in the heart of the Spinningfields business district, Tattu Manchester is an Instagrammer’s dream. Think penumbral lighting, body art-inspired cocktails and a full-size cherry blossom tree with hand-sewn silk petals. You’d be forgiven for expecting such opulent surroundings to outshine the food. Not so.
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Manchester City Centre
Wood & Company
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.