23 of the best Manchester 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.

Founder’s Hall is a smartly-refurbished pub with an enviable position on Albert Square. It serves up comforting pub food and a vast range of beers.

Rain Bar is a pub from JW Lees in an old umbrella factory. It’s a beautiful building and looks even better now after its recent refurb. The jewel in the crown though, or the spoke in its brolly, is a large outdoor area to the rear overlooking the Bridgewater Canal.

We had an internal debate about whether to class The Angel on Rochdale Road as part of the city centre, and it just about squeezed in. It’s situated in the newish NOMA development near the Co-operative buildings, but it was there long before the property marketeers came up with that NYC-style rebrand. NOrth MAnchester indeed.

The Bay Horse Tavern, to give it its full moniker, describes itself as a modern take on a Victorian Pub. With its dark hues and warm woods, puttering candles and kitschy knick-knacks as well as its range of gins, craft beers and ‘other libations’, it may well straddle the eras.

The Britons Protection pub has a place in the heart of many a Mancunian. It’s been here since the early 19th century and has Grade II Listed status thanks to its 1930s’ features and traditional layout.

The Castle Hotel is one of the big names on Manchester’s gig circuit. This 18th century pub, covered in brown glazed tiles, has a buzzy atmosphere. It’s small with a busy bar whose beautiful tiling pairs well with the exterior. There’s also an 80-capacity (80 newborn babies perhaps, 80 full-size humans? Never) music hall putting on gigs by well-regarded local promoters and a bijou beer garden out the back.

The Crown & Kettle is Manchester’s most beautiful pub. The landmark Gothic building on the corner of Oldham Road and Great Ancoats Street is just as impressive inside with high ceilings that are wonderfully ornate and descending stonework which used to house chandeliers. But even though it dates from 1734, it feels fresh and modern.

The Deansgate is a bit of a landmark pub in Manchester, having been in this spot for 200 years.

The Didsbury pub is a hidden gem in the heart of South Manchester. With its picturesque location on the former Village Green it’s surrounded by a lush green area that is just wonderful during the summer months.

The food element of award-winning Ancoats pub The Edinburgh Castle has had several overhauls in recent years – but it’s retained its place in the Estrella Damm Top 50 Gastropubs throughout. 

The Kings Arms is a glorious reincarnation of what was once a backstreet boozer. The main bar is a lovely oval room edged with ox-blood leather button-back benches, while the snug looks like an update on your nan’s front room. Outside there’s a suntrap terrace. It’s all done out beautifully but not in a way that detracts from its history or announces itself too boldly.

Manchester classic the Lass O’Gowrie won Best Pub in Britain in 2012 but suffered a loss in income (and a change of landlord) when the BBC building opposite closed. It’s now very much a Greene King pub but it still retains much of its character and charm.

George Orwell may have named his ideal (and imaginary) pub The Moon Under Water but Wetherspoons on Deansgate was not what he had in mind. It’s The Marble Arch which has all the qualities that mark it out as the perfect boozer.

Cavernous yet cosy with its open fires, separate book-lined rooms and lots of leather sofas, wood panelling, stained glass, pot plants and pictures from days of yore, The Metropolitan manages to multitask quiet pint, glass or two with the girls and full-on family day out.

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.

If you’re a fan of cosy pubs with good beer and great craic, Mulligans will be right up your alley. Located just off Deansgate, it’s full of character and is Manchester’s oldest authentic Irish pub.

The Grade II Listed Peveril of the Peak dates back to the 1820s. It’s had quite the history, and is now one of Manchester’s most iconic pubs thanks to its unique green-tiled exterior.

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.

The Rat & Pigeon may be Manchester’s newest pub, but it’s an oldie too. The team behind the much-loved Crown and Kettle have taken over Mother Macs.

The Salmon of Knowledge is an Irish bar in Manchester’s Northern Quarter providing drinker’s wisdom at the bottom of a glass of stout. It’s not just about Guinness, even though it’s as popular as black gold at the moment. If you love your stouts, there’s a range of Irish brewers represented on the bar, from the better known Murphy’s to the less-so (at least to English palates) Franciscan Well.

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.

The Wharf has one of the largest outdoor areas in Manchester and it’s in Castlefield, the canalside views aren’t bad either.