June is festival and beer garden season and all eyes are focused on places to bask in the sun. Our round up of June openings includes a couple of new options on that front as well as plenty for when the weather decides to have a strop, as it often does. There’s even an unhappy hour with drink offers during summer showers.
There are also a lot of unexpected menu items from June’s newbies, ensuring you never get bored in Manchester. Read on for cheesy onion bhajis, spaghetti pizza, matcha beer and more.
Here are the new restaurants, bars and more that are opening in June.
Almost Famous
Open now
Libertine, the ambitious small plates restaurant in the grand former District Bank building in Withington quietly closed earlier this year due to mounting running costs. Now, moving into its cavernous former home comes another branch of Almost Famous. The once clandestine now very much out there burger brand needs little introduction. It’s held onto its messy patty and sauce crown for years and is always a reliable choice to soak up a hangover or line your stomach in preparation for another one. This is good news too for South Manchester based Deliveroo devotees because it means you will finally be able to get bacon bacon fries delivered to your door. Expect the usual OTT decor in this massive space including a 10ft gorilla, obvs.
437 Wilmslow Rd, Withington, Manchester M20 4AN
Amp
Open now
One time king of the new breed of bars in Stockport Joseph Patten was forced to close two of his four venues Glass Spider and Doctor Feelgood in April. Stating rising costs and ‘lack of demand’ as the reasons for closure, his OG venue The Cracked Actor and gaming bar Glitch remain open. Meanwhile, ex-manager of Doctor Feelgood, Aaron Davies, is determined to give it another crack of the whip. Aaron has rebranded the bar as Amp and is currently booking a programme of local and touring live bands alongside twice monthly comedy nights and the usual rock n roll boozy shenanigans. There’s even an in-house covers band called Creme Brulee (it’s a shit business). Let’s hope the new owner can turn Stockport’s rock ‘n roll bar back up to 11.
10-11 Market Place, Stockport, SK1 1EW
Bar Etna
Open now
Greater Manchester has a surprising number of places serving Sicilian food (and wine) but one more opening in June can’t hurt, especially since it’s the only place specialising in it in Altrincham. This cute bistro meets deli serves up sweet stuff like pistachio torte, cassata cake, and cannoli, savoury stuff like massive arancini, lasagne and penne alla norma, and a deli counter full of Sicilian cheese and fresh pasta. Coffee, biscuits, limoncello and wine line the shelves next to the characteristic Moorish head vases of the island. You’re gonna lava this one.
74 Stamford New Rd, Altrincham WA14 1BS
Ciaooo Loaded Garlic Bread
Open now
Famously OTT pizza restaurant Ciaooo has moved into the space formerly occupied by the shy and retiring Mr Dick with its eponymous new OTT garlic bread venture. Garlic bread options include cacio e pepe with garlic butter, mozzarella, a mix of Italian cheeses and loads of black pepper and a marinara with tomato, garlic butter and oregano. There’s even a meaty one with ‘nduja and sausage alongside yes, garlic butter and mozzarella. Ten inch pizzettes are also on the blackboards if you prefer your carby lunch not to repel all Robert Pattison types within 500 square metres.
93-95 Shudehill, Manchester, M4 4AN
Desert Island Dumplings
Open now
After a few years establishing itself as a pop up around venues in Manchester and Liverpool with dumplings stuffed Mary Poppins-style with everything from roast dinners to full English breakfasts, Desert Island Dumplings has put down its anchor in Afflecks. That top floor cafe has had a few different tenants over the past few years so let’s hope these dumplings stick. Oh, btw, did we mentioned the dumplings are all vegan? Don’t have a cow, man, the new Afflecks caff also has a Simpsons theme. Does that mean the dumplings are made from doh!(?)
Top floor, Afflecks, 52 Church St, Manchester M4 1PW
Dragon Oriental
Open now
This one opened back in mid-March but has flown under a lot of people’s radar so we are including it here to bring it to your attention for your June dining out plans. This Hong Kong style restaurant or cha chaan teng serves all manner of typical HK dishes from French toast to beef ho fun noodles to breakfast noodle bowls. The interior is as huge as the menu so this is a great one for large groups.
55 Faulkner St, Manchester M1 4FF
Gail’s
Opening 7 June on King St / 21 June in Didsbury
We’ve waited ages for much lauded London bakery and coffee shop Gail’s Bakery to make its promised move up north and now three have come along at once. Hot on the heels of its recent Wilmslow opening, Gail’s will open two venues in Greater Manchester this month. One on King Street in the former White Stuff space next to Tast Catala in the city centre, and a second in an old bank on Wilmslow Road in Didsbury. But before you shake your fist and grumble about London brands making the move up North, allow us to mansplain that Gail’s actually already has a Northern connection. Its wholesale bakery in Openshaw opened back in 2017. The new bakeries will be a great place for budding Paul Hollywoods to learn a really valuable skill while also providing those of us who prefer someone else to do the hard work with another reliable coffee option complete with cinnamon swirls the size of cantaloupe melons.
46 King St, Manchester M2 4LG
The Garden Bar Monton
Opening in June
A door made of wrought iron flowers opens up to an interior that’s all rough concrete and brick walls, tactile tiles and dark green marble surfaces. One whole wall is emblazoned with a green haired garden girl. Monton’s Garden Bar has been long, long time coming but then every good garden takes time to bloom. Work on the huge site started back in March 2022 with the aim to open that summer but all kinds of setbacks have pushed the opening date further and further into the future. It’s finally coming together – and it comes apart again too, the roof and walls of various parts of the building come off when the weather allows. Expect a high end restaurant alongside a more relaxed bar area. This is a biggie for gorgeous Monton alongside existing gems like Playfoots and Wandering Palate.
159/161 Monton Road, Monton M30 9GS
Monkey Trio
Open now
Manchester’s first Japanese pub has opened in Circle Square after a long, long wait (it was originally chalked up to open in May 2022). Monkey Trio comes from the same team behind matcha-scented cafe Tsujiri and specialises in Japan’s famous boozy fermented rice drink sake. Sake aficionados will be in their element but if you’re new to the beverage, you can get a sake flight and explore the different types with guidance from the knowledgeable team. Prefer beer? There’s Asahi on tap and you can level up the buzz by adding ceremonial grade matcha to your pint to make matcha beer if you like. There are also cocktails with Japanese ingredients like umeshu, Japanese vodka, sake, green tea and Nikka whiskey. Beer snacks include Japanese fried chicken, roasted sunflower seeds and crunchy fried chilli peppers but it’s not a restaurant so don’t go there expecting a full meal. According to manager Kevin who we chatted to on the opening night, there are plans for origami workshops on the cards if you want to perfect your jumping frog.
Circle Square, Oxford Rd, Manchester M1 7FS
Northern Social
Opening sometime in June
“Whitefield is the new Northern Quarter”, is probably not a phrase you’d expect to hear. The area’s not quite kept up with dining trends as fast as its more happening neighbour Prestwich, but this could be set to change if Northern Social is a success. The team behind fellow Whitefield operation North Crafthouse is bringing hand stretched pizzas, neon lights, a very cheesy photo booth and beer pong tables emblazoned with graffiti of Biggie and Tupac to the North Manchester ‘burb. Those pizzas will have some very interesting toppings including spaghetti and meatballs, doner kebab, and everything that goes into a reuben sandwich. Northern Social will move into the former Motorist Discount Centre on Bury New Road in June. Whatever will the neighbours say?
275 Bury New Rd, Whitefield, Manchester, Lancashire, M45 8QP
PUBLIC
Opening end of June
Stevenson’s Square is one of the sunniest of sun traps in the city and June will welcome a brand new bar to add to the NQ pick and mix. PUBLIC comes from the team behind Evelyn’s and its underground cocktail bar, The Daisy. The team has read the room and come up with a list of long , refreshing drinks to keep you cool when the flags are cracking. There’s a sparkling Margarita Seltzer with tequila and cointreau, an inspired “Aperol-ish” with Italian aperitif Savoia Americano Rosso, raspberry, and (OMG!) orange wine, and, one for the Rupert Holmes fans, a modern take on a Pina Colada with charred pineapple, coconut sorbet and lime added to PUBLIC’s house rum blend. There will also be lager and wine on tap. But it’s not all about the sunshine, whenever it rains in the summer months, PUBLIC will offer an ‘Unhappy Hour’ menu of drinks offers. There will be food inspired by NYC’s Chinatown. Think spicy noodles, chunky buttermilk fried chicken sandos and prawn toast and the late night bar will open until 3am at the weekends with DJs cranking through the fancy sound system.
9 Stevenson Square, Manchester M1 1DB
Roti Urmston
Opening 12 June
Urmston’s food and drink scene has been on the up for a while, and it keeps getting better – look out Sale. Last month we told you of the opening of fine dining restaurant Örme, and now ROTI is bringing a backpack full of haggis pakoras to the Trafford town. This is extra good news for ROTI fans who have been mourning its recent Chorton closure. If you don’t already know ROTI, imagine all your favourite Indian dishes with a Scottish accent, or even, all your favourite Scottish dishes with an Indian accent. Both sexy accents, don’t you think?
38 Flixton Road, Urmston, M415AA
To the Moon and Back
Open now
Some areas of Manchester don’t make our new openings round ups very often so we’re very pleased to have a new bar opening in Ashton to tell you about. To the Moon and Back is a stylish new cask and craft beer focused bar from Jason Stephenson, the man behind Ashton nano brewery Juggernaut. The interiors are all navy and teal and tiles and on-trend sanded wood. The drinks come from their own in-house brewery with guests from many more of Greater Manchester’s indie beer brethren alongside, and there are plenty of other alcoholic (and soft) options too if you don’t like beer.
6 Market St, Ashton-under-Lyne OL6 6BX
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