Manchester Northern Quarter street scene with independent restaurants and bars
🇬🇧UK

Best Restaurants & Bars in Manchester 2026

From Northern Quarter independents to Ancoats innovators - 343 venues across 10 zones

Updated weekly

TLDR

Manchester has 343 venues across 10 distinct zones. For food: Ancoats (Michelin star, best pizza) and Altrincham (famous market). For bars: Northern Quarter (indie cocktails) and Stockport (traditional pubs). For suburbs: Chorlton (bohemian), Didsbury (gastropubs), and Hale (upscale). For business: Spinningfields and Media City.

Choose an Area (10 Zones)

Ancoats

14 venues

Manchester's hottest food neighbourhood

• Michelin-starred Mana

• Rudy's Pizza

• Pollen Bakery

Stockport

14 venues

Traditional pub town meets foodie revival

• Historic pubs

• Craft beer

• Foodie Friday

Spinningfields

15 venues

Business district dining

• Power lunches

• After-work bars

• Fine dining

Chorlton

76 venues

Bohemian foodie village

• Weekend brunch

• Natural wine

• Vegetarian options

Altrincham

15 venues

Award-winning market town

• Altrincham Market

• Destination dining

• Foodie destination

Northern Quarter

12 venues

Indie, creative, cocktail culture

• Craft cocktails

• Independent restaurants

• Live music venues

Didsbury

48 venues

Affluent village gastropubs

• Sunday roasts

• Quality gastropubs

• Village charm

Deansgate

98 venues

City centre mainstream

• Fine dining

• Rooftop bars

• Date night spots

Media City

15 venues

Waterfront at BBC & ITV home

• Quayside dining

• Business lunches

• Media crowd

Hale

36 venues

Upscale Cheshire village

• Celebrity neighbours

• Special occasions

• Quality wine bars

How We Rank Manchester

Most restaurant guides are frozen in time. A place gets reviewed once, earns a badge, and rides that reputation for years. Meanwhile, the kitchen changes hands, quality drifts, and nobody updates the listing.

DOW works differently. We track 343 venues across 10 zones in Manchester using live Google review data, recalculated weekly. Our Hot Score algorithm weighs four signals: how fast new reviews are arriving (velocity), how recent those reviews are (recency), whether ratings are climbing or falling (trend), and the baseline rating itself. A venue that coasted on a 4.8 from two years ago will rank below one that earned a 4.5 last month with genuine momentum.

Weekly Rankings

Every venue re-ranked each week. Positions shift based on real activity, not editorial opinion.

No Paid Placements

Rankings are algorithmic. Venues cannot pay to appear higher. The score is the score.

Text Reviews Only

Star-only reviews and short junk are filtered out. Only written reviews over 50 characters count toward velocity and recency.

FAQs

What's the best area for food in Manchester?

Ancoats is Manchester's hottest food neighbourhood including the city's only Michelin star (Mana) and legendary Rudy's Pizza. Altrincham is a destination for its award-winning market. For brunch, try Chorlton. For gastropubs, Didsbury.

Where are the best bars in Manchester?

Northern Quarter has Manchester's best cocktail scene. Stockport is a traditional pub town. Spinningfields offers upscale after-work drinks in the business district.

Which Manchester areas are outside the city centre?

Chorlton, Didsbury, and Hale are South Manchester suburbs. Stockport and Altrincham are nearby towns with their own identities. Media City is in Salford. All accessible by Metrolink tram.