Blank Street, a coffee shop that has become a global sensation for its pretty drinks and stylish interiors, will open its doors in Manchester this week.
There are endless locations available for a brand that prides itself on its aesthetics, from the clean new builds of Spinningfields to the edgy cool of the Northern Quarter to the charm of Barton Arcade.
But Blank Street took one look at Manchester and went ‘Oh, what about Piccadilly Gardens?’. Weird choice…
The city’s busiest and most central square hasn’t exactly built up a good reputation over the last decade, with crime and pigeons both rife.
But things may be turning a corner with the addition of new food and drink businesses nearby, from Franco Manca to Bundobust to Popeyes.
Blank Street is the latest to open here, officially opening to the public on Wednesday 13 December.
It’s just across the way from viral Korean corn dog peddler Bunsik, with both businesses taking on the vacant units built into the infamous Piccadilly ‘wall’.
Blank Street Coffee at Piccadilly Gardens Manchester
Blank Street isn’t stopping there either – the popular coffee shop already has signage up for a second Manchester site on Cross Street.
The coffee shop chain started off as a humble coffee cart in Brooklyn, but thanks to its stunning pastel-coloured iced lattes soon became a social media sensation.
It’s drawn in loads of famous fans, with chief influencer Molly-Mae Hague herself a loyal customer.
Blank Street’s incredibly aesthetic green-and-white-fronted stores are found all over London these days, with people always traipsing out the door clutching beautiful swirling coffees, pistachio lattes, and blueberry matchas.
To mark the launch, Blank Street’s new Manchester store will be offering lucky locals an exclusive buy one, get one free deal from 15-17 December on their new winter menu drinks: Candy Cane Cold Brew and Chocolate Orange Mocha.
Lively Irish pub Nancy Spains set to open in Manchester for the first time
Daisy Jackson
An Irish bar famed for its live music is heading up to Manchester for the first time, and is promising £2.50 pints to lure us in.
Nancy Spains will be venturing out of London for the first time promising to bring the ‘ultimate traditional Irish pub experience’ to the Northern Quarter.
If you were to ask what the hottest trend in hospitality is right now the answer would, apparently, be Guinness. We’re drowning in the stuff.
This latest opening is more about Murphy’s, another Irish stout, than Guinness (they actually won’t serve Guinness at all) but the craic will be much the same.
Nancy Spains is actually set to open almost directly opposite the aforementioned Salmon of Knowledge, taking over the former Corner Boy unit on Stevenson Square in the heart of Manchester.
To celebrate its opening, the pub will be serving its first 5000 pints of Murphy’s for just £2.50, so that it can show off the atmosphere that’s established it as ‘one of London’s favourite pubs’.
They’re promising an array of Irish whiskeys behind the bar, live music performances, and a lively late-night setting.
Nancy Spains was set up by three brothers who travelled all over their home county of rural Kerry researching Irish pubs, before launching two venues down in London.
They want it to balance a traditional pub with the vibrancy of the city.
Peter O’Halloran, co-founder of Nancy Spains commented, “We’re so excited to be launching in Manchester, bringing Nancy Spains to the heart of the Northern Quarter.
“After the success of our two venues in London, it was only right to bring Nancy Spains’ infectious spirit and Irish pride to Manchester. Slainte!”
Nancy Spains will open its first Manchester pub on Saturday 15 March at 21 Hilton Street.
Lucky Mama’s – The Italian restaurant serving pasta in a dough bowl and ‘pregnant’ pizzas
Daisy Jackson
Lucky Mama’s is a local sensation, thanks to its slightly whacky but delicious Italian creations like pasta served in a bowl made of pizza dough and its latest offering, a ‘pregnant’ pizza.
What on Earth is a pregnant pizza, you ask? Firstly we should stress this is a nickname we’ve bestowed upon the dish, rather than Lucky Mama’s chosen branding.
But essentially it’s a helping of fresh pasta that’s folded into the bubble crust of the pizza, like a half-calzone.
Lucky Mama’s started life when founders Mamadou Dhiam and Gaby Santos set up a trailer in their backyard in Eccles in the depths of lockdown.
But thanks to a formidably loyal following that’s spread the word of Lucky Mama’s far and wide, it now has two pretty pink restaurants in Greater Manchester.
Back in 2022, they threw open the doors to their Chorlton restaurant, before returning back to home turf for spot number two in Monton in 2024.
The recipes are fresh and pretty authentically Italian up until the last step, when they throw a curveball by loading their pasta into unconventional vessels.
‘Pregnant’ pizzas at Lucky Mama’sTraditional Roman pizzasLucky Mama’s pink restaurant in Chorlton
Their pasta pizza bowls are what they’re best known for and they fly out of the kitchen – this is where pizza dough is placed around a metal bowl before being baked in an oven.
Then it’s piled high with freshly made pasta, with popular flavours like cacio e pepe, mushroom alfredo, and rasta pasta.
Pasta is available in a regular ceramic bowl too.
You’ll find Lucky Mama’s at 565 Barlow Moor Road in Chorlton; and 217 Monton Road in Eccles.
Daisy Jackson -
12th December 2023 
