Eats

Insomnia Cookies – the cult cookie bakery that’s open in Manchester until 3am

Fresh-out-the-oven cookies for everyone.

Daisy Jackson Daisy Jackson - 22nd August 2023

A new bakery that serves fresh-out-the-oven cookies until 3am is ready to open in Manchester city centre.

Insomnia Cookies is opening its first ever UK site (and its second too, actually) here in our city, taking over a unit at the Royal Exchange on Cross Street.

Due to open early next week, you’ll find warm, chewy cookies, delicious freshly-made milkshakes, and ice cream sandwiches.

And to celebrate its launch, Insomnia Cookies will throw a grand opening party on Saturday 2 September, with free cookies handed out alongside merch.

The first person in the queue on the day will be given a year’s supply of cookies, too… race you.

The cookie company already has 240 sites across the USA but until now hasn’t ventured to this side of the pond.

A box of cookies at Insomnia Cookies at Royal Exchange, Cross Street, Manchester. Credit: The Manc Group
A box of cookies at Insomnia Cookies. Credit: The Manc Group
Insomnia Cookies at Royal Exchange, Cross Street, Manchester. Credit: The Manc Group
A Biscoff deluxe cookie at Insomnia Cookies
Warm cookies and a cookie shake inside the bakery.
Insomnia Cookies at Royal Exchange, Cross Street, Manchester. Credit: The Manc Group
Insomnia Cookies at Royal Exchange, Cross Street, Manchester. Credit: The Manc Group
Insomnia Cookies on Cross Street. Credit: The Manc Group

You can order warm cookies alongside ice-cold milk or even a pot of frosting for dunking in, with deliveries running until 3am with Deliveroo.

Insomnia Cookies is the brainchild of founder Seth Berkowitz, who dreamt up the idea while he was a college student looking for late-night snacks.

The Insomnia Cookies menu

  • Classic Chocolate Chunk: the signature Insomnia flavour – classic dough loaded with thick, melty chunks of chocolate.
  • Double Chocolate Chunk: even more indulgent, the Double Chocolate Chunk also boasts a chocolate-flavoured dough.
  • White Chocolate & Macadamia: sweet and nutty with thick chunks of white chocolate and whole macadamia nuts folded through the dough.
  • Cinnamon: the UK’s take on a US staple, the Snickerdoodle. Contrary to popular belief, Snickerdoodles have nothing to do with Snickers and are in fact just… cinnamon flavoured.
  • Sugar Cookie: another US classic, the humble Sugar Cookie is for the purists. Think of it as a palate cleanser between cookies.
  • Vegan Hazelnut Deluxe: filled to the brim with smooth, vegan-friendly hazelnut spread, this chunkier cookie means that vegans don’t have to be left out of a late-night indulge.
  • Triple Chocolate Chunk Deluxe: this big, buttery cookie has a triple helping of gooey chocolate chunks.
  • Classic With M&Ms: the iconic M&M meets the iconic Insomnia crispy-on-the-edges-but-soft-in-the-centre cookie dough. A match made in sugary heaven.

Ben Lacey, managing director at Insomnia Cookies UK, said: “It’s a massive milestone for us to be opening our first bakeries in the UK. Manchester is a city that knows what it means to be up all night, so it was a no-brainer for us as our first location. 

“We’re excited to be bringing the authentic, cult-favourite taste of Insomnia Cookies to the UK – including all the classics, plus some delicious limited edition flavours to boot.

“Late-night dessert shops are big here, but there’s long been a gap in the market for warm, fresh cookies hand-delivered to your doorstep all day and late into the night. 

“Whatever the reason you’re up late at night – whether you’re hosting a house party, headed out to see someone special, or even editing episodes of your grindset podcast – we’re on hand to satisfy your sweet tooth.” 

Insomnia Cookies opens two Manchester sites – on Cross Street in the city centre and at University Green of Oxford Road – on 29 August, with deliveries available through Deliveroo.

You can read more on food and drink in Manchester here.

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Featured image – Insomnia Cookies

 

Eats

Lively Irish pub Nancy Spains set to open in Manchester for the first time

Daisy Jackson Daisy Jackson Lively Irish pub Nancy Spains set to open in Manchester for the first time

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.

In the last year alone we’ve had Mother Mary’s, the Salmon of Knowledge, and O’Connell’s open in the city centre, plus that huge expansion for the legendary Mulligans.

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’.

@nancyspains

Live music all day Shoreditch Saturdays are amazing, but can you imagine then once we get Manchester going? #murphys #nancys #irishpub #fyp

♬ original sound – Nancy Spains

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.

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Featured image: Supplied

Eats

Lucky Mama’s – The Italian restaurant serving pasta in a dough bowl and ‘pregnant’ pizzas

Daisy Jackson Daisy Jackson Lucky Mama's in Chorlton

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's
‘Pregnant’ pizzas at Lucky Mama’s
Traditional Roman pizzas
Traditional Roman pizzas
Lucky Mama's pink restaurant in Chorlton
Lucky 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.

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Featured image: The Manc Group

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