When it comes to bottomless brunching, Manchester really has got it down to a fine art. There really is something for every occasion, whether you want pies and pints or poached eggs and fizz.
One new bottomless brunch to throw its hat into the ring comes from Gusto, the popular Italian chain first founded in 2005 by Jeremy Roberts and the late Tim Bacon, from Living Ventures Group.
Known for its affordable Italian elegance, the restaurant group has just introduced a new Italian-inspired bottomless brunch with unlimited limoncello sangria, sourdough pizzas and refined pasta dishes.
Priced at £37 per person, for that diners will be treated to two delicious Italian courses alongside 90 minutes of non-stop cocktails and prosecco.
Running on Fridays and Saturdays between midday and 3pm, the new deal is inspired by the tastes of Italy and starts with the restaurant’s signature Dough Petals served with garlic butter.
Image: Gusto
Image: Gusto
This is followed by a choice between classic brunch favourites and more authentic Italian plates.
Find brunch mainstays like smashed avocado on toast topped with spring greens, poached egg or smoked salmon on the menu here alongside the likes of wood-fired sourdough pizzas with toppings like pepperoni salsiccia or margherita.
Further menu choices at the new Gaucho bottomless include the likes of jerusalem artichoke and truffle ravioli, D.O.P. San Marzano tomato orzotto, or a simple but flavoursome rigatoni arrabiata.
There is also the opportunity to upgrade to a Gusto burger – British chuck steak, caramelised onion, pecorino cheese, tomato, lettuce, relish and gherkin with skin-on fries or a house salad – for an extra £2.
To wash it all down, you’ll find a selection of cocktails such as Aperol spritz, passionfruit spritz, limoncello sangria, and prosecco all available, with a non-alcoholic option also on offer for those off the sauce.
Image: Gusto
Image: Gusto
Kat Schofield, Head of Marketing at Gusto said, “We’re excited to bring our unique take on bottomless brunch to Manchester!
“Italians treasure time around the table with friends and family – best spent over lovingly prepared food and drinks, and our new bottomless brunch offers the ideal opportunity to do just that.”
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.
Georgina Pellant -
29th June 2023 
