To mark the end of October half term and a little bit of your sanity returning, the kind folks over at Yard and Coop have decided to extend their Kids Eat Free deal for another week.
That’s at least one night’s tea sorted and still managing to save some pennies, no less.
While they might hold this promotion during most school holidays throughout the year, Manc favourite Yard and Coop have decided to once again be the legends that they are by celebrating/commiserating (depending on what kind of parent you are) back-to-school time with more free chicken.
Yes, for one more week only as we prepare for the end of spooky season and half term, kids can eat absolutely free at Yard and Coop right up until this Friday, 3 November.
The catch is simple because there isn’t one, really: you can get a free children’s meal with every adult main purchased and since you’re the one taking them there in the first place, it’s not like you weren’t going to eat, is it?
If you’ve eaten at the Northern Quarter institution before, (we hope that’s all of you), you’ll know the kid’s menu is just as good value for money as the adult one. Promising a main and a dessert for just a fiver, you can get their chicken ‘nugz’, chicken mayo burger, or even vegan fried chicken — all of which come with a drink and either chips, mac n’ cheese or salad.
Dessert’s a simpler one that no child is going to turn down: ice cream with sprinkles or flavoured milk of your choice. Bob’s your uncle — and if he has kids, we’d recommend he bring them here too.
The best part of all is if you’re still waiting for your energy to return after a long couple of weeks of having the kids at home, there are games, LEGO, crayons and other bits to keep the little ones busy whilst you sit back and reward yourself for another top parenting job done well. And, of course, you can still eat for a tenner too.
Once again, this deal only usually applied during the school holidays but luckily owners Carl and Laura Morris have kids of their own and know how much little deals like this can help appease the tiny terrors on a weeknight, so they’re giving you a few more days to make the most of it.
As for the food side of stuff, they never fail to deliver some of the best chicken in Manchester at good prices and in this case of you students, you’ll be glad to know that ‘Wing Wednesdays’ are back too.
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.
Danny Jones -
30th October 2023 
