Manc pizza favourites Nell’s have announced they are opening a new location in Altrincham later this year, meaning the Trafford market town will finally get a taste of their legendary 22-inch pizzas.
Best known for boasting the largest pizza in the city, ever inventive twists on their New York-style slices, equally popular ice cream sandwiches, great cocktails and more, Nell’s has got to be up there with one of the most universally loved foodie spots in Manchester.
And soon to unveil what will be their fifth location to date over in Alty, the brand is now expanding even further across Greater Manchester, with the latest Nell’s site scheduled for September 2024.
It seems crazy to think they first launched in lockdown and how far the brand has come since then, having revealed that they will also be opening another city centre location this autumn too.
With three existing locations – the OG one over at Common in NQ, the canal-side spot at Kampus and from the kitchens of The Beagle in Chorlton – this is the furthest Nell’s has ever ventured from the city limits and is yet another great addition to Altrincham‘s ever-growing hospitality scene.
The new restaurant is set to pop up in the bustling Stamford Quarter’s new Foundation building and workspace on George Street, featuring a huge bar and outside area.
Better yet, this new space is literally spitting distance from the Altrincham Interchange, meaning those coming into the area will only have to trot across the road to get a taste of one of Manchester’s very best pizzas.
If you’ve somehow never sampled Nell’s before, you can get their pizza by the slice, a perfectly sufficient 14″ pie or the frankly ridiculously 22″ (he says knowing full well he’s an entire one to himself on multiple occasions). Either way, it’s one of our absolute favourites.
Announcing the new location, founder Jonny Heyes said: “We’ve been hoping to open a Nell’s in Altrincham for years. We love the town, it’s so vibrant – it almost feels like coming on holiday when you head over here. We can’t wait to be part of it.”
With art and music having a huge influence on the brand as well as Bruntwood and Trafford Council‘s wider plans to revitalise the Altrincham high street, the new Nell’s will also spotlight a fresh set of work by multi-media artist Tara Colette, as well as local and emerging talent providing tunes at the weekend.
It’s also a better time than ever to get on Nell’s hype train since they added new menu items not so long ago, including their ‘calzoneta’ filled with cheesy marmite, baked until crisp on the outside and stringy in the middle, as well as a fresh iceberg wedge salad with ricotta salata.
And don’t worry, the massive ‘za, cocky-Ts and ice cream sarnies aren’t going anywhere.
Featured Images — Nell’s (supplied)/The Manc Group
Eats
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 -
25th June 2024 
