Manchester grilled cheese heroes Northern Soul have revealed they will be giving away 200 free sandwiches this weekin the name of National Grilled Cheese Day.
First established in 2015, the grilled cheese OG’s have been serving Mancs their naughty, cheesy grilled sandwiches for coming up to a decade now and claim to be the first restaurant of their kind to open in the UK.
Widely considered one of the best places to grab a grilled cheese in the city, for one day only toastie-loving Mancs will be able to get their hands on a freebie from Northern Soul’s Tib Street restaurant.
It’s an opportunity not to be missed, with toasties at the restaurant normally starting from £7.50.
For those who want to get in on the action, sandwiches will be handed out on a first-come, first-served basis in the Northern Quarter starting from 10am on Wednesday 12 April.
Sharing the news online, Northern Soul Grilled Cheese wrote: “200 FREE #grilledcheese GIVEAWAY at our place tomorrow – from 10am (first come first served) – TAG A MATE.”
— NORTHERN SOUL GRILLED CHEESE 🧀 (@NorthernSoulMcr) April 11, 2023
With a whopping 200 sandwiches up for grabs, it’s not clear whether the whole menu will be on offer as part of the giveaway or if Northern Soul will stick to handing out its signature sandwich ‘The Soul’.
Described as the ‘the heart and soul’ of all of its sandwiches, this house staple features a blend of three different molten cheeses – all sandwiched in between golden sourdough bread.
Priced at £7.50, customers are also encouraged to order ‘as many free fillings as you like’ with options including tomato, fresh onion, sliced pickle, Worcestershire sauce, Marmite, jalapenos, Tabasco and peppers.
Elsewhere on the menu, more indulgent options include the likes of the ‘Bacon Frazzler’ made with streaky bacon, blue cheese, onion, sriracha, and bacon Frazzles, and the ‘Mexican Junkie’ with chipotle mac n’ cheese, jalapenos and Chilli Heatwave Doritos.
Owner Dan Place first brought his vision of a grilled cheese haven to life inside one of the market stall units on Manchester’s Church Street, before expanding to open the current Tib Street restaurant in 2019.
The ever-popular Northern Soul also operates outposts at the Etihad football ground, Freight Island and Manchester University campus, but if you’re after a freebie then it’s the Northern Quarter you’ll need to head down to tomorrow.
The team will also be giving away free beers from local brewery Shindigger on Wednesday 12 April starting from 3pm.
Featured image – Northern Soul Grilled Cheese
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.
Georgina Pellant -
11th April 2023 
