Manchester Neapolitan favourites Rudy’s have announced plans to open a new pizzeria in Chorlton inside a former bank.
Taking over the old Lloyds building on Barlow Moor Road, the new neighbourhood eatery will bring its patented Naples-inspired sourdough pizzas to the south Manchester suburb for the very first time this summer.
Due to open at 577 Barlow Moor Road this June, the new restaurant will have room for up to 60 guests inside. There will also be a covered, outdoor dining area for those who want to enjoy their pizza al fresco during the warmer months.
First opened in Ancoats in 2015, Rudy’s now has a number of sites across Greater Manchester as well as further afield in London, Leeds, Liverpol and Birmingham.
The new Chorlton site marks part of the brand’s plans to expand into Manchester’s suburbs, with bosses having previously promised to launch five satellite restaurants in Greater Manchester within the next couple of years.
Born out of passion for pizza, Rudy’s follows the authentic Neapolitan tradition of pizza making, serving classic recipes such as Marinara, Margherita and Calabrese – all originating from Naples, the birthplace of pizza.
Image: Rudy’s
Image: Rudy’s
Image: Rudy’s
Rudy’s dough is made fresh daily using Caputo ‘00’ flour which ferments for at least 24 hours, alongside the best quality ingredients imported twice a week from Naples, including San Marzano tomatoes grown on fields next to Mount Vesuvius, and Fior di Latte mozzarella.
The pizza has won numerous awards, in part thanks to the way its chefs follow a truly authentic Neapolitan technique.
All dough is made fresh on-site every day and cooked in a wood-fired oven for just 60 seconds, in accordance with Neapolitan pizza tradition, to leave it soft and floppy with a charcoaled, leopard-patterned crust.
Speaking on the new opening, Max, General Manager of Rudy’s Chorlton said: “We’re really excited to bring Rudy’s to the Chorlton neighbourhood.
“It won’t be long before we are able to fire up the oven and serve delicious Neapolitan pizza. As a team we can’t wait to become part of the community.”
To mark the launch this summer, the restaurant will be giving away a limited amount of pizzas for free. To secure yours, readers are encouraged to sign up for the pizzeria’s newsletter here.
Feature image – Rudy’s
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 -
9th March 2022 
