A new street food village is set to open in Wigan’s Grand Arcade, from the same people who are taking over the old Hatch site in Manchester.
STACK, a well-established street food and bar operator, are heading into the former Debenhams building in the Greater Manchester town.
With space for more than 2,000 people at peak times, the new STACK concept will have a mix of food traders, bars, and live music.
It will be creating a brand-new frontage looking out onto Concert Square and hopes to add a new dimension to Wigan’s leisure scene.
The news follows the arrival of Gamer X in the area, an entertainment complex that’s home to arcade games and a ninja warrior course.
STACK will create 140 new jobs for the area, and hopes to provide a platform for local businesses to launch or expand their culinary ventures.
A planning application has now been submitted.
Plans for a STACK street food village elsewhere in the UK. Credit: STACK
Neill Winch, STACK’s managing director, said: “We are incredibly excited to be bringing STACK to Wigan.
“The Grand Arcade is a stunning location with a rich history, and we believe that STACK will be a perfect fit for its vibrant atmosphere and growing community.
“We are committed to creating a space that not only entertains but also fosters a sense of belonging and community, and we can’t wait to welcome Wigan residents and visitors through our doors.”
STACK started life in the north east and is expanding rapidly across the UK.
It already has locations in Sunderland and Newcastle, with further sites in Lincoln, Newcastle, Middlesborough, Bishop Auckland, Durham, Carlisle, Whitley Bay, and Northampton all in the works.
As well as Wigan, STACK will be opening in Manchester city centre, taking over the former Hatch street food village on Oxford Road.
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.
Daisy Jackson -
22nd March 2024 
