Northern Quarter: An Area Guide

19 June 2024

Welcome to the creative and vibrant neighbourhood of Manchester’s Northern Quarter.

Today, Böhm is exploring the creative and vibrant neighbourhood of Manchester’s Northern Quarter. Nestled in the heart of the city, this hub is home to an eclectic blend of some of Manchester’s best restaurants, coffee shops, and independent stores. Wandering through its streets also offers insights into the area's rich history, with multiple listed market buildings still in use today.

In this Area Guide, we provide suggestions for spending a weekend in the Northern Quarter. Discover where to eat, shop, or perhaps go to a gig at one of the area’s beloved venues. Read on to explore our recommendations for making the most of your time in Manchester’s Northern Quarter.

Another Heart To Feed

Coffee and Brunch

A good place to start when exploring the Northern Quarter is to enjoy a coffee, and luckily you will be spoilt for choice.

A favourite spot of ours is Takk, a Nordic-inspired cafe with lovely staff and brilliant coffee. The team has three cafes across the city, but the Tariff Street location is the perfect spot to start a day spent in the Northern Quarter. Another great spot is Siop, a newer addition to the area, where we highly recommend getting one of their freshly made doughnut alongside your coffee. Finally, we'd recommend visiting Just Between Friends, which is especially worth visiting on a warm day when the facade's huge windows are opened up, creating a beautiful indoor-outdoor experience to enjoy with your coffee.

*Update 31.10.24: Unfortunately Takk has since closed.

Alongside the brilliant coffee shops in the area, the brunch offerings are equally impressive. Found just off Stevenson Square, the Aussie-inspired Another Heart to Feed offers a fantastic range of brunch options, as well as great coffee and a lovely atmosphere.

Another must-visit is the Gooey Cafe. Following the success of their Kiosk in Ducie Street Warehouse, the cookie and doughnut bakery opened their dedicated cafe, which offers a huge range of baked goods, as well as their cult-favourite Gooey French Toast and Sando’s with Japanese Shokupan bread. The cafe itself has a beautifully designed interior, and the glazed facade frames the exposed kitchen, allowing you to watch the talented bakers in action.

Other favourites in the area include Federal (another Aussie-inspired spot, which has three sites across the City Center), and Ezra & Gill, serving all-day brunch across brilliant sweet and savoury options.

On a Saturday morning, you’ll find a queue outside most of these spots, come rain or shine! These spots are walk-in only, but even if there's a little bit of a queue, the wait is always worth it.

Takk and Siop

Gooey Cafe

Gooey Cafe

Headstock General Store

Shopping

The Northern Quarter offers an abundance of options when it comes to shopping, specifically defined by the huge range of special independent stores, which stock art, books, homeware and more.

A favourite for us, and a gem in the area, is UNITOM. A must visit for any design-lovers: Unitom is an independent, design-led store with a huge range of publications and books across art, fashion, photography, and other small-press titles from around the world. The store is beautifully designed and curated, with Vitsoe shelving is used across the store, holding a range of publications and zines, alongside a beautiful range of homeware and lifestyle products.

You can find our next recommendation tucked inside a yellow brick facade on Edge Street: the beautiful Deadstock General Store. Originally opening in 2015 with a focus on clothing alterations and denim repair, they’ve since expanded to offering a carefully curated range of products which includes brands such as the Japanese homeware brand ‘Kinto’, Tetsushiro Chef’s Knives, and skincare from Haeckels. Every item is personally selected by the owners, making Deadstock the perfect place to pick up some gems for yourself or as a gift.

Nordic Muse, located on Tib Street, is a must-visit store, specialising in curated jewellery, homeware and art. The store is inspired by Nordic simplicity and craftsmanship, and place significant value on brand authenticity, creating beautiful campaigns with their products in different cities to demonstrate the real-life applications of their products in a lifestyle context.

Ad Hoc is an independent bottle shop and bar, with walls lined with hundreds of brilliant options of international wines, beers and spirits. Pop in to pick up a bottle, or we recommend settling in for an evening for a drink and a cheeseboard.

UNITOM

Our last recommendation is a little hidden away, but is well-worth seeking out. A hidden gem of the Northern Quarter, Form is a beautiful store tucked away on Bradley Street. The store itself is housed in a stunning Grade II listed building with a metal spiral staircase and a huge amount of natural light from the glazed roof lights. Their ever-changing range of homeware is beautifully and carefully curated, and includes kitchenware, homeware, jewellery and art. The owners opened the store in 2017, as a rejection of modern ‘throw-away culture’ which promotes mass production and consumption, instead celebrating beautifully handcrafted pieces.

Form Lifestyle Store

Eating

Northern Quarter is home to a huge range of brilliant restaurants, from cheap-eats to the perfect spot for a special dinner out. In the following recommendations we cover a range from a quick lunch to a longer evening meal, and across all price ranges.

Firstly, we would be remiss not to mention the beloved Northern Quarter institution - Rustica (£). Opening in 2000, the friendly team have been serving the area for years, and the daily queue (comprising everyone from the police, tradespeople, students and local office workers) is a testament to their consistent value and quality. It’s the perfect place to grab a quick sandwich while wandering around the streets of the Northern Quarter.

Located in a beautiful Grade II-listed market building, Mackie Mayor (£/££) is a must-see. With a range of vendors, there's the perfect option for everyone - Sourdough Pizza from Honest Crust, Tacos from Pico’s, and ‘Mumma’s’ Fried chicken burgers are a few favourites - alongside their brilliant range of wines and craft beers. The venue is also dog friendly, and is the perfect place to visit with family and friends.

Evuna (££/£££) has a number of locations across Manchester, but the Northern Quarter location is a favourite. The branch has been open since 2013, and serves a brilliant range of authentic and fresh tapas. Evuna is the perfect place to settle into an evening of beautiful tapas and a jug of sangria.

Street Urchin (££/£££) describes themselves as an ‘English Market Diner’, and serves fantastic small and large plates. The fish that the team serves here is one of the stand-out features of the restaurant, with the team sending you the daily menu on the day of your booking, based on the seasonal produce and ingredients of the day. The food is truly beautiful, as is the interior, and the staff are as knowledgeable as they are friendly and welcoming.

Mackie Mayor

History

The Northern Quarter’s history is intrinsically linked with markets and trading, and much of this history can still be found across the area. The historical photo (below) of Church Street in 1985, captures a time where the street was used as a market to sell produce. Although the extent of this market has reduced, McCalls Organic is located on the same street, and has been trading in the same spot for decades. It has a great selection of fruit, vegetables and other produce, and is great for locals to stock up, as well as for a visitor to grab a punnet of strawberries in the summer.

*Update 31.10.24: Unfortunately McCalls Organic has since closed.

Church Street Market, 1985 (Left), and McCalls Organic, 2024 (Right)

The Northern Quarter is also home to the Manchester Craft and Design Centre, which is homed in the Grade II listed fish market building. Built in 1873, the building operated as part of the bustling shopping district which defined the Northern Quarter, specifically housing the ‘Smithfield Markets’ and was a popular shopping hub. The centre closed in 1973 following competition from the opening of the Arndale Centre, but thankfully was repurposed as a craft centre, and reopened it’s doors in 1982. For over 40 years, the centre has been the home to studios of talented artists in fields such as ceramics and jewellery making, as well as running events for the community. It is well worth a visit - if possible, time your visit to align with the monthly Makers’ Market which, on the second Sunday of the month, spills out onto the streets surrounding the Craft Centre.

"Into The Studio" Excerpts from a series capturing the work of Sue Cragg, a Ceramicist in The Craft Centre. Part of a series by Ella Wheatley.

Music Scene

To finish off our guide, we couldn’t leave without mentioning another key part of the Northern Quarter’s identity, both past and present - the music scene. Both Night and Day and Band on the Wall are brilliant venues to see some of your favourite artists or to discover new ones. Another recommendation is visiting Matt and Phred’s Jazz Club on Tib Street. The atmosphere is amazing, and we would recommend visiting on a Monday night, a night of improvisation from some hugely talented musicians.