The 20 best bars in Manchester this year

Despite many accolades and nearly ten years in the game, Speak In Code still manages to remain a bit of an IYKYK gaff. Around the corner from fellow cocktail royalty Schofield’s, head down a staircase to this subterranean den with mid-century decor, low lighting, and a cool hip hop soundtrack. You’ll find some of the most inventive mixed drinks you’ll find anywhere in the UK - all ingredients fermented, washed and infused in-house. Music has always been a muse for SiC, so house cocktails are “demos”; Demo 6 combines pandan infused cachaca with quinjim (a Brazilian custard), while Demo 11 blends Hennessy, spiced amontillado, halwa orgeat, and lapsang bitters - all ingredients are vegan. The team here is passionate to the point of obsession, but they’re not too cool to look after you like you’re rock royalty.

Address: 7 Jackson’s Row, M2 5ND, Manchester 

Opening hours: Sunday to Thursday, from 5pm-12am; and Friday to Saturday, from 5pm-2am

Expect to pay: Around £15 for cocktails, and £6-8 for small plates 

Joe and Daniel Schofield are Manchester’s most famous bartenders – recognised worldwide for their skills. Born in Rossendale, Lancs, the brothers travelled the globe winning copious awards before heading back up North to open their own gaff. The awards kept coming, including being named the best cocktail bar in the UK by Top 50 Cocktail Bars in 2024. Schofield’s Bar brings old NYC-style glamour to Sunlight House (former home to Liz Dawn aka Vera from Corrie’s The Grapes pub). Staff here will confidently shake you the best martini in town (featuring Schofield’s own dry vermouth), or try something more inventive from the constantly evolving menu – you can even pair it with a suggested book from their small library. Equal care and consideration are taken over wine and beer; all beer – including Guinness – is served in a schooner. Book ahead, particularly on weekends. 

Address: Sunlight House, 3 Little Quay Street, M3 3JZ, Manchester 

Opening hours: Tuesday to Sunday, from 12pm-11.30pm; closed Mondays

Expect to pay: £12.50-16 for cocktails, £8-17 for wine by the glass, $4.50-6 for beers, and £3.50-19 for bar snacks 

Not content with being the best steak restaurant in town, Hawksmoor has to go and smash it on the cocktail front, too. Not that we’re complaining. Inside the handsome, low-lit bar, the pin-sharp staff serve a selection of very beautiful, very boozy cocktails. We recommend the full-fat Old Fashioned, a beast of a drink made with butter-infused extra-strong whisky.

Address: 186 Deansgate, M3 3WB, Manchester 

Opening hours: Monday to Thursday, from 11.45am-11pm; Friday to Saturday, from 11.45am-11.30pm; Sunday, from 11.30am-10.30pm

Expect to pay: £14-17 for cocktails, and £6-8 for beer

Manchester’s wine bar game has ramped up like crazy in the past five years - so much so that I now run weekly city centre wine tasting tours. There’s even a wine bar in the flipping Northern Quarter. But don’t underestimate this neon green hangout, the wine on offer is deadly serious. There is almost an entire shelf dedicated to English sparkling for a start. You’ll find old world classics rubbing shoulders with Eastern European orange wine, and Greek reds made from grapes you’ll struggle to pronounce - even when sober. Behind the counter, there’s a selection of fine wines that would impress even the most tedious of wine snobs. Ad Hoc’s by-the-glass selection (at least five reds and five whites plus sparklings, roses and oranges) changes weekly, and all bottles are available to drink in or take home. A fridge full of craft beer means you don’t have to exclude your wine-denying mates, the tunes are always on point, and it’s BYOB (bring your own burger). So, if you want to wolf down a “Massive Cock” from chicken shop Yard and Coop over the road with your bottle of Pol Roger, you can.

Address: 28 Edge Street, M4 1HN, Manchester 

Opening hours: Monday to Thursday, from 12pm-11pm; Friday to Saturday, from 12pm-1am; and Sunday, from 12pm-10pm

Ask any Mancunian about Big Hands and their eyes will glaze with nostalgia, trying to recall the many nights lost at this dinky dive bar. Tucked between a florist and a kebab house, it’s a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it kind of place. With a classic drinks menu (featuring ten types of bourbon and Euro and American lagers by the bottle) and staff with a will to get you drunk, it’s a proper den of iniquity. Bands play, and possibly shouldn’t; the main room isn’t really the right size or shape to house a proper gig. But Big Hands is the kind of place not to let that get in the way of a damn good night.

Address: 296 Oxford Road, M13 9NS, Manchester 

Opening hours: Monday to Friday, from 12pm-2am; Saturday, from 12pm-3am; and Sunday, from 3pm-2am

Yes, it's primarily a music venue, but Yes is also home to a wonderful attic bar in what used to be an old auction house. The blue-beamed space invites the outside in with a huge array of plants, while the space itself opens into an outdoor terrace area, so you can be inside or out. The idea of the building, with its four floors of music, dining and drinking, is that you can stay there all night and feel like you’re in different places – but once you hit the attic, why go anywhere else, anyway?

Address: 38 Charles Street, M1 7DB,Manchester 

Opening hours: Monday to Saturday, from 12pm-late; and Sundays, from 2pm 

When it first flung open its doors in 2011, Port Street was welcomed by a handful of beer nerds and a few raised eyebrows. Now, it’s always packed and has proven itself well ahead of the craft beer trend. If you have an interest in real ale and have been to Manchester before, odds are you’ve already been here. If not, get going. It’s the ultimate haven for beer lovers. Port Street’s owners are also behind the region’s favourite beer festival, Victoria Baths’ Indy Man Beer Con, which takes place each October.

Address: 39-41 Port St, M1 2EQ, Manchester 

Opening hours: Sunday to Thursday, from 12pm-11pm; and Friday to Saturday, from 12pm-12am

Expect to pay: Around £4.50-8 for beers

How did Manchester ever cope before the perfectly mixed negronis of Henry C came along? This tiny cocktail bar has made a big impression on the boozers of the city thanks to an impeccable and inventive drinks list that changes regularly. Choose from the menu or ask for your favourite classic – if they’ve got the ingredients, there’s no doubt they’ll nail it. Get down early to nab a table.

Address: 107 Manchester Road, M21 9GA, Chorlton

Opening hours: Wednesday to Thursday, from 4pm-11pm; Friday, from 4pm-12am; Saturday, from 2pm-12am; and Sunday, from 2pm-9pm

Expect to pay: £9.50-12 for cocktails, £5-7 for beers, £7-11 for wine and £3.50-5 for bar snacks 

If you haven’t danced on the tables at Schloss, have you even been to Manchester? This bohemian pleasure palace doubles as a bar, bierkeller and entertainment centre – and it gets hella rowdy. Throw in alpine cocktails, homemade schnapps and hearty bar meals (plus regular musical showcases from the Haus band) and you’ve got one of the best (and busiest) bars in town. As well as being a destination in its own right, Albert’s Schloss is the obvious start or end to your night at the Albert Hall music venue upstairs.

Address: 27 Peter Street, M2 5RQ, Manchester 

Opening hours: Open daily, from 9am-2pm

Expect to pay: £8-13 for cocktails and mocktails, and £6-8 for beers

Tucked away down a side road between the throbbing bars of Canal Street and Bloom Street, the Molly House offers two floors of respite from the hubbub of the Gay Village. Quieter and with a classier selection of drinks than many other Village haunts, it’s a great venue in which to start your evening’s revelries. However, with the standard of cocktails, wine and beers on offer, don’t be surprised if you decide to rest easy there all night. The food’s good too.

Address: 26 Richmond Street, M1 3NB, Manchester 

Opening hours: Sunday to Thursday, from 1pm-11pm; and Friday to Saturday, from 1pm-1:30am

Expect to pay: £7.50-12 for wines by the glass, and £5.50-12 for tapas