Cocktails in Manchester

Ian Jones, Food and Drink Editor

Looking for the best cocktails in Manchester? You have a wealth of choices, from high-end – and high-up over the city – bars, to down and dirty raucous venues. You might pay a premium for the view, but that’s often part of it – a great cocktail is more than just a glass of sugary brightly-coloured liquid, right?

Manchester has more than enough excellent bars and restaurants offering up delicious alcohol-heavy cocktails, whether you’re looking for a big weekend night out or romantic midweek drinks with your beau.

Whether you want to live the high-life with a glamourous cocktail alongside your wagyu beef, or eat cut-price pizza alongside your drink of choice, here’s our insider’s guide to the best places in the city for cocktails. Get your Alka-Seltzer ready.

Our top picks

Speak In Code

Speak In Code, 7 Jackson's Row, Manchester , M2 5ND - Visit now

If you go out in Manchester and enjoy a well-crafted cocktail you’ll almost certainly have heard of Speak In Code. Despite its best efforts, this hidden-away bar has a solid reputation as one of the city’s best bars, and for good reason.

Speak In Code
Ian Jones

10 Tib Lane

10 Tib Lane, 10 Tib Lane, Manchester , M2 4JB - Visit now

One of Manchester’s best Cocktails bars and restaurant. The tavern like ground floor, invites you in, and an experienced barmen will hand you a perfectly concocted cocktail from the frequently changing list or your personal favourite.

10 Tib Drinks-1
Ian Jones

Behind Closed Doors

Behind Closed Doors, 93 Oldham Street, Manchester, M4 1LW - Visit now

Behind Closed Doors is not your typical bar, still not completely certain of what you are about to experience. However, we can guarantee a delicious signature cocktail to enjoy while losing yourself in the underground den of debauchery.

behind-closed-doors-cocktail
Behind Closed Doors

Blinker

Blinker, 64-72 Spring Gardens, Manchester , M2 2BQ - Visit now

An ideal place for date night or somewhere sophisticated to take friend to show the best of the city’s hospitality scene. Smack bang in the centre of Manchester staffed by cheerful, chatty drinks experts who are in it for the love of making drinks that look and taste beautiful.

Fenix

Fenix, The Goods Yard Building Goods Yard Street, Manchester , M3 3BG - Visit now

A Greek restaurant with an innovative twist. Before your meal, experience a dramatic drink downstairs. The Fallen From Olympus serves two, and comes in a jaw-dropping volcano-style construction that billows smoke all over your table.

Finders Keepers

Finders Keepers, 7 Keepers Quay, New Islington Marina, Manchester , M4 6GL - Visit now

Here, they aren’t just well-versed in mixology, they’re doctorate-level (albeit doctors prescribing delicious drinks that make you merry). You’ll find some of the most intriguing and exciting flavour combinations this side of The Fat Duck, without ever feeling gimmicky.

The Alchemist

The Alchemist, 3 Hardman Street, Manchester, Greater Manchester, M3 3HF - Visit now

One of modern Manchester’s original cocktail bars and restaurants, casually whipping out the city’s most intoxicating food and drink options way before much of the current crop were a twinkle in a property developer’s eye.

The Alchemist

Superstition Bar

Superstition Bar, 14 Newton St,, Manchester, M1 2AF - Visit now

A welcome new addition to the Northern Quarter, this independent bar offers up a great range of cocktails, including plenty of on-trend gin options.

Superstition Drinks
Superstition

Three Little Words

Three Little Words, 12-13 Watson St, Manchester, M3 4LP - Visit now

There’s also a secret back room, where booze-fuelled tasting sessions and cocktail-making classes unfold. Think Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, but with booze. Smart Cocktails and Good food, found here.

20 Stories

20 Stories, No. 1 Spinningfields, 1 Hardman Square, Manchester, M3 3EB - Visit now

Twenty stories above Manchester you’ll find some of the best cocktails around. Never gaudy but always delicious, the knowledgable bar staff can put together pretty much any concoction your heart desires.

The Liars Club

The Liars Club, 19A Back Bridge St, Manchester, M3 2PB - Visit now

Liars Club is widely known as one of the city’s best party venues. Put aside the cheap lager for a night and work your way through the lengthy list of cocktails on offer.

Where to go in Manchester

Ego Death
Manchester
Restaurant
Ego Death

Ego Death is a speakeasy-style secret bar in the Northern Quarter with a cocktail menu as good as its atmosphere.

Ancoats
Bar or Pub
Finders Keepers

Welcoming waterside bar in New Islington Marina, serving a wide array of carefully-curated cocktails.

City Centre
Restaurant
Climat

Highly-regarded wine-led, French-leaning wine bar and rooftop restaurant in the city centre.

Manchester
Restaurant
Manchester Wine Tours

Manchester Wine Tours is a relaxed, fun wine tour, full of the city’s best food and drink, led by an effortlessly engaging host.

Manchester
Bar or Pub
Henry C

Henry C is an intimate neighbourhood bar in Chorlton, serving up superb quality drinks.

Manchester
Restaurant
11 Central

11 Central is a new bar and microbrewery launched by local brewing legends SEVEN BRO7HERS BREWING CO at the Central Bay site in Salford.

Manchester
Bar or Pub
Kennedy’s Irish Bar

A fan favourite in Altrincham, Kennedy’s Irish Bar offers live music, a vibrant atmosphere and undoubtable Irish charm and hospitality.

Manchester
Restaurant
Axe & Cleaver

This is the perfect pub for an indulgent weekend, following up a long countryside walk with a hearty and high quality meal.

Manchester
Bar or Pub
On Bar

This multifaceted venue is primarily an award winning gay bar in Manchester’s Canal Street area – but that is not all…

Manchester
Bar or Pub
Vanilla

This award winning bar is open six nights a week due to popular demand. Described as the ‘mecca of the north’ for the lesbian community, it is no wonder why.

Manchester
Bar or Pub
Cruz 101

Everything you want in a Canal Street club can be found here. Cruz 101 – better known as Cruz – is an institution, and a must-visit in Manchester.

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