The Thirsty Scholar

Carmel Smickersgill, Tours & Activities Editor
Carmel Smickersgill

Located under one of the railway arches close to Oxford Road Station, The Thirsty Scholar is a free music venue and nightclub, serving vegetarian and vegan pub food with a relaxed atmosphere.

50 New Wakefield StManchesterM1 5NP View map
Visit Now

Opening Hours

  • Monday12:00pm - 2:00am
  • Tuesday12:00pm - 2:00am
  • Wednesday12:00pm - 2:00am
  • Thursday12:00pm - 2:00am
  • Friday12:00pm - 4:00am
  • Saturday12:00pm - 4:00am
  • Sunday12:00pm - 1:00am

Always double check opening hours with the venue before making a special visit.

What's on near The Thirsty Scholar

Katharine Towers
LiteratureManchester
Poets & Players at Burgess Foundation

Poets & Players is a must-go for lovers of words and music, presenting poets established and emerging, with the latest readers Katharine Towers, Sascha Akhtar and Victoria Gatehouse.

free entry
Minimalist poster showing the details of Ecological Borders 2025. Free entry from 5-10pm on the 29th of April 2025 at the SEESAW space, Manchester.
ExhibitionsManchester
Ecological Borders at SEESAW

The new curatorial project ‘Ecological Borders’ ponders how the body can act as both a barrier and a point of connection with nature.

free entry
Unfolding Memory Exhibtion Poster, features a black and white image of a girl
ExhibitionsCity Centre
Unfolding Memory at PINK

An exhibition organised by an all-female team, with an emphasis on celebrating women’s perspectives through the work of four emerging artists

free entry

Where to go near The Thirsty Scholar

Manchester
Theatre
The Dancehouse

From its charming Art Deco interiors to a quirky, highly original creative arts output, our theatre is firmly established within the city’s famously vibrant cultural scene.

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.

Gorilla, Whitworth street Manchester
Manchester
Bar or Pub
Gorilla

Gorilla is a good choice for breakfast, lunch or dinner. From a hearty full English to meaty burgers via good vegan and veggie options. It also hosts some of the best gigs and events in Manchester.

Dog Bowl bowling alley and restaurant Manchester.
Manchester
Bar or Pub
Dog Bowl

A bar and 10-pin bowling alley combined, Dog Bowl is a neon-lit venue that serves up cocktails and Tex-Mex food to go with your time on the lanes.

Bakchich
Manchester
Restaurant
Bakchich Manchester

Bakchich does excellent, reasonably priced Lebanese food – including sharwarma, pickles, meshawi grills and baklawa – in a beautifully tiled, high-ceilinged space.

Palace Theatre Manchester
Manchester
Theatre
Palace Theatre

A Manchester landmark for almost 130 years, The Palace Theatre is reopening in early August 2021 with a few small but vital changes to ensure a safe and pleasant experience for all.

Manchester
Music venue
YES

The apple in Now Wave’s eye, YES boasts four floors of live music and DJs, and offers food via two outlets. It also has a huge outdoor roof terrace!

Manchester
Restaurant
Zouk

Manchester has more than one top-tier Indian restaurant, but Zouk is right up there with the best, and counts Drake as a fan.

Manchester
Bar or Pub
Bundobust Brewery

Launched in 2021, the Bundobust Brewery makes modern beer with their vegetarian and vegan food menu in mind.

The glass atrium inside The Refuge
City Centre
Restaurant
The Refuge

The Refuge is a restaurant and bar based at Kimpton Clocktower Hotel, specialising in bright, exciting small plates.

Culture Guides

A woman sits in a car with hands holding the steering wheel.
Cinema in the North

Vintage Alfred Hitchcock and a family friendly film festival are amongst our highlights this May.

Image by Jonathan Schofield.
Tours and Activities in the North

We've got many a good time in store this month as we round up the best walking tours, cultural classes and makers markets in the land.

Sextile
Music in the North

The outsiders, the oddities and the outrageous – we’re keeping it weird with a hot new batch of underground gigs about to hit Manchester, Leeds, and Liverpool.

Theatre in Manchester and the North
Theatre in the North

Dynamic dance, party-performance, high-energy stand-up and a site-specific show set in a pub. All this and more in our newest theatre guide.

A large sphere floats in a dark room with an ornate wall pattern, flanked by two arched windows and a checkered floor.
Exhibitions in the North

From precarious ceramics to photography festivals, spring is here and brings with it a breath of fresh air in visual art and exhibitions.

Okechukwu Nzelu
Literature Events in the North

If it's inspiring, inclusive events and avant-garde, experimental afternoons you're after, look no further than live literature this spring – we've got you covered.