Included in one of many tributaries weaving off from Stevenson Square in the Northern Quarter is Lever Street where you would find the Manchester Faraday. Back in 2012, a company called Bakerie opened what was badged as a bread and wine bar in that building. They apparently had a plethora of different vinos available, numbering over ninety, and staged occasional live music and made an instant enough impact on the local scene to be awarded the Manchester Food & Drink Festival best newcomer prize for 2012.
Their cellar bar area contained a novel wine jukebox, now I don’t how that device operated but notwithstanding that it still sounds like an intriguing premise to me! They had a small shop nearby where they sold bread and wine which punters could take away and the owners at the time also owned ran three other NQ sites, namely Dough, Apotheca and Pie & Ale.
That particular venture finally closed its doors in March 2018 and was rapidly taken over by a Scandinavian bar and restaurant called Fika, but they only had a short lived seven month residency. They were then followed for a 6 year period by a games bar called 7 Sins before the current owners moved in there in 2025.
Faraday pub. Image Credit Unknown.
The Faraday has maintained some historical precedent by having an active games presence in the upstairs area with shuffleboard tables, interactive darts and pool tables. I happened to be skulking past one rainy night (not in Soho!), as you do, and I was enticed into the establishment by the sound of live music emanating out from the door. I slid past the bouncers and avoided being allocated to a table and grabbed a perch on the edge of the bar.
My first impression was favourable as the ground floor area was kitted out in a traditional British pub style with vintage pub mirrors, wonky bar stools, leather seating and the archetypal wood panelled walls. On a small stage at the end of the large room, I saw a local singer called Alvin performing.
A couple of hundred yards away on Hilton Street you will find a bar called Manchester To Be Frank. They opened in October 25 and then subsequently decided to relaunch in April 26 by adopting an Irish slant and the moniker was changed accordingly to ‘To Be Sure’! This revised version of the bar boasts that they apparently have the largest whiskey selection in the Northwest.
To Be Frank bar. Image Credit www.manchestersfinest.com
The previous tenant there was a Melbourne inspired bar called Another Heart to Feed which was initiated in 2017 becoming the second branch of the chain alongside their original premises in West Didsbury.
The closing time of ‘To Be Sure’ is 2am every weekday night and 3am on Fridays and Saturdays. Also, on the weekends they stage live music on the ground floor with a DJ spinning vinyl in the basement. My one visit thus far was when returning from another gig and I saw a chap called Dennis playing.
Hilton Street initially commences from Spear Street, which runs through the centre of Stevenson Square, and then it proceeds as one of the three main thoroughfares across the Northern Quarter. You pass the Nancy Spains and the Affleck & Brown hostelries which sit on respective sides of Oldham Street before crossing Tib Street (named after the underground River Tib).
At this stage the name changes to Manchester Thomas Street and on the right is Evuna NQ restaurant, which is in my humble view the finest tapas restaurant in the city centre. About five doors down from there is the renowned Millstone public house which is always highly busy with a marginal musical angle as there appears to be an all-day karaoke permanently ongoing.
The Millstone. Image Credit manchestersfinest.com
Now, when I say renowned that is patently not a recommendation, as my personal ‘renown’ with this hostelry is that I remain convinced to this day that our gig party had our drinks spiked there prior to my debut Mogwai show at the Roadhouse in 1998. Additionally in a homage to our new prime minister the pub recently changed the sign on the door to say ’10 of the North’!
A few months ago, I happened to be walking by and there was a pop-up stage directly opposite the pub where a combo called The Zumba Band were performing. Further bars are then encountered until the street terminates when it reaches the Shudehill Interchange. In December 2023 in a very unexpected turn of events the street was chosen to be the location for the catwalk for the Metier d’Arts 2023-2024 fashion show, resulting in undoubtedly bemused ‘A-listers’ mulching up and down the road!
A postscript this week is that within this article I have proceeded to roll past 250k (a quarter of a million) words in total. The actual landmark word this time is ‘party’ which is one I can live with and fight for the right for!
