4 Must-Visit Cafes in Manchester

English 5 o’clock tea? No, that’s so passé. Especially in Manchester!

Manchester is every coffee lover’s dream! Ever since the third-wave coffee movement became more popular, cafés in Manchester have been growing like mushrooms after the rain, and now the city serves the best cups around.

From big mugs of deep dark filter coffee and strong espressos to creamy lattes and oat milk flat whites with perfect microbubbles.

There are so many cafés in Manchester where you can feed your coffee hunger that the choice can be quite overwhelming.

Luckily, there’s one area of the city where, without walking miles, you can even visit most of the coffee shops in one day. If you can handle coffee jitters.

The Northern Quarter – this creative hub is home to quirky stores, cool bars, restaurants, independent cafés and coffee shops.

It’s not big, as the whole of Manchester really, but I’d say you can find everything you need to feed your heart and soul…and your belly.

The cafés I picked for you are all located in the Northern Quarter. Well, most of them.

I decided on cafés that I would give my life for. Ok, let’s not be so dramatic, but those are the ones I visit the most often and I vouch for the quality of their food and coffee.

They all have this minimalistic, hipster vibe, but it doesn’t mean they’re not cosy, prices won’t break the bank, and the best thing is that they are all independent (I think). No chains allowed!

So here are the must-visit cafes in Manchester, England.

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Best Cafes in Manchester

1. Foundation Coffee House

Red Eye, Black Eye, Dead Eye…no, those are not nicknames of spies. Those are types of coffee available in Foundation. Hope you’re intrigued.

Foundation is a place where I’ve spent the most hours. Apart from the great variety of delicious, speciality coffee and tasty food, you can also find in Foundation a great space to work.

And I should really say: “Foundations” because there are 3 locations in Manchester. FDN is one of Manchester’s largest independent coffee shops, both in terms of company and size.

You can literally spend the whole day there, enjoying minimalistic yet cosy interiors, sipping their luxurious flat whites or flavourful tea, nibbling on avocado toast or one of the tasty cakes, while getting this work done. Good workflow and free WiFi guaranteed.

Locations

Foundation Coffee House in Northern Quarter
Lever Street, Manchester M1 1JB

Foundation Coffee House Whitworth
Whitworth Street, Manchester M1 6LS 

Foundation Coffee House Portland
Portland Street, Manchester M1 3HU

2. Just between friends

The name of this café couldn’t be more accurate. When you go there, you know that this is exactly where you’ll end up: just between friends.

Apart from delicious coffee (the best oat milk flat white in town) and tasty sweet and savoury snacks, the lovely owner and chatty baristas will make you feel like you’re at home.

For me, Just Between Friends offers the best atmosphere of all the mentioned coffee shops. I really liked going there on a typical rainy Manchester Saturday or Sunday, squeezing into a cosy space and watching the baristas create coffees.

If you were lucky, you could even meet the “café dog”, a cute sausage dog
called Wolfie. And in the summer, you just have to try their Affogato, made with homemade ice cream.

Unfortunately, now, because of Coronavirus, Just between friends in the Northern Quarter is more of a takeaway, with some secret outdoor seating behind the cafe.

Locations

Just between friends in Northern Quarter (takeaways only)
56 Tib Street, Manchester M4 1LG

Just between friends in Ancoats
Beehive Mill, Jersey Street, Manchester M4 6JG

3. Siop Shop

Or in other words, donut heaven. If you like donuts, you can’t miss this place!

Previously working from a basement of a bar as a bakery called: “Blawd”, the wonderful Welsh bakers made a name for themselves making some of the bests cakes and donuts in Manchester.

Now in their first café, you can try their artisanal, incredibly delicious donuts, cakes and sandwiches. And let’s not forget about freshly brewed aromatic coffee.

Siop Shop offers as well a great selection of vegetarian food and vegan donuts! But if you’re a vegan, you have to be quick. Vegan donuts sell out super fast.

The donuts are quite pricey (around £3,20 for one), especially compared to back home in Poland, but if you want to treat yourself, this is the place to go.

Location

53 Tib Street, Manchester M4 1LS

4. Pollen

This is technically not a coffee shop. And it’s also not in the Northern Quarter.

Pollen is a “Sourdough & Viennoiserie” bakery. That’s what they call themselves, and if you have a problem with understanding what that means, as I did, it’s an artisan bakery and patisserie.

If that is still too much – it’s a place where they bake delicious sourdough bread, make the best cake in Manchester, pastries and brew aromatic coffee.

Pollen was born from a love of great food and started out as a takeaway, located in a railway arch underneath Manchester’s main station.

Now it’s a big yet minimalistic, fully functioning bakery and café located on the canal in Ancoats, that attracts people from Manchester and even from all over the country.

Despite not being the cheapest place (I’d even say it’s quite expensive), I’ve never seen Pollen empty and I’m there almost every Friday to buy bread for the weekend.

But the delicious bread and pastries, incredibly looking sandwiches, thoughtfully put together brunches and lunches, and aromatic, freshly brewed coffee are all worth it.

As a special treat, you sometimes get to see the extremely fluffy chow chow, “café dog” Maru, who hangs around the bakery.

Location

Pollen Bakery
8 New Union Street, Manchester M4 6FQ

Hope you enjoyed my mini guide to, according to me, the top must-visit cafés in Manchester city centre.

Every place I mentioned here offers quality coffee and delicious food, so no matter which place you pick, you won’t be disappointed. So prepare your taste buds for flavour nirvana and enjoy!

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