Chorlton Drinks Properly – No Chains Required
Chorlton has a particular relationship with its pubs and bars. The area resisted the chain pub wave that swallowed other south Manchester neighbourhoods, and what’s left is a network of independents that take their offering seriously. Real ale, good cocktails, proper wine, craft beer – all available within walking distance of each other on a Tuesday night. The main strips are Beech Road and Manchester Road, though a few worth knowing are slightly off the beaten path.
Mary and Archie – Manchester Road
One of the better cocktail bars in south Manchester. Mary and Archie does a short, considered menu of original cocktails – not the standard list you see in fifty other bars, but stuff that’s been thought about. The room is comfortable without being pretentious. Good for a date or a small group. Gets busy on weekends but not unpleasantly so. Prices sit around £10-£12 per cocktail, which is fair for the quality. Walk-ins usually fine mid-week, book for Friday and Saturday evenings.
The Jam Jar – Barlow Moor Road
Cocktail-focused bar that’s been a Chorlton fixture for several years. Unpretentious room, decent-sized cocktail list, a back garden that’s worth knowing about in summer. The Jam Jar doesn’t try to be anything other than a neighbourhood cocktail bar, and it pulls that off consistently. Around £9-£11 per cocktail. Good walk-in success rate unless it’s a Saturday night.
Electrik – Beech Road
Indie bar on the main Beech Road strip. Electrik has been here long enough to have earned its reputation – it’s the kind of place that has craft beer on tap before craft beer was everywhere, and keeps updating the selection. The food menu is solid bar food (burgers, sharing plates) and doesn’t try to be more than that. Good jukebox. Reasonable prices – around £5-£6 for a pint. The kind of bar you end up staying in for three hours without noticing.
Font – Two Locations in Chorlton
Font runs two pubs in the area and both are worth knowing. The original Font on Manchester Road is the bigger of the two – decent selection of cask ales alongside craft, sports on TV (inoffensive amounts of it), food that’s reliable. The second Font site on Wilbraham Road is slightly smaller and quieter. Between the two, they cover most of what you’d want from a good Chorlton local. Real ale from about £4. Both do decent food at fair prices.
The Parlour – Beech Road
Small independent bar on Beech Road that operates more like a living room than a pub – mismatched furniture, board games, a relaxed approach to the whole thing. Good for an afternoon drink or an early evening. The beer and wine selection is smaller than the other bars on this list but curated sensibly. Doesn’t get as heaving as Electrik next door. Good option if you want a conversation without shouting.
The Beech Road Experience
If you’re doing a Chorlton bar crawl, Beech Road is the obvious route. Electrik and The Parlour are next door to each other. From there you’re a five-minute walk from Barlow Moor Road (Jam Jar) and another few minutes to Manchester Road (Mary and Archie, Font). The whole circuit is walkable in an evening without it becoming a forced march.
Chorlton doesn’t have a bad bar strip in the way that some Manchester areas do. You’re not going to wander in somewhere terrible by accident. What it lacks in volume it makes up for in quality and the absence of the things that make other Manchester bar districts annoying – there are no hen parties here, no £22 pitchers of something fluorescent, no bouncers on the door of a pub. Just good independent bars doing what they’re supposed to do.
