Manchester does brunch properly. Not the avocado-on-sourdough Instagram nonsense that London charges you seventeen quid for — actual, filling, brilliant food served by places that care about what goes on the plate.
We have eaten our way through every brunch menu in the city over the past six months. Some were outstanding. Some were a waste of a Saturday morning. These fifteen made the cut.
1. Federal — Deansgate & Northern Quarter
Federal set the template for Manchester brunch and they have never let up. The NQ original on Nicholas Croft is tiny — eight tables, maybe — so the Deansgate spot opened to cope with the demand. Order the shakshuka. The eggs come baked in a cast iron skillet with a spiced tomato sauce that has more depth than most restaurants manage with their entire menu. Coffee is roasted by Heart & Graft, one of the best roasters in the north.
Price: £9–14 per dish. Queue: 20 mins on Saturdays. Tip: The NQ branch is quieter after 11:30am.
2. Erst — Ancoats
Erst is a wine bar first, but their weekend brunch is one of the best things happening in Ancoats. The menu changes constantly because the kitchen works with whatever the suppliers bring in that morning. Last time we went it was confit duck hash with a fried egg and pickled red cabbage. You cannot plan what you are eating here and that is the point.
Price: £10–16. Queue: Book ahead or turn up at opening (10am). Tip: The natural wine list is serious — start with a glass of orange.
3. Trove — Levenshulme & Ancoats
Trove started in Levenshulme before anyone was paying attention to Levenshulme. The bakery produces some of the best pastries in Greater Manchester — the cardamom bun alone is worth the trip. Brunch plates are built around the bread. The croque monsieur uses their own sourdough and a béchamel that is embarrassingly better than what most French restaurants manage.
Price: £7–13. Queue: Levenshulme branch is calmer. Tip: Take a loaf home. The olive and rosemary sourdough does not last a day.
4. Pot Kettle Black — Barton Arcade
PKB sits inside Barton Arcade, one of the most beautiful Victorian arcades in the country. The space is all exposed ironwork and glass roof panels. The food is brunch done well without being try-hard: properly cooked eggs, good bacon, strong coffee. The pancake stack with berry compote is genuinely excellent — light, fluffy, not drenched in sugar.
Price: £8–14. Queue: Minimal midweek. Tip: Window seats on a sunny morning are unbeatable.
5. Ezra & Gil — Northern Quarter
The Hilton Street spot has been a Manchester brunch staple for years. It is reliable in the way that matters — consistently good food, never a bad coffee, service that remembers your name if you go often enough. The Turkish eggs with whipped yoghurt and chilli butter should be on every table.
Price: £8–13. Queue: Weekends get busy from 10:30. Tip: The back room is quieter than the front.
6. Jane Eyre — Ancoats
Half the people queueing outside Cutting Room Square on a Saturday morning are waiting for Jane Eyre. The small plates brunch is the move — order three or four between two people and share everything. The cornbread with nduja butter is exceptional. The building is a converted cotton mill — high ceilings, stripped brick, those enormous industrial windows.
Price: £6–12 per plate. Queue: 15–30 mins. Tip: Grab a bench outside if the sun is out.
7. Mackie Mayor — Northern Quarter
Mackie Mayor is not strictly a brunch place — it is a food hall inside a restored Smithfield fish market. But on weekend mornings the whole building opens up and half the stalls run brunch menus. The space itself — with the original cast iron columns and vaulted roof — is worth the visit even if you only have a flat white.
Price: £6–15 depending on the stall. Queue: None for the building. Tip: Get there before 11 to beat the lunch rush.
8. The Buttery — Chorlton
Chorlton is not short of brunch options but The Buttery on Beech Road is the one the locals will always send you to. The full English is a proper job — thick-cut bacon from a Glossop butcher, handmade sausages, eggs from a farm in Cheshire. No messing about.
Price: £7–12. Queue: Short. Chorlton moves slower than the city centre. Tip: Outdoor seating on Beech Road is ideal for dog-watching.
9. Pollen — New Islington
Pollen started as a bakery and that is still where they shine. The croissants are the best in Manchester, full stop. Flaky, buttery, the kind of pastry that leaves a trail of crumbs down your jacket. The croque madame on Pollen sourdough is absurdly good for the price.
Price: £5–11. Queue: The bakery sells out early. Get there by 9:30. Tip: Buy a box of pastries for the week.
10. Elnecot — Ancoats
Elnecot is technically a restaurant but their Saturday brunch service is one of the best-kept secrets in Ancoats. The ricotta hotcakes with honeycomb butter are light and crisp without being sweet. The hangover cure breakfast has a harissa baked egg situation that sorts you out properly after a Friday night.
Price: £9–14. Queue: Rare. Tip: Book a table by the window overlooking Blossom Street.
11. Ramona — Deansgate Mews
Ramona is a pizza and party venue that should not work for brunch but absolutely does. Their weekend brunch pairs deep-dish pizza slices with bottomless prosecco or bloody marys. It is chaotic, loud, and completely brilliant if you are after a boozy Saturday morning with mates.
Price: £25–35 for bottomless. Queue: Book ahead — sells out weeks in advance.
12. Companio — Didsbury
A neighbourhood bakery in Didsbury village that takes bread very seriously. Companio mill their own flour and bake everything on site. The crumpets are house-made — thick, with massive holes that hold a ridiculous amount of butter. Brunch is simple: good bread, good eggs, proper coffee.
Price: £5–10. Queue: Short. Tip: The seeded sourdough loaf is the one to take home.
13. Higher Ground — Northern Quarter
Higher Ground on Lever Street does one thing that most brunch places get wrong — the portion sizes are actually generous. The breakfast burrito is the size of a forearm and stuffed with scrambled eggs, chorizo, black beans, cheese, and chipotle sour cream. Coffee is from Atkinsons in Lancaster.
Price: £8–13. Queue: 10–15 mins weekends. Tip: The iced coffee is one of the best in the NQ.
14. Foundation Coffee House — Northern Quarter
Foundation is a Whitworth Street fixture that has survived every trend cycle in the NQ because it just does the basics well. The flat white is consistently excellent. The space is a converted warehouse with exposed pipes and a mezzanine level. It is the kind of place you can sit for two hours and nobody bothers you.
Price: £6–11. Queue: None midweek. Tip: Upstairs mezzanine for a quieter morning.
15. Kala Bistro — King Street
Kala is a proper restaurant that does a weekend brunch worth going out of your way for. The full Mancunian uses Bury black pudding from Chadwicks — the best black pudding maker in the country. The eggs are cooked precisely. The mushrooms are not an afterthought. It is an elevated full English in a beautiful dining room on one of the city centre’s grandest streets.
Price: £12–18. Queue: Book ahead.
The Verdict
Manchester has more good brunch spots per square mile than anywhere outside London. The difference is that here you can actually get a table without booking three weeks in advance, and the prices have not yet lost all connection with reality. Federal and Erst are the gold standard. Trove and Pollen are the bakery-first choices. And if you want a boozy Saturday morning, Ramona is the only answer.
