Mary and Archie

Mary and Archie is a cocktail bar on Manchester Road in Chorlton, the kind of independent local bar that Chorlton does better than most parts of Manchester. The drinks list covers well-made cocktails and a solid spirits selection, and the bar team know what they’re doing. It pulls in a genuinely local crowd – people who live in Chorlton and Whalley Range who want somewhere decent to drink without having to go into the city centre – which gives it an atmosphere that chain bars consistently fail to replicate.

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DJ nights run regularly, usually from Thursday through to Saturday, covering a range of genres but with a leaning toward soul, funk, disco and house depending on who’s behind the decks. The room is not huge, which means it fills up and gets atmospheric without being unpleasantly packed. Walk-in friendly midweek; busier at weekends. For anyone based south of the city, it is one of the better local options in a part of Manchester that has consistently supported independent businesses.