Mackie Mayor: Manchester's best food hall in a restored Victorian market
"Manchester's best food hall, set in a beautifully restored Victorian market building. The kind of place where everyone in your group can get exactly what they want."
At a glance
- Address
- 1 Eagle Street, M4 5BU
- Neighbourhood
- Northern Quarter
- Website
- mackiemayor.com
- Best for
- GroupsFamiliesCasualBrunchSolo dining
The good
- +Stunning Grade II listed Victorian market building
- +Mix of brilliant traders (Honest Crust pizza, Tender Cow, Reserve Wines)
- +No reservations, so you can usually walk in
- +Brilliant for groups with different tastes
- +Weekend brunch is excellent
- +Run by the same team behind Altrincham Market Hall
The caveats
- −Can be impossible to get a table on weekends
- −Loud and busy by design
- −Not the place for a quiet date
On this page(3)
Mackie Mayor is the food hall every city wishes it had. Set in a Victorian market hall on the edge of the Northern Quarter that the council nearly let fall down before someone with sense rescued it, it now houses some of the best independent food traders in the city under one beautiful pitched roof.
The Room
Mackie Mayor is a beautifully restored Victorian market hall on Eagle Street, on the edge of the Northern Quarter where it meets the regenerated Smithfield area. The Grade II listed building has the high pitched roof, exposed iron trusses, and brick walls of a proper market hall, with the food traders arranged around the perimeter and long shared communal tables filling the centre. It is one of the most architecturally pleasing food spaces in the country.
It is also relentlessly busy. Weekend brunches see queues out the door. Weekday lunches fill up fast. The volume is high (this is a feature, not a bug) and the energy is warm and chaotic. Solo eaters, families, groups of friends, and hungover couples all share the space without anyone feeling out of place.
The Food
The format is food-hall: half a dozen independent traders each running their own counter, with a single central bar handling drinks. The traders rotate occasionally but the core lineup has been remarkably stable. Honest Crust Sourdough does some of the best Neapolitan-style pizza in the country (the marinara is the test order; if a pizza place can do a marinara well, they can do anything). Tender Cow does proper steak frites and brilliant burgers. Baohouse does fluffy steamed bao with slow-cooked fillings. Wholesome Junkies does the kind of vegan junk food that makes meat-eaters jealous. Reserve Wines runs the central bar with a thoughtful natural wine list and good cocktails.
The trick is to order from multiple counters and share. Get a pizza from Honest Crust, a bao from Baohouse, a side of fries from Tender Cow, a glass of wine from Reserve, and rotate between them. The central tables are designed for exactly this. Brunch is the busiest moment: full English variants from a couple of the traders, brilliant coffee from Pot Kettle Black, and a Bloody Mary from the bar.
The Practicalities
No bookings, ever. This is a walk-in food hall and the rules are simple: arrive early, stake out a table, send one person to queue at each counter. Saturday and Sunday between 11am and 2pm is peak chaos. Weekday lunches and early dinners are calmer. Card only at every counter. The bar is the place to start. The location is a 10-minute walk from Piccadilly Gardens, on the edge of the NQ. Run by the same team as Altrincham Market Hall (also brilliant, also worth a trip). The closest Metrolink is Shudehill.