Key Points
- The Manchester openings for September 2026 range from Didsbury, Stockport, Ancoats, Northern Quarter, Deansgate to Trafford Centre.
- Sister Moon, a Southeast Asian rooftop restaurant by Sam Grainger, opens on the 14th floor of Treehouse Hotel.
- Dahlia Stereo, a two-storey Latin BBQ and DJ-led venue, opens at Northern Quarter on 10 September.
- Bar Dos, which is the music-driven sister of Stray, opens at Great Ancoats Street.
- New locations include Arcadian (Didsbury), Bar Caput (Stockport), Clean Greens (Deansgate), Gigi (city centre) and Forbici (Trafford Centre).
- Other new venues include Always The Same (Didsbury), Amò by Salvi’s (Deansgate Mews), The Counter (John Dalton Street), Kardia (House of Social), Maison Corn Exchange, Nest Collective, The Medlock Radisson Blu, Reggie’s Altrincham and the revamped Manchester location of Gaucho’s.
Manchester (Manchester Mirror) September 08, 2026 – A wave of new restaurants and bars is opening across Greater Manchester in September 2026, with concepts rangin.g from Southeast Asian rooftop dining to Latin American barbecue and DJ-led late-night venues. The openings are spread across neighbourhoods including Didsbury, Stockport, Ancoats, the Northern Quarter, Deansgate and the Trafford Centre, signalling a busy autumn for the city’s hospitality scene.
- Key Points
- What are the headline openings in Manchester this September?
- Which new bars and late-night venues are opening?
- Which new restaurants are opening in Didsbury and Stockport?
- What new openings are on Deansgate and in the city centre?
- Which openings are in the Trafford Centre and Altrincham?
- What hotel and airport openings are linked to Manchester this month?
- Background to Manchester’s September 2026 hospitality developments
- Prediction: How will these openings affect diners, drinkers and local communities?
What are the headline openings in Manchester this September?
Two projects dominate the month’s announcements. Sister Moon, a Southeast Asian BBQ restaurant by chef Sam Grainger, has opened on the 14th floor of the Treehouse Hotel on Blackfriars Street, alongside signature bar The Nest and private lounge The Hideout. As reported by Manchester’s Finest, the long-awaited venue features made-from-scratch curry pastes and carefully sourced ingredients, with dishes from red prawn toast to aged ribeye with seven spice.
In the Northern Quarter, Dahlia Stereo opened on 10 September as a two-floor restaurant, bar and late-night music space at The Hive on Lever Street. Created by WANT STUDIOS, the team behind Ramona and The Firehouse, the venue combines Barbacoa Cósmica, an open-fire kitchen inspired by Latin American and southern US barbecue, with Bar Más Bonita, a tequila, mezcal and rum-focused liquor store bar, and Dahlia Stereo, an intimate music space powered by a bespoke Hatchett Sound system. As reported by The Manc, the evening programme features DJs and selectors from Manchester and beyond.
Which new bars and late-night venues are opening?
On Great Ancoats Street, Bar Dos is opening as the second bar from Ben Reilly and Fran Cruse, described as a “tearaway younger sibling” to Stray, the Mackie Mayor cocktail bar that ranked highly in the UK’s Top 50 Cocktail Bars in 2025. Music is central to the concept, with weekend DJs and playlists curated by artists including Space Afrika, Chunky, Private Joy and Konnie Kon, alongside Stray residents Rhod Parry and Stu Richards. The venue joins Proloco and the forthcoming city home of OSMA in a cluster of new openings on the street.
Gaucho Manchester has also reopened following a refurbishment to mark its 25th birthday, with a new bar area and an exclusive smoked steak dish available only at the Manchester site. The decor features warm timber, marble and muted natural shades with gold detailing.
Which new restaurants are opening in Didsbury and Stockport?
In Didsbury, Arcadian opened on 4 September in the former Hispi restaurant site, offering 74 covers and a private dining room for up to 12 guests. The menu spans snacks, small plates, larger cuts, seafood and desserts, with open-fire cooking central to preparation. Also in Didsbury, Always The Same has opened as a specialty coffee shop inside The Wild Alderman pub, serving Harmony Coffee Roasters coffee and pastries from La Chouquette.
In Stockport, Bar Caput has opened on Great Underbank in the former Cantaloupe restaurant space, focusing on Roman-style fritti and extra-thin tonda romana pizza in a casual, walk-in friendly setting.
What new openings are on Deansgate and in the city centre?
On Deansgate, Clean Greens is due to open on 16 September with build-your-own salad bowls, matcha, smoothies, fresh juices, cold brew coffee and functional wellness shots, including adaptogenic powders. The first 100 customers on opening day will receive a complimentary Glowwa Collagen shot.
Amò by Salvi’s has opened on Deansgate Mews as a more casual sister site to Salvi’s Italian eateries, offering a daily-changing £10 lunch menu, fresh deli sandwiches, a two-for-£10 spritz offer and Sunday lunch, plus authentic Italian grocery items.
The Counter, a new project from Open Restaurant Group led by Sam and Emma Morgan with executive chef Andrew Sheridan, is opening soon on John Dalton Street. It is designed to transition from breakfast meetings and long lunches to late-night dinners and cocktails, with four-metre-high elm trees as a focal point.
Gigi is scheduled to open on 26 September in the former Gusto Italian site on Lloyd Street, operating as an Italian “grill room” in a Grade II-listed building that was originally the City Library and Registrar’s office. The project is led by creative hospitality professionals from WANT Studios, with Sam Astley Dean heading the kitchen and crafting the pasta-focused menu.
Kardia, meaning “heart” in Greek, has opened in House of Social serving Mediterranean dishes for communal dining, including gyros from the spit, large prawns with Aleppo pepper and cultured butter, hummus and tzatziki.
Maison Corn Exchange has opened in the Corn Exchange with fresh pastries from Half Dozen Other, including croissants, pain au chocolat and cruffins, paired with AllPress Espresso coffee and iced matchas topped with cold foam in flavours such as ube, blueberry and crème brûlée.
Nest Collective has opened in a mill on Pollard Street East, offering coffee alongside events such as sound baths, DJ sets and creative meet-ups.
Which openings are in the Trafford Centre and Altrincham?
Forbici has opened in the Trafford Centre’s Orient food hall, joining other concepts such as Jerk Junction, Blanchflower and Bunsik. The Neapolitan pizza site, praised by Marco Pierre White, focuses on quality flour, tomatoes and toppings.
In Altrincham, Reggie’s has opened with coffee, pastries, yoghurt and acai bowls, wraps and bagels, extending the brand’s presence beyond Hale.
What hotel and airport openings are linked to Manchester this month?
The Medlock, a 401-room Radisson Blu hotel, has opened in East Manchester’s Medlock Square near Co-op Live and the Etihad Stadium. The hotel includes British brasserie Three Rivers, café and wine bar Blend, a 24-hour Technogym fitness studio and a two-storey Penthouse Suite with a private rooftop garden.
At Manchester Airport, a new JD Wetherspoon pub named The Belle Vue is due to open in Terminal 2 on 8 September, named after the city’s historic Belle Vue site.
Background to Manchester’s September 2026 hospitality developments
The September 2026 openings follow a period of expansion and refurbishment across Manchester’s food and drink scene, with operators investing in rooftop concepts, open-fire cooking and music-led venues. Sister Moon’s arrival on the Treehouse Hotel roof continues a trend for high-level dining with city views, while Dahlia Stereo’s two-floor format reflects demand for hybrid restaurant-bar-club spaces. The concentration of new sites on Great Ancoats Street, including Bar Dos, Proloco and OSMA’s city home, points to Ancoats and the Northern Quarter consolidating as a core hospitality corridor. At the same time, neighbourhoods such as Didsbury and Stockport are seeing independent-led openings, from open-fire restaurants to Roman pizza concepts.
Prediction: How will these openings affect diners, drinkers and local communities?
The scale and variety of September’s openings are likely to increase choice for Manchester residents and visitors, particularly for evening dining and late-night entertainment. Rooftop and view-led venues such as Sister Moon may attract tourists and special-occasion diners, while music-focused bars like Bar Dos and Dahlia Stereo could draw younger crowds and extend trading hours in the Northern Quarter and Ancoats. For local communities, the mix of casual concepts (Bar Caput, Clean Greens, Maison Corn Exchange) alongside higher-end sites (Gigi, Arcadian, Gaucho’s refreshed Manchester) may broaden the customer base across price points. If trading patterns follow recent trends, the new venues could increase footfall in their respective neighbourhoods, support adjacent retailers and create additional hospitality employment, while also intensifying competition for existing operators.
