Artisan

Had the meatball pizza — delicious but expensive! The service was great here and we had a warm welcome start to finish. The décor of this place is rustic but spacious and you can a good view of the kitchen from many tables.

Visited Artisan for the first time on Christmas Eve.
We went here for a dew drinks to start of the evening. As we arrived the place was pretty empty.
The seating was very comfortable and the service was quick. Spinning fields is a place that I don’t usually visit but I would recommend Artisan for the the stylish décor and the large capacity of people it can hold.
There is a mailing list so you can get discounts.

City Center restaurant 1 min walk from famous Dean’s Gate. Perfect place for diner for 2 or for family party. Restaurant is surprised big what is great .
I was very happy from service. Table very quick ready and drinks ordered. Waitresses all the time care for us.
Food for me is 4 stars. Presentation great, lots to choice. I can full recommended this place for eat and drinks.
Ps. Cocktails are amazing

I quite like Artisan but is one of my least visited Living Ventures venues. This time, my friend had a 40% discount, so we chose Artisan over our usual Gusto.
As usual, I was running a bit late. So, when the receptionist showed me to our table, my friend was already there waiting.
It didn’t take us long to decide to get a bottle of wine between us — the Argentinian Malbec. They did give us the option of trying the wine first, but we chose not to — as if I’d ever send wine back! It was really good wine and extremely easy to drink. Maybe a bit too easy considering we were there on a Tuesday.
I had a classic burger with crinkle cut chips. It was delicious and I particularly enjoyed the crinkle cut chips — you just don’t get enough crinkle cut chips these days. My friend had steak and with peppercorn sauce and she really enjoyed it. I had some of my friend’s coleslaw, which was delicious.
We didn’t have dessert, instead opting for more wine. In fact, we ended up having about another bottle’s worth of wine. Which is really bad for a Tuesday, but it was tooo drinkable.
Overall we paid about £30 each which was quite good, especially since most of that was wine.
The service was a little slow, and the discount was not initially added to the bill, hence the reason for 4* rather than 5*.

Sexy, trendy, and cool is how I’d describe Artisan. The restaurant is dark and sleek with big comfy furniture and dining tables. I came for lunch and didn’t have reservation but had no problems getting a table. The menu is pretty straight forward– different types of pizzas, burgers, small dishes, and large ones like paella and ribs. They had an extensive wine, beer, and cocktail list but I didn’t try any cause it was way too early to start. This would be an absolutely awesome place to lounge and drink on a Friday or Saturday nights with friends though!
As for the food… It was pretty good. The prices were reasonable, ranges from £9−20 so it won’t break your bank account. My friend and I ordered the seafood paella and smokey BBQ pulled pork pizza. I’d rate the seafood paella an «eh»… It’s nothing special, pretty good mix of seafood– mussels, shrimp, calamari as well as it includes bits of chicken. It lacks any distinct flavour and is really just rice with tomato sauce and seafood/​chicken. It didn’t have that toasty bottom that I like either… Boo! As for the pizza, this had a lot going for it and tasted nice. The pulled pork was tender and did pull apart. It had a nice smokey and sweet flavour. The pizza is a thin pizza so the crust is really crunchy. I’d go back to this place for their pizza for sure!
The staff was attentive and was available whenever we needed them. There’s a mailing list to be meme bet so you can get discounts and such so I signed up for it since this will probably be one of my go to places for drinks and small bites to eat while lounging with friends.

I’ve eaten here a couple of times now — both on Friday evening after work. It’s always been an impromptu foodie break in-​between too many glasses of wine. We’ve always been shown to a great table and served reasonably quickly. I love drinking here as its good a good buzz to it and the bar staff are fab.
I would say the food is nothing to shout out about — the pizzas are tasty and the burgers are filling but there’s no real uniqueness to the food menu. That said maybe I’m coming across a bit harsh, as I would eat here again– the cocktails are well made, the staff friendly and the wine is reasonable!

We went here as a staff meal. When arrived, we were given a lovely table outside due to the nice weather. Our waitress — a friendly lady with dark hair — was super attentive and lovely. She recommended meals, drinks and endured we had the appropriate menu.
I ordered the meatball pizza and was surprised at how quickly and how large it was! It was pleasing to see a «proper» pizza — crispy thin base and nice amount of toppings!
The waitress checked back with us, ensured it was all okay and was very friendly throughout the whole thing. I Tweeted about my experience and was offered cocktails on the house next time I visit.
I’ll definitely be there again — not for the free cocktails, but just for the nice atmosphere, friendly waiting on staff and good, fresh food!

Situated in a prime location in Manchester in the heart of Spinningfields, Artisan is a lovely choice for afternoon or evening drinks. There’s a fantastic array of cocktails, with expert cocktail mixers who I’m pretty sure could whip you up anything you fancy on or off the menu.
We went here for a few drinks before heading to Gauchos for an anniversary meal, and it was the perfect location to start the evening. We were lucky in that Artisan was pretty empty at the time we arrived, so we had a whole corner to ourselves with an outlook over Spinningfields.
The seating was really comfortable, staff were friendly and service was quick. Spinningfields is not somewhere I usually frequent but I would highly recommend Artisan for the quirky décor and large capacity — I’m sure it livens up a lot at night too so would be worth a visit for a cocktail evening with friends.

Amazing cocktails, food and nibbles are good. Went with a friend who ordered the lasagne, and I had just had some cured meats etc brilliant stuff. However the cin cin people.

Tried this again for the second time. Cocktails are AMAZING. I had the added cheese and bacon burger. Chips were lovely and the salt and pepper pork crackling is to die for! Staff were great, so friendly and made the experience more enjoyable.

First time visiting Artisan with the 50% offer they have on during January. Amazing
Offer to try somewhere new.
I really liked the décor and the buzz of Artisan and the staff were really lovely and friendly too. It was busy busy but that was expected Thursday night 50% off but served quickly and no waiting long in between courses.
I had mussels baked in bread followed by steak and home made crinkle cut chips all washed down with a glass of fizzy. All of it was delicious can’t wait to go back.

A great evening with friends at Artisan with a great offer of 50% off all food. Our table wasn’t ready right away so they asked us to wait in the bar.
The bar area was spacious and quite comfortable with big comfy sofas and arm chairs. They gave us a buzzer to tell us when our table would be ready. When it started buzzing the host had a few tables for us to choose from but we decided on a booth.
We didn’t have to wait that long for service which was outstanding at all times. My friends starter didn’t turn up at the same time as ours so they knocked it off the bill. One of the steaks wasn’t cooked to how my friend wanted it so they took it away and bought a fresh plate and also took it off the bill. I thought this was a very good gesture which isn’t found in most places these days.
The whole place was busy and buzzing. I loved how the whole place looked like a New York style loft restaurant-​bar.

We’ve been to Artisan a couple of times in the last year and the most recent was for our New Year’s Eve dinner.
WOW it was busy, but this is just what we wanted! Great atmosphere in the bar, plenty of drinkers and the restaurant I know was fully booked. The reason we chose Artisan was as we’d eaten before we knew the food was good. A fixed menu, plenty of good choice and four courses, only one being set.
We both had beef for our main and it was perfectly cooked as we asked for. Every course was timed to give us a full night there celebrating NYE and we were happy to stay there all night with their fabulous cocktails and wine.
It’s a huge restaurant with tables hidden in every corner and the ‘new’ larger bar is full of comfy sofas so you can just visit for a drink. Looking forward to going back once the larger space is open downstairs!

We only had the cocktails here so this isn’t a review of the restaurant/​food — but boy, they certainly know their drinks.
The place is a veritable Tardis, looking decidedly poky at the ground floor entrance, only for you to climb the stairs (or take the lift) and get to the first floor where Artisan really opens out.
They have one of the longest bars I’ve seen since my Uni. of Leeds days (Old Bar in the Student Union); with an alcohol stash which would have kept my student house of six lads in a continual state of semi-​coma for four years.
Saying that, it was welcome to see that their cocktail menu wasn’t an 86 page bible to ‘mixology’ (N.B. I hate that word, I only use it mockingly — shoot me if I ever utter it in a sentence). Instead, there were a couple dozen options, some familiar, most new and bamboozling to most of our group.
They range in price from £6.50-£10 and most require a serious amount of effort from the bar staff so the prices seemed reasonable. An artisan, by definition, is a skilled worker who creates objects either of functionality or decorative beauty — the drinks had a function to help us enjoy the end of an eventful day… and they were certainly things of beauty.
I can personally recommend their Long Island Ice Tea (which has several types of alcohol in it yet tastes dangerously non-​alcoholic) and The Quick Old Fashioned — the first whisky-​based drink I’ve had, and enjoyed, for a long time.

Situated in The Avenue, Spinningfields, is one of my favourite restaurants in Manchester.
I’ve been to Artisan numerous times now and sampled a huge range of eats they have on the menu. Every single time I have been blown away by the standard of the food and the friendly service of their very knowledgeable staff.
Artisan never fails to impress me.
Their menu is vast, boasting nibbles (Salt and Pepper Pork Crackling is my absolute favourite) a variety of small plates, salads and main meals from their wood oven. Artisan cooking at its best.
The open kitchen gives off a very inviting scent when you walk into the restaurant. Lovely.
Today, their Pear and roasted beetroot Tarte Tatin was outstanding and the Baked Camembert, sugar spiced nuts with beetroot and red onion chutney was also a favourite at the table!
I’ll continue to come here often, as there is so much left for me to try.

I really wish Artisan were better. It should be, at the price. It’s got a great interior reminiscent of some of the warehouse like scene restaurants you get in Manhattan and the menu has some interesting options including small plates and tuna and ribs as well as your standard pizza, steak and burgers.
The starter scallops were small and the curry sauce was completely tasteless. My St Louis Ribs were bizarre — it was more like pork belly (and in fact was pretty tasty on that front) and came with a sour sauce that was nothing like the rich sticky BBQ you would get in the States. They also come with nothing despite being £14.95 (the tuna, which I was recommended, was almost the most expensive main on the menu at £18.95 which seeing as a lot of the other dishes are around £10 I didn’t want to order as I knew someone was paying). We ordered broccoli with hollandaise sauce that hadn’t been properly drained so the already tasteless sauce was completely watery. That we actually should have sent back.
The wine was nice although there was something odd about the prosecco, almost tasted flat.
Desserts were quite good although unfortunately my fondant arrived just as I was going to the loo so I didn’t get to experience it at its best. The toilets were a great experience though — beautiful and have a delightful ante room where you can sit and gossip.
Service was consistently attentive and efficient, if utterly humourless.
My dining companions did enjoy their food more than I did so I wouldn’t refuse to return, I just wouldn’t suggest it myself or enthusiastically recommend.

This was my second visit to Artisan. Knowing how busy this place gets, we had booked a table for 9pm. Arriving a little early, we were given one of those plastic table-​ready-​alert buzzer contraptions and told to get a drink. We didn’t fancy a £4+ bottle of Stella so we stood, burdened with our new accessory, and waited for it to light up.
Even with the booking, we were at the bar for at least 25 minutes.
Our table was to the right; in a booth near the kitchen. I like the ambience in Artisan — the décor is brilliant; industrial, interesting yet somehow (especially in a booth) quite cosy. It’s not the most relaxing place though. We definitely felt surrounded by diners treating it as a start to a night out rather than it being the main event. That adds to the lively atmosphere and if you like that kind of vibe while you eat, then you will love it!
We ordered the New York Deli Pizza and the feta, orange and pomegranate salad (with added chicken at my request for an extra £3). The food came surprisingly quickly.
The pizza was loaded with deli meat, gherkins, crispy bacon and cheese — it was really tasty but seemed more of a pile of components on a bread base rather than a complete pizza. The salad was a little disappointing — there was far too much feta, not enough fruit and the dressing was nonexistent. I was glad I ordered the additional chicken because that was amazingly tasty and added a much needed meat element to an otherwise quite bland salad.
The combination of the two dishes was nice but I’m not sure I could eat a full portion of either. On my first visit I tried the burger — which was tasty enough but wasn’t as brilliant as the price tag suggested. Artisan doesn’t seem to have a stand out dish or style of cuisine, or if it has I haven’t found it yet. There’s pizzas, 3 salads, and then an odd ball selection of ‘small dishes’, or meat and veg style meals. Even in my hungry state, there wasn’t much that caught my eye.
However, it has got one thing spot on; the ladies toilets.
As incredible as they are, I’m not sure they’re enough to tempt me back.

I’ve been here previously on a Friday night and it was packed, this time on a Tuesday evening it was pretty quiet but that’s to be expected I suppose!
I was in desperate need of some time with the girls and so set about gathering them from various locations over the country, I chose to take them to Artisan because it’s a pretty cool space, has cocktails and a photo booth!
We were greeted by such friendly hosts, went on for some drinks, of which I am obsessed with the tropical julep, then were shown to our table.
We all went for pizza’s that cost about £10 each, the 4 cheese pizza doesn’t really taste of 4 different cheeses, and there’s so much rocket on it that’s pretty much all you taste, the mozzarella pizza also looks a bit bear toppings wise.
After dinner we decided to have a go in the photo booth, it’s quite a nice touch, but would be even better if you didn’t have to pay £3 a go!
All in all this isn’t somewhere I’d regularly go for food, but it’s ok every once in a while and has great drinks!

Ok so at long last I made it down to Artisan — it kinda seemed rude not to take advantage of their 50% off food January offer!
First things first, I loved the space. It’s a great setting and I feel like they’ve really made an effort with the décor and and got the style looking just like a New York loft bar.
The staff were super friendly and were up for a bit of a chat which was nice!
Now on to the food. All I can say is that I’m pleased it was 50% off. While I’m giving this review 2 out of 5 — these 2 stars have to go towards the general ambience and the pleasantness of the staff.
I went for 3 small plates which usually would have set me back £18, a fairly significant amount for lunch and not really what I’d call filling. Here’s my breakdown:
1. The Salmon Ceviche was bland, lacking in excitement and needed a fairly generous amount of additional seasoning to give it some flavour. I was advised by my waitress that squeezing the lime on it would really bring out the flavour but with only squeezing 10% of the small piece of lime, the dish was just saturated in it.
2. The baby scallops with a curry sauce were bland, again lacking in taste and I’m not sure who does the tasting but they could do with a new tongue. The consistency of them was good and they were obviously well cooked but the plate really was on the tiny side of things.
3. The actual pork rib again was lacking in taste — it was then swimming in this horribly glupey sweet sauce that would have made the dodgiest of the dodgy Chinese takeaways embarrassed. Very unpleasant and really not one anyone should order themselves.
So overall it was £12 out for lunch when it should have been £20 but I do feel like I was overcharged again by 50%.
I doubt I’ll be back to try the food again!

Been a few times. Always had the steak. A couple times had the rib eye — which is what I usually have in restaurants. This time I went for the fillet. One of the reasons is that in January if you book online its 50% off the food bill. That means a fillet steak is £12.50 instead of £25.
The steak tasted good. As you would expect really tender. However, I prefer the rib eye and the flavour — from the fat. Fat equals flavour! The steak comes with a tomato, roasted garlic and mushroom. The presentation wasn’t very good. Plate was all very brown. Dark steak, almost black mushroom and very roasted garlic — don’t see the point of the garlic. The tomato was the only bright colour. Its not helped as the restaurant is quite dark — as many restaurants seem to be nowadays! I am Ok with having the light «dimmed» — nicer atmosphere etc but maybe light the seating area a little more?
Also, as you will see from my photo, it doesn’t look much on the plate. Someone mentioned it was like they gave 50% of it! The steak was bit bigger than it looks and was very filling. We both had a side order of chips — I think the portion size is smaller than previous times.
For starter, I had sticky pork ribs with chilli and garlic. The pork was very tender and if you had it with a side, it could have been a light lunch — quite meaty. However the sauce wasn’t much to write home about — nothing to it. Thinking about it, it wasn’t particular «sticky».
My 3 out of 5 score is for everything overall — as usual. The steak has always been quite good. Nice and tender. But I have certainly had better (actually much better thinking about it) — from the likes of Gaucho, Neighbourhood and Southern Eleven. (Arguably, for «pound for pound», Southern Eleven is the best. Its the cheapest out of the 4 I mentioned and its always a really good (rib eye) steak).
The service is always good in Artisan. Although if I am to be critical, it was a little slow this time. We got the steaks and then were waiting a bit for the chips — probably just 2 – 3 minutes but it wasn’t clear if they had just forgot or not. That is being very critical though.
Its certainly worth going and trying — especially with the 50% off (if you book online) in January offer which they have. If you get an Artisan members card (free), you can get 20% off (just food I think) if you book online, 10% otherwise.
Its not clear on their web site how to join the membership — just has a place to «login». You can sign up for a newsletter but thats different. I had to email them. The link is