The Deansgate

My office booked the events room of The Deansgate for our Christmas drinks, and by god did they rip us off royally. I know it’s the season for dubious value, but they took the piss — to be blunt.
Our, quite pricey, ‘Christmas buffet’ appeared to be mostly oven cooked food you’d pick up at Costco, but the drinks were the worst of it. I don’t know whether they’d up the prices for our event, but I’d have felt stung paying £8 for a double spirit in central London. Of course they had very loud music on too, just to make sure we couldn’t have lengthy conversations with each other.
There are far nicer, far cheaper, places in the City Centre. I don’t know if this was just a bad night for them. But one thing I do know: I’ll never go back.

Friendly staff greeted me as I entered. I got a very well poured Guinness and an excellent fish and chips for a very affordable lunch.

I love coming back up north, it’s just so familiar — like that advert for soup where the blue arms give you a big hug.
So after a cheeky night out I needed somewhere that was good for my hangover but also for a friend who hadn’t drunk loads. Gastropub, yes please. Two boxes, they are ticked.
Great location right by Deansgate, this place is an old man pub but does a good lunch. Rugby in background that everyone was watching (except us, we were sat on the table under the TV and it did feel like everyone was staring at us, weird), selection of real ale and comfy chairs. Just as expected.
Food took AGES, they did prewarn us it would cos a big table had ordered and gave us discounted drinks. Love a chatty barmaid too, very northern and right good laugh. I had roast chicken on a bloomer (ooh err matron!) and friend had a juicy looking burger. How can you moan for £5 at that!
Toilets were rubbish, as expected. Nice catch up, just the big hug you want from popping up north.

I’d been in the Deansgate a loooong time ago maybe 5 years if memory serves, just a victim of location when it comes to where I wander in town.
However went in last week for a quick catch up with the elder sibling, and I can’t really say it had me itching to go back.
But Toby this is an old skool pub serving a few ales, pretty sure that ticks your boxes.
Well yes that part does however I think my visit was slightly marred at the outset.
When I wandered in I looked at what I remembered from last time I was there, lots of nooks n crannies to hide away in to enjoy your beverage, wood finish everywhere lovely.
However when I got to the bar there wasn’t a soul to be seen behind it, not initially an issue the bar does border three sides so I waited…
and waited…
I moved to the next side of the bar, in case it was because I wasn’t visible to whom ever was working wherever they were and waited…
I waited a bit more…
I edged further along the bar so I could see down the third side…
some more people came in, they waited…
they left…
Now I stayed because I was meeting someone there and wasn’t in a particular rush, infact just as I was making up my mind to leave having been there over 5 minutes my Sister arrived, but the waiting grated with me.
Eventually someone did turn up, after a meandering route back to the bar having a chat with I presume one of the locals, and just asked me what would I like no acknowledgement that I’d been waiting so clearly no idea what’s happening in the bar while their away, might as well have just served myself in the meantime. I’d also point out there wasn’t just one member of staff on there was at least 2 maybe 3, I noted in the time I supped my pint and had a chat.
The beers ok, we’ve got the usual brand lineup and a selection of ales, the ale was nice pleasant standard didn’t blow me away but certainly didn’t disappoint.
If someone suggests to me to go there I won’t have any particular reluctance to, but neither will I be chomping at the bit either

There was a time (yes, am old enough to recall this) when I used to say to folks ‘manchester has some lovely old fashioned pubs’ — and this place falls in to that category. Yes, if I want to go have a beer in a trendy spot I can go around the corner in to whiteworth street and see an array of inebriates but, this particular place is not without its benefits.
For real ale drinkers, they have Skipton Brewerys famous Copper Dragon on hand pull, it’s light, not too high on abv and real quality. From the outside you’d perhaps never guess just how clean it is on the inside — and I’ve been in a few boozers that looked like they’d be ok and they turned out to be related to a shithouse!
In summary, living just off deansgate and not too far from The Hilton, it’s good to know I can either go trendy or traditional when it comes to popping out to the local for a pint. :-)

The Deansgate looks quite cute from the outside. It’s got the oldy worldy bricked building, well anyway I liked the look of it. Especially contrasted against the glassy Hilton hotel it’s practically next to. It’s flower pots make it an inviting place and so in I went for a cheeky one.
So what can I say, nothing quite special about it, nothing to boast about but nothing to moan about either. A nice pub. Nice isn’t exactly illustrative of anything. But just can’t really think of anything else, there isn’t that much to it. It was pretty empty so not much atmosphere and a dodgy mix of music of what I can remember.
There’s supposed to be a roof top terrace of some sort which sounds nice but I couldn’t see how we would have got to it. It’s definitely a regular visit for some as I’ve seen hoards of blokes outside on a football day before and I believe there is a food menu on offer. Not sure if I’ll be coming back again as I’ve got Knott just down the road I’m much more proud to call my local.

It seems that if a pub is named after the location it is within it’s likely to be fairly average. It’s probably because any place named after its location is an older pub that has failed to move with the times or be sufficiently ‘kitsch’ enough to make up for the age.
The Deansgate prefers to not do anything as crazy as break the mould and does the basic array of beers and ales, with a familiar interior and welcoming character. It doesn’t even show sport or anything either though, so it’s solely for those people who wish to sit quietly nursing a pint and think of the good old days when taxes were low, people were polite, and the Third Reich was up to no good.

Situated on Deansgate itself, The Deansgate is an old traditional bar with a nice interior and friendly staff.
Its nothing special, and whilst is it better than the melancholy induced by a trip to the nearby Atlas Bar, its popularity is probably sapped by The Knott across the road, which is a far more exciting establishment.
It serves the usual bog standard drinks, Fosters and Chardonnay, though it does have a few decent ales, but nothing really worth specifically going for. It doesn’t show sport, live music or anything really, its just a normal pub.
Having said that, it has a nice character and its usually not too busy, unlike the other pubs on Deansgate, which are mostly chain-​run and either crowded, grim, or expensive. It’s a pleasant place to sit and read the paper, or just stop for a quick one.

There are worse places in town to go drinking but not many. Full of pretentious tarts and thick blokes, every bar on this strip is a must avoid at the weekend. Everywhere is loud, too loud to have a conversation that is, with rubbish music and blokes with mullets. Every bar has the usual chip-​on-​the-​shoulder bouncers. Don’t bother!

Deansgate Locks is great for bar hopping and it’s not too far out of the city centre, however taxis can take a while to flag down, they do have taxi attendants at the weekend.

Recently the Deansgate has reopened, I had never been in it before its revamp when it was called Galvin’s but I am very impressed with as it is now. Its quite easy to find the Deansgate, it is located on the edge on castlefield and deansgate locks and is just next door to the Hitlon tower. The bar is very modern looking, there is wooden bar and floor with create the impression of a traditional bar, I guess they done it up to try and attract a better league of clients with the Hilton opening up in the neighborhood. I have been on a Saturday and it was fairly busy, we went to Cloud 23 in the Hilton but came in before hand for a coupled of pints, thinking back it was just as well we did because the prices of cloud 23 were extortionate. Here the drinks were quite reasonably priced and there was a good variety on offer. On the night we were here there were quite a few people either going to or just leaving Cloud 23 so The Deansgate benefits from the Hilton quite well I imagine. The staff here were very polite and happy to serve, I don’t think we had a long wait even though it was quite busy. This is a cleverly situated nice little pub