Below you'll find all the news of what happened in Manchester bars in March 2018.

Click here for all the latest news.

Hard Rock Cafe Manchester’s Happy Hour is back, with 2-for-1 cocktails every day!

Head down to Hard Rock Cafe Manchester to enjoy some amazing cocktails, whilst surrounded by some of history’s most iconic music memorabilia. Hard Rock cocktails are created to reflect the latest in mixology trends. With plenty to choose from such as the Exotic Margarita, Port of Mischief and Fruitapalloza, there will be plenty of opportunities to find your favourites!  

What’s more, visit the Cafe on Friday nights to enjoy some of Manchester’s finest live music at Hard Rock. Starting at 21:00, the best acoustic acts and bands will be gracing the bar, and with no ticket required, it’s sure to be enjoy a great night. [more info]

Deansgate celeb club Milton, has been sold to an international club brand, and hence has closed its doors for now, after 5 years of trading. We await details of the reopening, once takeover is complete.

As if we needed any excuses to celebrate amazing cocktails, along comes National Cocktail Day on March 24, 2018. Happily, Grafene, Manchester’s contemporary fine-dining bar and restaurant, is well-prepared for the occasion, with a brand-new cocktail collection to tempt you and an offer giving you FREE Bar Bits with any cocktail bought. 

Continuing #PROLIFICPARTNERSHIPS into April, Cafe Football is linking up with the Great North Pie Co, to offer a delicious pie and a pint pairing. Enjoy one of the Great North Pie Co’s Chicken Curry Pies (served with chips and curry sauce) with a pint of beer at Cafe Football Old Trafford and National Football Museum throughout April.

Cottonopolis are known for throwing great parties and this Bank Holiday will be no different. They have teamed up with Bulliet Frontier Works and Art Battle Manchester to present a full day of interactive art and music on Easter Sunday, featuring the headline DJ - Tim Burgess.

The event will take place on Sunday 1st April at Cottonopolis. The artists will be creating their pieces live all afternoon alongside a stellar line-up of local DJs through to an afterparty with headline DJ Tim Burgess which will go on until the early hours.

All money raised on the door and from the auction will be donated directly to Action Hunger, a charity committed to alleviating poverty and hardship amongst the homeless. The aim is to raise the £7,500 required to install a vending machine in Manchester that provide free food and clothing and dispense water, fresh fruit, energy bars, crisps, chocolate, and sandwiches, as well as socks, sanitary towels, antibacterial lotion, toothbrush and toothpaste combination packs, and books. Something that Cottonopolis are extremely passionate about. [more info]

Call in to Lily’s Bar below the new 1761 restaurant on Booth Street to pick one up a loyalty card, which rewards you with free cocktails, lager for £4, wine for £17.95 and Prosecco for £20.

Serving some of the most creative cocktails in Manchester, the bar is named after Lily Bollinger, and is home to the biggest fish tank in Manchester. [more info]

Taking its name and inspiration from the infamous mid-20th Century bar on East 45th Street in New York, which was popular with newspaper journalists and ad men – the original ‘Mad Men’, The Pen & Pencil in the Northern Quarter are serving up 2 cocktails for £10 during Happy Hour (17:00 - 19:00 Monday - Friday). You can also get bottles of Modelo Especial for £3, house wine for £10 and Prosecco for £15. [more info]

Laundrette Manchester at First Street are offering two courses of their carb-heavy American food, together with a cocktail for just £14.

The cocktail menu serves up twists on classics, more delicate skinny minnies, bloody good marys, spiced to your liking, pimpin' hot choctails with cream, toasted marshmallows and oreo biscuits, and popular sharers served in bath tubs, which you get to take home. [more info]

Iconic industry figure, and former 3 Star Michelin big hitter Marco Pierre White, has penned a deal to launch a dining room within Velvet on Canal Street.  Mr White's English Chophouse is set to launch in Summer.

If you can't wait that long to try the Yorkshireman's dishes, then head down to Media City, where Marco's New York Italian are offering two courses for just £11.95. [more info]

A new bar named NYQ, is set to launch at the end of April in the former Cord site on Dorsey Street in the Northern Quarter.  With a nod to early 1980’s New York lofts, their ethos will be a laid-back cocktail lounge, spread over two floors, serving an array of cocktails by master bartender Ben Scorah, famed for the Road Soda mobile airstream bars.

Flight Club, the London based darts bar, are believed to be on the verge of announcing a launch in Manchester, with their sights set on the Burger and Lobster unit at the top of King Street.

Leeds based charity club night Dancing for Despo is joining forces with its counterpart over in Manchester, High Five at Stage and Radio on 29th March, to fund-rave. Both club nights are known for assembling some of the most notable DJs from the underground dance scene to donate their time and musical mastery for good causes. On this occasion they are raising money for Macmillan Cancer Support in memory of DJ Despo, who died of testicular cancer in 2013.

It’s not all Guinness and whiskey as 19 CafeBar in the Northern Quarter has created a special pancake stack to celebrate St Patrick’s Day. Honouring the green, white and orange of the Irish Flag, the homemade American pancakes will be served with green mint ice cream, orange and green chocolate M&Ms, cream and topped off with Lucky Charms.

It brings us great sadness to report that RBW Leisure, the company behind the much loved Bakerie and Pie and Ale NQ bars, has sadly gone into administration.

This has led to both Northern Quarter venues being closed, and all 33 members of staff being made redundant with immediate effect.  We wish everybody affected all the best for the future.

Iconic Ancoats nightclub, Sankeys Soap, is to be transformed into an office and café space.  Urban Splash acquired the building last year, and have since carried out extensive repairs to the Grade II listed former soap factory with regeneration plans drawn up by Iceni Projects.

As well as fighting Manchester's food poverty by donating a meal to the Foodinate charity for every course you order on Monday and Tuesdays, new Mancunian eatery, 1761, are also offering a free bottle of wine with every two 100% Mancunian sourced Sunday Roasts. [more info]

If you haven’t yet discovered Don Giovanni's latest venture, Cibo (pronounced "chee-bo") on Liverpool Road, you can now head down there and enjoy up to 50% off your food bill, with a choice of super-fresh fish and Italian fare . [more info]

One of our city centre favourites Bakerie has put up signs advising customers that both its main venture, as well as Pie and Ale, are both closed due to unforeseen circumstances. 

Little is currently known about the reasons behind this, but we have our fingers crossed that all is well, and that the doors will open again before long. [more info]

Everybody's favourite Easter treat, the Hot Cross Bun, has now been infused into a spirit by Gin Tales, a company renowned for distilling with unnatural ingredients; this time using citrus, sultanas and Easter spices.  The idea had previously been introduced by Sipsmith in 2016, who released their own version exclusively for their Sipping Society members.

Hotel Football are offering a fantastic all inclusive Stay & Dine package, exclusively for direct bookings on selected dates. As well as an overnight stay in a contemporary King Room, you will also enjoy a three course dinner for two at Cafe Football Old Trafford on the night of arrival, and full English breakfast for two before checking out. 

Ideal for family getaways, they have also launched their new 'Squad Rooms', which are specifically tailored for four guests, with a double bed and pullout sofa bed for two children (under 13). [more info]

Join Brasserie Abode for their next Wine Dinner, on the 11th April 2018. Enjoy a five-course Tasting Menu, each dish paired with a different Marchesi Frescobaldi wine from Tuscany, presented by their expert from award-winning importer Hallgarten Wines.  [more info]

When you’ve got champagne tastes with lemonade pockets, Twenty Twenty Two in the Northern Quarter has the solution. Visit from 16:00 - 19:00 Monday - Friday (and all day Wednesday), for bottles of Prosseco at £15, bottles of wine £10, cocktails for £5, and cask ales for £2.80.  [more info]

• 50% Off drinks during Happy Hour at Tiger Tiger Manchester

To commemorate the company's 125 year anniversary, Coca Cola are releasing an alcoholic version of their flagship product in Japan, where there's a growing trend for products named 'Chu Hi' (short for Shochu Highball) - canned sparkling drinks, containing a spirit named Shōchū.  Coke say that selling the product outside Japan after release, is unlikely.

Jay Z has Ace Of Spades Champagne, Dan Aykroyd has Crystal Head vodka, George Clooney has Casamigos Tequila, David Beckham has Hague Club whisky, Ryan Reynolds has Aviation Gin, Iron Maiden have the Stockport brewed Trooper beer and now, fellow heavy metal legends Metallica have teamed up with WhistlePig to produce their own American whiskey.

March Special Meet The Godfather Part 1

Revenge is a dish best served cold right? Wrong! Get ready for the indulgent taste of Crazy Pedro’s March special - The Godfather Part 1.

Let’s all go on a journey back to Italy, the home of all things delicious, pizza, pasta and meatballs - favoloso! Inspired by good and hearty Italian cuisine, The Godfather Part 1 combines spicy meatballs, tomato ragu, parmesan shavings, rocket and garlic oil.

The humble meatball originates from Irish immigrants coming to America between 1880 and 1920. Keen to create a dish to remind them of their homeland, they would serve up big bowls of spaghetti and meatballs to everyone in the neighbourhood.

The brilliant Roxy Ball Room on Deansgate have spent £100k to convert their top two floors into an impressive 18 hole crazy golf course, which features its own bar and cocktail menu. Normally £15 per person, with each round taking an hour and a half, you can get yourself an advanced ticket through the month of March for just £12.

The golf course fits perfectly in with their ethos of 'Eat, Drink and Play' and sits alongside their current offering of four full-size pool tables, five beer pong tables and five ping pong tables. [more info]

To celebrate St Patrick’s Day, Hard Rock Cafe Manchester will be running a full weeks’ worth of Irish themed fun including live music, whiskey tasting, half priced St. Paddy’s Burgers and more.

The St. Paddy’s Burger is a mouth-watering Guinness Bacon Cheeseburger, made with a Hard Rock signature burger patty, topped with Jameson bacon jam, a succulent Guinness cheese sauce, and served on a toasted bun with crisp lettuce, vine-ripened tomato alongside Hard Rock fries. It will be available from Monday 12th – Sunday 18th March 2018.  [more info]

The Britons Protection will also be celebrating St Patrick’s Day with Dingle Distillers on Thursday 15th March 2018, showcasing their unique gin, vodka, single malt whiskey and Ireland's first independent pot still whiskey in decades, all served with an Irish Stew.  [more info]

Groundhog Mondays are the perfect opportunity to release your inner king pin, so grab your mates and head to All Star Lanes to enjoy 2 games for just £10, every, single, Monday!

Whatsmore, you can enjoy 2-4-1 Cocktails plus Bubbly and beer offers Monday to Friday from 15:00 - 19:00, whilst the lunch menu serves up a main course and a drink for just £10. [more info]

As we reported last year, Pernod Ricard has taken residency of the top floor in the former Walkabout unit on Quay Street, on a multi-year lease.  The Loft will host 'unique and experimental' drinks experiences, including the first event, a Chivas Regal school, which allows customers to blend their own bespoke whisky.

Summer is coming early to Manchester as tropical hideaway The Liars Club brings the tropics to Manchester shores for the first beach experience of 2018, being decked to the nines with fresh sand, inflatables, buckets, spades and, for those in stilettos, flip-flops.

The newly ‘sanded’ Tiki paradise is also launching Payday Palooza, starting on the 9th March, with the first 50 people through the door every Friday night getting their first drink free of charge! [more info]

Imagine a night combining vintage glamour, fantastic drinks, retro decadence and good old fashioned debauchery with a modern twist. Mix in plenty of sassy, tongue in cheek, beautiful burlesque performers with stunning costumes, great choreography and fun routines.

Welcome to a night at The Slippery Belle Burlesque & Cabaret, back by popular demand at Manchester235, on March 30th and June 29th, where you will also enjoy a glass of bubbly, two-course dinner, free bet to play on Blackjack and Roulette and a DJ until midnight. [more info]