This week the annual Manchester Bar Awards celebrated and awarded some of the greatest in their city.
The Manchester Bar Awards (MBA) are now in their 4th year but are already firmly part of the industry calendar. They are what awards should be, voted by the industry for the industry. Run by the team behind Manchester’s Bars Facebook group, a panel of 100+ local industry legends come up with a shortlist of nominees for each of the categories, these shortlists are then handed over to the members of the Facebook group to vote on.
After a Covid hiatus last year the awards were back as an attended event with Bunny Jackson’s once again the home for the celebrations. Due to a last minute court injunction by our livers BarLifeUK were unable to attend but one of the lead figures of the awards Nate Booker has reported back on the night, at least the bits he can remember and is allowed to talk about. He had this to say:
“This year’s awards was the best yet. It was a great representation of where Manchester is now and where it’s going to go. The varied shortlist shows the city’s tenacity and just how supportive the industry is up here. We’d like to say a massive thank you to all the winners, nominees, voters and panellists, our brand partners and of course the guys at Bunny Jackson for letting us use the venue. Again.”
Bunny Jackson’s was packed out with an increasingly sweaty sea of the city’s fantastic hospitality community. Hosted by the indomitable Adam Binnersley and Joey Butcher and fuelled by the generosity of the drinks sponsors the photos certainly make us jealous we couldn’t be there.
It wouldn’t be Manchester without a couple of gag awards in there including the annual and always controversial win for the Manchester Bar Awards themselves (how 50 Best don’t win that one every year is a travesty of a scale only Michael Masi usually causes). Make no mistake however this isn’t just an excuse for everyone to get together. These awards, not least because of the voting process, are highly regarded and coveted. With Manchester’s bar scene so strong they are also fucking hard to win.
So here we have this year’s winners as well as all the nominees who themselves deserve a shout out:
Manchester Bar Awards 2022 winners
Best New Bar – sponsored by Portobello Road
Winner: Junior Jackson’s
Shortlisted Venues: Schofield’s, 10 Tib Lane, Ramona, Lost Cat
Manchester’s Best Speciality Bar – sponsored by Maison Ferrand
Winner: NQ64, Gaming
Shortlisted Venues: Briton’s Protection, Whisky; Northern Monk, Beer; Flawd, Wine; Salut, Wine
Best Restaurant Bar – sponsored by Crystal Head
Winner: CBRB
Shortlisted Venues: Hawksmoor, Cottonopolis, 10 Tib Lane, Namii
Dave Marsland Award for the Best Check-in
Winner: Dave Marsland
Shortlisted Legends: Dave Marsland, Dave Marsland, Dave Marsland, Dave Marsland,
Best Dressed Rep Awards “The Golden Brogues”
Winners: Mark & Rich Winnington (LVMH & Brown Forman)
Shortlisted Legends: Carmel Healy – Brown Forman, Jack Barrott – Mangrove, Hannah O’Shea – Diageo, Charlene Holt – Sipsmith
People’s Choice Bar of the Year – sponsored by Jagermeister
Winner: Schofield’s
Shortlisted Venues: Junior Jackson’s, Clubhouse, Bunny Jackson’s, Ramona
Manchester’s Best Bar Back – sponsored by Sairen & O’Hara’s
Winner: Sid Curry, Sherlock’s
Shortlisted Legends: Calem Ocram, Smithfield Social; Karis Bleakley, Washhouse; Ethan, Behind Closed Doors; Tom Fastiggi, Schofield’s
Food Offering of the Year – sponsored by Ten Locks
Winner: Kong’s
Shortlisted Venues: Lazy Tony’s Lasagneria, Parmogeddon, Wolf at the Door, Bada Bing
Bartender of the Year – sponsored by Slane
Winner: Jake Nicholl’s, Junior Jackson’s
Shortlisted Legends: Conor Knowles, Schofield’s; Rachel Orange. Schofield’s; Connan Henry-Madden, Speak in Code; Jack Sleaford, Sandinista
Front of House Star – sponsored by The MANC
Winner: Leighton Russell, Seven Oaks
Shortlisted Legends: Georgi May, Science & Industry; Lachlan Meany, Tairff & Dale; Charlotte Felton, Impossible; Meg Williams, Flawd
Manchester’s Rising Star – sponsored by WSET & Horse With No Name
Winner: Amanda Lane, Lost Cat
Shortlisted Legends: Aidan Tibbins, Schofield’s; Dom Cleaver, 10 Tib Lane; Reah Owen, Clubhouse; Konstantinos Koutis, Rosso
The Worst Bar Awards Award
Winner: Manchester Bar Awards
Shortlist: Class Awards, Spirited Awards, World Top 50 Best, The Other Top 50
Outstanding Achievement Award! – sponsored by White Claw
Winner: So Let’s Talk
Shortlisted Legends: Dom Gold, (Orphan’s Xmas); Kiera & Amie, Feel Good Club; Mike Ramsden (Too Many Owners), Abbie Dunn, 86 People
A huge congratulations to all and to the Manchester’s Bars Facebook group team for putting it all together. Finally, a massive thank you to all of the sponsors and partners (listed above and below) for backing an awards ceremony that celebrates a city that deserves to be recognised by the rest of the UK and World a lot more than it is. There are few (if any) better cities in the world for enjoying the best of hospitality than Manchester.
The Event Sponsors
Local Press Partner – The Manc
Winners Bouquets provided by The Bud & Pot
The Official Beer of the MBAs 22 – Bones By Beavertown
The Official HOOCH of the MBAs 22 – Hooch
The Official NOLO partner of the MBAs 22 – Lyre’s
The Official Hydration Partner of the MBAs 22 – Marlish Water
The Official Modifier & Syrup Partner of the MBAs 22 – MONIN
The Official Mixer of MBAs 22 – Fever Tree
The Official Buzzball of the MBAs 22 – Buzzball
National Trade Press Partner – BarLifeUK