An insider’s guide to eating and drinking on Chapel Street, Salford

When you walk down Chapel Street make sure you look up. Not to go all Jonathan Schofield on you but it’s so easy to walk up and down that street and not absorb the details. Much architecture, very wow. A wonderful mixture of retired red-brick grandeur, corner house curvature and dirty old town pub decay.

Copy and paste student accommodation mixed with some of Manchester’s best buildings.

It’s easy to rush past the eating and drinking spots too. They’re on the main drag but they’re also tucked behind backstreets. What can look modest and unassuming on the outside is hiding treasure behind the front doors. From pubs bursting with character to coffee and cake spots and solid tapas and Italian, you can do breakfast lunch and dinner (and whichever you file pints under) on Chapel Street and walk for no further than a mile.

Here’s our list of the very best places to eat and drink on and around Chapel Street in Salford.

92 Degrees

A handy corner coffee spot if you’re passing through Middlewood Locks, 92 Degrees also has a spot in town on John Dalton Street and the same rules apply. Solid coffee, all your favourite alt milks, sugary pastries and treats for on the go. Also that absolutely bonkers subscription deal that’ll get you five coffees daily (155 coffees per month approx?) for a monthly fee of £20. It’s a cosy affair inside, not much room for sitting, with only two tables and a bench, but there’s plenty of seating space outside on that Middlewood Locks canal-side catwalk sun trap.

Rolling St, Salford M5 4GP

Brew-Tang

Hip hop-inspired coffee shop and tea house with a passion for Wu Tang Clan, obvs. Serious about coffee too, so bean and roast nerds are more than welcome. Plenty of cake, cookies and sweet treats to accompany your cup (keep an eye out for the Flat Baker cinnamon rolls) and some craft beer for blissed-out afternoons. Brew-Tang has built a serious community around music and launched with an exhibition of never before seen Wu Tang photography. Elsewhere there’s plenty of ticketed DJ nights and music events worth checking out.

220 Chapel St, Salford M3 5LE

Caribbean Flavas

Sitting on the corner of Chapel Street towards the city centre opposite Salford Central station, Caribbean Flavas is a solid stop off for satisfying your jerk cravings. With plenty of options sat piping hot at the counter, choose from the likes of curried mutton, oxtail and beans, pepper steak as well as chicken in jerk, fried, barbecued or stewed form. We’re especially fond of the patties, bigger than most and crammed full of spiced lamb or beef. There’s a few stools in the window if you want to eat in but if you’re a pro you’ll politely ask if you can take your food into The Edgerton Arms Hotel and scran it with a pint.

187 Chapel St, Salford M3 5EQ

The Black Friar

The Black Friar is such a funny little visual contrast. A stubborn little red brick pub on a street corner dwarfed by looming Ballardian residential towers. Don’t be fooled though. Inside, The Black Friar has its eyes on the posh gastropub prize. With an idyllic outdoor garden ideal for sunny days and a glass conservatory extension for classy dining, the food follows suit. On last glance the a la carte menu teased a frito misto of soft shell crab, squid, anchovy and white fish for grazing and Cumbrian lamb rack for mains. Handy early dinner deals are good for pub classics and the pub has stayed true to its roots by keeping Boddingtons on tap.

41-43 Blackfriars Rd, Salford M3 7DB

Deli Lama Wholefood Shop & Café

We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again: the world needs more refill shops. Stop buying bags of pasta and rice and start filling reusable containers instead. Buy yourself a nice glass jar and take it to Deli Lama Wholefood. The shop and café does a mean vegetarian and vegan breakfast that you can sit outside and eat, as well as veg boxes. All your favourite refillables including household products and deli counter goodies. Bags of local coffee too.

220 Chapel St, Salford M3 5LE

The Eagle Inn

Great pub, great beer, great music, great staff. Great, great, great, excellent. Tucked away, The Eagle Inn is the sort of dream chamber pub your da talks about when he’s pissed, reminiscing about the historically low cost of a pint. Don’t be fooled though, everyone’s welcome at The Eagle and it’s the sort of pub that caters to a varied clientele. Food comes and goes (House of Habesha is dishing out home-styled East African dishes at the time of writing) and there’s a consistent music offering throughout the week.

19 Collier St, Salford M3 7DW

The Egerton Arms Hotel

Robust old-school boozer that lets you take your own food in if you ask politely. Handy for pre and post-train scoops from Salford Central. Joseph Holt means high chance of Crystal. Will also do you a good Guinness and a gin and tonic not in a balloon. One of the most aesthetically intriguing jukeboxes in Manchester. See above entry for Caribbean Flavas for inspiration.

2 Gore St, Salford M3 5FP

GK Gallery & Tearoom

Definitely one to be filed under unassuming at street level. What looks like a standard coffee shop from the road opens up into a two-tiered gallery space and gift shop with great coffee and a large selection of homebaked cakes and treats laid out on the counter. There’s a passion for sourcing too, expect vegetable crisps you don’t often see and carbonated fruit drinks with a cayenne pepper kick.

272 Chapel St, Salford M3 5JZ

Joule

Self-confessed beer shop and tasting room Joule is just round the corner from Inner West and offers a similar vibe, albeit swapping beans for hops. Charming yellow seating indoors and out means a good place to stop and sip, with the selection of beer coming from near and far. Nice little tidbit for you: the bar is named after James Prescott Joule. The Salford physicist and brewer, who as well as having the unit of energy named after him, was pivotal in the work surrounding the laws of thermodynamics.

Unit 2, 217 Chapel St, Salford M3 5FP

The Kings Arms

Not one, not two, but three refurbished theatres await in Salford real ale pub The Kings Arm. As does a very nonchalant black and white pub cat called Charlie. Described by The Guardian once as “Britain’s most bohemian back-street boozer”, there’s an array of ever-changing ales on and they’ll do you a pretty potent gin and tonic too, which we admire. There’s always something happening at The Kings, be it theatre, music, spoken word or lecture events and the pub serves as an essential creative community hub.

11 Bloom St, Salford M3 6AN

Mais Brasil Market

Don’t be surprised if you bump into a footballer when doing a spot of shopping in Mais Brasil Market. The little Brazilian supermarket on Chapel Street has had many a Samba Boy in. Plenty of chefs too, on the hunt for fresh cassava and other hard-to-find ingredients. Charismatic owner Borman Litig will even fry you up some tasty coxinha in-store. Wash it down with a can of Guaraná Antarctica. 

204 Chapel St, Salford M3 6BY

The New Oxford

Another one for your Chapel Street pub crawl. Sat on Bexley Square alongside Deli Lama Wholefoods and Porta, The New Oxford is an award-winning real ale pub that also deals in Belgian beers. Hope you like over 40 beers and ciders on draught because they’re all here and they’re ever changing. Watch the football, listen to the open mic night or win the quiz, all with a pint in hand.

11 Bexley Square, Salford M3 6DB

Old Pint Pot

The Old Pint Pot is good fun. Usually packed with a mixture of students and locals, it serves robust standard-issue pints and a menu of pub classics that range from starters all the way through to desserts. Think burgers and steak and ale pie as well as super salads and vegetable curries. There’s also themed nights for curry and steak with offers throughout the week. Vegan and vegetarian options are available too.

Adelphi St, Salford M3 6EN

Porta

It’s always such a treat going into Porta and having a few picky bits with a little jug of red sangria between two. Last time were in we marked a quick stop off with croquetas, boquerones and Zamorano cheese with quince. You could have anything though. All the tapas. King prawns a la plancha, chicken wings pimenton, tenderstem broccoli with Romesco sauce, you name it. All that within the confines of a beautifully majestic former bank.

216 Chapel St, Salford M3 6BY

Procaffeinated

The exterior of Procaffeinated doesn’t really prepare you for how big it is inside. Spacious, with plenty of light coming in through the big floor-to-ceiling windows and plenty of places to sit. It’s a handy addition to Chapel Street for working out of the office as much it is a pleasant and calming space to enjoy a coffee and read a book. Ceramics are aesthetically pleasing, the smell of home-baked bread fills the room and although it closes at 4pm, they’ll do you a craft beer, glass of natural wine or cocktail during the day. Brunch options include eggs on toast and granola bowls. Dog friendly too.

Atelier Homes, 263 Chapel St, Salford M3 5JY

SEVEN BRO7HERS Beerhouse

Sat in the heart of Middlewood Locks, SEVEN BRO7HERS Beerhouse is a much-needed outpost in the residential development heartlands of the Salford Castlefield border. Serving the Salford brewery’s trademark beers on tap - including personal favourite, Watermelon Wheat, beer of the summer - there’s also guests beers and pub grub (burgers, kebab flatbreads) for soaking it all up.

Lockside Ln, Salford M5 4YP

Taste IT

It fills our hearts with joy to know that on a little stretch of Blackfriars Road near a busy junction sits a quaint, unassuming shop ran by a lovely Italian couple making gelato and pizza. Locals are very lucky. The pizza is good but the gelato takes centre stage at Taste IT. The counter is a mouth-watering swatch sheet of flavours from white chocolate cheesecake to pear and ricotta. The sorbet is also a must with seasonal fruits front and centre.

69 Blackfriars Rd, Salford M3 7DB

Vero Moderno

Six whole years Vero Moderno has been on Chapel Street giving local diners the chance to feast on modern Italian dishes. Launched as an antidote to predictable menus headlined by Bolognaise, Carbonara and lasagne, the chaps at Vero wanted something a bit different whilst still embracing the classics. An expansive menu boasts the likes of baby squid with Datterino tomato, petit pois, lemon-thyme breadcrumb and roasted authentic italian sausage, served with spicy friarelli and roast potatoes. There’s pizza too of course, a roast on Sunday and bottomless brunch. Variety is the spice of life.

Unit 4 Vimto Gardens, Chapel St, Salford M3 5JF

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