The best: places to eat and drink in Altrincham

The friendly folk at Off The Wheaten Track will get your day off to a flyer. Should the weather permit, grab one of their delicious bagels and a coffee to go and take a wander around the nearby Stamford Park. Should the weather not permit, pull up a chair inside the charming deli and tuck into something a bit more substantial, like the no-nonsense OTW fry-up.

Altrincham probably owes much of its recent popularity to this lively food hall. Set in the gorgeous former market house, the venue now includes some of Manchester’s most well-loved food and drink traders. Find a spot and you can pick between perfectly bubbled Neopolitan dough from Honest Crust, hearty pie and mash from Great North Pie Co., terrific tacos from Pico’s, perfectly seared steak from Tender Cow or hefty mezze from Rubens. Even better, you can wash it all down with a crisp pint of Blackjack Brewery’s freshest.

One of the newer additions to the market, Bounceback Food, deserves a special shoutout, too. The organisation’s first permanent community kitchen operates from the outside portion of the building, where the team runs a ‘buy one, give one’ menu to support local food banks and sheltered accommodation.

Not just one of the best spots in Altrincham, but one of our favourites in all of Manchester. Libero intertwines a passion for great pints and vintage football in an effortlessly cool fashion. The end result is a cosy, charming craft beer bar, surfaces adorned with eclectic swathes of sporting memorabilia of yesteryear — think Football Italia meets Pomona Island.

Porta is another that’s up there with our favourite dining spots in the city. Boasting an enviable menu that always features genuinely exciting dishes, the quality is so consistently brilliant it’s an absolute must if you’re in Altrincham. If nothing else, try the Presa Iberica with mojo verde, you can thank us later. It’s worth noting that you can’t book ahead, and it gets busy on the weekend. You can stick your name on the waiting list though and nip across the road for a pint until you’re up.

You’d be hard-pressed to find a better selection of pours than the lovely setting of Altrincham’s Belgian bar. With an expertly-curated, constantly rotating bottle menu of European trappists, wheats, fruit ales, darks, blondes, goldens, lambics and everything else in between, it’s a proper sanctuary for anyone after something a bit different than your usual lagers and IPAs. They also serve up some pretty magnificent gyros, if you’re somehow still hungry.

An intimate, properly atmospheric little drinking den that was once upon a time a morgue for Altrincham Hospital. Unsurprisingly, with this kind of history, and a name that literally translates to ‘Sudden Death’ there are frequent murmurings of the place being haunted. Get past that though, and you’ll be able to tuck into another excellent collection of Belgian ales in what is surely one of Manchester’s most unique venues.

For those after something more grape-based, the wonderful Batch team and their hefty selection of natural and organic wines will have you covered and then some. From crowd-pleasing reds to funky oranges there’s plenty to suit any and all palettes. The team have recently worked hard to source some insanely good Limoncello too, so give that a go while you’re in.

Harcourt has been a stellar addition to Altrincham. The Hong Kong-style pub combines authentic street food, which includes tasty, if not a little daunting dishes like the Numbing Mala Deep Fried Squid, with a sprawling collection of craft beers from some of the UK’s finest breweries.

If you want lovingly prepared, mouthwatering pasta dishes at a seriously generous price point, then Bar Etna is the spot. Inspired by the rich, vibrant flavours of Sicily, Bar Etna is super friendly and informal in the best kind of way — the team makes you feel instantly welcome and delivers excellent, hearty dishes to match. The Trofie Al Pistacchio With Pancetta is particularly good, as is the Penne Alla Norma.

Manchester’s Neopolitan pizza offering is very in-depth these days, but we can confidently declare Pizza Anna as one of the clear standouts. Little more than a hole-in-the-wall adorned with Napoli shirts and Maradona murals, there are a couple of tables outside, but it’s mostly a takeaway operation. The lovely team will, however, take your order and bring your piping-hot, perfectly cooked pizza across to The Beacon (formerly Pi) for you where you can wash it down with an also lovely pint of Guinness — it’s a solid setup.