Duttons Manchester in Manchester

Didn't have food but menu looked great. Lots of draft beer on tap and great seating over looking town hall.

First time eating and drinking here. Love it will be back. Had steak pie ...delicious. pudding was apple waffle, yummy. The bar staff and waiting staff were really friendly.

It's a little like a Wetherspoons but expensive

Special, beautifully decorated and attractive pub, located on Albert Square, opposite the historic Town Hall in the heart of Manchester. They have an extensive range of cask beers, lager beers and traditional beers. Lovely place to relax and enjoy a few pints. You can also eat there, but I found the menu a bit simple (for me more of a lunch or pub snack). Unfortunately, during my visit they were renovating the square and Town Hall.

It was an amazing experience. We preferred Loaded fries, Brewery Tower Burger and Buttermilk chicken breast burger. As beer, we wanted to try Manchester Craft Lager. Everything was great. I can easily say that it is the best burger I have ever eaten in my life. Thanks to the whole team.

We regularly visit on a Sunday afternoon and the chef makes the dogs very welcome!

Good wine and beer. Nice atmosphere.

Wonderful food, service and atmosphere. Lovely way to spend the afternoon of New Years Eve. Definitely return.

Nice place. Not a massive fan of JW Lees beer and would normally avoid their spots but a friend wanted to give this one a try. Reasonably priced for its location. Plenty of seating and a good atmosphere

I went for the Sunday roast and also got two different ales on tap. The roast was delicious, and I plan to go again in the near future. This is my favorite pub in the St. Peter's Square area because of the excellent ales on tap along with good food. It is also reasonably priced considering its location.

Quick pint before heading home, quick service and decent beer

Didn't eat. Service very good, drinks were drinks but offered taste test which was good on beer. I'd recommend and return

Beautiful pub with a superb range of draft ales. Smart and clean and quite large too. Enjoyed it so much we stopped for another. Recommended.

Cocktails were to die for !!! Took advantage of the 2 for £15 🤩

Had a wonderful Roast Dinner the other week, very flavourful, roasties nice and soft (not dried out as it is so often the case), great ratio of meat and veg, and unlimited yummy gravy. Been to many places for a roast around Manchester, and this one's up there, so good. Burgers were very much enjoyed in our party too! Staff were really sound and attentive.

Not a bad option for a quick beer. Interior design is confused and lacking coherency. Reasonable selection of beers though.

Nice pub Fabulous selection of drink/food

Great pub, great food and friendly staff

Last visited August 2024 Nice place, good selection of food and beers. Give another update as planning on doing again (Dec).

Drinks are moderately priced, the bar has been renovated very nicely and service is always up to standard. This place is ideal for social meet-ups and private events.

Great pub! I had a working lunch here on a Friday. The fish and chips was tasty, a nice light batter. Good quality fish. Highly recommend the MPA ale and I also had a taste of the Christmassy plum beer. Again very tasty. Great place If you like your ale. Service was friendly throughout. Was asked how my meal was mid meal which was good. Collected the plates too when we had finished. Pub has a good atmosphere, good for groups or just for a night out. The decor is comfy and stylish. They had a refurb last year. Awesome pub. Will definitely go back.

Only had one beer. It was cold and tasty. Place was clean.

Great pub and once Albert square is finished this will be a great place to have a drink and sit outside

Nice small plate food in a lovely atmosphere.

Great selections of beers and a good atmosphere for a drink with friends.

Great place , nice food, good choice of drinks. Friendly staff.

We've just had a meal each, the pastry on the pies are rock hard. One of the worst meals we've had in a long long time. Don't think we'll be going again.

3pm on a weekday good food. It's a JW LEES Pub, so the origin Lager may not be to every bodys taste. The brewery is less than 6 miles away, So good and local.

Great spot in town. Food, live music and great atmosphere!

Very good restaurant. Good food and even better beers. If you're in Manchester you should definitely stop by if you appreciate good beers.

Great choice of drinks and food!

First time at Founders, just had drinks, the atmosphere was wonderful and I could have stayed there all day, will definitely be going back.

I previous left a 5* review (summarised below) but reposting a review following our second visit here, and giving a very generous 4* because a) I like local breweries which prioritise good beer and b) I'm hoping they'll take this feedback on board and improve. My first review said: - The beer selection is impressive (see photo for an idea), with various strength lagers, a whole host of regular casks and a few interesting kegs - The food was okay (we had pies). Unremarkable, but fine. - Friendly service and staff I finished by saying we'd come back for Sunday roast, which we did last week. And it's probably the worst roast dinner we've had, certainly in Manchester. First of all, it wasn't a roast. We had the 'roast' beef and 'roast' chicken. The beef was braised. It wasn't a joint of beef. It was falling apart, and not in a melt-in-the-mouth way. It was tough, bland and not a fantastic few slices of perfectly cooked roast beef. The chicken was just a couple of breasts which seemed to be chargrilled. No thigh, no leg. I don't know how they prepare their Sunday lunches, but I'd be surprised if it's anything other than pre-prepared bagged meat which is then cooked in some way. It was not a roast dinner. The veg was fine. Standard mixed veg. Overcooked, a bit watery. The potatoes were bigged up as roasted in duck fat. They were just average. The yorkshires were big and not the worst we've had, but pretty close to certain that they weren't actually made in the kitchen. We got the shared roast platter for two, and it was just a pretty messy big plate of food. Not very generous portions for two people, and really really underwhelming. And not cheap! The prices are comparable to other half decent indy Sunday lunch places: Home is 5 minutes away, tons better and they charge the same price. The Marble Arch is way better and is pretty much the same price. 10 Tib Lane is only a couple of quid more and miles better. All of them serve a genuine roast dinner, prepared *from scratch* and roasted on site. A real shame, as this pub has been done out to be a half-decent gastropub. The beer selection and quality matches that description, and I genuinely hope it does well as good cask in city centre isn't very common. But the food is not up to scratch and I hope they quickly rectify it, get a proper head chef in and give them the resources and control to put on a proper independent menu that's actually prepared and cooked on site.

Great place to meet family and friends

Truly a great beer selection. Enjoyed a large flight with really interesting beers. The staff were great! So friendly and helpful. However, the food was at max a 3.5/10. We ordered the steak pie and the burger. Both dishes should be solid slam dunks for a pub, but both were flavorless and poor quality. The pie was made with a rather sweet pastry and was essentially just stewed meat in a shop bought gravy. Not at all as lovely as advertised. The burger sounded amazing but was actually so flavorless I couldn’t understand it. The chips and fries were perfect though.

Nice place with a nice relaxed atmosphere.

One of the top 3 burgers I've ever tasted. Friendly staff, reasonable prices, great location. Good choice of beers on offer, (sadly was a driving day for me). Only downside was nipped in for a quick and quiet bite to eat but inadvertently chose quiz night so volume levels high. That said it certainly added to the atmosphere.

£50 for this. The food was really good tbh but I am not the target audience, this place is for people who make bank. Servers were great

Decent spot with variety of beer.

Love this place, beers are great and change often and the food is brilliant eaten here a few times and its always been very good plenty of it and very tasty, the staff are very friendly too

Very nice pub, very pretty, with a terrace. There is a lively atmosphere during the week, much calmer on Sunday and Monday.

This place is wonderful. We sat outside as it was a beautiful day. There's a really lovely vibe here, with the music creating a nice back drop. Shame about the works going on in front of the bar. Staff were really friendly. Definitely be back.

After being in town watching a show, we needed somewhere for food , found this place by walking past, by how good it looked outside we went inside for food and drinks. We are glad we did. Everything was good, food tasty, and not bad prices either. Staff were super friendly to! It's defo on my do list the next time I'm in town again :)

Clare, Alex and the team couldn’t do enough to accommodate our large group booking. We changed the booking several times at short notice but they were so helpful every time, even sending us a seating layout so we could arrange a seating chart. We provided a food pre-order and there wasn’t a single mistake, the food was served quickly and it was delicious. The restaurant is very well managed, the staff are friendly and the atmosphere is great, we didn’t want to leave! Thank you for having us, we’re looking forward to coming again!

Lovely food and easy to get served

Had a few beers in here, nice bar, good beer.

What a great place, lovely lovely staff.

Good choice of beer and they do beer flights so you can try a few different ones without getting too tipsy. Great atmosphere inside and plenty of seating outside. Didn't try the food so can't comment on that.

Really nice place. Recently renovated I believe. Pairs the industrial vibe of Manchester with the modern bar. My wife and I ate here with our 3 month old baby. I had the pie and chips and she had the burger. The selection of beers was excellent. The food was very nice. The staff were brilliant from the greeting from the bouncers on the way in to the bar staff and attentive wait staff. I don’t understand why it wasn’t busier.

Nice selection of drinks and lovely to sit outside

Decent bar, will be really good when all the work on the Town Hall is complete.

I was only there for couple of hours to meet friends who I hadn't seen for a long time. Was there from midday so it was quiet. Staff were brilliant. I say that because when I explained my son's requirements from the menu (which is really nice for a pub, and reasonably priced), they were more than happy to adapt for what he wanted. No problem. With a smile. And more suggestions. Also, the food was very good . Would very happily go back next time I'm in Manchester. Thank you to the staff 👍

Really big place with plenty of beers on tap 😁

It's a nice spot this with reasonably priced drinks!!! Good food selection also

All round great experience. The food was really nice and the staff were very helpful and friendly. Will definitely be returning!

Had a cracking Early evening friendly staff

Great craft beers and a good price food reasonable priced and great service

Not been here before as we tend to stick to traditional style pubs. Quite spacious inside, and quick polite service. We sat outside as it was sunny. Pavement seating was plentiful, and good to see that smokers and bakers were politely shuffled outside the drinking area. It's quite noisy both inside and out,which doesn't always suit for conversation amongst older folk with diminishing hearing. However, it'll be added to our itinerary for future crawls nevertheless. Reccomended.

The beers that we have was spot on and the service was good what not to like 👍

only sampled a couple of drinks so can't judge the food, seemed a decent place, service was good

Very busy, but staff kept a smile on their face. Love the place and will return

Nice place with outside space for the odd sunny day in MCR 😉

Not overly keen on the refurbishment, seems to be like you are sitting at kitchen tables now. And the music was awful

The food took 40 to 50 minutes to arrive. The Lancashire hot pot was 80 per cent potato.

Friendly staff and good food. The pies are very good.

Excellent beer and great company

Nice new JW Lees pub in the centre of Manchester. Good good options and a nice selection of their cask and keg beers with some different seasonal variety.

Great place for some traditional English food and some craft beers.

Lovely place very helpful staff who offer assistance for beer choices should you require. Lovely day sat outside

Nice pub, nice food, staff were friendly. View slightly let down by the construction work opposite. Could be easily missed due to that construction,

Since the upgrade from Duttons to Founder's Hall as it is now, they have really stepped up in terms of the atmosphere and design of the pub. Great location, loads of seating inside and outside. It all feels very modern with a great range of food and drinks. Love coming here!

Decent drinks, cheap for the city centre

What a disappointment! We had booked a table of 5 for food based on photos of the interior, we were ignored 3 times by different members of staff before having to get their attention to order food. One waitress spilt half of my mates cider on him, didn't apologise and he had to ask for blue roll to wipe it up. The food portions were small and unimaginative, no real value for money and overheard other table bookings complaining about problems they encountered. One saving grace, a huge selection of cask beers available. May be back but only for drinks.

We had great starters, and a lovely Sunday roast , with unlimited yorkshire puddings, and gravy . Then we shared sticky toffee pudding , and shared a bottle of red - nice atmosphere and great service .

Fantastic place in town to visit. Love the offer for the three third pints for £5.70. Greate place in town to visit. Ground are always welcome

Could do with a bit more salad selection or lighter snacks

Fabulous evening -food was amazing, served hot and on time. Everything was presented well and all our group really enjoyed the evening. We were a group of 30+. All the small plates were really tasty.

Really enjoyed the newly refurbished JW Lees flagship bar. (Used to be Duttons) Lots more choice of their own ales available and great decor with pictures showing JW Lees from many years ago.

Didn't eat here but it's a nice place to stop for a drink

New venue, further visit needed !!

Outstanding JWL bitter. Didn't eat but definitely an option next time we go.

Great pub, lovely choice of Manchester beers, good food and great service

Lovely place, delicious food and wonderful staff. Thank you

Nice new bar, plenty of space and a great selection of beers at reasonable prices.

Group of 4 of visited. First time here since it opened as Founders Hall. Didn't have to wait too long after ordering food I ordered the chicken, leek & tarragon creamy pie with chips & mushy peas - wasn't overly impressed - hardly any leek, certainly not creamy quite dry. Everybody else enjoyed theirs - will try something else next time. Music was abit loud tho for while we were trying to chat & catch up. Would go back and give it another go...

Excellent food, Excellent service would definitely recommend going

Great new venture from local Lees brewery, showcasing their core and seasonal products in a modern industrial bar/restaurant. A big improvement on Duttons as the focus on beer has increased with the food complementing this. 7 in total on cask - the Black Rose milk stout is a gorgeous drink, like a dessert beer. Worth a look.

Dog friendly, pretty good Sunday roast. Good cask beer. Music could have been a bit quieter but we were sat quite close to a speaker so might not have been as loud elsewhere.

Great food and drinks .....you must give it a try if you can. 😉

Margin driven outlet to the expense of food experience

Great range of JW Lee's and Boilerhouse beers, very good looking, will revisit review after a month due to works still being done.

Food excellent and great value. Kids portions very big. We had the Sunday roast and is very very good.

I generally much prefer the older traditional pubs of Manchester but Founder's Hall is a very impressive new addition. Top range of ales and - very unusually for a Manchester real ale pub - an excellent place to eat too.

Fantastic new bar great service brilliant atmosphere 👏

Decent beer well kept. But the flights are a total con. More than the price of 3 thirds of almost any of the beers.

Nice pub. A " brewdog " for older guys.

Founders Bar opened on 21 February 2024 replacing Duttons - same brewery JW Lees. Large cask selection all brewed by Lees - I’m on the Fallen Again Golden Beer described brilliantly by Untappd as watery and smooth - by far the worst pint of the day. Will probably do well with tourists but there are too many better alternatives all close by for locals to drink in. Can’t comment on the food.

New place recently open. Really nice vibe, nice team and not ridiculously expensive for central Manchester. I didn’t try the food, just went for after work drinks

Great selection of beers, really friendly and hospitable team and superb pies!!

Nice for an early Sunday afternoon. Atmosphere just right. Able to get food that is not over facing.