Escape To Freight Island in Manchester

Keep it up guys, customers would appreciate even more with more live music please?

The concept is brilliant and great for big groups, there was no Christmas music, the drinks were very expensive and some of the food stores were extortionate. We were charged 30.00 for 2 hog barm cakes, utter rip off, should have had the gyros, looked nicer and far better value.Probably won't return.

Fun experience. Haven't seen anything like it in Sweden

Went to the twilight trail, that was great but after we went to freight island, completely a different atmosphere to when I went in a year ago. Food wasn’t amazing, drinks were overpriced £24 for two small cocktails, a band was on but you could not even hear them properly, everybody was leaving, wasn’t the atmosphere we was looking for and had been previously, such a shame will not recommend anymore, used to love it but unfortunately not anymore. Food wasn’t also saying unavailable on the qr code apart from a couple and no drinks to be delivered to table like used to be.

Bang Average. It wants to be some version of Box Park but falls waaay short. Food is over salted and over priced. Beer selection is woeful and £7 a pint. The kitchen staff work flat out in fairness. Only stall worth visiting is the bbq smokehouse. Dave yourself a walk and go to Mackie Mayor.

Freight Island itself is a great experience. Unfortunately, the customer service and online booking was really poor and spoiled it for me. Our Christmas party slot was moved at late notice due to a private hire event. The only notification I got was an automated reminder 24 hours before. When I asked about the time change, which gave no context, I ended up with an argumentative email exchange with James, who was patronising and rude.

So fun! Decor is very interesting, many good places to eat at good value and best bit the arcade!

It's a great place to visit and a relaxed atmosphere especially with two younger children. Would definitely recommend a visit and we will be going back soon

Great place, so much to choose from. Fantastic atmosphere, indoor out door both fantastic!!. I would definitely recommend..

Came for food after visiting the Twighlight Trail. There's different food places to choose from including halal options at Burgerism and Fuku and Cheesecake on a stick from Oh my Cheesecake. Theres plenty of seating and some places you order from your seating area. It's cashless so you need to be prepared to pay by card.

Greek ok, when asked if can sit anywhere was just advised don’t know….working in any customer relationship service- it not only benefits the customer to show your actually interest in helping, but big lesson learning for yourself and future customers!! Am I right!! The tequila bar, shame not all items advertised available- for example frozen….margarita or anything else! And tequila shots was offered rock salt 😫😶!!! Shave tequila didn’t communicate with Greek as when I asked for seasoning and napkins…was given by the bucket! But enjoyed the wrap not special, appreciate my Greek in Hull more, and chips lacking seasoning. Unfortunately not sure if it’s a HULL thing but my son likes hallumi on his wrap, not an option, no flexibility probably to add another £6!! Won’t bother again tbh, but don loves Greek, was expecting similar experience!

We visited the Winter Twilight Trail and found it disappointing and overpriced. I believe my daughter paid £12 per ticket, which didn’t feel worth it. The lights were quite basic and not particularly impressive. There was no festive or Christmas atmosphere along the trail, so if you're expecting that, you'll likely be let down. While there is a Grotto available, we didn’t visit it. After finishing the trail, we headed to Freight Island for something to eat. Unfortunately, the place felt cold and lacked atmosphere. We ordered food from two different vendors, but neither lived up to expectations, especially given the high prices. Would I return? Probably not.

Muy pobre Las luces no eran muy entretenidas. Había un parque en el medio que era francamente peligroso sin que nadie mirara su salud y seguridad. Sólo un accidente esperando a suceder. Llegamos al final y fue una pesadilla tratar de conseguir comida para la familia, a pesar de que supuestamente teníamos una comida para niños gratis para cada uno de mis dos hijos fue imposible canjearlos, ya que tenías que comprar y comida para adultos para ir con él.

Tan ruidoso - música que suena a un volumen tan alto que no podíamos escucharnos hablar. Ordene de la mesa, de cualquier restaurante, luego obtenga el mensaje para recoger, ya que cada cosa está lista. No listo al mismo tiempo, así que retransmite comer. No es una agradable experiencia gastronómica en absoluto. El pan Tikka naan era sabroso, pero muy pequeño y caro. Otros platos tampoco eran de buena relación calidad-precio. No hay servicio de mesa. Probablemente soy demasiado viejo para este lugar - ciertamente no mi taza de té. Ocasión salvada solo por la empresa - aunque habría sido agradable haber podido escucharlos hablar.

Had food and was disappointed with the quality of it. Payal Indian street food. Children’s tikka and chips linked to the light trail was not enough to feed a snail, the Naan bread for the adults curry was more like a pizza base smothered in garlic and the curry lacked flavour. No wonder this establishment was the only one that had no wait time!! Burgerism - burger was very good but the hour wait - should have been 20 mins wasn’t great. Beer - delightful no issues.

I've been to Freight Island a few times with a family group and have previously found it OK if a little slow. However l've recently experienced bad customer service following a mistake I made when booking tickets to the Twilight Christmas event. I accidentally booked tickets for the wrong Sunday as I was stupidly multitasking. I realised immediately and asked to swap dates - the one I wanted was still available. The team refused to do this as I didn't buy the additional insurance. I was advised to give the tickets to someone else or sell them, or re-book and double my own costs. I know this was my error, and if there's any response to this review, it will probably be to quote T&Cs. I will try to sell but it just struck me as unkind, un-festive and something that could easily be fixed by the team - especially as I realised straight away. I won't be booking anything else here as I don't think the management team is interested in good service. My son won't be going to see the Christmas lights with his friends as planned. Don't expect any flexibility with your bookings here unless you want to pay extra. And definitely don't make any mistakes - perfect customers only!

It’s very good. Loads of seating indoors and outdoors. Would say the bar is a bit slow at serving, especially when busy. But otherwise for food you can order on the app and it’s brought to your table.

A nice place to sample different foods and beers all in one place, wrap up warm in the winter as no heating in the building.

There is absolutely everything. And the tables on the terrace are heated

Great range of different foods and events happening all year round

1st time visiting here and it did not disappoint. Had Patterson's chicken and it was superb, cooked well and was value for money.

Paid £65 to attend the “Firework Extraganza” with my family/children. Display should have started at 8:30pm. We arrived at 8:15pm late due to being stuck on the Mancunian way since 7pm due to a serious RTA. They kindly still let us in when we explained we could get here before 8pm due to the RTA. My partner took my 6 year old to the toilet as soon as we got there. By the time they returned at 8:35pm the display had finished and she had missed the lot. So not only did they start it before scheduled time but it lasted all of ten minutes. It was the worst £65 I have spent and I have seen better displays at the local park free of charge. Really disappointed! Would not recommend this at all! In reply to you response. I’d be interested to see where it was advertised as a ten minute firework display. As per the attached image where the tickets were booked from there is no clear indication of the ten minute time display. This was also not clear on your events page as I wouldn’t have booked and travelled that distance for ten minutes. Given I’d also been there earlier in the day at the raver tots event this was checked before booking. And really unfortunate that the day we chose to book that the event lasted until 8:35pm given it should have started at 8:30pm. So we didn’t even get the longer time of over 10 minutes. I will also add the children were also not given the sparklers as stated on your advert. My advice would be stick to the local parks run by the council, you won’t be charged and will actually get more for your money! It was very disappointing for £65!!!

Nice and well accommodating staffs that provides excellent services Kudos

Walked in and saw loads of tables reserved from 2pm. It was 7:15pm at this point. We took that to mean the reservation had come and gone so sat down and ordered food. After ordering food we were told the table was reserved from 2pm until close and that we had to leave. The woman who spoke to us was disgracefully rude after I’d mentioned that I’d already ordered food to the table and only sat there because the sign said “reserved 2pm”. She said I should know that means it’s reserved from 2pm till midnight. Really?? That’s not how it works anywhere else. Never coming back. Edit: sorry but your response is pure gaslighting. There were tonnes of signs that simply said “reserved” and everyone knows that means reserved until the sign is removed (or until close if not) but “reserved - 2pm” doesn’t mean “reserved until midnight” in any other establishment and I think you’re just gaslighting me by saying it does at freight island. If that’s honestly what you think it means you need to be writing “reserved 2pm - close”. One extra word on your signs to avoid so many unhappy guests.

So many brilliant food and drink outlets, lots of choice, great atmosphere

Excelente evento de fuegos artificiales! Fui a los fuegos artificiales tempranos el domingo por la noche. Rápida cola para entrar con el personal amable. Mucho espacio en el parque (a menudo con eventos de fuegos artificiales en los que se siente hacinado) Bailarines de fuego y música. Excelente visualización con música. Lo único que se podría haber mejorado no estaba demasiado claro en el camino al parque que se podía acceder a la isla de carga para los bares y la comida, lo que significa que había una cola masiva para la furgoneta de una bebida en el parque. Después de un poco de exploración (y de nuevo el personal amable) informar puede conseguir un sello en la isla de carga y llevar comida y bebida al parque. Excelente evento. Gracias isla de carga para una noche encantadora. Definitivamente volveré el próximo año 🎆

Slightly quiet when we visited around 6pm on a Friday evening. Decent variety of vendors, food and service was great. We opted for Tacos from Lazy Tony's, wings from Pattersons and Cheesecake on a stick.

Este lugar marca un nuevo mínimo. Algún adolescente de cara manchada aparentemente se ha puesto a cargo del "entretenimiento" y decidió que lo que la gente REALMENTE quiere cuando sale a comer es sufrir literalmente pérdida de audición por 130 decibelios de "música" que se lanza en sus oídos. Esto es tan fuerte que literalmente no puedes comunicarte con la persona sentada a tu lado, y mucho menos al otro lado de la mesa. La comida es insípida y poco inspirada. La peor experiencia de restaurante que he tenido... y he tenido mucho!

Not many healthy food options with quite expensive prices for food offered I found. Also tried to order at Seconds but was told was sold out for the day unless I had pre-booked which thought was odd for a food hall where they generally used a app order and text alert system for collecting food. However, great alcohol frees at the bar with lucky saint hazy beers and nice atmosphere with plenty of seating options and sports on tv or sporting activities to do such as pool and darts. Also had indoor and outdoor seating.

Tons of options, something for everyone, very vibey. Try the "pour your own Guinness" machine, but don't let it settle too much because it times out sooner than it probably should. You can still take it to the bar to top it up though

Went recently to watch England play football, could be a great venue but is ruined by the lack of toilets and EXTREMELY long wait times at the bar. There was 1 male and 1 female toilet on site, which seemed ridiculous for the volume of people there. Wait times at the bar were in excess of 45mins with the bar staff working at a slow pace without any urgency or real competence. Won't be going again for a big game

Really enjoyed my time here. Good for a first date.

Brilliant place to come for something to eat and drink. Different vendors for different tastes is a winner for family's who all want something different from each other. Reasonable prices and really tasty food from all vendors we tried.

Great gluten free options at Mia’s Arepas

FINALLY a place that shows women’s football! Wasn’t expecting much, but was really surprised to see it on the big screens. Nice to find somewhere that actually cares about women’s sports

Came to Sports Island on Sunday to watch the Liverpool game and was really impressed. This might actually be my new fave spot to watch live sports in Manchester. Loads of space to sit, and the screens are massive, so you can see everything really clearly. We grabbed some food from Patterson’s – the chicken burger was unreal! Good atmosphere too. I’ll definitely be booking again

A brilliant lunch to celebrate my birthday with friends and family. The team were supportive when making changes to the number of attendees and it was great to be able to have kids and infants with us. Sadly we were sat right next to an event which was so loud we could barely talk to each other so wish we had moved tables but can't fault the venue for that really. Wonderful food options, efficient ordering app and fun games in the arcade. Its a great space for kids and adults alike.

1st time here and will be back again! Amazing place great food , beer atmosphere

Good place to meet up with friends and family. Have a variety off food spots something for everyone

Food ok Sunday roast meats I mean veg was under done and expensive place

I'd rather go food shopping than go back here and I actually hate that , awful, service shocking and very arrogant bar staff. I've been a few times, and to a few events, avoid the Christmas one, it's the biggest dissapointment and really overpriced. There's more festivities queuing in the arndale... I have a corporate function there this Christmas and I certainly won't be attending. I don't know why anyone would. I've told everyone and anyone to give it a miss, it's really is a shambles. The North Wests biggest overrated, over priced and over accommodated dissapointment...... Bad times

Sitting and having a sunday roast whilst lights twirl around and a heavy base vibrates your seat is not the vibe. Can barely hear who you’re sat with and the moving lights made me nauseous. Ate as fast as we could just to get out of there.

Amazing time ITD Events Sapphira, Morphine and Plane Jane but please WHY was there a big bonsai tree blocking the view of half of the stage? Stupid place to put an ornament. For this type of event the stage was too low down, difficult to get a good view. This was at the plant room.

Always a nice place to visit. I’d just say the food is a bit overrated for the prices.

Pretentious, overpriced circus of a place. No staff around, kids treating it as a playground, far too loud for middle of day. Wankfest. 🎪🤡

Lovely food market with amazing vendors and a great atmosphere! You can even book a table which is a great idea for places like this!! Using the online platform is very easy though the queue for the main bar can be a bit long - this is understandable on a Saturday night though! And they have plenty of staff so the queue goes quickly!! An amazing choice of drinks on the bar!!

Get down there 💪 food, food, food !

Visited here for an event hosted by Matthew Clark. Lots of space for various stands and was a great venue for it. I will try to be back for standard operation to give it a go when next in the city! The pizza place was good too.

Never knew this place existed… Great Atmosphere Can’t go wrong for food, so many different choices, had a look around all stalls and they all looked amazing. Will definitely be paying another visit soon

Had a great time at a friend’s party. Plenty of room and seating, drinks options were alright but not great. When it came to last orders the customer service was shocking, they called last orders 5minutes before 12 and took their time serving 3 people and the was like we aren’t serving anymore not even to the one who had been stood waiting for 10minutes Last orders should be 15minutes before closing not 5.

The host team were excellent. Heather is great!

Love freight island but this is a no from me the food is just bad think school dinners back in the day dry spuds burnt Yorkshire puddings the whole meal was a travesty will not be coming back for seconds

Went mj Cole this weekend. That was one of the best nights out I've had in Manchester in years, great venue, and to top it off, they have a burgerism in there 🤤

It's such a great place but most of the food places are overpriced and not that great, which is a real shame. Mia's arepas always good, slightly pricy. Fuku tasty but the server was abrupt and one piece of chicken was huge and not cooked through.

A great place to eat, drink and meet friends. Lots of choice of food and a good atmosphere.

The place is huge and good for partying

Came here on Sunday for the seconds carvery and honestly it was amazing. The food was lush and I think I went back about 3 times just for more roast potatoes ha! 😂 There was a dj on as well and they have a cute little bar called casa pomelo? (I think) where we had some amazing cocktails and a lil boogie!! Booked for my 30th already ha!! Only downside was I had work the next day and couldn’t stay later :(

Took the hubby and kids for a Sunday roast here at seconds bar. We all enjoyed it. Great atmosphere they had a DJ on. The food was really nice and I thought it was well worth the money

Went for the Sunday roast when advertised online was totally different then the experience spent £42 to still come out hungry and food being lukewarm all extras were £5 so cauliflower cheese which was burnt pigs and blanket and dessert was £6 so all together for the nice things would of cost an extra £16 per person quite expensive for a really average Sunday roast won’t be returning anytime soon wouldn’t recommend go for a proper carvery where they feed you more than ‘bottomless’

Good variety of food choices and drinks bars spread around. I like the buzz of atmosphere here, plus the amount of outdoor space.

Great place, some good food stalls and it's great how you can go with a group and everyone can get different food and be satisfied. The Venezuelan place is the best place IMO.

Went to try the Sunday carvery at seconds Food was ok. Not much choice but what they did have was ok . Unfortunately the place , an eating place !! Was full of dogs . I’m not sure who would want to go for a meal in a place with loads of dogs . Is that hygienic I’m not convinced . Plus the barking ! All setting each other off . Almost tripped me up at the stairs too . Unfortunately this fabulous venue is literally going to the dogs . If they could be confined to either the outside or a corner out the way I would go back .

Decided to go for a Sunday roast as it looked amazing on photos 1) On arrival inside the venue a member of staff was just stood on the stand texting away completely oblivious to customers walking in. 2) Paid £43 for 2x plates to be told they were out of turkey. Not a massive issue as just switched to a different meat. Move further along to be told theres no roast potatoes, no cauliflower cheese, no Yorkshire puds…at this point all we had on the plates were 2 thin slices of meat and a huge chunk of veg..waited for about 10 mins for the additional stuff to come out..nothing…at this point the food wasn’t even hot. On a more positive note, a manager was able to refund us and give us 2 vouchers to Burgerism for up to £15 so fair play to them for that. Venue however, was lovely.

Great place to spend with your family, friends & furry friends!

Really nice venue. We had a company event here, they have multiple spaces that open up really nicely. Food is solid, and staff were friendly!

We held a private celebration party for about 100 people in the Plant Room. The booking was made 12 months prior to the event and the liaison with the Freight Island team over that time was excellent. In the run up to the event itself we had professional, friendly support from the technical team supporting the artists and videos we used, from the hospitality team in terms of the catering and drinks arrangements and all of our guests had a really great evening.

The Sunday Roast NOT recommended. The only good about it was the Roast Beef really tasty & tender ,as for the rest Roasties not bad Veg 2 out of 10 & the Yorkshire puds Greasy and not cooked properly ,Gravy not bad ,& disappointed no Mash . Oh & they can't cook cabbage ! Definitely not worth £20. Needless to say we won't be going again .

Bland cold roast dinner. Forgot my card and they would not accept cash. Wouldn’t recommend or return.

Vegetable very raw and gravy like water and ran out custard not great experience would definitely avoid other places looked better ended up leaving so much especially the kids

Excellent venue with so many food options, great space for Swiftogeddon.

Someone is going to have an accident on the stairs......

Sunday roast is a must. Unlimited sides!

It's a nice variety of resturants to satisfy any particular craving, the food is all good quality and staff are Kind. Good for if you're with a large group or multiple people with different food moods. Decent price too and nice outdoor seating and indoor seating.

Great to escape from the hustle and bustle of the city Cozy location Nice service

Sunday roast at 'Seconds' ... be warned, it isn't 'Seconds', you can only go back up for the sides so, I paid £60 for 2 x adults & 2 x kids which gave us a total of 6 thin slices of meat between us. It's also advertised as 'unlimited' sides so it's a bit confusing, can I keep going up for sides or is it just the once for 'Seconds'? Basically, unless you want to leave feeling ripped off, just avoid. You can pay £60 for 4 roasts in plenty of places in town and not have to go back for seconds because the initial portion is decent enough for fill you up.

We went there for the Massaoke night. It was really wonderful. The atmosphere was magic. I would highly recommend.

Seconds Sunday roast is really terrible. £19 for two pieces of meat, £5 extra for each additional side. If you have a large carvery and every side you’re at £40. It simply isn’t worth it. Much better food at a fraction of the price available in our great city that you don’t have to queue up and ask for. Oh, and when I went up they had no potatoes. They asked me to come back later for them. So rubbish. I didn’t go up for seconds.

Great venue for food, drink and dancing. Drinks a little on the expensive side but was free to get in

*they’ve updated the app so you can order from multiple vendors in one order - the place is a 10/10 (won’t mention fireworks night) Great fun events - like the McLaren f1 event in 2023, brilliant food, love it

Went to mj Cole last night, that was one of the bests nights in Manchester in a long time, Atmosphere was great, no troublemakers. It was a beautiful night and to top it off, there is a Burgerusm in there 😍 thank you Manchester for a wonderful night.

Massively disappointed in ‘Seconds Carvery’ at Freight Island. First of all, the concept of Seconds isn’t really explained well in their online content as it comes across that you get a ‘bottomless’ choice of all food but really it’s just the regular sides that you have that option for, these include bottomless roast potatoes, carrots, parsnips, Yorkshire puddings and gravy. If you want the ‘giant’ pig in blanket, stuffing or cauliflower cheese these are a chargeable extra at £5 each. The food isn’t anything special when you get it and the reason for the two star rating is due to the beef being the only component of the meal that was done brilliantly, stay away from the pork as it’s nearly all fat with not a lot of meat on the joint. I also don’t know who is maintaining food standards there but the temperature of the food was really cold as the sides were luke warm at best when they were served and I’m not really a fan of the way you have to take back your used plate to ask for ‘seconds’ as a new clean plate should be given to you when you want additional food. There also needs to be an increase in staff members wiping down the food area so more of a push on basic food hygiene is required. The staff member on the till seemed really inconvenienced when I asked him to explain the concept to me so that didn’t make a good impression on the business. The atmosphere was very chilled out and the music was great with an amazing choice of lagers and drinks at the bar so can’t fault the vibe but overall I wouldn’t return to ‘Seconds’ at Freight Island as the price you pay for a Sunday roast is comparable to other higher quality restaurants in Manchester which provide more value for money with much better service and higher quality food.

Very loud music during evening and night time. How hundreds of students in nearby buildings should rest!?

Casual place for the evening, quick food, cold beer and a mixed party crowd. Fun for everyone. You can sit in the hall or outside

Great place to visit with a large group, especially when lots of people want different food from the same venue. Would definitely go again.

Somewhat pricey but decent spot

The place is huge! Nice atmosphere. I went with some friends for drinks and food, nice option. Good beer. Would go again!

I came to Freight Island for their Seconds Carvery service, and I had a fantastic time.highly recommend

Really good atmosphere, the sun was out and everyone was having a great time. The food and drinks were amazing. One of the best places in Manchester when the sun is shining.

Plenty of great events for kids and families. Baby rave

Had a fab time here with the kids. The burgers are massive!! U use the QR code on the table and choose what u want to eat - really easy to use. U can watch the match in sports bar bit. Just outside is a really good playback for the kids.

Second time I have been here and was very impressed again. One thing I will say is that I went on a Saturday afternoon a few of the places were closed including one of the craft beer bars which was a big shame. Am sure they had there reasons for being closed but none the less tainted the experience a little. But onto the good stuff, had a gyros that was absolutely phenomenal probably the best I have had outside of Greece, would recommend the Greek food outlet there to anyone. Also had a caramel chocolate brownie cup which was very good. There is a lot going on in freight island, lots of food and drink to be had in a cool looking space that has been done up well. The music in a few parts was a bit too loud though couldn't really chat to anyone if you were sat there. Will definitely go back though is a nice and unique spot.

Food is expensive and not necessarily delicious But variety of food choices The atmosphere indoors and outdoors is very good Great for group gatherings Sometimes there is a live DJ

Went on a Sunday for a food event and the food stalls on offer were very good and if its food and a family event you want then its a good place to go. However its very expensive at almost £7 a pint and it was pretty dead when I went (on a Sunday TBF) 'Decent' venue but very expensive - Wasn't terrible but isn't somewhere I'd bust a gut to go is my opinion

A great mix of food, lots of regulars, and some new experiences, music is too loud fir conversation in areas.

What a wonderfully eclectic place with a fantastic atmosphere!

Staff was helpful food was lovely

Really nice spot to chill grab some food..only thing missing is the pool hall..it wasnt open the last 2 times i went

Place to be in Manchester, absolutely cracking vibes We sat in the plant room next to the bar & DJ Staff were great, food was unreal! Just a absolutely cracking night, will 100% be back

Went to the British Street Food Awards and it was great! Loved the food stalls, Baldy’s Pies was our favourite, good music and great atmosphere!

I had a nice time but it's pricey, there isn't a massive selection of cocktails, but it's not bad for a drink or 2 with work mates.