Escape To Freight Island in Manchester

This is one of my favourite places to go in Manchester. They have different rooms for different vibes and the service is always excellent when I visit!

Quick service and friendly staff

Came to watch the rugby 🏉 great atmosphere. Loved the brass band. Dan served us at the bar and was really friendly. Always hv a nice chat with the female security staff also 😊

Freight Island: A One-of-a-Kind Social Destination in Manchester Freight Island is more than just a venue. A vibrant social hub in the heart of Manchester, it brings together some of the city’s best food, drink, live entertainment, and culture, all under one roof. Whether you're here for a casual bite, a night of dancing, or a family-friendly afternoon, Freight Island has something for everyone.

bouncer named fox was ridiculously rude, aggressive and called me multiple names in front of my young children. disgusting behaviour and won’t be returning

Came here for reggae brunch and was served by multiple staff. They were fast, helpful and very friendly. Just what you need from a bartender!

Great venue tad cold but it is January. Staff great and part of the womens charter

Great time. Visited a reggae brunch in the venue but have also been on a date here. Good vibes only!

They should name it escape from freight island. Hectic place

Excellent place for food, the service was great and the atmosphere was good too! I loved the Halal food, the chicken was just 🔥 Highly recommended.

Great fun for the Massaoke, loved it!!

As.always, bad first. Bit loud for my liking, but else a good atmosphere. The burgers were lacking in options. Would be good to see more topping like jalapeños etc. Wraps were a little small. The good, burgers and chips were extremely good for what you'd asked for. The beef wraps were very tasty! I'd go back for sure.

Went on new years eve during day. Terrible organisation, no buffer between kids party ending at 14:00 and having table booked at 14:00 so queued outside in pouring rain waiting for kids/families to leave before being let in. On-site booking app hopeless - food outlets stated as closed on app that were actually open and different menus/prices on app compared to at actual food outlet. Shambles overall.

Lovely staff fast service quality food and guaranteed a good time

I have loved it here. The atmosphere the people the security everything was perfect. Would recommend.

Excellent staff service, they were friendly and fast.

We had terrible weather which really made it poor. This place looks like it could be amazing. The food was all fresh and the prices were not too high the lights were good (Blackpool doesn't need to worry yet). We booked tickets for the kids on new year's eve but like I said bad wind and rain dampened it went well call again and give a true review.

I went with a friend and 2 children aged 8. We all had loads of fun and we did the twilight trails with the lights. It was quiet, so much fun and playing in the dark with the lights was great. Fond memories made ❤️ definitely would go again

Bar staff really helpful and friendly. Great daytime place for kids

Favourite place for a good cider.

bartenders were very friendly! fast service overall fab :)

My favourite place !! Love you freight island ❤️

Love the staff and the vibes of the place!

Great venue nice food and drinks

The modern style of 'large scale canteen', multiple vendors with joined seating. Pizza had all sold out by 6pm, except there weren't any signs to say so meaning people still queued up. 'Order by QR code' say the signs, except the QR code right on the menu has a cross straight through it (?). Food looked good though, but we didn't get to try it as the queues were too long. Had a pint and left.

Place to eat and have a drink, with several food stalls, with a large patio, very well decorated. Highly recommended if you are in Manchester

The highlight of Manchester night life. Amazing food stalls, unreal atmosphere and most of all it has everything for everyone. PS Burgerism has the best burgers you’ll ever feast upon.

Nowhere on the website did it warn customers of road closures blocking all three of their website recommended car parks. We got stuck in nightmare traffic as a result, had to park further away and get ubers to and from the car park at extra cost. We would not have booked had we known this. Logistically *very* stressful to access by car as it is opposite piccadilly train station so there are taxis blocking the road everywhere. This coupled with the road closures made for a terribly stressful journey to and from which significantly reduced our enjoyment of the venue. Warning customers of road closures affecting parking for the venue is *essential* and needs to be addressed. The venue itself is quite lovely but our visit was maligned by these issues and as such we would be reluctant to return.

Great vibes and a fantastic range of drinks

Great for the kids to meet Father Xmas and fast food drinks afterwards. Light show was fun.

We went for some food after attending the Twilight Trail. The situation inside Freight Island was somewhat chaotic. Ordered a quick bite on the app and when i went to the counter was told there was a 40min wait on food. Lots of bewildered customers gathered around the food outlets. Seems very disorganised and not really a pleasant atmosphere for a Christmas event. Rude staff cleaning the tables, the lady reached right over me to grab a glass without so much as an 'excuse me'.

It's not somewhere I would go again. The place is very loud and expensive.

Came to visit the twilight trail which we loved especially toasting the marshmallow at the end. Loved how dog friendly the twilight trail and freight island were. Staff we spoke to were all very friendly and helpful and gave our pug lots of fuss. Loved the vibe of this place and we will definitely be back again whenever we visit Manchester

Great place to visit with friends!

Eva was the besr bartender ever

Brilliant location for a few drinks and delicious food 🍩 🍸 🍻

Had a lovely get together at freight island , the Christmas dinner was splendid definitely will be making this a yearly date

This place has such a vibe🎉Great food and drink choices. Chilled atmosphere. I am a powered wheelchair user and the staff is extremely helpful. There is a lift, accessible toilet, ramps inside and outside💕

Great venue, great service, love it!

We came for bingo lingo, won a bottle of prosecco, had a boogie and a brill time. What fab venye

Amazing experience, the jazz band made the night so special

After seeing multiple advertisements over social media, I thought booking this would have been a lovely night out for me and my other half! To get there, for a 15 minute walk around to see some lights, barely any food stalls outside. To then head into the Fright Night, to be greeted with food to choose from then to be ignored by those who were serving, who had clearly looked at us twice standing patiently to be served in which we turned around and left. Pretty lights, not much of them.. possibly better on other days and for those who have kids but what a waste of a drive to be stuck in traffic for 45 minutes on the way home.

A lovely place and lovely food. Staff is so friendly and welcoming. Always there to help if needed and food is beautiful.

Loved the vibe and the food was delicious!

Rlly good food, drinks and music. A great night

Great place to watch the football and good food options, just wish it was a little easier to understand. Had no idea the upper lounge was the sports bar until we asked 3 separate staff members. Also, most of the pool cues were broken, except one. Invest in your pool cues, please! It’ll make the experience much more fun. I recommend the food from Fuku!

Great experience. Lots of food and drink options.

The music was amazing! Staff were also very friendly - we had a great night. Would recommend.

Cool place with independent food and bars. Great atmosphere

Amazing experience! Came from ireland and would recommend!

We have had a great family evening at the light display and finished off having some great food and drinks at Pattersons chicken bar in the food court would definitely recommend

Great atmosphere and great staff, loads of food choice and a great place for a group

Booked Santa's Grotto. Two elves were really good, Santa was completely disinterested- padding round his tummy was coming out. Barely spoke to the children. Had been asked to complete a form to give Santa 'secret' info about the children. Had hoped this would be mentioned but nothing said to any child - begs the question of why this was needed. Presents were totally unsuitable for the children and the wrong ages were given - queried this and was told the wrong ages had been put on the presents and not to worry. Both presents have been binned as so unsuitable. Only plus was a lego gift (priced around £7) which both children liked. Got a hot chocolate drink after - £15.00 for 3. Don't bother - tasted disgusting. Paid 75p each for a toasted marshmallow- was asked if I wanted them toasting. Didn't bother as it was clearly too much trouble. £62.00 for around half an hour - would definitely not return here again.

Excellent place, we had such a blast. Highly recommend for eating and entertainment.

Great place to visit something for everyone. The bar can get very busy though which results in long que for drinks

Amazing place to go pre gig. We are going to see The Prodigy at Mayfield Depot and this is just the best place to come before the gig for drinks and great food .

Out for a works doo, band playing, turned into a disco danced the night away

Nice groovy place, probably better in the evening

Amazing food and drinks! 5/5 ⭐️

Lovely atmosphere and really tasty food ! Quick service aswell

Best place to be on saturday night

Lovely mulled wine and Xmas drinks!

Great atmosphere and variety of food!

Very good bar and nice cocktails! Staff is very nice! Thanks 🥳

Amazing service and great vibes

Great student discount deals on Thursday!

Excellent location for food, drink and atmosphere. A gem of a place in the heart of Manchester.

Christmas do 06 December 2024! What a shame. Love this venue. Christmas party food was fab and great value for money. Food was nice and warm but because the venue was so draughty it cooled very quick. We knew this was a warehouse venue but it was unbearably cold (DRESS WARM)! On to the biggest disappointment and yet again such a shame. @manchesterjazzband was playing but unfortunately, and although they are amazing, they would play a tune then……..long wait till next tune and then another tune……and long wait!!! No dance tunes……just no atmosphere! Almost felt like the venue tried too hard! Ended up leaving early xxx

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

Saw a lot about the carvery, Seconds, online and decided to try without looking at reviews. It is £19pp, the meat is great, but the rest of the sides are flavourless and cold. If you want pigs in blankets, stuffing or cauli cheese these are £5 extra EACH. We were looking forward to going back up for bottomless sides but they were so bad we didn’t even want them. Just get a £6 Toby Carvery, it’s better.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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!

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.

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.

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!

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.

Great range of different foods and events happening all year round

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

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.

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.

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!

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

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