La Bandera in Manchester

Really great place for a get together. Delicious food served by friendly staff. We ordered a selection of tapas dishes between the 5 of us and we all enjoyed. Great start to our evening before the theatre. Thank you and we will be back!

Great atmosphere and good service

Stumbled in here late, without a reservation on a Saturday evening and were made to feel welcome. Although we only had a couple of dishes, each one was fantastic and the waitress put extra effort into explaining allergens. The aioli was a stand out, Spanish omelette great… overall felt very authentic. Cannot wait to come back here and have a full meal. One small comment: the soft drink bottle sizes are cartoonishly small. Please use full sized ones.

Had a fantastic time! Ash suggested the padron peppers and they were divine. Great service and great food! See you next time x

Excellent service, staff always smile and polite. They care for your feelings and comments on their food and service. Tapas amazingly prepared, squid, meatball, grilled pepper, Canarian king prawns … … all incredible. We are certain level naive of Spanish cuisine but it truly gives us a chance to learn about. Fruitful experience.

Managed to get a table Saturday despite the restaurant being packed, the manager got us a nice table tucked away. As he called it the romantic corner. The food and service was first class despite being packed out, we had a couple of the special dishes, one in particular I can’t remember the name but was pata bravas mixed with chorizo chillies and topped with egg. Absolutely gorgeous. We were served by an American girl whose name I didn’t get, the service she delivered was brilliant. We will definitely be returning!

Incredible food and service. Arranged for a group of 21 and they were able to accommodate and insure we weren't felt ignored. The service staff are incredible and make the experience memorable. The food was also great!!!

We had lovely tapas here. The quality and choice of food was excellent and the staff were really friendly and provided a first class customer service.

Fantastic place, a hidden gem not to be missed. Real Canarian (Spanish) tapas, completely authentic and if you know the difference you know.

The best tapas I've had in Manchester

Visited on a Thursday evening - very traditional restaurant, nice tables and vibe. Upon arrival the service slow for drinks but once we got their attention tin everything else flowed. Amazing food, every dish was delicious and a great portion size. Will definitely return

Went for 50% off January offer but content of some dishes was a real joke, not even worth it for the half price deal, more like 70% off clearance sold as seen scenario/ food ration sizes! The paella (Sea & Land) was a joke with 3 shrunk prawns but with BIG heads, 2 mini drum sticks, 1 chicken wing, a few tiny mussels of 1.5cm big and a few small squids, basically just rice in a rather salty sauce! (@£40 was a real joke and even @£20 still a joke!) Don’t bother and go somewhere else or wait till the so-called ‘50% off’ offer is over to see if the portion size would become more acceptable . I won’t be going back for a long while.

Average tasting menu. No presentation at all really. Steak very chewy. Prawns probably the best course. Room cold and front door stuck open several times letting in a cold blast. Fittings looking a bit tired. Would maybe at a push go back to try the normal menu but on first impressions not the best experience. But the two members of staff on duty did themselves proud, efficient and friendly. A valuable commodity for sure.

Had a really very nice lunch at the restaurant. Every dish was so good. The lady that served us was excellent and very friendly. Will be going back again.

My new favourite tapas place in Manchester - all the food was fantastic. I've been to Tenerife twice and loved the Canarian dishes on the menu, like the wrinkly potatoes and mojos sauce. The menu has lots of choice for veggies, pescatarians, and meat eaters. We made use of the 50% off January deal. The regular prices are a little steep so we'll likely only return for a special occasion. However, the portion sizes are decent and bigger than Evuna (another tapas place in Manchester's Northern Quarter) so it was still good value!

Visited at tea time on New Year’s Eve,friendly welcome and prompt service with drinks and menus.Extensive selection of tapas so we decided to go with staff recommendations for every dish.What a fantastic decision.The very friendly and knowledgable staff served us some fantastic food and drinks and made our visit one to remember.We would not hesitate in recommending this restaurant and are looking forward to visiting again in the near future,thanks to all involved,Happy New Year,the Neill family.

Incredible place! Never disappoints.

Had a birthday celebration here a couple of days ago. It was a bit quiet but it it was a Monday night just 2 days before Xmas. We really really enjoyed the food. Everything tasted freshly prepared unlike many taps bars where the food has clearly been sitting around for a while. The staff were delightful and made us very welcome.

Hidden gem, amazing delicious food with friendly helpful staff. Great value for money.

Exceptional staff helped create lovely dinner out to celebrate my parents 60th anniversary. As retired spanish teachers they know great spanish food and loved the wide range of tapas we had. Thanks La Bandera for your wonderful service and food! Would recommend the restaurant.

Tucked away off South King Street this is a gem . Spanish tapas and paella are their specialties. Extensive menu, we chose 3 tapas each which we shared. It was ample and very filling. Great friendly staff and efficient service. We will definitely be returning.

Great bottomless brunch with tapas and cocktails. Good choice of food and drinks. Location was good

Great tapas and cocktails for a bottomless brunch £42 for premium. Good service, tasty food. Nicely decorated restaurant.

Fantastic tapas and paella with quality friendly service. Brilliant selection of choices on the menu can recommend the black paella and bacaloau

The experience we had was fantastic and could not be faulted. The service was great and the food was absolutely incredible. We can highly recommend the fried cod and aubergine, and this was the best Spanish food we’ve had outside of Spain.

Excellent all round , spanish and canarian food at its best .The chief is from La Oratava in Tenerife . The owner is also from Tenerife so they know what they are doing .A great place for couples to big groups .

We visited for our anniversary last year and had to come back again this year because it was so good! The food we had was amazing and the service was perfect. Definitely recommend!!

Exceptional food and service. Having travelled and eaten extensively around Spain, the food on offer here is truly authentic. Padron peppers, gambas al ajillo, lamb pintxo sliders and the tortilla were all stand out dishes and excellently cooked. Highly recommended and way better that the mass produced “tourist tapas” on offer at spanish chain restaurants nearby.

Food was very bland and overpriced. We ordered the steak and chicken paella and hamon croquettes. Paella barely tasted of anything, hamon croquettes were good because of the cheese used inside the croquettes. Had to fight the urge to ask for salt for the paella. For the food quality, a £55 bill for two is overpriced. Service was good, servers were attentive and responsive. The chairs have seen better days...they looked old and slightly damaged. The restaurant smelt musty. Maybe add a diffuser and replace the chairs? Very disappointed as we were excited for Spanish food, especially on our date night.

Really delicious food that made up for the frustration of not getting my order right. I ordered patatas bravas with my dish and instead it came with plain rice.

We went for my husbands 30th birthday and had the taster menu with matching wine. One of us had dietary requirements and they were very accommodating with altering the dishes. The food was absolutely fantastic and the portions were good for a taster menu, we definitely felt we had enough food by the end. The stand out for us was that the service was absolutely brilliant! Miriam, Ash and Javier were very knowledgable on all the dishes and wines as well as being very attentive. It was a great mix of fantastic food and lovely service. We both agreed it was one of the best meals we’ve ever had. We’d recommend to anyone and we’ll definitely be coming back!

What a fantastic place, the food was beautiful and the staff were a delight. Thank you, we will happily be back when next in Manchester 🙏

The waitress, Ash Healy, is wonderful, helpful, and helpful in making choices. Thank you

First time here and the food and the service was brilliant. We had a selection of Tapas and it was all very tasty and the wine was delicious

Excellent service and great food. We visit every year with a small school group and they are very accommodating. Thanks :-)

After a lot of research I chose La Bandera to celebrate my daughter's 18th birthday as we wanted an authentic Spanish restaurant. It did not disappoint. We chose a selection of tapas to start, the goats cheese with apple was amazing as were the king prawns in chilli and garlic, we the ordered a couple of paellas for our main, and we couldn't fault any of it, trust me with my family that's quite an achievement. The manageress was great really helpful and spoilt my daughter, and the whole evening in my daughter's words was ' perfect '. We will definitely be returning.

Pre theatre Tapas.Absolutely fab dishes all came out quickly ,very fresh and so delicious.Lovely staff .We got the 50%off too so even better.Also the white Sangria was very good.

Absolutely amazing time here to celebrate a birthday with their premium bottomless brunch - they catered so well to our large party and were amazing to my friend who is gluten intolerant as he got served a full platter to himself. Very attentive from start to finish and we would definitely be going back for one of their tasting evenings! Strongly recommend for anyone who is wanting a different take on a bottomless brunch - lots of great cocktails available and a fantastic treat.

It's a shame that the construction on the street makes it difficult to find it. They have been there for two years.

Great evening pre theatre. Tapas is excellent. Watch out also for their new place opening in Albert Square later this month!

Enjoyed another fabulous meal here. Always great service and food. One of Manchesters best restaurants

Absolutely love this place!! Very welcoming, service was superb the girl who served us went above and beyond! Food was absolutely delicious there wasn’t a favourite out of 9 dishes we had!! Please go if in Manchester!!!

Awesome tapas restaurant in Manchester! The staff were super friendly, helpful, and accommodating. The food was delicious too! 😋 The Bacalao was especially incredible! Very affordable prices, and close to lots of bars - would highly recommend 😄

Bank holiday lunch, very good. Nice tapas restaurant, very helpful, good food, good wine. Nice staff and good atmosphere. Deserves good review.

Lovely way to celebrate my birthday. Service was fast, and we had a large selection of tapas. Spanish omelette, meatballs, croquettes, potatoes with mojo verde and meatballs in red wine. The only one we didn’t particularly enjoy were the chorizo. But overall this is a great restaurant very close to the city centre. Would also recommend the sangria.

Came here after reading reviews and seeing it was a celeb hotspot, so must be good. From the moment we walked in we was greeted really friendley and our server was great. The tapas was absolutely fantastic. Having previously lived in Spain and visiting numerous times a year we knew was good tapas was like and this was right up there so authentic and fresh, even reasonably priced. They even had Hierbas on the drinks menu which was amazing. Will be back one day.

Food was lovely, nice decor and atmosphere.

The road outside this restaurant is being extensively dug up and we weren’t quite sure whether it was open for lunch. We were glad to find that it was and the roadworks did not impact on our lunch. It is a tapas style restaurant and there was a lunch a good lunch offer. We enjoyed all of our dishes and the service was particularly pleasant.

Lovely venue with quality food. Fair prices, great service. Lots of veggie options.

Very tasty, 100% recommended. 👌

On our first visit with our grandson (maybe I was a little stressed!) I left my purse behind, the food and service were lovely, the little boy finished a portion of calamari all to himself! Of course we had to visit again to retrieve the purse, this time without the grandson. We had another excellent meal the paella was gorgeous and the aioli was to die for! The staff were extremely helpful and friendly, we will be back! Unfortunately no disabled access

Great food and even better service!

Best food I’ve tried in Manchester. Fully recommended

Service was great. I have to agree with the previous review , the food quality wasn’t very good for the price.

We loved it!!! My Irish partner and I, Spanish, came to visit for the weekend from Dublin and we were amazed by the quality of the food and the delicious taste! It transports you to Spain without a doubt living abroad ❤️ the waiter who was from Valencia recommended the best there! A lovely person! I will definitely return with a mandatory stop here 🥰

Delicious food and lovely staff. Would definitely be going back

Came for lunch and it was amazing! Food was delicious and the service was outstanding. Francesca was so sweet, polite and attentive and really made our experience even more special. Thank you so much for a lovely meal, we will definitely be coming back soon :)

This is the second time in a few months that we have visited this restaurant. We chose the pre-theatre menu which is very good value. The food here is so tasty, very authentic, nicely seasoned and full of flavour. Our favourite dish was probably the baked aubergine but the prawns in olive oil, garlic and chilli were also delicious. We have tried quite a few of the tapas dishes here now and nothing has disappointed. We also had a glass of the Spanish house red wine which was very nice. A big thank you to our waitress and to the young man bringing the dishes out of the kitchen. Both of them were very pleasant and helpful. We will definitely come here again and will recommend to friends.

I work in Manchester quite a lot and this restaurant has become something of a favourite. I usually combine it with a trip to the equally wonderful Exchange theatre so I usually have the very well-priced, pre-theatre deal. The tapas is all excellent and tastes like it has been made in house rather than bought in. Service has always been friendly and the food is every bit as good as anything I have had in Spain. Very reasonably priced for the quality and experience, I hope to be back again soon.

What a find this was. We’ve been to a few tapas restaurants in Manchester but this is by far the best. Lovely authentic Spanish food with huge portions. Staff were so lovely and friendly, we will definitely be back!

As a Spanish person from the Canary Islands, I thought the food was not great… nice service but the food quality…. It was very poor

We came and had the brunch. Service was lovely, food was amazing and had a lot of sangria. Will be coming back 100%

Top place. Very much enjoyed my visit. All the food was 10/10. Would recommend.

Ate at lunchtime, was a bit lacking in atmosphere as very quiet but food and service was excellent. We had three tapas each, plus dessert. Everything was fresh and full of flavour. Enjoyed the food better than any other Spanish restaurant in Manchester. Will definitely return but probably in an evening. Not wheelchair accessible.

Not visited here for a couple of years after I moved away from manchester. It has only improved since my last visit! The decor is nice but not overly done so it's great for a dressed up or casual night out. The staff are great, attentive but not overbearing. The food was absolutely amazing, better than I remember and for the quality, it's so reasonably priced. The staff were very accommodating one of our party with a peanut allergy too. It's a must for me every time in back in Manchester.

We had a company event and ordered food from La Bandera, every was speaking wonders of the food, all delicious. Also Kudos to Dimitra for tending my queries via email.

Absolutely amazing experience. The food was amazing. In the top 5 food experiences of my life, but definitely not in top 5 for cost. Food amazing, staff amazing, big shout out to Nessa who looked after us. Git yaselfs there, you certainly won't regret it!!!!

Came here for a bottomless brunch last month and I have to say, it was lovely. Our waitress Dimi was really attentive, she was so nice and service was great :)

Decent enough - I’ve eaten in a lot of Spanish restaurants so have some good comparisons. Chef a bit salt happy, which was a shame - we all agreed on this. It spoiled the taste of some dishes. Friendly and welcoming service. We had an enjoyable evening.

La Bandera means Flag and this restaurant serves the best and authentic Spanish food. We were a group of 11 ladies who decided to try some Spanish food with Sangria. The Sangria looked very unusual to us, but oh boy! We ordered 4 litres in total as we loved it so much. The Mimosa was also tasty. Now let's talk about the food. This is all we tried : Croquetas del Dia - Homemade award winning croquettes – squid ink and ham Berenjenas Gratinadas - Baked layers of aubergine in a rich tomato sauce and cheese Potatoes bravas – fried potato cubes served with Aioli and brava sauce Champinones rellenos con Pisto - Stuffed mushrooms with a Spanish ratatouille and cheese gratin Pulpo en dos Coccipnes - Twice cooked octopus served on a bed of Spanish paprika mash, topped with mojo rojo Calamares - Fried squid strips in batter with citric Aioli Polo Al Salmorejo– Chicken strips cooked in a red pepper based traditional canarian sauce, topped with almond flakes Lubina Embarada - Skin on sea-bass fillets cooked in a Canarian mix of spices, onions, peppers, olive oil and vinegar De Marisci en su Tinta - Mixed shellfish with king prawns, octopus and squid served black Churros con chocolate Pimentos del Padron - Traditional Spanish fried peppers served with red wine infused salt Pollo Fuerteventura - From the white beaches and winds of Fuerteventura comes this chicken in a cream and pink pepper corn dish. The service was excellent. A big thanks to Nessa and Manmeet for their excellent service and also for the free rum shots in the end which was a surprise. Keep up the good work. Thanks to the barman who made the excellent drinks. We had booked online as we were a big group and the process was hassle free.

Definitely recommend the Bottomless Brunch, service was great 👍

Fantastic authentic food and really friendly service. We had a lovely evening and will definitely be back!

Came here for my birthday on December, we had the seasonal menu with wine pairings. Every single dish was delicious and the wine was fantastically paired. The atmosphere was lovely, and our waiter (Thomas) was such a gracious host! His excitement with the food and wine was infectious, he talked us through the dishes with so much knowledge and passion and really enhanced the whole experience. We can't recommend it enough, and look forward to coming back!

Disappointing, food not fresh, service poor , felt like they wanted to get us out as soon as possible.

First time and not the last...amazing Spanish restaurant. Loved it.

Walk in without a booking but we were found a table. Food and sangria were excellent and the service was very welcoming and friendly and we were given some good suggestions on food to order. We have been before and will be back, happy to recommend.

Food was hot, tasty and fresh!

Good and service was great!! Highly recommend, but the lights was abit too dark to see. Other than that everything was really good!

Ok food, indifferent service, poor value for money

Mini donuts was lovely however strongly advised if u list a beer and sold out of the one wanted please specify as I was looking forward to Galicia beer but ended up with Damm version which is from Barcelona not Galicia

Great service and food. Not cheap but worth it. Would highly recommend the octopus and pigs cheeks dishes. The server recommended dishes were all great too.

Fantastic! Loved by the whole family!

Great place tucked out of the way. Good food and friendly service.

Never had a bad experience here.

A great find in Manchester. There were 5 of us. The food was delicious. They are typical Spanish dishes well prepared. Very good value for money. The staff is very pleasant and attentive. It is true that we were practically the only table but we ordered the 3 tapas menu and we all left satisfied. I wish we had discovered it sooner, because it was difficult for us to find places like this to eat well. I don't understand the negative reviews, because we thought it should have a much higher score.

This is the best tapas in the UK.. We love the canaries and the food here is just like the real thing.... My favourite restaurant bar none... Food still amazing and great place BUT whilst clearing another table dropped greasy food all down my expensive coat and just pulled a face like it did not matter so 1 star for service

Excellent place to not miss Spanish cuisine. Good preparation of the dishes, attentive and friendly staff and reasonable prices for being in Manchester. Recommendable.

Went here for Mother’s Day and it did not disappoint. We ordered the bread with alioli for starter which was super yummy. Then 10 tapas to share between 4 of us which was more than enough we were all very full by the end. The bill only came up to £104 (including service) which was so reasonable for 4 people in central Manchester for Tapas, which can usually be very pricey. The service was very fast and made sure they got the order correct. They also gave us complimentary shots at the end which was lovely. All the dishes were good portion sizes and all had such great flavour. My favourite was the slow cooked pig cheek as it just melted in your mouth. I will definitely be returning and hopefully try the paella next time after reading good reviews about it.

5 stars all the way. Fantastic food, great service, With family for a special occasion and very happy. Thanks so much. Amazing atmosphere

Delicious food, nice environment and very friendly service! We had an amazing time here, will definitely come back! I specially recommend the Paella de la Granja and Chorizo al vino.

Great food and venue for a long awaited catch up with friends. Attentive and pleasant staff and we were not rushed to leave our table so we stayed for more drinks and more chatting. A lovely evening for all of us.

A beautiful funky restaurant with amazing food and service, will definitely be going back

We attended a wine tasting of Spanish wines. 2 Sherry, 2 white and 2 red. Really enjoyed all the wines and they were all accompanied by beautiful small plates. Would highly recommend

One of the best tapas restaurants around. I chose my birthday meal to be at La Bandera and I wasn't disappointed. We chose 4 tapas each which was more than enough. All the dishes we chose were good size and delicious. We had octopus, squid, pig's cheek, steak, papas arrugavas, padron peppers, mixed salad and a baked aubergine dish. Everything was cooked perfectly and we truly enjoyed it. My husband said that was one of the best steaks he ever had. We also shared a piece of banana cheesecake which was very nice too. The staff were friendly and helpful. There were only two negatives for us. Firstly, it was too dark in the restaurant. My husband couldn't read the menu even with his glasses on. And the other negative was the table being too small. Unfortunately, that's something lot's of restaurants do to be able to accommodate more people in a small space. It's not too bad in a normal restaurant because you only have a couple of plates on your table. But in a tapas restaurant where you have to order a few dishes it was a bit of a struggle to fit all the plates and glasses on the table. All in all I enjoyed my birthday meal at La Bandera and we will definitely visit again when in Manchester.

The best tapas in Manchester, The seafood is so fresh and tasty you could be in the Mediterranean.

Black Paella is a MUST TRY. Been having for several years and quality unchanged. Always made you feel like to go again and again. After visiting La Bandera, you will ignite your forever hungry for Black Paella !

Being a southerner this was an amazing experience. From start to finish

Had bottomless brunch with a few friends and we all loved it, not the cheapest around at £42 but worth every penny and more as we had the choice of Sangria, Beer, Wine, Cava and Cocktails which were great and we had plenty In our 90 mins, the Tapas was fantastic and filling with good quality food, service was very attentive so will definitely be returning.

I enjoyed the fried cod fillets, patatas bravas, chicken wings and the octopus. The octopus was decent size, tasted fresh and not chewy. The patatas bravas was crispy on the outside and soft on the side, accompanied by the popular sauces they come with. The fried fillet was crispy and fresh to the bite. The sangria was refreshing, was quite light though. The atmosphere was a little dark for my preference, I prefer it a little lighter so I can see the menu. The prawns were a little disappointing, they were tiny and the flavour was just not right. Usually I’m a fan of prawns, but would not order that again. It’s also a shame they didn’t have the pigs cheek and knuckle. I would have loved to try them.

The seafood paella is my favorite. This is probably the restaurant I visit the most often in Manchester.