The Alchemist in Manchester

Lovely food and atmosphere, servers not so interested this evening.

So much fun, fab drinks, great atmosphere

Very noisy but a good vibe Would go again for cocktails Lots if fun Halloween cocktails

Greatly atmosphere and fantastic Cocktails!!

Great place, we often meet up here before moving onto other venues. Great atmosphere and drinks menu. Skilled and friendly staff.

Loud music, fab food, lovely atmosphere

Tom was very friendly and accommodating. Excellent service. Couldn’t do enough he is the definition of drinks wizard!!!

I had the most fantastic night out! The drinks were spot on – I loved the Dead Red Zombie and Pipe Dream, both were served with flair and tasted amazing. The staff were so helpful, guiding me through the menu and giving great recommendations. The place was spotless, the atmosphere was vibrant, and everything felt like great value for money. Highly recommend this spot for a night out!

Great visit - food was tasty, service was fast and friendly, and everything reasonably priced.

Went in with my Wife and ordered large pinot grigio and a bottle of Peroni at the bar . I then decided to have a dish of fries as a snack. I paid cash and was expecting to pay £21.25. l paid cash and was charged over £24.00 I queried this and was told they had put a service charge on the fries because they had to bring them to the table ! They didn't give me a receipt but I would have thought service was discretionary and had I known before paying I would not have bothered with the fries.

If you enjoy a cocktail or mocktail 🍸 this is definitely the place for you to experience drinks with a wow factor. Not only eye-catching but delicious too. 5 star service too

I had the best birthday brunch here, their waitress Hannah was one of the nicest most kind and attentive people I’ve ever been served by in Manchester and she really made the experience here top notch! What a lovely person to have in the company 💗

Went for a drink with a friend and really enjoyed it. Short walk to the Deansgate Train station. Central location. Trandy crowd. Recommended

The challenge with chain bars is that they're, well, chain bars. You walk in, you feel the branding, and you can practically taste the focus-grouped wallpaper. But when is a chain bar not a chain bar? The answer, as it turns out, is The Alchemist in Manchester. Reason one: when it’s ‘trendy.’ Now, I hate the word trendy. It’s for people who aren’t trendy. Which means I’m not trendy, and you probably aren’t either. And let’s face it, neither is anyone who describes anything as trendy. But The Alchemist? It’s trendy in that effortless, "we don’t try too hard but we definitely try" way. You know, the sort of place where the lighting’s just dim enough to feel intimate but bright enough that you can still make eye contact with your date across a molecular cocktail. Reason two: the service. Now, I’ve been to plenty of places where the staff are so cool they barely notice you exist. Here, though, they’re actually friendly. Chatty, even. The kind of friendly that makes you feel like you’re the only person who matters – though we both know that can’t possibly be true. Still, it’s a nice illusion to entertain for an hour or two. They smile, they laugh at your jokes, and you’ll leave thinking you’ve made a friend, even though they’ve probably forgotten your face the second you walk out the door. But it’s nice while it lasts. Reason three: Manchester. It’s not just a city; it’s a state of mind. There’s something about Manchester’s gritty charm, its no-nonsense attitude, that transforms a bar like The Alchemist into something that feels like it *belongs* here. The city’s energy pulses through the place. Put The Alchemist in London, and it’d feel like every other chain bar in Shoreditch. But in Manchester? It’s got a swagger all its own. You can almost feel the weight of the city’s music scene, its footballing pride, its industrial past, pressing in through the walls. You’re not just in a bar – you’re in *Manchester*. So, is The Alchemist a chain bar? Technically, yes. Does it feel like one? Absolutely not. And maybe that’s the real alchemy here.

Me and friends went for drinks after work. The staff were excellent, from their friendliness, attentiveness and speed of service whilst making a range of cocktails impressed me and I don’t say that often these days. Keep it up!

Went in for a pint at the bar and the barman added a service, outrageous behaviour.

It's always a great vibe at this location and I especially enjoy going during the day as it's not too busy and overcrowded

Really nice food and great vibes.

Loved the atmosphere and the drinks here! The food was also good but not great. I had expected more of it. I had a chicken burger which was good but it was completely drenched in sauce. The bun turned super soggy because of it. The service was mostly good except at the end. Because it started to become a lot slower suddenly. It seemed like the focus was more on the bar at that time then on the people still in the restaurant. The drinks were really fun and creative tho! And that was the main reason we went here. They aren't cheap tho! But it's definitely worth getting at least one.

Lovely place. Gorgeous food and the most friendly staff. Big thanks to Reece on the bar for looking after us!

Kirsten was brilliant serving our huge group and was so kind to us

Really nice drinks…. Very slow service however it was a Saturday

Food was terrible like a service. We are waiting out beers more than 25 minutes. The wine was so warm it was impossible to drink. Wine is served chilled according to the service rules. We even reminded ourselves twice about the drinks we ordered, but the waiters were in no hurry at all. The food was really for livestock, squid there were dead ones and there was only breading. I have never eaten worse food, I feel sorry for the money spent in your establishment. The chef should be ashamed of himself for such food. Squid were so thin and rubbery that they could not be felt in the mouth I do not recommend this place to anyone, you will leave disappointed and angry.

Wow. I love it here. I'll be back for sure.

Unusual cocktails that you must watch being made. Good seating areas both inside and out.

Excellent service tonight! Loved the cocktails and loved the service. Shout out to Claire who was wonderful with us.

I waited 20 mins to be served and there was only 3 people on the large over crowded bar. The drinks were over priced and small. I ordered the margarita in a bottle and the elderpower, both did not have much liquid inside. They had little thought out into them and did not live up to the “alchemist” expectations. Most drinks look good and would be enjoyable to drink but even those were not made well. It was just too under staffed. Not very good when you have something booked!!!! Waste of the evening and of money.

Came here on a first date, the staff who sat me down were so friendly and I had told them it was a first date. They came over during the date (when he had gone to the bathroom) to ask how it was going. Honestly felt so safe and relaxed Massive shout out girls! 21/6/24 8pm booking

Service incredibly slow and had to pay 12.5% service charge for the priviledge.

The food and cocktails were very good. Unfortunately, we had a waiter who knocked over all our cocktails on arriving at the table and we had to wait quite a while before they were replaced. He also did the same on the next table and when clearing another table, everything went flying again. Even when cleaning the next table, the cleaning spray went all over me.

Good food, even better drinks! Highly recommend the Smokey Old Fashioned.

Wonderful place with a variety of cocktails drinks

Cold and sterile atmosphere. If you want a pic with a flash cocktails, wait ages, like 15mins once you place your order and then pay way over the odds even for an alchemist. Plenty of other options in Manchester for decent cocktails, better service and atmosphere. But if you want a good cocktail pic for social media, this is the place for you.

Enough has been said about the cocktails and food (both of which are fantastic) — what really blew me away was their wide selection of alcohol-free mocktails. Too many places just pour juice into a cup and call it a day, but this place puts effort into building theatric and great-tasting mocktails for sober people. My girlfriend said the cocktails were incredible.

Booked for brunch for my sisters birthday. Drink order taken pretty quickly upon being seated but drinks then took 20 minutes to arrive. The people on the table next to us, also there for the brunch, said they’d been ordering two drinks at a time because the service was so slow. Had the plant based burger, tasty, but very small, my sister had the beans on toast which she enjoyed. Cocktails had a lot of dry ice and looked fantastic, but did not taste great. Nice atmosphere but not enough positives to recommend.

Visited earlier this week on my daughters birthday. I have an orange allergy and was extremely impressed with the service. Any member of staff that came to our table whether taking an order or bringing food and drinks would point out anything that had it, they committed a garnish from our sharing starter and explained why (contained orange) Only thing I would say was that there wasn't really any cocktails I could have as they had orange in in some form. It didn't deter from our enjoyment we still had a great time celebrating

Good bar but could do with maybe a couple more staff on, like the weekends

Really great selection of cocktails served in a variety of weird and wonderful glasses.

I finally got time to review another alchemist for my birthday as I’m usually at the media city location. The venue is absolutely beautiful and the staff for the alchemist team is always amazing. Lucy was really kind. I then even came later to see Barry and we had a really good catch up.

Went on the Sunday before the bank holiday at around 6pm,place was packed went to the bar 2 serving stayed 5 mins and walked out to bills and lots of others was walking out 2 if you can’t staff a bar it’s pointless won’t bother again in the future Shame 😳

Very cool drinks but a little overhyped because of all the stress among the servers.

Loved it great place service and crazy drinks but definitely not cheap

Very nice place to grab a snack staff was amazing and very helpful Reasonably priced food Tater tots are the best

Thanks to Emily for the great service and the smoke-less old fashioned 😅

Great venue, very large with dry-ice drinks and great decor

Food came very quickly. The starters were great but the main courses of chicken skillet was more of a show than a taste. The service is great! The cocktails are great! And it is clearly more a place for drinks rather than food. Highly recommend the drinks and starters.

Located near The Ivy, 22 stories and Deansgate Four of us arrived at 8pm for dinner on a Friday night. The bar was very full and the DJ was in full flow Behind the bar in the back is the restaurant with e kitchen at the very back There is also an outdoor area however this was fairly empty as it was starting to get dark and let’s face it it’s cold and windy out there Service is warm, friendly and fast The food is good, I enjoyed everything as it’s simple and what it says on the menu. Chicken starter is tasty and they literally served chicken in a basket The best aspect of this meal is the cocktails- honestly it’s why this bar has been going strong for so long in Manchester- presented with flare and delicious We had a brownie and cookie to share as dessert between 4 of us which was just right. I’d go back as location is fantastic before a night in Manchester City centre. If you mind a noisy meal then this is not the place for you.

Just had drinks here and we had a lovely time. Would recommend it. We didn’t eat this time but have previously and the food is good.

Had a great time here on Easter Sunday, would highly recommend when going out for food and drinks in Manchester. We were served by Ruby she was great, it was a nice touch of the manager to come over and speak to all the tables.

Came in on St. Patrick’s Day. Delicious food and cocktails, great service!

Coffee excellent Staff were brilliant Not too busy when I went (daytime)

Great Cocktails be prepared for a wait if here on wked. Nice outdoor area

Awesome place to go out and have drinks. Food and drinks were amazing and the Bartender Ben was a legend! His service was amazing and gave us great recommendations for drinks. Would definitely go back again!

Had a great time, drinks and food was amazing, the bartender we had Ben was fantastic

We hadn't been to the Alchemist for a while so decided to check it out again and we were delighted we did. The Cocktails were fab and the atmosphere was great too. We relied on some advice from our Alchemist and he didn't disappoint. I had the Dead Red Zombie which is the most potent cocktail on the menu but very easy to drink. Mrs K had a French Kiss which was again, very easy to drink but it also came with a really weird synthetic tongue! We were told it wasn't edible because our friends thought it was a sweet but it definitely isn't! We loved our experience and will not leave it so long next time

Thanks again everyone! See you again soon

Very great evening food and drink were excellent and the atmosphere was superb

Karina is amazing. So much fun x

Wow, best drinks and food, next level. All the drinks were like science experiments had dry ice and shimmering drinks, smoke bubbles it was just magic loved it. Food was immense I had chicken n waffles which was the best id ever had, very good experience would highly recommend.

Our previous experiences have been much better than today, while the service was brilliant and our server was helping two younger boys throughout our meal (unsure of his name) the food was not great at all, soggy starter and very tough over done chicken for the main, very disappointed.

Perfect atmosphere! Great food, amazing drinks, fantastic service! Very accommodating for food allergens, such as gluten free!

The bartender Ben was such a legend! Great service, super smiley and made us great cocktails. He provided wonderful service and did my friend (who was visiting Manchester for the first time) a solid by topping up her cocktail when hers slipped and spilled out. Thanks Ben!

We came here without table reservation on a Sunday afternoon. The place is quite big, they were not busy at all. We both had a full alchemist breakfast which was nicely done from fresh ingredients. The smoking tea was fun, next time we will try some of the fancy cocktails as well. The atmosphere was good, and everything was properly cleaned, however the constantly flickering ceiling lights were a negative point for me.

So, food was nice. The cauliflower starter was amazing.. A main (chicken or fake chicken basket) was a bit like eating a kids dinner but very tasty. Service was great especially with it being so busy. Pretty quick and slick with helpful polite serving staff. The big problem was the noise. JD in the restaurant. Our party + the ones we asked nearby. Too loud to have any meaningful conversation. Just turn it down a bit. We want to speak with our friends and have a nice conversation/time. We won't be back for this reason.

Karina made mine and my brothers day what a brilliant service with a smile

Party of 5 pre-booked, no delays on being seated. Food and drinks reasonable price. Not a noisy environment so could chat amongst ourselves. Staff friendly and explained all menu options. Looking forward to a return visit.

As usual a gorgeous meal and service was fab. It was packed so a bit noisy initially but fine later

Food wasn’t good, ordered a burger and the bun was solid and couldn’t be bitten into, partner ordered chicken in a basket and it came with an empty bowl of sauce. All the food was obviously from frozen. Drinks were nice though. I’d just stick to that

Visited on a quiet Sunday night, very nice staff and good drinks. Always good at the alchemist. Thanks :)

Food not worth it very expensive even for January half price even the food was not that good and the chefs kept shouting

Simply horrendous, no one cared, even the manager :(

Heard so much and first time visiting this chain as a late graduation celebration for a family member. Disinterested staff, slovenly manager. You name it, it went wrong. Staff member sneezing onto her sleeve repeatedly. Kitchen staff shouting loudly across the restaurant when food ready. Never again.

Decent tasty varied food in a nice intimate setting. Better than many other spots in Spinningfields

Booked a table for NYE, arrived to be greeted by a very arrogant and rude door person. Once seated we ordered French martinis three times. Absolutely no consistency, drinks tasted different every time. On one occasion it tasted like pure chambord and nothing else. The whole clientele is made up of influencer wannabes with fake teeth and covered in fake tan. The toilets were absolutely disgusting! Overall it’s loutish, full of chavs and bad vibes. Won’t be coming back!

Very nice waiting staff but food was beyond mediocre and cappuccino was 70% froth. Not good vfm sadly

Fabulous vibe in this place. Dont forget to keep an ID on you as they may ask you at the bar!!

really enjoyed our xmas party meal

We’ve heard so much about this place… husband and I thought we’d give it a try…. Terrible atmosphere and the drinks were mediocre at best… also it weirdly smelt of fish… the worst kind 🤦‍♀️

Made an enquiry for a booking of 10 people within 2 hours of the booking time. The Alchemist confirmed the reservation even on a busy Saturday night near Christmas. We arrived slightly late due to bad traffic but they held the private space for us. They sent waiters over to take drinks orders and everyone had a great time. We were also roped off from the other parties which was great and we had our own space. Thank you, we will definitely be back!

Fabulous cocktails as usual...doesn't disapoint. Starters were imaginative! Main course - just ok for me.

Was a bit cold inside sat near the kitchen

The person that served me made me feel uncomfortable as i got the name of the drink wrong and looked at me as if i was stupid disappointed as usually the service is great Great cocktails but was disappointed with bar tender

Amazing! Just absolutely fantastic. Wonderful atmosphere, excellent service (thank you Ruby!). The food was delicious and the cocktails are just out of this world!

Service was slow and then they wanted us off our table 20 minutes after they eventually served us our main course. The food was ok but! could have been served hot!!! Maybe they should warm the plates. We sat at a table where my feet wouldn’t even reach the floor, very bad design! Consequently I was uncomfortable and didn’t enjoy my experience. We did ask if we could be moved to a different table but we could not be accommodated. Would i recommend or go back again? No

Very disappointed. Been before and this time what a let down. Slow service terrible uncomfortable seating loud music cold food and disgusting toilets. I complained but no one did anything to try to make our experience any better. Won’t be returning.

Fire, Foam and First Class Service, Crazy Cocktails and mixologists working their magic, I can’t remember the guys name annoyingly (sounded like he was from Liverpool) made us some quality cocktails, really cared about what he was doing as great care was taken and made it a fun experience for us

shocking service booked a table for my birthday paid for an £120 deposit. Server came over to the table twice to take drinks orders then saw her put her coat on and leave and from that moment no one else came over to our tables that were located next to the toilets. The service on the bar was also so slow.

Really good vibe, music and of course some impressive cocktails

The Alchemist is one of my fave bars in Manchester. Just called for drinks this time. It was a Monday afternoon, so it was fairly quiet. The woman who served me was very pleasant. Wine was nice.

Fab cocktails, amazing mixologist

Ellie was incredible, a true credit to The Alchemist.

We came for a bottomless brunch for my friends birthday and it was amazing! Our waitress, Ava, was super attentive and kept the drinks coming.

I went Saturday with my partner and it was amazing 👏,would highly recommend it to everbody.

Absolutely amazing experience. Highly recommended!!!

Amazing place with great food and lovely staff!

The Alchemist is always a busy bar/restaurant in Spinningfields but the atmosphere in the restaurant was loud but good. We were seated side by side at a window table which at first seemed strange but helped to drown out the background noise so we could have a good conversation whilst eating. I ordered salt and pepper squid which were enjoyable, nice amount of spice for the squid. For main I had Smoking BBQ Pork Board, this was ok not the best meal I've ever had, the skillet made sure most of the cheese and onions was stuck to it, the pork belly tasted nice with a good BBQ seasoning to it and the sides which came with the meal were alright. The service at the table was really good, the waiters were friendly, chatty and took their time with your orders which was good to see. Overall I'd recommend the Alchemist for drinks, the food was above average but nothing to rave about

Female bar lady rude, sniggering with other customer who had clearly jumped in, then took my order but continue to serve 2 other customers 😡😡😡

On Saturday myself and a good friend visited the alchemist as we had done so on a vast number of occasions throughout the last ten years. We have both many happy memories of this venue which have now been sullied in the worst possible way. We took a seat in the outside area. We noted that the QR code no longer worked for outdoor ordering. After locating a menu (there were very few around), asked a waitress if we could order to be told that table service wasn’t available “in this area” and that we would have to move to a table three feet away. We moved to a new table and obtained a menu once again and then watched patiently as the waitress walked past us no fewer than three times and didn’t take an order, knowing that this was our intention. Eventually we flagged down another waiter and gave our drinks order. This arrived shortly after but with a 10% service charge, which when my friend questioned the waitress (see above) looked somewhat startled and then took around 15 minutes to update the bill. I then left the table to visit the facilities (not the cleanest has to be said) and on my return found that the way to our table had been blocked by a large sideboard and flower pots - no signage or explanation. I had to move a flower pot. Many other customers were also confused by this fencing off and had been doing the same - waiters delivering drinks also seemed perplexed at this new security barrier and also moved the plants. I found this bizarre - and somewhat amusing. So when the waitress (the same) came to collect the glasses and take our order I asked laughing “who’s running the place, Donald Duck?” And then explained that the whole plant pot issue was hilarious. Our drinks arrived at table by someone else who stated “these will be the last drinks as you have been rude to members of staff” We outlined to this person who I assume to be a manager some honest feedback about our experience. He seemed disinterested at best and claimed in response to my questions that the staff were well trained and they cared about their customers. In my view this does not ring true, he was unable to process the refund for the drinks that were returned or the first ones. No refund as yet. The supreme arrogance of a venue that charges £10-12 a drink, with rickety wobbly tables, menus full of sticky marks, insufficient staff, uncommunicative to customers and waitresses that simply don’t seem to care or are far too busy to give anything short of lacklustre service, is frankly appalling. One thing was certainly right, they were indeed our very last drinks.

Great place, lovely atmosphere, awesome barman and met some wonderful people from Liverpool and Stoke. 😃😃

Brilliant atmosphere, loved the cocktails too