The Fitzgerald in Manchester

Perfect bar, live jazz and great cocktails.

I was very excited to come here... and we (a group) ended up here on a quiet night, only a handful of others... which sadly highlighted the tiredness of the bar. ■Atmosphere is lovely, the busier it is, the better it is... However, it is quite depressing when quiet. ■Cleanliness is poor. Sticky tables. Toilets in bad state. Finger prints all over glass panes, streaky wipesover others (showing clearly no regular cleaning). ■Service, meh. Red haired bar woman was pleasant and friendly, and honestly so wonderful in her 'vibe' but was more interested talking to a friend at the bar rather than serving us. While some alcoholics may enjoy their drinks made with overwhelming amounts of hard alcohol... we certainly did not. Personally, my cocktail was missing part of it's mix, I saw the barwoman not pour it in, and handed it to me. However, I am assuming she made up with it with pouring in the extra booze. ■The cocktail menu is very weak. Average at best, other cocktail bars, including the now closed Sonata bar had a better and more inventive range. Overall, I am sure it's had its moments by the reviews, however I'm guessing the bar's heyday has gone, and is on a downward trajectory. I'd recommend if there was an act/event on, otherwise... don't bother.

The toilets were so bad I didn't even bother getting a drink. Absolutely vile to the point everyone in the group who went commented on it immediately.

Great vibe. Great cocktails. Loved the live music this Saturday night

Rude staff, smells like piss everywhere

Matthew is amazing, he really took care of us, and made our night amazing!! 10/10 will be back!

Great atmosphere on the edge of the northern quarter. Live music, great cocktails and a chilled out atmosphere

Went for a university event so was only us. The drinks were really well made and not too expensive, although not super cheap. They were made really quickly though and the people serving were really wonderful! The atmosphere with the music was great and I'd definitely go again. There weren't many toilets which wasn't ideal but depends how busy it is when you're there.

We had a fantastic time at The Fitzgerald. The bar staff (Matthew, Sam(? Sorry!) and Kat took great care of us, making up the great cocktails from their menu as well as anything we requested. Matthew especially went out of his way to make us feel welcome and sort us out a table when we arrived. The atmosphere was great, the a couple of brilliant jazz guitarists on stage who created a cool, classic vibe. Would recommend a trip here.

Celebrated my 40th birthday here Saturday night. From start to finish had a fantastic night. The venue were booked by my husband a fair few months in advance, any time he had a question emails were replied to promptly. My mum and daughter were allowed in in the afternoon to decorate the place. The bar manager on the night was attentive and made sure everything was OK. We had a drinks package, the mixers were regularly replenished and topped up. The singer on the night was fantastic and had everyone up dancing. The sore heads the next day were well worth it. Brilliant venue, brilliant atmosphere, and brilliant staff. Everyone njoyed themselves. Thank you The fitzgerald.

Matt is the best bartender in the Northern Quarter, the vibes are great and the drinks are fab.

Cocktails were disappointing tbh and very dependent on who served you. Great atmosphere.

Usually go upstairs to listen to the live music. Nice place to chill.

Adore this place, the drinks are sublime, the staff are super welcoming, and the entertainment is top notch. A wonderful little hidden bar, unfortunately not fully accessible but if you can access it, it's worth the time

Went with my friend for a drink, but they also had some great board games ! Matt (bar manager) was the nicest human on earth. He gave us a couple of really good drinks suggestions and was super enthusiastic and attentive. Thank you x

Went for a works do, had the top of the venue to ourselves. Food was decent and the bar staff where excellent. Little shout out to Mat for making my night! Knows how to treat his patrons and make em feel special!

Visited for the bottomless brunch with the bad bunny burlesque, Compare was amazing sang some lovely songs and the burlesque acts were outstanding. Bar staff were great with keeping the drinks flowing. Food was hot and very tasty. After the show the performers came on stage for photos which we thought was a very nice touch. Thank you again will be back.

Amazing bar love the atmosphere

Found this place on our way back from a night out, great venue, staff were friendly, drinks were great. The atmosphere throughout is on point, next time I’m in Manchester I’ll be going back!

The guy at the bar with the hat and the brown haired girl were so lovely and accommodating, they went out of their way to make my experience the best it could be. I would recommend this place to everyone, the live music is amazing the atmosphere beautiful and the best staff !

We visited the Fitzgerald as part of a hen do. The bride to be has always loved the 1920's and the atmosphere didn't disappoint. They had a fantastic lounge singer which we were lucky enough to catch the end of her set and then great background music that set the scene after. Matthew made us all feel very welcome, comfortable and made some brillant cocktails. (2 for £14) would highly recommend!

One of the best bars in Manchester if you're looking for live music and good cocktails

Booked the place for an event and paid the deposit. When we arrived the place was filthy, with sticky tables and leftover decorations from a previous event, tables and chairs randomly distributed and bar unattended. Never again

I paid a deposit towards drinks and a space to host a networking event. I am at my event right now, and I must say we are rather disappointed with the following: 1) The state of the upstairs, untidy, chairs and tables unarranged, sticky uncleaned tables, and toilets smelling awful 2) Joe the barman has had to leave us to our own devices with opened drinks to self-serve because he is busy downstairs i.e., no bar person to serve us Had I known the above were the case, I wouldn't have booked...

Brilliant cocktails and brilliant singer, not too busy, felt classy.

Went on a thursday and got served by Matthew, they are an absolute angel and gave us the best customer service ever, absolutely no faults and cannot reccomend enough

Great menu and excellent atmosphere

This bar is so fun and the staff are so so friendly. Delicious drinks and lovely atmosphere!

Great atmosphere, the music is fabulous absolutely love it here. The cocktails are superb, a little pricey but standard for the quality

Music wasn't as good on the Saturday night as it was 18 months ago, but still a cool pub.

Good pub for watching the sport and the food is really good.

Pros - the bar look amazing and really does like something from the 1920's. Cons - Music was at ear splitting levels which was completely unnecessary. The downstairs bar and upstairs bar are two separate venues and this doesn't seem to be explained anywhere very well. My other half was asked to leave while she finished her drink which didn't go down very well and put her off returning. We had one drink in there, an Old Fashioned which was good but at £10 should have been great. Especially when the competition is so good in Manchester these days.

Excellent special fries with chicken wings

Toilets are not in a good state, music system could be better

Nice chilled atmosphere but was a bit cold so take a jacket

Not sure if we got unlucky, but what I remembered of the Fitzgerald is very different to the one I experienced! They were unfortunately not serving cocktails (in a cocktail bar?), And the place was very sticky and felt a bit dirty. Also very quiet! Not the busy, old school cocktail bar I remember.

The food is amazing, good drink selection. Staff were friendly and attentive.

I once reviewed this as 5* but it has since declined, A lot dirtier and grimier than before and the drinks seemed to have gone up in price but down in quality

Oooh only just discovered this. Comfy chill bar with good love music.

Awesome bar with great live music

Do not be fooled by the videos you see online. This place was a huge disappointment. The place was dirty dark and run down. I expected a blues / jazz chill out bar and was surprised to find a room stuffed with mismatched furniture and two guys on stage playing the same monotone 'tune' over and over again for supposedly 3 or 4 different 'songs'. The only reason I gave it 2 stars was because the cocktail was half decent. Prices matched that of other bars, but I'd advise you stick to the other side of town where you don't feel like you're going to be mugged

I was hoping for 1930's luxury...what I experienced was a complete let down. The smell of urine as I was climbing the stairs should have alerted me! Whilst the bar area had great air conditioning and good music it was very dark. They don't serve pints so only bottles (2 bottles roughly equal a pint) will cost approx £10 pint! The men's and women's (according tomy wife) are disgusting. I went in the men's and was instantly hit with the smell of urine. Small to the point of suffocating I retreated quic My wife said the women's toilets floors were flooded. I will not be returning as obviously the management think that it's okay to give their cliente (who are paying through the nose) to provide sub standard lavatories.

We visited recently with friends from London and we loved it. Really relaxed vibe and something a little different especially for my friends who hadn't been to Manchester in years.

Muy buena coctelería, musica en vivo, no es Jazz realmente, era una mujer con una voz espectacular, pero cantando bastante pop.

Still demanding you use QR codes and therefore waiting 15 minutes for a single gin and tonic is absurd. COVID is over. Get on with your lives. Won't be coming back til bar service is back... Like it is literally everywhere else. Ridiculous

Reasonable cocktails, decent music, chilled atmosphere

Great staff, amazing cocktail selection and quality acts on stage.

Abbie the Vocalist (Viva la Vintage) was fabulous and the overall service was first class. Shame your Google posting stated you were closed otherwise I would have expected a larger audience for a very talented act

I was really excited about this place but honestly it didn’t seem like some of the bar tenders knew how to make drinks. The vomit in the bathroom didn’t help either. The Fitzgerald could be amazing, and maybe we just went on an off night but if it really stuck to what it says on it’s menu “WEAR YOUR FINEST THREADS FOR AN EVENING AT THE CLASSIEST JOINT IN MANCHESTER” they could charge more for their drinks, and they’d have a line out the door. Until then, I’d pass on this place and just go to a nice hotel bar.

Nice food and ppl plus show upstairs...great place for chilling and enjoy

It's ok ...especially if it's a nice sunny day...

Great live music, drinks were worth the price and a lovely atmosphere. Only negative was it took my mate half an hour to get served, must've not liked him very much

Come here a couple times, took an absolute age to get served, the music is class, pitty about the bar staff

Great live music and lovely cocktails.

Very enjoyable experience I liked the 1930's American bar theme

We had a great time at a Bad Bunny Burlesque show here! The atmosphere is one of a kind, will definitely return. ❤️

Good cocktails in a cool setting

Great speak easy with a awesome vibe and fantastic live music. Staff are always helpful and friendly. Quickly becoming one of my favorite bars.

Wonderful little vintage cocktail bar tucked away in the corner of Stevenson's Square in Manchester NQ Great cocktails and amazing singers at the weekend 🍹🍸🎙🎶

We accidentally ended up here after wandering round for hours looking for food. Well what a happy accident and an amazing place to find! Everyone I was with where gobsmacked at the amazing tasting food. I'm vegan and honestly the food I had was immense. Thank you!

Nice little cocktail place, enjoy the comedy nights there. Drinks service can be a little slow (not more than 2 bartenders at once it seems?) and did find one Bartender to be a bit rude during my last visit. :(

Love this bar but please play more 1920s electro swing

Absolutely negative experience No cocktails offer even though advertised Lack of spirits to make certain cocktails Floor filthy and shoes were sticking to the floor making a sticking sound Staff had slaped faces And made wrong cocktails and the long haired barman said we'll I've made them now you will have to drink them ......

The entry is hidden in a side street but you’ll see the sign and head upstairs. The style is prohibition Art Deco with a small stage where they have performers on different nights. Cocktails are good and staff seem friendly.

Stopped in for a cocktail today nice place and good service

Great cocktails bnice atmosphere

Lovely cocktail bar and great music

The place and the cocktails are nice. Same it shares the same toilets with the place below and they are slammed at all times. I didn't experience the live music as it didn't start at 10pm as was promised, but must try again. I'll try again as my girlfriend really likes the place hopefully will give 5 stars

Nice little out of the way surprise bar with a decent cocktail list that will blow your head clean off 🤣

Brilliant experience poppy holiday was playing live, well worth the wait

Do some great cocktails here although it can be a bit expensive

Visited a couple of weeks ago, paid around £30 for a bottle of Prosecco that tasted like it was on the £3 offer from Lidl’s and the music wasn’t jazz at all despite being advertised as a jazz bar. Also, we understood that we had to go before 10 o’clock due to the restrictions, but the waiter seemed very hell bent into making us feel uncomfortable about it and we didn’t notice any of the staff being the same with other customers

My favourite place in all of the NQ!

Couldn't make a Mojito on my visit. You may have more luck on yours.

Dark and intimate. They give the prohibition look a good go and live music is a great touch. Live music was great. The music before the performance was too loud and distracting from having a conversation and no dancefloor.

Atmospheric cocktail bar in Manchester's Northern Quarter. Very dimly lit, quirky, and cocktails are very nice.

A live performance by a jazz/soul singer called Dominique was absolutely amazing. Fitzgerald's is always a great late night out but today was even better than normal. A really happy crowd was out, spending their first paypacket since Christmas. Drinks are quite pricey but no more so than other late night venues in Manchester.

Absolutely my favorite place in Manchester ❤️

Excellent friendly staff, perfect drinks and incredible atmosphere.

Fab laid back place with superb cocktails. Love their Negronis.

Went in for a drink on a Friday, expecting to hear Jazz but it was just "Jazzy" covers of Pop music.

Drinks are decent. Quite expensive in comparison to other similar bars. Down points for playing pop music with some jazz chords.

Nice place with live music but only had one bottle beer to choose from

Great for a cheeky half on a Friday night. Decent pint.

Nice atmosphere, live music was just a bit too loud which meant I had to shout to the person next to me. Cosy and quirky bit didn't feel the staff were very welcoming which is a shame

Tasty and well made drinks which are reasonably priced, amazing live music and a good range of music over the stereo. Staff are all friendly and it's a nice relaxed atmosphere.

Lovely ambiance, great cocktails

Hele mooie plek, ouderwetse inrichting en fijne bijpassende muziek. Lekkere drankjes en vriendelijk medewerkers. Zou hier zo nog eens heen gaan!

Visited in the day. Lacked a bit of atmosphere, but pear with gin was an inspired cocktail combination

Like stepping back into the 1930's only with modern cocktails

Great atmosphere, love the decor , open Mike artists were very good. We especially loved the band Ruff Trade, would definitely recommend seeing them.

Went to The Bad Bunny Burlesque night at the Fitzgerald last night. What a fantastic venue for a brilliant show. So atmospheric and not too big. The staff were brilliant. The band was perfect and the music compliments the burlesque performances. 4 beautiful and talented girls making their burlesque debut. If you get the chance to go see them do it. You will not be disappointed. Xxx

One of my favourite cocktail bars of the evening, loved the atmosphere, the jazz playing and the cocktails where amazing will definitely be back and would highly recommend.

Love this place. Shame it’s not as busy as it deserves, original and great aesthetics. Good drinks, music and staff. Little gem of it kept a crowd.

Sticky floor and manly toilets. But ok cocktails. wouldn't venture again

Wonderful atmosphere, great music and cocktails. Staff are super friendly. I now have an electro - swing playlist on Spotify because I had such a good time at The Fitzgerald. The toilets were also really clean and nice.

Good decor, but everything else has gone downhill recently. Not a Speakeasy. Bad wine.

Relaxed space, perfect for after work cocktails which were nice and reasonably priced. The bartender accidentally got one of the drinks wrong but apologised when he realised and offered to remake the correct drink but we didn't mind as even the wrong drink was nice.

Ok space, friendly staff, good service, nice decor, descent music

Nice chill environment, nice cocktails. 3 stars because we found a mouldy orange in one of the cocktails. Waiter was nice enough and apologetic about it and made us a new one. But that's not ideal