The Gallery Café in Manchester

The food and hot chocolate was amazing, the staff were so polite and it was a very well kept cafe

Amazing chorizo & brie sandwich

Amazing food served at great prices! Nothing more to ask for! I had the best toastie of my life here! It was the caramelised onions and cheese toastie! It’s a must try in my opinion! Also I had the other sandwiches and coffee and it was amazing! I finished my meal with an orange almond cake which I expected to be dry but turned out delicious 🤤

Excellent tea room located on the ground floor of the museum. The chai latte with oat milk, the scone with clotted cream and jam as well as the strawberry cake were a pure delight! I recommend this place without hesitation.

Very noisy environment, people all talking at the same time, background music in a room with terrible acoustics. After a few minutes we couldn't understand anything anymore, and the room wasn't full. We ordered soup and toast, which arrived wrong. The side salad was half cooked from the heat and half rotten, also without salt. Also ordered in juice which I didn't even understand what it was, but probably not what I ordered. The waiters all had very annoyed expressions (just before noon)

Great scones! Very good and great value. Friendly staff :-)

Warm welcome, good variety of foods. Was able to find vegan options.

Enjoyed our coffee and cakes. Quite expensive. Would go again.As we love the Art gallery.

Very busy. Toastie was hot but made with cheap bread The side salad was a small amount of bagged leaves that weren't very fresh☹️. Coffee was good but the cup was really small.. A little disappointing.

Fantastic breakfast, friendly staff and nice and peaceful

Roasted cauliflower curry. 1 small floret of cauliflower. Everything else-straight from a can. Don’t eat here. Drinks and atmosphere are great.

Overall I think this cafe does the job, but I had a bit of an unfortunate encounter there a couple of weeks ago. The staff seemed nice on the whole, but after this man was done serving me I noticed him snap at a girl who was working near the coffee machine and she started crying. It was really off-putting and I felt sorry for her. The other employees seemed rattled and the atmosphere was quite frantic overall. It's a shame because the rest of the visit was lovely. I hope managers (because I'm assuming he was, judging from the way he spoke to her & his age) don't all treat their staff like this.

If you like a cafe with no cakes, not even a crumb, and no brown sugar, this is the place for you. Honestly, they might as well not have bothered opening today (a Saturday afternoon at that). Its a pity as well, as it has been nice in the past. If recommend popping over the road to one of the many cafes there. NO CAKES!

Over priced mediocre coffee and cake. Not bad but not worth £16 for two slices of cake and two coffees

I had an awful ordering experience today. The girl who served me at the counter was unwelcoming. Then I went to the table to wait for my meal, which was cold, undercooked, and smelled nasty. I asked for a fork and spoon, but they were unable to bring them. I never came back again.

Perfect jacket potato, lovely and fast service at lunch time and a nice relaxed cafe

As with most museum cafes, nice setting and place to be, coffee was very average.

Great place to visit with many splendid galleries and regular special exhibitions. Also an interesting shop with gifts you don't see in other places and good food with many veggie options.

Best cake ever!!! And great coffee. Staff lovely and friendly. Would come back every time I come to Manchester.

Great food and decent prices. Daily specials available. Staff are friendly and efficiently serve & clean the tables, as it's a busy popular cafe 😋

Only visited for a drink. Plenty of space (e.g. good for prams). Service friendly. Decor/atmosphere a bit too clinical or minimalist for my taste, but practical for a café.

Just lost a point because you wait a long time for food.. even though it was a coffee and cake.

Fantastic cakes and coffee here with a chilled out vibe, some good outside seating too when it's sunny.

Very good scones!! The soup of the day, pumpkin and sage, was very good as well. Quite a big selection of food for a museum cafe, you can have breakfast and lunch there with a few menu options. Very big cake selection with some quite unusual cakes, like a matcha blondi. There are many vegetarian and vegan options to choose from. It also has organic lemonades. The staff was friendly. It was quite busy and loud though.

After I enjoyed the art gallery I came here for taking a break. Very pretty cafe. The staff was very friendly and my flat white was amazing! I would love to come back for some cakes and scones they looked so good in the showcase.

Lovely food and excellent staff

An excellent place to stop and have a coffee, whilst visiting the gallery.

Great cafe. Child friendly. Lovely coffee & cakes☺️

A bit posh!! Not always a bad thing, but in an art gallery, that tends to make idle chatter frowned upon. Food and service good.

😲 went to get a drink, ordered and there was nowhere to sit. Girl on checkout said that she would look in the other room to see if there was any space for me. I'm physically disabled. She didn't do this. Ended up sitting at a table with other people dirty plates. This was not cleared. Eventually got my drink and found it was not what I'd ordered. Didn't drink it and left. Good job I'm not allergic to whatever was in that cup

A nice setting for Sunday coffee with lovely staff and reasonably priced food

Great coffee and comfy atmosphere

A fairly basic café now, but there's a good range of food and the coffee was nice and hot

Excellent cafe with plenty of seating and a relaxed atmosphere.

Lovely little cafe to sit & watch the world go by surrounded by some gorgeous art. The scone, cream & jam is a must!

Enjoyed the pistachio cake, fresh and baked in house. Would suggest to reduce the sweetness slightly. Tables were almost full, even on a weekday afternoon.

Great cafe situated in MCR Art gallery Lovely coffee and cake, veggie and vegan options with great service

Good choice if food and really busy.

It's part of the best museum in the whole of Manchester, its a mini National Gallery.

What a great place - Ate a delicious cake with coffee and the food looks amazing, quite a quirky experience with the staff members brought Art to life - what an incredible picture - I shall sketch See you soon 🙂

Lovely place with some very nice cakes

"Two Soups! " when I asked the Cashier for this , he laughed! quickly apologised and explained that his Parents used to say this after watching " Acorn Antiques" . No need to apologise as we all had a good laugh!!! The soups were delicious, especially with Crusty bread. We will return very soon.

Love the Gallery Cafe. The staff are amazing. I love the way the Guys who work there dress creative vintage unique. They should have their photo on the front cover of Vogue or get Grayson Perry to paint them & hang it in the gallery with Pride! Well done Guys for a great experience

The cakes were waaaaaaay too sweet. So if you like it, see it as a five star.

Cafe was very busy. Food took too long and when it arrived it was lukewarm bordering on going cold

A great friendly little café with great coffee and homemade cakes at a reasonable price. Recommended.

We went when it was very quiet. Great service. Great choice of food and drink. Friendly staff

Quite a wait for adequate food. Ok if you need food and you are in the gallery

Love this place. Simple menu but varied. Cakes are too tempting!

Lovely space for drinks, snacks and pastries, & cakes. Order at the bar and they bring it to your table. Great tasting organic cakes and sandwiches and superb breakfasts - single or double. The double must be huge! Friendly staff too. What's not to like?

Excellent cafe and space this. Have been waiting to have a bite here as seen it over the years. Finally did and not disappointed. Good fresh food and excellent cakes and sweets all at a democratic price. The space itself is excellent and great place to relax and catch up even if not visiting the MAG. The best part is the staff are excellent and provide a great service

Lovely experience. Visiting Manchester for the day and wanted a sit and to relax a bit. Staff were lovely, the guy serving at the till was absolutely lovely. Another staff member happily came and wiped the window table we'd nabbed off leavers. Great selection of hot or cold drinks and cakes; lovely cakes all made in house and reasonably priced. Pot of English breakfast, pot of camomile, a bottle of Lemonaid and THE BEST frangipane ive ever had at £3.25, worth every penny. Clean, bright with 2 rooms. Bottles of water both still and fizzy available gratis which was nice. Recommend.

Service was very slow, coffee came without the milk, scone came without the butter my hot chocolate was forgotten.

Visited on. Sunday afternoon - no cakes etc left at all. Service exceedingly slow. Drinks going cold. Don't understand why waitress service.

Enjoyed lunch here, service good.

A very busy spot but good to be able to enjoy refreshments inside the gallery. Great selection of food and drinks, we only dropped in for a light snack. There was a substantial choice of soft drinks, we had a ginger lemonaid, lime lemonaid, dandelion and burdock and a delicious Cappuccino. We also enjoyed tasty fresh scones with jam and cream and blackberry frangipane tart.

Lovely place in the amazing Manchester gallery. Great service and drinks.

Relaxed cafe with interesting menu options, great drinks & cakes. Think 2nd seating area next to self-service hatch. Like it here very much, but a bit more expensive than I'd pay everyday. We had caramelised onion & cheese tart. Had cake selection, and fentimans drinks.

Great Ambience. Great food. More restaurant than cafe. AND cutlery! The finest designed British! Lovely service provided by lovely interesting people. Quite Outstanding. THANK YOU X

Nice food, good cappuccino, lots of space

Lovely place, lovely staff, lovely food!

Superb family lunch at The Gallery Cafe! The cafe was really busy mid afternoon, all tables occupied, it felt like rush hour, yet the team was outstanding at their customer service, and they went above and beyond to make us feel welcomed and well served. The food was extraordinary, with dishes crafted by Head Chef Adam Leavy, which we found out was a finalist at the MasterChef, they were professionally made and flavoursome. The steward who served us (sorry didn’t get his name, he had long hair, glasses, slim built & medium height) was a star and we’re writing this review mostly because of how he made us feel during our late lunch today :) Thank you Gallery Cafe team, you were the best, we’ll be back and bring our friends!!!

We got a a too good to go bag from the Cafe and we’re served very swiftly. The three cakes we got were all really delicious.

Lovely pot of tea and yummy Apricot Danish. Staff are always warm and friendly

Fabulous coffee, gorgeous food and excellent service - thank you!

Good selection of tasty food served by friendly staff

This Cafe is worth a detour. Whether you are visiting the gallery or not, this cafe is definitely worth a détour: the pastrami bagle was ***** so was the pistachio cake. The coffee was top so was the table service. Not sure who is behind this cafe, but one thing is sure is they do know what they are doing and they want to excel. Rare in this country

Exceptional cooking! Had no expectation in a simple cafe at a gallery but the food here was so yummy! We had a mushroom pie and a parmesan risotto. Both were great! Portion is small thou. They also have free water with the choice of still and sparking. As to the setting, it’s a simple cafe, could be a bit noisy. Probably we had visited on a busy day. (Note should grab a menu to check all available food choice. The board just listed with the special for the day)

Good variety of food and drink, order and pay at your table and food and drink brought to you. Reasonably priced and friendly staff.

Nice cosy environment. Food looks amazing and the coffee was decent 😋

Tasty snacks and cakes and atmospheric

Really nice central location for a meet-up.

Friendly staff with a good selection of cakes and teas

Brilliant cafe a real find in the city. Very relaxed atmosphere, wonderfully friendly staff, table service with a smile. The food quality is excellent I had a pork and apple roll a lovely cup of fresh real tea not tea bags and a home made scone with jam and cream Lovely escape from the hustle and bustle and a top class lunch They also do daily home made soup and tarts and a wide range of lovely looking cakes plus I noticed their mugs of coffee really are mug sized

Very genteel, popped in just for a coffee. Very nice coffee, good service and not too busy at the right time.

Very crowded, got the order wrong, but food lovely

Very slow service. Knowing how slow they are, I asked to put cake on a plate. The girl looked indignant! mind it, to make coffee took only 7 min.

Nice well run cafe with friendly staff

Coffee&Culture fix all in one place.Interesting menu with choice of snack to healthy lunch time salads.Art gallery shop good for gifts&cards. Crate sculptures worth a visit plus tea trade history.

A good place to have a coffee in Manchester. This is part of Manchester art gallery. It is clean , well served and fair pricing.

Great place for coffee, cake and lunch! Lovely relaxing surroundings with a great choice of food with friendly service.

Great museum cafe. Lots of tasty options

Loved the gallery but found the cafe a bit lacking. Bought a slice of honey and lemon cake however it was more like butter and sugar cake. Hot food was finished at 3pm.

Inferior food at inflated prices, served by people who think they're superior to you

Great cafe with lots of choice for cakes and drinks. It was busy, but we could get a table right away on a busy Saturday in Manchester. It's a great family friendly cafe. Cakes also cater for gluten free and lacto free, vegan and gluten free.

Nie and relaxing atmosphere to relax and have coffee or a bite. it overlooks peter square and was not crowded when i went. a lot of table and sitting area.

Lacks atmosphere and staff unfriendly.

We had a delicious lunch here today. Well done.

VERY Expensive and not really very good food and coffee. The coffee was cold and the sausage roll was a small slice and £3. It would be better to walk outside and go anywhere else!

I come here just for the amazing service from Janet

A very comfort place, and the Raspberry cake is excellent with a cup of coffee.

Overpriced sandwich made with stale bread - rubbish.

Good food, very busy a bit expensive but worth it.

Lovely cafe with excellent coffee and cake. Cup size bit small and pricey.

Expensive as you would expect in the art gallery. Pleasant ambiance. Good selection of coffee and cake. Long tables, so you can end up sharing with other folk.

Good coffee and fresh pastries, very busy but good service. Great location, been there twice over the weekend. Would considerate it a favorite if I lived in Manchester.

Good value lunch and excellent location.

Excellent food and reasonably priced. It's also not too busy, which makes it a nice respite from how busy Manchester can be at lunchtime.

Nice environment for a coffee and cake with great art too

Really nice coffee and service. Sandwiches very disappointing.