The best and brightest talents in Manchester’s food and drink scene assembled tonight for the 2025 Manchester Food and Drink Awards.
At a ceremony held for the second year running at New Century, the likes of Chef of the Year, Restaurant of the Year and Newcomer of the Year were announced, with Tom Barnes and his new restaurant Skof nabbing two of the key accolades.
Skof won Newcomer of the Year, while Barnes won Chef of the Year.
Stockport’s Where The Light Gets In won the coveted Restaurant of the Year award (it won it previously in 2022), while its chef-patron Sam Buckley won The Howard and Ruth Award for Outstanding Achievement.

136 venues, traders, places and individuals were nominated this year, with the results being decided by the awards’ panel of experts alongside public voting.
Alexa Stratton-Powell, Awards Director of Manchester Food and Drink Festival Awards commented: “We’re thrilled to be announcing this list of incredible winners. In such tough times for the industry, we want to thank, support and celebrate every nominee and winner and their fantastic achievements.
“We hope that the food fans of Greater Manchester and beyond will be inspired to go out and support all of these exceptional venues that we are so lucky to have on our doorstep.”
Elsewhere, Nell’s Pizza won Affordable Eats Venue of the Year, Fat Pat’s won Takeaway of the Year, and Prestwich won Foodie Neighbourhood of the Year.
Here’s a full list of the winners and nominees this year:
Affordable Eats Venue of the Year
WINNER:
NELL’S PIZZA
SHORTLISTED VENUES:
Café San Juan
Nell’s Pizza
Wow Banh Mi
Hong Thai
Salt & Pepper
Nila’s Burmese Kitchen
Mia’s Arepas
Sips & Dips
Takeaway of the Year
WINNER:
FAT PAT’S
SHORTLISTED VENUES:
Chips @ No. 8
Ad Maiora
Maida Grill House
Lucky Mama’s
Codi’s Kitchen
Fat Pat’s
Mrs A’s Kitchen
One Sushi
Coffee Shop of the Year
WINNER:
ANOTHER HEART TO FEED
SHORTLISTED VENUES:
Grind & Tamp
Fort Coffee
Allpress Espresso
California Coffee & Wine
Another Heart to Feed
Bold Street Coffee
ManCoCo
Oscillate Coffee
Food and Drink Retailer of the Year
WINNER:
LILY’S DELI
SHORTLISTED VENUES:
Wandering Palate
Petit Paris Deli
Out of the Blue
Chorlton Cheesemongers
Littlewoods Butchers
Ancoats Deli
Lily’s Deli
Oseyo
Food Trader of the Year
WINNER:
HONEST CRUST
SHORTLISTED VENUES:
House of Habesha
The Little Sri Lankan
Cardinal Rule
Ad Maiora
Jaan By Another Hand
Baity
House of Bun
Honest Crust
Foodie Neighbourhood of the Year
WINNER:
PRESTWICH
SHORTLISTED NAMES:
Monton
Prestwich
Salford
Urmston
Levenshulme
Altrincham
Denton
Sale
Independent Drink Producer of the Year
WINNER:
CLOUDWATER BREW CO
SHORTLISTED VENUES:
Cloudwater Brew Co
Pomona Island Brew Co
Sureshot Brewing
The Salford Rum Company
Steep Soda Co
Pod Pea Vodka
Hip Pop
Balance Brewing & Blending
Independent Food Producer of the Year
WINNER:
GREAT NORTH PIE CO
SHORTLISTED VENUES:
Companio Bakery
H.M.Pasties
La Chouquette
Great North Pie Co
The Flat Baker
Long Boi’s Bakehouse
Yellowhammer
Half Dozen Other
Neighbourhood Venue of the Year sponsored by SH Comms
WINNER:
BAR SAN JUAN
SHORTLISTED VENUES:
Cibus Pizza
Ornella’s Kitchen
Fold Bistro & Bottle Shop
The Pearl
Restaurant Örme
Tawny Stores
Vero Moderno
Bar San Juan
Plant Based Offering of the Year
WINNER:
MARAY
SHORTLISTED VENUES:
Maray
Lily’s Indian Vegetarian Cuisine
Wholesome Junkies
Hinterland Bar
Allotment Vegan Eatery
Walled Gardens
Little Aladdin
Herbivorous
Sanskruti
Pop up or Project of the Year sponsored by ASP Events
WINNER:
LOVE FROM
SHORTLISTED VENUES:
Bungalow at Kampus
Tartuffe
Side Street Studio Kitchen
Midori Didsbury at Wine & Wallop
The Landing
Love From
Root to Flower
Sampa
Manchester Wine Tour
Pub or Beer Bar of the Year sponsored by JW Lees
WINNER:
MULLIGANS
SHORTLISTED VENUES:
Heaton Hops
Port Street Beer House
North Westward Ho
Mulligans of Manchester
The City Arms
The Britons Protection
The Old Abbey Taphouse
Café Beermoth
Great Service Award
WINNER:
SCHOFIELD’S BAR
SHORTLISTED VENUES:
Flawd Wine
The Pearl
Higher Ground
Skof
10 Tib Lane
Schofield’s Bar
Adam Reid At The French
Ornella’s Kitchen
Bar of the Year sponsored by Conductr
WINNER:
HAWKSMOOR
SHORTLISTED VENUES:
Red Light
Flawd Wine
Speak in Code
Project Halcyon
Hawksmoor
10 Tib Lane
Stray
Sterling Bar
Newcomer of the Year
WINNER:
SKOF
SHORTLISTED VENUES:
The Pearl
SkofMedlock Canteen
Onda Pasta Bar
Tawny Stores
Caravan
Hakkapo
Flat Iron
Chef of the Year sponsored by Boutinot
WINNER:
TOM BARNES (SKOF)
SHORTLISTED NAMES:
Iain Thomas (The Pearl)
Joe Otway (Higher Ground)
Tom Barnes (Skof)
Sam Grainger (Medlock Canteen)
Patrick Withington (Erst)
Danielle Heron (OSMA)
Sam Buckley (Where the Light Gets In)
Julian Pizer (Another Hand)
Restaurant of the Year
WINNER:
WHERE THE LIGHT GETS IN
SHORTLISTED VENUES:
Skof
Higher Ground
Another Hand
Where the Light Gets In
The Pearl
Restaurant Örme
mana
Adam Reid At The French
The Howard and Ruth Award for Outstanding Achievement
WINNER:
SAM BUCKLEY – WHERE THE LIGHT GETS IN