From Skof to Fat Pat’s - all the winners at the 2025 Manchester Food and Drink Awards

And the winner is...

By Ben Arnold | 27 January 2025

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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.

Sam Buckley
WTLGI chef Sam Buckley

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