Mother Mac’s

In all of my time living in the Northern Quarter, I would often see the old-​and-​slightly-​decrepid pub sign for Mother Macs, whenever I happened to glance down Back Piccadilly. For years I kept making a mental note to check this place out on my next pub crawl. I never did until about a month ago. Shame on me.
I love drinking with older people as I love to hear their stories of Manchester days gone by — and this is that type of place. If you can hold a convo with people from all walks of life, you will enjoy the vibe in here. There are people who have been drinking in here for thirty years! Yeah you probably won’t meet the man/​woman of your dreams in here but there are no chavs either. I’m also currently on a mission to find other places outside of the main NQ drag, far from the maddening crowd. I can’t imagine the NQ hipsters and trendies wouldn’t be seen dead in a place like this (good).
A hidden drinking den two minutes from Piccadilly Gardens, with cheap Jagerbombs (I dragged a large group of us here and we drank them dry of Jäger) and more interestingly — quite a chilling history. Newspaper cuttings (and unfortunately MCFC memorabilia) adorn the smoke-​stained walls, the former describing how a previous landlord murdered his whole family and the cleaner, before setting fire to the place. Not sure if anyone wants the gory details but I’ll tell you anyway. The pub had a dumb waiter for moving food from one floor to the next. When the dumb waiter was inspected by the fire brigade (1976 this was) the cut up bodies of the landlord’s wife and children, plus the cleaner were found inside. Grisly eh? One of my favourite films is The Shining and I can say that The Overlook has nothing on Mother Macs!

What a weird little pub. Small, dingy without being dirty, but a really good atmosphere. Been here a couple of times over the last month and you’re always made to feel welcome.
It is what I would imagine a city centre ‘locals’ pub to be. People seemed to know one another and yet despite its location, tucked away on a back street off Piccadilly Gardens it is also often found by ‘out of towners’ and none regulars. All seem to have a good time.
Becks Vier on draft, good range of spirits and, from what I could gather, the bitter is well kept too.
If you’re after somewhere to have a drink off the beaten track in Manchester city centre, away from the buzz and noise of more obvious bars and pubs, then this is it.
Interesting, if not genuine (we couldn’t find out, even with Google’s help), newspaper articles about the history of the pub (mainly a murder/​arson event!) adorn the walls along with other memorabilia, making for an interesting visit every time and a talking point should you need one!

It’s amazing that this Hyde’s pub doesn’t get more crowded considering it’s so close to Piccadilly Gardens. This could have something to do with the strange scent of cigarette smoke that seems to have lingered long after the ban. It’s kind of dated but in a cute way, and the pictures of Manchester through the ages on the walls give it a homely local feel.
While not many people seem to venture down the back streets of Piccadilly, it’s worth having a little dawdle because this is a pub with character — you know the kind, Chinese ladies selling DVDs, grumpy old men nursing pints of Boddies. Its shabbiness is made up for in the friendliness of the bar staff and some of the clientele, so give the dowdy exterior the benefit of the doubt and venture in.

found this via some scruffy indie band mates
several bands stay in here before they do a set at night and day or roadhouse so they can keep out of the way for a bit.
bit like an east end, krays type of bar (blind beggar)
staff great but local and no nonsence. an original slice of old manchester before it got ludicrous ideas
pop in
what could possibly go wrong x

Down an otherwise lifeless alley this place looks intimidating from the outside — bars on the window and the feel of a place where the everything stops when a stranger walks in. No point flattering yourself, no-​one batted an eyelid when we walked in.
A decent pint at a cheap price, Coke from bottles rather than a scooshy gun, the only thing that was missing was the comforting cigarette smoke fug that surely must have hung around here pre-​smoking ban.

I love this pub its how a real British or Irish pub should be. Friendly no no nonsence bar staff, a good pint at a good price & ocasionly you might even get a sing song.