Cane & Grain

Polly Checkland Harding
Creative Tourist

Cane & Grain celebrate their 5th birthday on Thursday 4th July with a three-floor extravaganza – 6 pm til late

Cane and Grain hails from Blackdog Ballroom and the Liars Club in Manchester’s northern quarter – but what exactly does it do differently?

Cane and Grain is the bar equivalent of a department store. To explain: following a mega, bells and whistles kit out (we’re talking a carefully tessellated wall of wooden crates, tailor-made leather banquettes and a giant, novelty swordfish), Cane and Grain has just opened its bespoke front doors onto not one, but three distinct bar areas, contained within a single space. They all have separate drinks menus – two of them have their own staircase. This isn’t edgy, effortless cool – Cane and Grain is all about fully blown intensity, but boy is it impressive.

Its main selling point is try-it-on-for-size-style drinking; if the casual, skater hangout atmosphere and tap beer of the ground floor feel too laidback and loose, ask if there’s a free table in the first floor speakeasy. True to theme, you’ll be taken through an unmarked door to sit between wood lined walls and sip prohibition liquor, in mixes we suspect are several shades more sophisticated than the illegal, bottle-in-a-brown-bag offerings they hark back to.

It has three distinct bar areas, all with separate drinks menus – two of them have their own staircase

The menu here boasts cocktails at either end of the flavour spectrum: from the potent, spirit smash of the classic Sazerac, to altogether more delectable and dangerous blends. Take the City of Gold; if it were a person, this citrus and rhubarb rum-based looker would steal your heart, and possibly your wallet. Cane and Grain’s menu, meanwhile, is a do-before-you-die thing. It ain’t healthy – even the vegetarian watermelon and feta salad, beautiful and lonely like a gunslinger’s girlfriend, was gin soaked – but when you settle on a ribs joint, that’s really not the point.

A bar snack of bacon-flavoured popcorn came first, in a gimmicky – but quite sweet – blue-striped paper bag. The taste was as addictive as you could wish, but a bit of a bully to the drinks. There was a choice between a half and a whole slab of ribs: go for the whole and you get a whole lotta pig, essentially. Slathered in St Louis sauce and rather unnecessarily dusted with beat-up pretzels, the meat was meltingly well cooked, if enough to double your own body weight. Truffle mac and cheese, tiki salt fries and cornbread were all steady sidekicks – the tiki salt, to quote Jay Rayner elsewhere, “the edible equivalent of crystal meth”. The only small complaint was crockery – rather than culinary – based: using a serrated knife to cut ribs against a tin tray was a bit like scoring the side of a Chrysler with a nail. So fingers were used, instead. All hail the mighty wet wipe.

Food pressing up behind our eyes, it was time to gravitate to the chilled, beach bar surrounds of the Liars Lounge. This bit of the bar has the blow torched zombie cocktail smell of the two other Tiki bars that are a hula hip’s distance from it – but it also has a secret alcohol lab. And it’s where the swordfish we mentioned lives. They’ve basically gone one bigger and better, with awesome homemade cordials and mixes that are a leisurely two fingers to cheaper, straw-sucked others. Don’t worry though, dude, they’ll still get you wasted. Just don’t try to do skate tricks after you exit.

That’s the thing about Cane and Grain – you can be three different kinds of drinker in an evening, or stick with the style you like. As with decent shopping centres, it all comes down to taste.

This is an independent review, but our writer didn’t pay for her meal. For more info on our editorial policy, read our About page.

49-51 Thomas StreetManchesterM4 1NA View map
Telephone: 0161 839 7033 Visit Now

Opening Hours

  • Monday12:00pm - 2:00am
  • Tuesday12:00pm - 2:00am
  • Wednesday12:00pm - 2:00am
  • Thursday12:00pm - 2:00am
  • Friday12:00pm - 2:00am
  • Saturday12:00pm - 2:00am
  • Sunday12:00pm - 2:00am

Always double check opening hours with the venue before making a special visit.

What's on near Cane & Grain

Until
ComedyManchester
The Comedy Vault

Every Monday night upstairs at Fierce Bar, The Comedy Vault hosts an outrageously funny open-mic night. Come and try your hand or just to watch and laugh.

free entry
Until
ComedyManchester
Creatures of the Night Comedy Club

An insanely committed seven-nights-a-week, Creatures of the Night Comedy Club opens its doors (20.30-22.30 typically, though please check) for evening after evening of side-splitting comedy.

from £5.00
MusicManchester
EXTC at Band on the Wall

Terry Chambers, the original drummer from XTC, brings the revered band’s classic songs to Band on the Wall this July.

ActivityManchester
Beyond the Music 2024

Hear directly from the people powering the music industry in both Manchester and the UK, as well as witnessing some of the North’s upcoming talent at Beyond the Music.

from £16.75

Where to go near Cane & Grain

The Smithfield Social
Manchester
Restaurant
The Smithfield Social

The Smithfield Social is a charming Northern Quarter destination owned by local lad Liam Fray of Courteeners fame, offering brunch, lunch and a wide selection of hot, cold and alcoholic drinks.

Fierce Bar
Manchester
Bar or Pub
Fierce Bar

Highly-rated bar based in Manchester’s bustling Northern Quarter, seconds away from Common.

57 Thomas Street, Manchester. Courtesy 57 Thomas Street
Manchester
Bar or Pub
57 Thomas Street

57 Thomas Street is the third outlet belonging to Manchester’s best-known microbrewery, Marble Beers. Unlike the lavish decoration of the Grade II-listed Marble Arch (which also doubles up as a brewery) or the traditional pub layout of the Marble Beer House in Chorlton, this tiny Thomas Street digs has room for just two things: beer and food.

Deadstock General Store
Northern Quarter
Deadstock General Store

This small shop has a well-curated range of stock that focuses on vintage homeware and gifts. From Japanese hemp socks to botanical paperweights and HAWS plant misters, each object is beautiful, practical and well made.

Rivet and Hide
Manchester
Shop
Rivet and Hide Manchester

Manchester’s newest destination for denimheads, Rivet and Hide stocks a collection of quality, Americana-inspired men’s casual wear and raw selvedge denim – including prized Japanese brands like Momotaro, The Flat Head, and Pure Blue Japan.

Manchester
Gallery
Richard Goodall Gallery

There’s no better place in the country to find and buy examples of music-oriented illustration and photography than the Richard Goodall Gallery

Manchester
Shopping Centre
Smithfield Market

The neo-Romanesque arches of this former wholesale food market still stand as a reminder to the Northern Quarter’s mercantile past.

Manchester
Shop
NOTE Thomas Street

The sister store to NOTE’s original Tib Street branch, here you’ll find footware, clothes and brands inspired by the skateboard scene. If it’s a new board you’re after, head to Tib Street.

Common Bar in Manchester's Northern Quarter
Manchester
Bar or Pub
Common Bar

Northern Quarter stalwart Common Bar in Manchester serves excellent pub food, fine cocktails and decent coffee. It’s a firm Creative Tourist team favourite.

Manchester
Restaurant
Home Sweet Home, Manchester

Home Sweet Home in Manchester’s Northern Quarter is a cafe and milk bar that does a mean line in cake, puddings and all things sweet – but its savoury menu isn’t half bad either.

Manchester District Guides

Culture Guides

Teenage Dads
Music in Manchester and the North

Fresh concert seasons, forward-thinking festivals and a revolving door of amazing gigs. Things are looking bright as spring comes into view.