The little gem with a big range of beer...
TUCKED away between a fruit and veg stall and a milkshake parlour, it’s not exactly your typical boozer.
Last orders is at 6.15pm for one thing – and the ‘tap room’ is shared with diners tucking into takeaway burritos, tapas and Korean fried chicken.
Welcome to the MicroBar in the Arndale Market.
It’s been serving weary shoppers and a loyal band of regulars for more than a decade now.
But despite that, it’s still a bit of a hidden gem.
“We’ve been open for more than 10 years,” says landlord Mark Dade.
“But we still regularly get people coming in who say ‘I walk past here every day and I didn’t know you were here.’
“I think it’s because it’s a little bit different. You don’t expect to find a pub in a market.”
The MicroBar was launched in 2006 when the Arndale Market was refurbished.
Mark, 48, who has been in the pub industry all his working life, took it over with his wife Mary two years later.
At a time when many traditional pubs are struggling – and several city centre bars are going to the wall – the MicroBar is bucking the trend.
Radcliffe-raised Mark, a former landlord at the Marble Arch on Rochdale Road, thinks its unusual location might have something to do with its success.
“Drinking at lunchtime is a bit taboo now,” he said.
“Not many people want to be seen going into a pub at dinner time nowadays, but no-one is bothered about going to a market.
“And at the weekend we’re a bit of a crèche. Couples go shopping in the Arndale and one of them will get a bit fed up and come in for a pint.”
Despite the MicroBar’s diminutive size – it’s two market stalls knocked together with seating for about six people around the bar – Mark finds room to stock a range of about 200 beers.
On tap there’s a rotating cast of four real ales, from regular breweries such as Elland in West Yorkshire, Phoenix in Heywood and Kelham Island in Sheffield, two lagers, a craft beer and a cider.
Alongside that is scores of bottled and canned beers from Manc favourites such as Cloudwater and Alphabet and traditional Belgian and German trappist, dunkel and wheat beers.
And Mark has no regrets about turning his back on life behind the bar of a more traditional pub.
He said: “We’re always busy. We have lots of locals, and there’s loads of people who live right across the road who come in.
“Because it’s only a small bar, everybody gets talking. It’s dead friendly. Last orders is at 6.15pm, which is great for us,” added Mark.