Gorilla

This is simply a daytime review! I’ll be heading back for a night out eventually!
I’ve been to Gorilla now the most out of any other restaurant in Manchester, I always seem to be drawn in whenever I walk by. Honestly, it has to be the cinema-​inspired exterior and enticing atmosphere that gets me. Sometimes, you just need a pint.
The menu is a sound gastropub menu, with a range of sandwiches, salads, and meaty options. I’ve always gotten the cheeseburger or the gorilla dog. The burger may look somewhat simplistic, but flavour it does not lack! This is the place I clearly come to have my guilty pleasure lunches.
For brunch, their breakfast options are absolutely solid. My friend got the Royal Breakfast (a double-​portioned English breakfast) and it was a mouthwatering monstrosity. Definitely not for the faint of heart — you have been warned!
The staff is always super friendly and helpful, everyone seems laid back and relaxed which give to the very chill vibe of the restaurant (during the day).
Why not 5 stars?
In my opinion, its a tad pricy for the amount of food that you get. 10 quid for a cheeseburger with only lettuce and pickle on it seems a bit steep, though it does come with chips!

A great place for a gin or a beer or a bite to eat.
The gin parlour was a little disappointing as there is a good but not amazing selection. Nothing to compare with Atlas or other gin bars. That said they know what they are doing and have some nice choices and some fun cocktails.
This is also a good spot for pre or pay show drinks if you’re going to the Palace Theatre. Enjoy!

The food and drinks are delicious, but the speed of service is too slow, as a veteran gorilla visitor, I have mastered to quickly order both food and drink as soon as the waiter comes over.

As a last minute booking, a huge group of us (~18) realised we needed somewhere to destress following a morning exam, it had to be big, it had to have brunch, it had to cater for dietary requirements (celiac, vegan) and it had to have plenty of drinks available.
Gorilla was such a nice change from our usual uni haunts of kro and the union. They fit us all in nicely and were attentive to our large group needs. I only tried the eggs royale which was polished off super quick bit tasted perfect. I need to return to properly sample the gin emporium they boast of an evening!

Breakfast warm, not hot. Hard poached eggs but service was good. Evening meals here really good, great chicken wings and recommend the truffle chips. Good gin list!

I absolutely loved this place. I went last week while traveling for work and was happy I stumbled upon this place. The food and drinks were fantastic. I had the eggplant haloumi burger for dinner, and their delicious salted caramel brownie for dessert. Both were incredible. The atmosphere was great– funky and casual, and the staff could not have been nicer. Looking forward to one day coming back and eating here again!

I’ve always been a fan of Gorilla and it was great to head back here for an enjoyable cocktail with the family.
We sat down and started deliberating over the menu as is standard for a group of 5, especially when you’re our family — questioning every cocktail and pulling faces of enjoyment and disgust at the options.
The waiter came over and informed us that it was 241 cocktails on those with stars next to them — so once again we deliberated.
The décor in Gorilla is laid back and well lit with an area upstairs for further seating. I love the bar area as you can grab a seat and have a natter with the batman while they work — very New York.
I finally decided against the cocktails on the menu and asked if they did a cosmo (not on the menu) — I’m true to tastes. They did — yey!
The drinks came with haste to say we’d ordered 3 cocktails and my Cosmo was made to perfection — that tang of orange zest mixed with the sharpness of cranberry, and the kick of vodka — just delightful.
The prices are decent for city centre drinks and the environment is perfect whatever time you visit: mid afternoon — laid back and easy to grab a table and some lunch. Later in the evening — more upbeat and a fun vibe. Late at night — dance the night away :)
Big fan.

The worst place I’ve eaten in a long while. They got nothing right.
The waitress convinced us to order the special, we did and 5 minutes later she returned to tell us that there were none to be had.
I ordered a cheese burger with mushrooms, and season fries. No mushrooms were to be had.
I ordered a hot chocolate. It arrived room temperature.
The burger and fries arrived room temperature, the fries weren’t seasoned.
Only good thing about the place was the free wifi, you have to ask for the password.
dancedancedance

the food in the restaurant area was amazing the first night we went here for food, but what brought us back for breakfast and the following evening for drink was the staff. i cannot possibly praise them enough. As a manager in the hospitality industry in Ireland, i can honestly say, Hope, Jess & Harriet in the bar are worth their absolute weight in gold and they definitely bring in the customers.
Myself and my cousin were staying in the holiday inn express up the road so we were just looking for somewhere quick to eat. we made the right choice. we got two of the Gorilla dogs which were perfect and a couple of their weirdly named beers i couldn’t pronounce, and the gin of the day. we were served by Hope and Jess who couldn’t have been nicer, amazing service and also took the time to help us out with where to go in Manchester. the food is very well priced for the size of the portions which are massive.
the following morning there was really only one place we could go for our Full English (Irish) breakfast and were lucky enough to be served by the same two amazing staff as the night before. who even though they were under pressure as the place seemed to be packed out the door seemed to effortlessly be able to find the time to talk to everyone they were serving.
we passed that evening on our way into town to go for a few drinks and were served by Harriet behind the bar, and again, she was just so friendly and had great banter with us that we ended up not leaving for the end of the night.
i will hopefully be going back to Manchester in the new year and i don’t think i will be going anywhere for food or drinks.

I can only comment on the drinks here, and boy are they positive comments. Great interior, great staff, great drinks — I don’t think I need to say much more.
I went off-​menu (sometimes you just want a bit of whisky in your life) and had a very nice old fashioned followed by a dry Manhattan. Very strong, but well balanced. My friend’s drinks were also reported to be excellent, but I forget now what he had exactly.
I’d like to return and check out the gin bar-​above-​a-​bar. Here’s hoping I’m back in Manchester soon…

We were in need of a quick lunch near to Oxford Road station and this place fit the bill perfectly. We grabbed seats at the bar and I was excited to see they do all-​day breakfast — hell yeh! I ordered eggs royale and was even more impressed that the food arrived quickly as I was worried about missing my train.
The eggs were spot on — perfectly cooked on two nicely toasted muffins and a good amount of sauce. I’ve eaten a lot of eggs benedict variations in my life and these were really good, I can’t fault them and I’d definitely get back here for food again.
The place was pretty busy for a Thursday lunch and had a good vibe. Staff were friendly and the only time they were a little slow is when we needed to pay the bill and go. No big deal though.

Gorilla, on Whitworth St., is fab.
I’ve been here a number of times now. Each time, when popping in for drinks, there’s been a spot at the bar where you can grab a stool. The staff have been knowledgeable about their beer selection, which changes frequently and they tend to have a cocktail of the day or a specific spirit of the day, which always goes down well.
I ate here a while back whilst waiting for a gig at The Ritz opposite. I had a burger and my friend had a hot dog — both were good and served with enough fries to sink a battleship.

The staff here are so lovely and helpful, food is lovely — you won’t have to wait long either which is always a bonus! Drinks can be a little on the small side (especially coffees) but the cocktails are amazing!

This is where the rock stars of yesterday, rock stars of tomorrow and rock stars of today (Louis R), convene in order to delve into a deelish Traditional English Breakfast and talk music.
Décor and architecture are rock star quality.
Tatted-​up waitresses are rock start quality.
Try this spot if you’re in town.
Wait…you ain’t a rock star, son.
Nope.

I really like this bar, it gets it just right. Gorilla is a great place for a drink on a Friday night, to watch a gig (they’ve had some very interesting concerts and musicians play there) and have lunch or dinner. I visited Gorilla today for Sunday lunch and really enjoyed it. They have 4 roast options including a veggie nut roast which was amazing. The Yorkshire pudding was massive and it was accompanied by a good selection of vegetables. My friend’s pork roast was also of a very high quality and they said the crackling was done perfectly. Won’t be long until my next visit.

Looking to try and ‘get out more’ during the colder months, we booked a bunch of tickets for activities around the city, including some to the matinée of Josie Long at Gorilla. Having been before music and drinks, I was looking forward to returning — it’s got a good atmosphere, and service is always friendly (in my experience!)
There was a small delay in them opening the doors, but a 10 minute wait isn’t the worst thing in the world. The gig space was a good temperature, unlike the sweat box it can become when music is on, and chairs fairly comfortable for a few hours of sitting. Although the bar staff actually got a small telling off for talking too loudly during Josie’s set, they did a good job at getting people served and back to their seats from the interval.
We couldn’t decided whether to stay for dinner after the show, but put our names down with front of house to try our luck and have a few drinks. It took a good 45 – 50 minutes for them to remember us and apologise; there weren’t any tables in this time, but they definitely need a better system than just hoping they remember faces. Eventually a large table didn’t turn up, so we were given their space — just as we were about to leave!
In the the meantime, I tried a clover club cocktail — too much egg white texture for me, but still drinkable — and the prickly bramble, which basically tasted like alcoholic vimto and found its way back into my hand during the meal.
We were quick to decide on sharing some salt and pepper wings, which were good if a bit on the sweet side for my taste, and some halloumi, which came with onion and pepper and an unusual but tasty curry flavouring. I had a lamb burger for main, which held together on the bun, with a good helping of minty aoili — great to try something other than a beef burger and for it to be done this well.
I was left full but not feeling heavy, the perfect amount of stomach lining before an unexpected night out!

Yet another delicious lunchtime treat today! I went for the special — chipotle pork quesadillas with refried beans, avocado and cheddar cheese and a chilli and lime salsa on the side. Flavours packed a punch and went together perfectly, ensuring I continued to eat the last few mouthfuls even though my stomach was most definitely full!
It would be great if there were a few cheaper options for lunch — soup comes in at £5.00 which is great and I wish there were a few other dishes in this price bracket (other than the breakfast baps). With my quesadillas coming in at £9.00 it’s quite an expensive lunch option.

We dived in here on a bitterly cold day in Manchester looking for a bite to eat which would warm us up. The first thing that strikes you upon entry is what a good conversion this is of the old archway. We took a booth in the window and ordered our food — Sparky went for a spicy bean burger; I went for a traditional cheeseburger, both with fries and, northern as we are, we ordered mugs of tea to accompany. I was pleasantly surprised to be asked how I wanted my burger cooking, medium or well done. I went with medium, knowing that a British «medium» is «well done» by many standards. I’ve had rare burgers in France and enjoyed them, and I was pleasantly surprised when this came still showing a hint of pink in the middle which was more than I expected. Sparky’s burger was nice and spicy, and the tea was strong and hot — just what we needed.
This being lunchtime there was a nice mix of clientele in, from uni students through to those close to retirement but all getting along and enjoying themselves. My one gripe was that I thought the prices were a little on the high side for what we got, particularly the drinks — £2 for a teabag in a mug, not even a pot, is taking the mickey.
TL;DR — Nicely converted unit serving good food with a laid back vibe.

I’ve gotta say that I enjoy myself at Gorilla more and more each time I hit it. With facing extreme NQ fatigue over the past few years I’ve tried to spend more time in 2014 down Oxford Road and over by Castlefield/​Deansgate — and Gorilla is the perfect place for any occasion down by Oxford Road Station.
Mostly I pop in for drinks and although their on tap beers are nothing to write home about, they do stock some great cans and bottles — Thornbridge’s Jaipur or Beavertown’s Gamma Ray being regular faves! My wife really enjoys the Negroni’s and this obviously makes us both happy as there’s no need to compromise…
The fodder we had on the recent Sat night we popped in was lovely if snacky — the brisket roll being something we really enjoyed. You can reserve tables too and I’d highly recommend this if you’re heading down at the weekend — it can get rammed!
There’s top quality gigs out back and overall this is a hipster haven, while not being too nobby — I really enjoy it here so check it out!

I can’t believe I’ve never been here before! Such a fantastic bar with great friendly staff, it has a buzzing atmosphere with cool customers but in no means pretentious, its based in one of the Railway Arches on Whitworth Street and loved the whole feel of the place, Its very modern with its bar stools around the bar to the booths and the upstairs seating area, drinks are reasonably priced a around £4 a pint and they do a happy hour from 5 – 8 i think with cocktails at a fiver each and a jug of vino at £8
we will be visiting Gorilla a lot more in the future.