I have walked past Mackie a few times to get to ancoats, and heard good things about it. One Friday I decided to check out the menu and go over and try it. I didn't know what to expect at first but I got there around 1130am and I think they were on the switch over from breakfast to dinner .. I picked a table and got the menu up using the qr code on the table and had a browse. As most places were only opening at 12, I had a limited menu, but what was in the menu looked amazing. You can order from 1 place, or multiple places and pay on the same bill so I went for a drink from one place and an h burger from another. It was really cool, the servers brought the drink and it was very quick, and then the food came later .. but not much later. It was amazing, so delicious and juicy and just a great all around burger and great all around experience. It would be great for a group of people as each could order their own and have a mix of different cuisines. There was only the downstairs open when I went and when I go back I will go after midday but I'd have to be careful as it statutes to get a bit busy as I was leaving .. all in all it was a great place and a great experience and I will for sure be returning.

Great selection of food. Difficult to get a seat at the weekend so be prepared to wait.

I walked in here because the building looked interesting. I wasn't hungry or anything but I was curious to see what's inside. Very lively ambiance food court. You name it, they have pretty much everything. I ended up ordering a beer from a place called "Jack in the box". I thought an U.S. fast food chain have a store here but they were nothing to do with them. They only sell beers. I asked anything locals and gave me a few samples to try. I didn't stay long but if I knew this place existed, I would have came for food too! They all looked so good.

This is quite an mpressive food hall! Lots of great options in case you're with a group and you want to be able to have different varieties. Great coffee spot and also the craft brewery has some really nice options. This is a social gathering spot and has lots of great energy.

If it wasn't for this recommendation, we wouldn't have found it on our own, I'd be cranky + starving, and this whole Manchester trip would have been all for nothing. It's a 10-15 min walk from the train station, tucked in an alleyway - so, bring a map if you're not a local (or have no WiFi cause you're a tourist and too cheap to buy it extra). Outside is nothing special (it was gray and raining, and I actually don't remember because I was hangry) - but enter - and your jaw will drop. This is an artsy industrial-hipster-haven food hall, with local and nearby carefully selected foods and beverages. You'll find great dishes/choices for every palette from around the globe with the various boutique-style food vendors. Everyone in your party will be quite happy. My party shared an amazing pizza from Honest crust (£12), and a few orders of fish and veggie tacos from Pico's tacos (£32). Don't forget to take some cool IG pics of your friends in the hall from the balcony above... ;) Mackie Mayor was the best part of the visit to Manchester. There, I said it.

TL;DR - Food hall heaven! We're big fans of food halls and whenever we go anywhere we try and track down any halls. We watched the Mackie Mayor building being redeveloped with great interest and are delighted with the way it turned out. Long story short this is an old market hall building which had been derelict for years and has now been completely renovated. It's large and spacious inside with seating in the centre, and a mixture of food and drink outlets around the edge. There's lots to choose from - rotisserie chicken, fish and chips, fantastic steaks and cuts of meat, bao, wine and spirits, coffee and cake, pizza and more. Seating can be in high demand though, and on a couple of times we have visited and not been able to find a seat. There's additional seating upstairs, and the hall layout isn't completely square so you may be able to find some seats if you have a wander around. There are numbers on each table to take a note of, and then when you order your food quote the number and they will bring your meal to you when it's ready (the big tables have multiple numbers so make sure to pick the one closest to your seat!). We came here before a show at Manchester Arena and went for the fish and chips from Fin and, frankly, it was some of the finest fish and chips we've ever had. The fish was delicious, the batter was fresh and crispy. The chips were hand cut with skin on, and the mushy peas was like a gourmet version made from crushed petit pois. Delicious, and I think we spent the next day talking more about the meal than the show we'd been to see! So we will be back here, again and again. Manchester's got a stunner here, a food hall with enough charm, character and fantastic food to rival the best in the world.

You can get quality, choice and quantity at Mackie Mayor, if you don't mind paying slightly more for the experience. MM is like a food-court-style restaurant, but the quality is far above the kind of food court you might be thinking of. From bao buns to steak sandwiches to pizza, from fish tacos to brunch to salads, this place has pretty much everything you might want. Basically, if your partner can't decide what they want for dinner or lunch... take them here. Everyone will be happy! But it's not just the choice - it's the quality, too. I had a sichuan chicken bao with pickled cucumbers and radish topping, served with Korean fried rice cakes and broccoli in a gochujang sauce on the side. I also had a beautiful fish taco with a spicy, fresh salad topping, roast cauliflower with flavours of sesame, soy and vinegar, and several lovely soft drinks. I probably spent £50 in total but for the amount I got, I was happy (I'm here to visit and I budgeted generously because I love food...) To finish it off, the cakes and brownies and cookies were beautifully buttery, interestingly flavoured and although I bought them to share, I really don't want to! I would recommend the sichuan chicken bao, the "save the bees" pizza (with chilli honey) and getting as many sides to share as you can manage, because they're all amazingly delicious and inventive. I loved this place and I'm quite sad we don't have an equivalent where I live!

Mackie Mayor is stunning outside - worth taking an out of towner along to showcase something that really is a bit unique in Manchester. It has very similar vendors to its older sibling in Altrincham, notably Reserve Wines, Tender Cow and Honest Crust. I love that you can go with a group of friends at varying levels of hunger and thirst and people can just do their own thing. I opted for a sichuan fried chicken bao. The chicken was excellent - a huge portion and really well seasoned and fried. The sauce I thought was bad - just unpleasantly sour and doing everything it could to ruin the chicken. Frankly they should just ditch the bao altogether, it adds nothing (unlike others I've tried such as the pork, which works brilliantly). The price point looks insane (£7.25 I think for one bao) but you do get a large amount of chicken. Kimchi wasn't good and I wouldn't get it again. The green beans was a massive portion and also expensive - I would cut both price and size or offer a family size version - if people are getting all different things they might not be sharing and that's just a bit of a waste. Overall I'm concerned that this is yet another NQ place with London price points for meals despite lower rents (and loads of footfall) but it's really a nice experience for the beautiful environment and decent food. Apparently it was rammed at the weekends and on a Wednesday night it was busy but not full, so I'd suggest midweek to avoid the crowds without missing out on atmosphere.