Menyu

Local guide · Greater Manchester, North West England

Do you run a restaurant in Manchester, UK? Update its menu from your phone

Manchester’s median age is 30.6, the lowest of any local authority in England and Wales, and VisitBritain counted 1.52 million overnight visits from abroad in 2024. Put a QR code on your tables and change a price from your phone. Choose pounds and UK time in Menyu’s settings: prices show in £, and the opening status follows UK time, though it reads in French.

Preview my menu online from its linkUK rules, and what Menyu does there

Café table on an empty cobbled Ancoats street lined with red-brick mill buildings, with a red QR code stand, a cheddar tart topped with mustard leaves and a glass of orange natural wine
AI-generated illustration

Key facts

Manchester in figures

median age at mid-2025, the lowest of the 318 local authorities in England and Wales (40.7 overall)12
30.6
residents at mid-2025, up from 502,902 in 20111
588,256
overnight visits from abroad in 2024, third among UK towns (first estimate)3
1.52 million
for a new pavement licence from the city council, £313 to renew it4
£433

Growth

The youngest median age in England and Wales

The Office for National Statistics counted 588,256 people in Manchester at mid-2025, against 502,902 in 2011. The city’s median age, 30.6, is the lowest of the 318 local authorities in England and Wales, where it stands at 40.7.12

The age table jumps between 18 and 19: 8,947 residents aged 18, then 16,141 aged 19 and 18,639 aged 20, against 7,372 aged 17.1

For your menu

With so many residents in their twenties, the menu guests see first is often the one that opens on a phone. It should carry today’s prices.

Visitors and languages

Visitors from abroad, new arrivals every year

VisitBritain’s first estimate puts Manchester third among UK towns for overnight visits from abroad in 2024, with 1.52 million, after London and Edinburgh; it counted 1.72 million in 2023. Outside London the survey samples are small, so read these as orders of magnitude.3

In the year to mid-2025, 19,418 people moved to Manchester from abroad and 11,253 left for another country.1

For your menu

Some of these guests read English as a second language. Dish names in their own language spare your floor team a good deal of explaining.

Local food

Two stars and five Bib Gourmands in the MICHELIN list

The MICHELIN Guide lists 23 restaurants for Manchester and its surroundings: two with one star, five Bib Gourmands and sixteen selected. The starred pair are mana, on Blossom Street in Ancoats, and Skof, in an old textile warehouse on Federation Street.567

The guide’s filters flag vegetarian options at 18 of the 23, vegan options at 11, gluten-free options at 7 and halal options at 4.5

For your menu

When most listed restaurants have a vegetarian dish, guests expect to find yours, and what it contains, without calling someone over.

Local rules

Tables outside: Manchester’s pavement licence

To put tables and chairs on the public highway next to your premises, you apply to Manchester City Council for a pavement licence. It costs £433 for a new application and £313 for a renewal, which only the current holder can make for the same premises; the national caps are £500 and £350.48

The file includes a scale plan leaving pedestrians a clear passage of at least 1.8 metres, photos of any structure or covering and the list of furniture you will use, plus proof that staff attended Martyn’s Law training. Planning permission and street trading consent are not required.4

Once you have applied, a notice goes up at the premises and a photo of it goes to [email protected]. The council points applicants to the Business and Planning Act 2020, under which the public has 14 days to comment and the council 14 more to decide, public holidays aside; without a decision, the licence counts as granted for two years.48

For your menu

Allow about four weeks between the application and the first table outside, and list every type of furniture you plan to use: the licence covers only those.

With Menyu

What Menyu can do for a Manchester menu today

Menyu gives your menu an address that never changes, behind a QR code in your colours. Here is what that answers in Manchester, followed by the limits of a UK venue.

  • A QR code on the tables outside, the printed menu within

    Your QR code carries your colours and logo and always opens the same address. Edit a price or a dish from your phone and the menu is current as soon as you publish, while the printed menu stays on the tables indoors. Choose pounds in the settings before you type your prices: they then show with the £ sign, and nothing is converted.

    • One fixed QR code, a menu you edit at any timeIncluded
    • QR code in your colours, with your logoIncluded
    • Prices in pounds, chosen in the settingsIncluded
    Make the QR code for my menu

  • Dish names in your guests’ language

    Menyu translates the content of your menu into 25 languages, Chinese, Arabic, Polish and Spanish among them. The translation is automatic, so read the dish names through before you publish. Up to ten photo or video stories on the menu show a dish to anyone who cannot read its name.

    • Menu content in 25 languages, translation to checkIncluded
    • Up to 10 photo or video stories on the menuIncluded
    See what a Menyu menu does

  • Vegetarian, gluten-free, nut-free: the guest filters

    Each dish lists its allergens from the standard 14, and guests can narrow the menu down to vegetarian dishes, or leave out the allergens they choose, before they order.

    • The 14 allergens, marked dish by dishIncluded
    • A vegetarian filter and one for each of the 14 allergensIncluded
    Build my allergen chart

  • A reason for a young crowd to come back

    With Premium, a game on your menu, a wheel or a scratch card for instance, sends a single-use prize by e-mail and can point players to your Google listing. Pick a free dish or a percentage off as the prize.

    • Games with prizes sent by e-mail, link to your Google listingPremium
    Try the games

Limits

What Menyu does not do

  • Dishes can be priced in pounds, chosen in the settings, but the subscription is billed in euros: €49, €79 or €149 a month.
  • The open-or-closed line at the top of the menu follows UK time once you set it, but it is worded in French, ‘Ouvert · Jusqu’à…’, even on an English menu.
  • Guests cannot pay online: Menyu opens payment accounts in France only. With Premium, orders placed from the menu are settled at the counter.
  • The sign-up form’s phone field is optional and expects ten French digits; a UK number will not pass, so leave it empty.
  • An order placed from the menu has no line for a tip or a service charge; those stay on the bill from your till.

According to the guides

Six MICHELIN Guide tables, from Ancoats to King Street

All six are in the current MICHELIN Guide selection for Manchester: two one-star restaurants and four Bib Gourmands, from a dining room where every table faces the kitchen to tapas served over three floors.

These restaurants are not Menyu customers and were not approached. The list comes from the MICHELIN Guide; on 21 October 2026 each one’s website showed its menus, opening hours or bookings.

  1. mana

    Ancoats6 · Creative British, modern cuisine · ££££

    • 1 MICHELIN Star 20265

    Chef-owner Simon Martin gives every table a view of the kitchen and cooks British produce, with plenty of seafood.6

    MICHELIN Guide listingRestaurant website9

  2. Skof

    Federation Street, in an old textile warehouse7 · Creative, modern cuisine · ££££

    • 1 MICHELIN Star 20265

    Tom Barnes, formerly executive chef at L’Enclume, mixes international flavours with local ones: dessert may be amasake sorbet or Manchester honey ice cream.7

    MICHELIN Guide listingRestaurant website10

  3. El Gato Negro

    King Street11 · Spanish · ££

    • Bib Gourmand 20265

    Tapas on three floors: the bar and outdoor tables on the pedestrianised street, counter seats facing the open kitchen, a roof terrace at the top.11

    MICHELIN Guide listingRestaurant website12

  4. Higher Ground

    City centre, New York Street13 · Modern British · ££

    • Bib Gourmand 20265

    A 2020 pop-up turned permanent, where much of the produce comes from the owners’ market garden in Cheshire, in sharing dishes such as cheddar tart with mustard leaf.13

    MICHELIN Guide listingRestaurant website14

  5. Erst

    Ancoats15 · British contemporary · ££

    • Bib Gourmand 20265

    Open kitchen, sharing plates and plenty of natural wine; the guide’s tip is to start with one of the freshly charred flatbreads.15

    MICHELIN Guide listingRestaurant website16

  6. The Spärrows

    Green Quarter, under the railway arches17 · Modern cuisine · ££

    • Bib Gourmand 20265

    You ring a bell to get in; the dumplings and pasta are made in-house, from gnocchi and pelmeni to pierogi.17

    MICHELIN Guide listingRestaurant website18

Questions

Questions and answers

How much is a pavement licence in Manchester?

£433 for a new licence and £313 for a renewal, which only the holder of the current licence can make for the same premises. The national caps are £500 and £350.

The application comes with a scale plan of the area, photos of any structure or covering, the list of furniture and proof that your staff attended Martyn’s Law training.48

How long does a Manchester pavement licence take?

About four weeks. The public has 14 days to comment, starting the day after you apply, then the council has 14 days to decide, public holidays excluded; with no decision by then, the licence counts as granted for two years.

Your notice stays up at the premises throughout the consultation, and a photo of it goes to [email protected].48

Pavement licences and other UK rules
Can a Manchester restaurant run its menu on Menyu today?

Yes, with limits. The menu itself works: QR code, edits without reprinting, translated dishes, allergens and filters, with prices in pounds and the opening status on UK time once you choose both in the settings. Five limits apply to a UK venue: guests cannot pay online, the sign-up phone field refuses UK numbers, orders have no tip line, the opening status reads in French and the plans are billed in euros.

The United Kingdom page lists what works and the national rules for menus.

Menyu in the United Kingdom
Should the QR code replace my printed menu?

No need. Keep the printed menu on the tables and in the window, and put the QR code next to it for guests who would rather read on their phone, in their language if you translate it.

A price changed in Menyu is live once you publish; the paper waits for the next print run.

Can guests add a tip or a service charge through the menu?

No. Orders placed through Menyu have no tip or service line, so any service charge stays on the bill from your till. One of the restaurants below, mana in Ancoats, adds a discretionary 12.5% to the final bill.

The rules on passing tips to staff are on the United Kingdom page.69

Tips and service charges in the UK
What does Menyu cost, and in which currency?

Essentiel is €49 a month, Premium €79 and Beyond €149, all billed in euros, with a seven-day trial on Essentiel. Your menu itself can show its prices in pounds. Each venue has its own account.

Compare the plans
Do the restaurants on this page use Menyu?

No. They come from the MICHELIN Guide, which lists 23 restaurants for Manchester and its surroundings, and none of them was contacted. Each entry links to its source.5

Method

How this page was made

Written by the Menyu team, a publisher based in Montpellier, France, from the pages cited, all read on 21 October 2026: the Office for National Statistics, National Records of Scotland, VisitBritain, Manchester City Council, GOV.UK, Google’s autocomplete, the MICHELIN Guide and the restaurants’ own websites. What the page says about Menyu was checked in its code the same day, then updated on 22 October 2026 for the currency and time zone settings. The restaurants listed are not Menyu customers. The illustration is AI-generated and shows no real place.

Sources

  1. Office for National Statistics, Mid-year population estimates, England and Wales, mid-2025 (MYE25)ons.gov.uk · accessed 21 October 2026

  2. Office for National Statistics, Population estimates for England and Wales: mid-2025ons.gov.uk · accessed 21 October 2026

  3. VisitBritain, Inbound visits and spend: trends by UK townvisitbritain.org · accessed 21 October 2026

  4. Manchester City Council, Pavement licencemanchester.gov.uk · accessed 21 October 2026

  5. MICHELIN Guide, MICHELIN restaurants, Manchester and surroundingsguide.michelin.com · accessed 21 October 2026

  6. MICHELIN Guide, mana, Manchesterguide.michelin.com · accessed 21 October 2026

  7. MICHELIN Guide, Skof, Manchesterguide.michelin.com · accessed 21 October 2026

  8. Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government, Pavement licences: guidancegov.uk · accessed 21 October 2026

  9. mana, mana, official websitemanarestaurant.co.uk · accessed 21 October 2026

  10. Skof, Skof, official websiteskofmanchester.co.uk · accessed 21 October 2026

  11. MICHELIN Guide, El Gato Negro, Manchesterguide.michelin.com · accessed 21 October 2026

  12. El Gato Negro, El Gato Negro, official websiteelgatonegrotapas.com · accessed 21 October 2026

  13. MICHELIN Guide, Higher Ground, Manchesterguide.michelin.com · accessed 21 October 2026

  14. Higher Ground, Higher Ground, official websitehighergroundmcr.co.uk · accessed 21 October 2026

  15. MICHELIN Guide, Erst, Manchesterguide.michelin.com · accessed 21 October 2026

  16. Erst, Erst, official websiteerst-mcr.co.uk · accessed 21 October 2026

  17. MICHELIN Guide, The Spärrows, Manchesterguide.michelin.com · accessed 21 October 2026

  18. The Spärrows, The Spärrows, official websitethesparrows.me · accessed 21 October 2026