There’s plans underway to extend the Stockport venue further and open a rooftop bar in the future too
Inside Underbank, the new beer hall and tequila bar in Stockport town centre (Image: Kenny Brown | Manchester Evening News)
For Des and Nina O’Malley the opening of Underbank, their latest hospitality venture in the heart of Stockport town centre, has been a long time coming.
Plans have been underway to transform a corner of Stockport’s iconic old town into a multi-venue destination since 2019, but the pandemic and planning setbacks caused some delays.
The pair are known as the people behind Nook, a popular neighbourhood cafe bar in the heart of Heaton Moor, and now they have realised their vision to transform the Stockport venue into the town’s ‘first’ beer hall and margarita bar.
In recent years, the area around Stockport Underbanks has become known for its plethora of independent shops, restaurants and bars. And in the last couple, it became a destination for street parties too.
The beer hall is located on the Underbanks in the town centre(Image: Kenny Brown | Manchester Evening News)
Entering the scene at just the right time, ‘Underbank’ as it will be known, will open in phases across multiple floors in the striking red sandstone building, and boast two entrances connecting the market square with the vibrant Underbank strip.
Joining the likes of Stanley’s, Bruk, Cantaloupe and Yellowhammer on the Underbanks, the next phase will hopefully include a rooftop bar terrace as well as a recording studio and event space in the basement.
For now, and just in time for the bank holiday weekend, Des and Nina are opening up the ground floor beer hall and margarita bar, and they’re more than happy to show us around the space.
Owners of Underbank Des and Nina O’Malley(Image: Kenny Brown | Manchester Evening News)
“We’ve been hanging around and waiting for things to happen around here so we decided at the start the year to just go for it, and as it happens things seem to be opening up around us,” says Des.
“Planning in Stockport, in any borough is hard, but we’ve got the plans in place for the next phases so I’d like to get those finalised and then start the process – it would be nice to have that rooftop for next summer.
“It’s a unique space, lots of people say the Underbanks is a little like Chester and almost stuck in time in terms of how it looks. We have film crews here every other week, they love the old cobbled streets, there’s nowhere else like it in the North West.”
The new venue encompasses a beer hall featured local breweries and a tequila bar(Image: Kenny Brown | Manchester Evening News)
Des and Nina have used the interior and style of their bar Nook as their jumping off point and there’s plenty of bold and quirky details for customers to enjoy as well as nooks to enjoy a pint in.
“It’s evolved over time but it’s like Nook really so there’s lots of references to ourselves and our family,” shares Nina.
“We like going to antique fairs and buying quirky strange things, it’s basically a bigger version of our other bar really.”
A mish mash of furniture and furnishings, there’s a number of styles of beer benches overlooking the open terrace, as well as a seating area resembling a cosy front room, complete with a statement fireplace in flamingo-pink shade and patterned sofas, plus a small stage area for DJs.
The venue has a similar style to their bar Nook in Heaton Moor(Image: Kenny Brown | Manchester Evening News)
Those heading down can expect locally brewed pints from the likes of Runaway in Stockport and Pomona in Salford, plus Erdinger as a nod to German beer halls, and plenty of frozen margaritas.
“We’ve got a big selection of cocktails and tequila is big for us, we’ve got some great bottles, specialist ones that not many places do,” adds Nina.
Cocktails include a range of spritzes from £9, as well as classics like espresso martini (£9.50) and cherry negronis (£10), alongside a strong variety of margaritas from £8 and shots from £5.
On tap there’s the Underbank Pilsner (£5.50), Estrella (£6), Guinness (£6.50), Pomona Factotum (£6.25) and Runaway Session IPA (£6.25), plus the Erdinger (£6.75) and Jubel Peach (£6.50), alongside a range of wines and soft drinks.
Drinks at Underbank include local beers and a range of margaritas (Image: Kenny Brown | Manchester Evening News)
Food wise it will be Steve Patel who has worked with the couple for years, serving up Indian small plates and express lunch options for a tenner. There’s also plans for more food to fit the beer hall vibe that they’re going for here at Underbank.
The custom Void sound system that the venue boasts speaks to their commitment in supporting DJs and party collectives. The first Void sound system in Stockport, it is delivered by Hollowsphere who have looked after festival sound systems all over the world.
Last year, the venue, which was originally a RBS bank until 2019, was also chosen as the home for a Joy Division mural playing homage to the band’s Unknown Pleasures album.
(Image: Kenny Brown | Manchester Evening News)
Created by street artist Otto Schade, the mural celebrates the 1979 record with a nod to the artwork created by Peter Saville and a Vox Phantom VI guitar, which was played by Ian Curtis in the music video for the band’s biggest hit Love Will Tear Us Apart.
The mural is now joined by a plaque from Stockport Music History, which recognises significant music moments of the town. The plaque was first unveiled by Peter Hook last May and seems rather fitting given the owner’s passion for all things music.
“We’ve always been big into music since taking the children to Glastonbury when they were children, and then partying in Manchester and Leeds,” says Nina.
(Image: Kenny Brown | Manchester Evening News)
“We’ve got Rich Reason helping us curate the DJ side of things and then going forward there will be some live entertainment and music, so it’s not just DJ led but acoustics too, maybe with a house band too in the future.
“I am really excited to open, it’s been emotional actually, just people coming out the woodworks to come and support us.”
Des also says it’s been a long time coming: “We’ve been sit on this a long time but we’re excited to get the doors open.”
A soft launch for Underbank will take place across Saturday 24 and Sunday 25 May. As part of their soft launch, while they train the team, people can join them before 8pm on Saturday 24 or Bank Holiday Sunday and get 50% off their bill if they follow them on @theunderbank on Instagram.
It will then officially open on Friday, 30 May and Saturday, 31 May. The launch festival weekend boasts everyone from Rich Reason to James Holroyd, Mix-Stress to Sticky Heat taking over the custom sound system.