The Chorlton favourite has become well-known for for their fresh-baked bagels and in-house salt beef brisket
A popular bagel and coffee shop is set to open a second café in Manchester(Image: SMOAK)
A beloved south Manchester coffee shop and café looks is set to expand with a new site in another popular suburb.
Smoak has been a familiar name in Chorlton for their freshly-brewed coffee since opening their premises on Manchester Road three years ago. Led by owner Johnathan Barnett, the venue has also become popular for their fresh-baked bagels and in-house salt beef brisket, which is cured for up to 30 days.
Often using neighbourhood independents, like the Barbakan bakery and Blackjack Brew Co., the venue received a nomination for Coffee Shop of the Year at the Manchester Food & Drink Festival Awards back in 2023. They have continued to be nominated in the category in both the 2024 and 2025 ceremonies.
SMOAK opened on Manchester Road in Chorlton back in 2022(Image: SMOAK)
The venture had initially been set to open in Stockport, but the lockdown eventually put a halt on those plans. Smoak opened in Chorlton back in July 2022. Recent additions on its menu have included the likes of a aubergine and whipped feta bagel, a toasted jalapeno popper bagel, and a chicken Banh Mi – featuring 24 hour soy brined chicken with in-house fermented daikon and chillies, alongside gochujang sauce and mayo.
Now a Didsbury venue for Smoak will be opening in the near future after window branding has been put up at a unit on Barlow Moor Road. Situated in between Didsbury Wholefoods and Vintage Wardrobe, it will be based in the former Healthy Spirit shop, which has since moved to Wilmslow Road.
Earlier this month, Smoak teased plans of its ‘new site’ after posting a callout for artists looking to exhibit their work at the Chorlton venue. In response to one customer asking about when the new spot would open, the coffee shop wrote: “We’re aiming for the 5th Jan.”
Smoak in Chorlton is well known for it bagels and salt beef(Image: Smoak Coffee)
Earlier this year, the venue also hinted to a new shop as it marked three years since opening. In a post on social media, the shop posted: “Happy three year anniversary! Like our second anniversary but older. So what happened this year? Honestly a lot less than before, we’re established, we continue to improve and the team just gets better. There’s some potential big news around the corner.”
Confirming the news and revealing more details on what to expect from the second Smoak site, Johnathan told the Manchester Evening News, that builders have been working around the clock in the run up to Christmas to make sure the Didsbury branch can open in January.
“There’s builders on site while we speak, working every day other than Christmas, to get it ready, and we’re hoping it will be ready to open early next year,” Jonathon said earlier today (December 24).
SMOAK is getting ready to open on Barlow Moor Road in Didsbury(Image: SMOAK)
“We got the lease in around February but there’s been some legal delays and I was searching for a unit in Didsbury for a year before that. I wasn’t in a rush though, the idea was to take our time, and then when I saw this space I thought ‘that’s the one’. It has needed a lot of work though.
“We’ve been ripping plaster, and it needed a full rewire, but the end finish looks amazing, and we enlisted a designer this time, which has made a big difference. There’s been some nice surprises in the building too.
“The ceilings were ripped down and revealed Victorian architrave, which is decorative moulding and it didn’t take too much work to get it back looking how it should. It’s been the same with some of the floors as well, which we’ve sanded and varnished.”
Jonathan Barnett who owns and runs Smoak, a popular coffee shop in Chorlton(Image: ABNM Photography)
A big positive about the new site is the upstairs floor too, which gives the team more space for butchering and brining their beef. “We can now do it in big vats, increase our production and make it easier – we have plenty of room to produce our beef.
“Opening the second Smoak is exciting and dauting but there’s a few differences this time. With Chorlton I was a first time owner-occupier, and as we’ve grown I’ve worked more on strategy and finance, and I think this second shop will help me play to my strengths. I’m excited to get my teeth stuck in.
“It will be the same food and drink, our key thing is simplicity, and that’s how we keep the quality high. It means when we open we can hit the ground running with the same specification as Chorlton. As we go on we might look at grab-and-go for Didsbury too, but to start with it will be the same.”
Smoak Chorlton is on 105 Manchester Road, Chorlton-cum-Hardy, M21 9GA. The new Smoak Didsbury will be located on Barlow Moor Rd, Didsbury, Manchester M20 6TW.
Smoak Didsbury will be open an hour later than Chorlton every day. Monday to Friday it will be open 8am until 4:30pm, then on Saturday, 9am until 5pm, and on Sunday, 9:30am until 5pm.