With its raft of bars, pubs and restaurants, the town is becoming one of the best nights out in Greater Manchester
Jenna at Foodie Friday in Stockport (Image: MEN)
“It’s only seven minutes from Manchester,” something I and fellow Stopfordians have said so often that it’s even become a meme. In the past, this line was worn like a badge of honour, with the town’s superior rail connectivity seen as one of its major selling points.
But now, Stockport has a surplus of reasons for visitors and locals alike wanting to stick around. Ten years ago, the town was at a crossroads, unsure as to what people really wanted, but its £1 billion masterplan regeneration programme has transformed it into a destination for property, food, drink, and nightlife.
Now, rather than whizzing past the town or gazing down on the Plaza and Merseyway Shopping Centre from the Viaduct above, people are opting for Stockport for a night out rather than Manchester city centre.
Stockport Marketplace during Foodie Friday (Image: Supplied)
In the last 12 months alone, 10 new bars, restaurants and cultural venues have opened, events like Foodie Friday have continued to draw thousands and businesses like SK1 Records have taken over multi-storey car parks for huge street parties.
Two years ago, I proudly reported on Manchester DJ Luke Unabomber declaring it the ‘New Berlin’, and spoke to the businesses choosing Stockport over town, or other suburbs. Everyone from shopkeepers and restaurateurs, to bar owners and chefs, shared in the enthusiasm that Stockport really was becoming the place to be.
For me, the story of its comeback starts with the Underbanks. Nestled in the town’s historic heart, this warren of cobbled streets lined with beautifully restored buildings – their facades now home to some of the town’s most exciting venues.
The Underbanks in Stockport town centre (Image: Supplied)
Wine and cocktail bars sit alongside pizzerias, bakeries and brunch spots, and new spots like Bruk bring together live DJs and pints that don’t cost the earth. Listening bars like Odioba, have relocated from Ancoats to the Underbanks serving up ramen and new sounds.
Up towards the marketplace old school boozers sit side-by-side with newer bars and brewers. On the last Friday of every month, the Victorian Market Hall opens its doors at night and thousands flood into the Old Town for street food, craft ales, fine wines, and live music.
The event was initially organised by Stockport Council under Esther Morrison’s lead, but by 2015 it was taken over by husband and wife John and Rosemary Barratt, with their son Joe, under their CIC, Seven Miles Out.
Stockport Marketplace during Foodie Friday (Image: Supplied)
Today, you can try everything from specialty Malaysian dishes from Nasi Lemak to Neapolitan-style wood-fire pizzas from I Knead Pizza, and American-inspired healthy bites from Oh My Glaze on the marketplace. What’s exciting is the just over the way, in the 700-year-old cathedral, the town is now also home to EatGoodWest, a bi-monthly Asian food night market with food stalls showcasing the best cuisine from Japan, Korea, Thailand, China, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Taiwan and more.
Restaurant Where The Light Gets In, with its Green Michelin Star, also played a significant role in helping the town achieve its status as one of Greater Manchester’s best food neighbourhoods, and paved the way for the likes of Cantaloupe, a place also loved by the Michelin inspectors. What Stockport does well though is span all types of cuisines, drinking styles and price points.
The impact of this evolution, the growth in the town’s food and drink scene has started to pay off, with a number of people now choosing the town on a Thursday night for an intimate meal or Saturday afternoon drinking session, over Manchester. My friends and I have found ourselves more regularly meeting here on a Friday night and spending hours hopping between its bars, pub and food spots.
Outside the cathedral in Stockport during EatGoodWest, Asian night market(Image: MEN)
It’s not that I don’t go out in Manchester anymore, but there’s now enough variety on my doorstep that it makes sense to stay closer to town sometimes. There’s the added bonus of it being a cheaper journey home if I miss the last train home too with the bus and taxi a viable option.
There’s something else too.
Scrolling through my phone over the last 12 months, as I looked for my best meals of 2025, I noticed something. Some of my best nights out, meals and experiences have been in Stockport – its centre but also the borough’s surrounding villages and towns.
The St Sunday Lager and stout at Fell bar in Stockport(Image: Manchester Evening News)
Stockport’s nightlife thrives on its sense of community, something I’ve witnessed first hand through speaking to those that own and run the pubs, bars, and restaurants here, but also through experiencing it. While it’s still quiet mid-week – a sign of the times for hospitality, those running venues in Stockport are still doing a good trade on weekends and enticing people with live music, supper clubs and plenty of karaoke.
One of my best nights of the last year out started at The Chestergate, which is funny considering karaoke is usually a post-midnight escapade in Manchester city centre when enough glasses of wine have been consumed to convince me it’s a good idea.
The much-loved boozer went viral a few years back and was crowned ‘the best on earth’ thanks to its cheap pints, legendary karaoke nights and lively crowd. It’s a Stockport institution where people can just be themselves, belt out classics, and carry on merrily into the night.
Jenna outside The Chestergate Pub in Stockport town centre(Image: MEN)
It’s one of many places I’ve landed in the town, which might just have one of the best pub crawls in the region too.
I’ve found myself warmly embraced at award-winning boozers like the Magnet and Ye Olde Vic, on the town’s outskirts, enjoyed a pizza and pint at Runways’ taproom overlooking the Mersey, and sank a Guinness or two outside Bakers Vaults, Thread and Red Bull post Foodie Friday.
Up on Petersgate, it’s also becoming a real go-to for craft beer with Petersgate Tap being joined by the likes of Saint’s Club and Fell Brewery in recent months. Sitting side-by-side with Enigma, Spoons, and Edgerton Arms – there’s something for everyone. It’s up here too that in the daytime you’ll find the like of Coffee Block, Sanjuan, Rack and new bakeries and coffee shops, making it a proper all-rounder of a food and drink destination.