{"id":269992,"date":"2025-07-17T18:31:14","date_gmt":"2025-07-17T18:31:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/269992\/"},"modified":"2025-07-17T18:31:14","modified_gmt":"2025-07-17T18:31:14","slug":"customers-voice-concern-as-much-loved-manchester-fried-chicken-spot-temporarily-closes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/269992\/","title":{"rendered":"Customers voice concern as much-loved Manchester fried chicken spot temporarily closes"},"content":{"rendered":"

The restaurant is loved for its Korean Fried Chicken but is undergoing a change\"TheThe restaurant is near Oxford Road(Image: Kenny Brown | Manchester Evening News)<\/p>\n

There’s some outstanding fried chicken spots in Greater Manchester. There’s those that specialise in American-style dipped in hot sauce, or southern-fried, and then there’s Japanese karaage and of course, Korean style.<\/p>\n

But, one of the most popular, which can be found in the student area of town by Oxford Road, is seemingly undergoing a bit of a change. Chimaek, just a minute away from the railway station on Hulme<\/a> Street has become a city centre staple, but its listing online says ‘temporarily closed’.<\/p>\n

Chimaek translates as chicken and beer; chi, short for chicken, and maek from maekju, meaning beer, and it is here that you can get some of best double fried chicken in the city.<\/p>\n

However, eagle-eyed customers spotted a new sign has replaced Chimaek’s, which suggests a new Malatang – translating as Chinese street food or hot pot – spot is taking its place.<\/p>\n

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It’s is not clear whether the same owners will be running the transformed restaurant space, but a sign on the window reads: “Dear Valued Customers, Please be informed that our restaurant will be undergoing renovations starting July 6.<\/p>\n

Fried chicken at Chimaek(Image: Supplied)<\/p>\n

“The renovation period is expected to last for approximately two weeks. Our reopening date and updated business hours will be announced soon.<\/p>\n

“We sincerely apologise for any inconvenience this may cause and truly appreciate your understanding and continued support. Thank you! Chimaek.”<\/p>\n

Another sign in the window about the revamp into a Malatang restaurant explains there will be a soft opening from July 23. It adds that if customers spend \u00a320, they will get \u00a310 back as a voucher plus a free keychain.<\/p>\n

\"TheThe sign at Chimaek has been replaced(Image: Kenny Brown | Manchester Evening News)<\/p>\n

But customers of the popular have voiced their concern over the change. A post of Reddit read; “Just walked past what used to be my fave Korean fried chicken spot in Manchester (Chimaek, just off Oxford Road) and nearly dropped my iced coffee.<\/p>\n

“Does any one know if Chimaek\u2019s actually shut for good or if they\u2019re opening a new location? They usually close for a bit this time of year anyway, so I\u2019m clinging to hope that this is all just a dramatic seasonal break.<\/p>\n

“If anyone has any information I would be so grateful!”<\/p>\n

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In response, another Reddit user wrote: “I attempted to go there for lunch today and was also shocked to see the branding change! Although i’m still not sure what it means…”<\/p>\n

Others speculated about the temporary closure listing on Google and TripAdvisor while another simply wrote: “No no no no no no no no”.<\/p>\n

\"TheThe sign explains a renovation has been taking place(Image: Kenny Brown | Manchester Evening News)<\/p>\n

The Manchester Evening News has contacted Chimaek for more information, but for now it appears that it will be changed into a malatang restaurant, a type of eatery that specialises in malatang, a Sichuan-style street food dish characterized by its spicy, numbing broth and variety of customisable ingredients.<\/p>\n

Diners are able to choose from a selection of ingredients and toppings such as vegetables, meats, seafood, and noodles, which are then cooked in a piping hot broth and served in individual bowls.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The restaurant is loved for its Korean Fried Chicken but is undergoing a changeThe restaurant is near Oxford…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":269993,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8813],"tags":[748,393,4884,2465,8086,8886,31074,280,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-269992","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-manchester","8":"tag-britain","9":"tag-england","10":"tag-great-britain","11":"tag-manchester","12":"tag-manchester-city-centre","13":"tag-manchester-restaurants","14":"tag-oxford-road","15":"tag-restaurants","16":"tag-uk","17":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114870005837508182","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/269992","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=269992"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/269992\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/269993"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=269992"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=269992"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=269992"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}