{"id":680142,"date":"2026-01-07T15:03:17","date_gmt":"2026-01-07T15:03:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/680142\/"},"modified":"2026-01-07T15:03:17","modified_gmt":"2026-01-07T15:03:17","slug":"major-restaurant-in-manchesters-printworks-closes-temporarily-with-its-future-in-doubt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/680142\/","title":{"rendered":"Major restaurant in Manchester’s Printworks closes ‘temporarily’ with its future in doubt"},"content":{"rendered":"

The restaurant has issued an update about the future of the Manchester site with trade temporarily suspended<\/p>\n

12:29, 07 Jan 2026Updated 14:02, 07 Jan 2026<\/p>\n

Manchester’s Hard Rock Cafe at the Printworks lit at night in 2000.<\/p>\n

Hard Rock Cafe Manchester has closed its doors after more than 25 years. In a statement issued by the Rock \u2019n\u2019 roll-themed restaurant chain, the brand confirmed they would be “suspending trade temporarily” at the city centre site.<\/p>\n

The venue opened in Manchester in September 2000 serving up burgers and American classics. On opening night, music fans anxiously waited outside to amongst the first to experience the global brand’s opening party, which was soundtracked by Duran Duran.<\/p>\n

In September, the Manchester Hard Rock Cafe celebrated its 25th birthday with a red-carpet VIP anniversary party for long-time supporters, local creators, the media, and special guests. The party included an evening of live music, classic cocktails, and a look back at the venue’s first quarter century.<\/p>\n

The Printworks in central Manchester, home to the Hard Rock Cafe (Image: Mirrorpix )<\/p>\n

Speaking about the closure, a spokesperson for Hard Rock International said: “While discussions are underway to determine the future of Hard Rock Cafe in Manchester, no final decision has yet been made, but we are suspending trade temporarily. Until further notice, we will be here, true to our mission of offering an unforgettable experience, in the heart of legendary music, a city that has always welcomed us with warmth and enthusiasm.<\/p>\n

The original Hard Rock Cafe opened in London in 1971<\/a>. It was launched by two US expats who wanted to create a place that served up the ‘ultimate American burger’.<\/p>\n

This small venture soon became a regular haunt for musicians, including Eric Clapton. One day, Clapton asked to hang his guitar over his favourite bar stool to “mark his spot.”<\/p>\n

Hard Rock Cafe Manchester sign at The Printworks for review (Feb 2003)<\/p>\n

Just a week later guitarist of The Who, Pete Townshend, sent over a guitar of his own with a note saying, “Mine’s as good as his! Love, Pete.” The Hard Rock’s tradition of mixing music memorabilia and mojitos was born.<\/p>\n

Over the course of the 1980s, the brand expanded to locations in Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, Chicago, Paris, and Berlin as the brand expanded worldwide. In 1990, the London-based Rank Group bought the Hard Rock Cafe and continued the chain’s expansion across the UK. The chain’s second restaurant opened in Edinburgh in 1998, before Manchester’s Printworks’ site was opened in September 2000.<\/p>\n

(Image: Manchester Family\/MEN)<\/p>\n

Currently, there are around 170 Hard Rock Cafes worldwide. Beginning with an Eric Clapton guitar, the brand owns the world’s largest and most valuable collection of authentic music memorabilia at more than 88,000 pieces, which are displayed at its locations around the globe.<\/p>\n

The brand’s Manchester site has seen some major music stars cross over the threshold including Green Day and Taylor Swift, and is known for its menu of American classics including burgers, smokehouse specialities, and desserts.<\/p>\n

The Manchester Evening News has approached Printworks Manchester for comment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The restaurant has issued an update about the future of the Manchester site with trade temporarily suspended 12:29,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":680143,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[77,18960,8086,8886,280,26664,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-680142","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-entertainment","8":"tag-entertainment","9":"tag-manchester-bars","10":"tag-manchester-city-centre","11":"tag-manchester-restaurants","12":"tag-restaurants","13":"tag-the-printworks","14":"tag-uk","15":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115854429838268401","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/680142","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=680142"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/680142\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/680143"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=680142"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=680142"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=680142"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}