Launching A New Restaurant In Manchester: Tips For Intrepid Chefs

Manchester is a bold and vibrant city, with everything from amazing entertainment to unique sites of cultural relevance and more.

It’s also a great place to open a restaurant. The city already has many eateries, but the chef community in Manchester is welcoming and supportive. After the pandemic, for example, major chefs and restauranteurs banded together to launch a food festival to welcome diners back to their establishments.

If you’re a food lover and chef that wants to open a new restaurant in Manchester, then you’ll need to be prepared.

To help budding chefs looking to get their start in Manchester, we’ve put together this list of practical tips to help get your eatery off to a great start.

Research Your Competition

The first step in creating an amazing eatery in Manchester is to do your research. That means checking out the competition and reviewing the dining trends in the city to see what your competitors are doing and what you could do to tempt diners to your restaurant. Dining at these establishments is only part of your research: you also need to read reviews, explore their menu and how it changes, and more.

Put Together A Concept And Rough Menu

Once you know what the competition is doing, you can start to create your concept and initial menu. Your preliminary concept and menu don’t have to be set in stone, but they are important for ensuring brand continuity and helping you to attract your target customers. Learn how to create a strong menu concept for your restaurant so that you can craft the perfect ideas for your new business.

Choose A Venue For Your Restaurant

With a concept ready, you now need to think about where you are going to set up your restaurant. Review the neighbourhoods in and around Manchester and find one where your target diners converge and where you have some competition but not too much. If you can’t afford or find the right premises, then you could consider starting out as a street food vendor and using a truck or market stall to launch your eatery. You can then expand later into a property when you have established a reputation for dining excellence.

Find The Supporting Staff You Need

A restaurant requires more than just a head chef with a dream. You also need supporting chefs, front of house staff and waiters, among others. Finding the right staff to support you and help you to grow your business might seem tough and like a lot of hard work. By working with a specialist hospitality recruitment agency like Chefs Bay, you can save yourself time and find the right fit for your new team. Based in the North West, this dedicated chef agency has spent years cultivating relationships with hospitality workers in the area. As a result, they can help you to fill your kitchen with the best team members and also assist in emergencies in the future if you need cover for larger bookings.

Host A Vibrant Launch Party

When you have everything in place, it’s time for the fun part: premiering your new restaurant to the people of Manchester! To ensure that your eatery gets the fanfare it deserves, you should host an exhilarating launch party. Consider offering a deal or having a theme to celebrate the launch of your restaurant. Your launch party doesn’t have to be one single event: you could consider offering a deal for a week or longer to tempt new diners to try your delicious dishes.

Launching your restaurant in Manchester is only the beginning of your journey towards a renowned dining establishment. Use these tips to get your restaurant off to the best possible start and improve your chances of future success.