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The Manchester eateries and takeaways we loved long before Deliveroo and Uber Eats existed
Takeaway delivery services like Deliveroo, Just Eat and Uber Eats have made ordering our favourite dishes virtually effortless.
There’s no doubt we love the convenience of having whatever food we’re craving from our favourite eateries at the touch of a button.
But back in the late 1980s and early ’90s, the options on having your tea delivered by one of your favourite cafes or takeaways were much more limited.
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In those days you would most likely have to make a special trip to a cafe, restaurant, bistro or chippie in person, or if it was pizza you were craving, phone Gino’s Dial A Pizza and wait for your order to arrive.
But while the pandemic has undoubtedly accelerated our reliance in online ordering, there’s still something special about finding an eatery you really love and dining in to catch up with a friend or loved one.
For beautiful, historic images from the past have a look at memorylane.co.uk/ and see what you can discover
We’ve dipped into the Mirrorpix archives to get an idea of what the food scene was like in Manchester in the late ’80s and early ’90s.
Check out our gallery below, you may find that place you used to love but may sadly no longer be around.
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Do these awaken any memories for you? Let us know in the comments section below.
Cheerleaders restaurant, Manchester. Waitress Lisa Smith has come all the way from Miami Beach to serve here. July 25, 1992
(Image: Mirrorpix)Iris Cooney serves tea from her mobile food caravan in the Strangeways area of Manchester. March 11, 1991
(Image: Mirrorpix)Tommy Dolan opens De Olde English Chippie. Manchester. June 25, 1983
(Image: Mirrorpix)Steve King outside his That Cafe business on The Stockport Road, Levenshulme, Manchester. April 22, 1989
(Image: Mirrorpix)Philpott’s Sandwich Bar in Brazenose Street. Picture shows Colin Williams, aged 27, the shop’s manager. February 23, 1989
(Image: Mirrorpix)Harry Ramsden’s take away, Manchester. January 4, 1993
(Image: Mirrorpix)Cafe 16 on Princess Street. Manchester. September 23, 1996
(Image: Mirrorpix)Irene’s Butty Box on the M56 lay be near Manchester airport. Picture shows Irene with some of her trucker customers. January 27, 1993
(Image: Mirrorpix)Henry J Beans restaurant, Blackfriars Street, Manchester. April 20, 1993
(Image: Mirrorpix)Greasy Joe’s trucker’s cafe in Manchester. June 12, 1989
(Image: Mirrorpix)Jacqui Bird and Linda Hogan at their Tasty Crumpet cafe in Manchester’s busy New Smithfield. October 23, 1991
(Image: Mirrorpix)San Marco Cafe in the Italian quarter of Manchester. July 2, 1991
(Image: Mirrorpix)Philippe Delcloque serves one of his speciality crepe suzette at his Cafe de Paris Creperie in Manchester Road, Chorlton cum Hardy, Manchester. February 22, 1990
(Image: Mirrorpix)Mike Grant sitting outside his Low Cal cafe in Brazennose Street, Manchester. June 9, 1993
(Image: Mirrorpix)Pearsons Cafe Bar, off King Street West, Manchester. March 6, 1989
(Image: Mirrorpix)Fish Bar on Tib Street in the Northern Quarter of Manchester. August 19, 1987
(Image: Mirrorpix)Amigos on Oxford Road, Manchester. Picture shows Lucy Knowles, Abby (in the sombrero) and Lisa Fletcher. October 16, 1992
(Image: Mirrorpix)Pizzeria Italia Restaurant, Deansgate, Manchester, Circa 1990
(Image: Mirrorpix)Rajdoot Tandoori, Manchester. August 8, 1990
(Image: Mirrorpix)Busy scenes in the highly regarded Yang Sing Chinese restaurant on Princess Street, Manchester. July 2, 1992
(Image: Mirrorpix)View of the Sept a Sept restaurant in Bridge Street, Manchester. August 21, 1992
(Image: Mirrorpix)Gino’s Dial a Pizza, Manchester. August 19, 1992
(Image: Mirrorpix)Kavon and Karma Hussain of TK Too and Tandoori Kitchen restaurant in Wilmslow Road, Rusholme, Manchester. July 21, 1992
(Image: Mirrorpix)Tia Pan restaurant in Upper Brook Street, Manchester. September 8, 1994
(Image: Mirrorpix)Customers dining in the Uppercrust restaurant in Lloyd Street, Manchester. July 14, 1992
(Image: Mirrorpix)Co-owners of The Nutcracker vegetarian restaurant on Oxford Road, Altrincham, David Allen and Wendy Halton. June 12, 1992
(Image: Mirrorpix)The Rosemary Hamer marketing co-ordinator at The Royal Exchange cafe bar, in the St Ann’s Square area of Manchester. June 5, 1994
(Image: Mirrorpix)A celebration bite for brothers Aazam (left) and Zeagham Ahamed on hearing that their shop, Deansgate Sandwiches, has won Caterer of the Year Award for the thirst time in succession. October 30, 1995
(Image: Mirrorpix)Peter Okun, proprietor of the Topo Gigio restaurant in Mossley, Tameside, chalking up the menu before opening. April 7, 1994
(Image: Mirrorpix)View inside the Topkapi restaurant on Peter Street, Manchester. March 9, 1992
(Image: Mirrorpix)The chef at the Teppanyaki restaurant in George Street, Manchester, demonstrates his art at the griddle as diners look on. November 9, 1992
(Image: Mirrorpix)Restaurants abound in Manchester’s Wilmslow Road. October 14, 1988
(Image: Mirrorpix)
