Almost Famous Beach Club

Disappointing, and annoying.
Ended up waiting for 2 hours to get a table, drinks at the bar were fine, but looking around I suspect the long wait times are down to the staff rather than the popularity of the venue; there were lots of empty tables during the evening and also queues out the door. This would either indicate the venue artificially creating a queue to make it look more popular that it actually is or disorganisation on the floor.
Watching the staff, there did not seem to be any coherent method of getting people seated, plus there is no table service; after spending 2 hours looking at the menu, orders should have either been taken while we waited (when a table was close to becoming available) or immediately at the table, instead we got sat down and then told to go to the bar to order; where we had to compete with people queuing up for drinks to get the staff attention.
Finally the staff should spend less time flirting with each other and more time getting food out to customers. I got the impression the burger was pretty nice, but by the time it got to me I was so hungry the flavour didn’t really register.
Definitely not somewhere to go if you are planning on doing anything else in the evening.

It’s not often that you get the chance to sit outside in Manchester. In fact most of the time you find yourself scarpering to get out of the rain, but when summer comes around, it’s one giant rush for the limited Mancunian outdoors space to lay up, have a bite and grab a cold drink.
It was with this thought in mind and this overwhelming heat wave that shows no respite that I today paid a visit to Almost Famous’ new Deansgate/​Great Northern outdoor popup: Beach Club to see if I could find my own slice of outdoor paradise.
Housed in the sub street level, abandoned swimming pool-​esque confines of the now defunct Bar 38, the initial signs were promising with multi-​coloured beach shacks, picnic tables aplenty and plenty of lunch time sun seekers getting their statutory hour of body baking in. The vibe was mellow, the summer tunes were fitting and I was hungry.
So what about the food? Well everyone’s checked out Almost Famous before their unfortunate, premature ending — and if you’re having withdrawal symptoms from their mighty fine burgers, with crazy toppings, that require some serious concentration to eat then you’re back in luck here. With new vegetarian options and a few new side dishes, it seems that AF are aiming to be a bit more flexible and mass market with the variety on offer here. Prices again seem reasonable, especially with it catering to the lunch time and casual drop in set.
When it comes to drinks, there’s a great selection of cocktails on offer and although Almost Famous and their sister stores Liquor and Burn, Home Sweet Home etc all pride themselves on a great selection of beers, it’s here where I feel Beach Club let’s itself down. Gone are the Dos Equis and Brewdogs, no sign of Sierra Nevada or Brooklyn too — the beer pumps unfortunately belong to bland ales like San Miguel and the 80’s classic Holsten Pils (really…)
But as this was a quick visit, this wasn’t supposed to be a massive session in the pub so I went away ultimately satisfied with Almost Famous’ quality standard fodder, with a nice cold pint to quench my thirst — and in the summer sun of course!
I hear there are all sorts of special events happening at Beach Club this summer so I look forward to returning when I know I can really let my hair down and take advantage of more that this outdoor haven has to offer.

Wow. Just wow.
When you think of somewhere like Almost Famous, you think messy/​dirty/​boozy but, unfortunately, quite literally up in smoke. But these guys just get better — you can now get your messy dirty booze fuelled meal at Great Northern Square. Located in the basin, the three huts — 2 bars & 1 kitchen — are surrounded by seating and, at the moment, sunshine. I’d recommend following these folks on Twitter; due to the Manchester weather, they wont be open all the time, but pay attention and you’ll be rewarded.
We rocked up today, in the heat, at around 12o’clock to find a relatively empty area. Score — there’s not much worse than turning up somewhere only for it to be sold out of half the grub. After a quick skim of the menu (a scaled down offering of their usual fare) we went for the famous burger and triple bacon cheese something something, with a side of bacon bacon fries. We took a seat and got some drinks from the adjoining bar — a small prosecco and pint of beer, classy — and waited for my name to be called. Tucking in to our burgers, we went half and half, and I started with the mess of cheese and bacon and burger and baconnaise. I scarfed it down and it was delicious; meaty, cheesey, filling, a little bit spicy. The famous burger was an easier eat, but less exciting on the palette, with a more traditional combination of burger, cheese, lettuce & tomato.
Bacon bacon fries deserve a little section of their own. A mixture of sweet potato and normal fries, doused in baconnaise, bacon rain and bacon bits. Need I say more?
In the words of Almost Famous — burgers get you ripped.