‘Not just a bar’ - the new Manchester spot with next level snacks, an ‘unhappy hour’ and ‘session margaritas’

Everything at Public, the new bar on Stevenson Square opening today, has been considered. From the drinks to the bar snacks, they’re very much going the extra mile.

Take the humble margarita, for example. Every bar in the city now serves them, pretty much without exception, though the reality is that after a few, it’s sometimes difficult to recall either how to get home, or more fundamentally where home actually it is.

Enter Public’s ‘Margarita Seltzer’, a lighter version of the classic tequila cocktail that might mean your brunch date actually stretches into the evening. It’s made with El Tequileño Reposado tequila, Cointreau, a 'recomposed lime cordial', agave syrup for sweetness and peach, plus it’s carbonated on site.

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See, the extra mile. They’re taking a similar approach with the bar snacks, which nod to the Western style of Chinese cuisine. This isn’t a restaurant; it’s a bar that does a handful of plates. But these snacks are not to be underestimated.

The pork belly? It takes three days to make. The burger? Not just a puck of mince slapped between two buns - it’s a potato bun with american cheese, pickles, white onion, burger sauce and their ‘house’ ketchup. The house ketchup is in fact dehydrated, so it resembles and has the texture of a slice of burger cheese.

The idea, executive chef Jay tells the M.E.N, being that the sauce doesn’t interfere with the flavour profile of the beef patty, and doesn’t slide everywhere, while still getting all the sweetness and sharpness of ketchup. “It’s super cool,” he grins.

Meanwhile, the fried chicken 'sando' is a buttermilk fried chicken breast (Jay went through more than 30