City awaits latest steak specialist with 150-cover summer opening planned
Manchester’s specialist steak restaurant scene will become even more crowded this summer after the Flat Iron brand said it will open a site on Deansgate.
The city already boasts an impressive range of steak eateries, from small independents to national players including Hawksmoor, Gaucho and Miller & Carter.
Flat Iron was founded in London in 2012 by Mancunian Charlie Carroll as a pop-up above a pub in East London. It now operates 12 restaurants in London and, in 2023, opened its first sites outside the capital in Cambridge and Leeds.
Working closely with British farmer Charles Ashbridge, Charlie and Head of Beef, Fred Smith, have created their own herd of Flat Iron cattle in Thirsk, Yorkshire, where they are concentrating on reviving and perfecting rare and native breeds.
Located at 200-204 Deansgate, the 150-cover restaurant is situated in a Grade II-listed building, designed by Charles Heathcote and first opened in 1908 as an office of the Royal London Friendly Society.
The interiors of the restaurant have been remodelled by architects Macaulay Sinclair to uncover and display as much of the original building fabric as possible, highlighting any heritage assets and celebrating the architectural features. Existing plasterwork and cornicing have been exposed and paired with the original timber flooring, original glazed brick walls have been exposed, riveted steel columns revealed, and original parquet flooring restored.
Flat Iron’s Founder, Charlie Carroll, said: “Opening a restaurant in my home town of Manchester is a big deal to me and a long time coming.
“The food and drink scene is so exciting at the moment and just keeps getting better. I can’t wait to be a tiny part of it.”
He added: “I fell in love with a beautiful historic building on Deansgate in 2018 and six years on we are finally opening this summer. Flat Iron is about unpretentious, top quality steak, available to all. I am passionate about delicious beef and proud to bring Flat Iron to the city where I grew up and where so many of my friends and family live.”
The restaurant’s concise menu is led by the signature ‘Flat Iron’ steak, taken from the often overlooked featherblade, known for its flavour, tenderness and juiciness when seam butchered with skill and care, alongside much loved sides such as beef dripping chips, creamed spinach, truffled macaroni cheese and crispy bone marrow garlic mash.
A curated selection of wines will make up the drinks list, including Flat Iron’s own Malbec, specially blended by the Flat Iron team using grapes grown in the Limoux area of the Languedoc in southern France. Alongside the wine list will sit a selection of draft beers and Flat Iron’s signature cocktails.
