Greater Manchester town gets first ever food hall with burgers and gin bar

Bolton Market has opened a new food hall featuring an offering including gourmet burgers, Japanese food and freshly-cooked kebabs.

The food hall, which forms part of a whopping £5.9m transformation of Bolton Market, officially opened its doors earlier this week and will also host live music, sports screenings and other events in a bid to boost the town’s night-time economy.

Situated opposite the newly-opened Elizabeth Park, the 200-capacity food hall also features an outdoor seating area and a gin bar from The Bolton Gin Company, aptly named Chill.

READ MORE: The charming canal-side café tucked away in leafy Greater Manchester suburb that’s doing something a bit different

Other vendors at the venue include burgers and loaded fries from What’s Your Beef, curries and Pakistani cuisine from Biryani Bazaar, bubble waffles from Sweet Drinks and Desserts Place, and Hainanese-style food from Cluck Cluck Chicken. Kat’s’u’ Kat’s’u’ will also be serving up a range of Japanese-inspired dishes, with stalls focusing on Caribbean, Indian and Italian food also taking up residency.

The Food Hall’s opening times will vary throughout the week, but it will stay open for later on Friday and Saturday nights until 9.30pm. The venue will kick off its live sports calendar with upcoming screenings of the UEFA European Football Championship this weekend.

Jon Dyson, Director of Place at Bolton Council, said: “We’re excited to offer even more variety to the town, after more than 70 food and drink traders toured the premises, expressing interest. The final selection was based on individual business cases and how we could provide a variety of options for customers.”

Bolton Council said the recent opening of Elizabeth Park, which is the town’s first park in 100 years, alongside the upcoming launch of the Wellsprings Innovation Centre in September, which will provide flexible workspace and business support, will give a further boost to Bolton Market.

Jon added: “With the new Wellsprings set to open later in the year, as well as Bolton being a popular place to work and study, this new venue will offer more dining choices for lunchtime breaks, as well as being a great addition to the town’s weekend hospitality scene, offering live music, entertainment, and sports on screens.”

“And with the latest opening of the new Elizabeth Park just across the Bolton Market, which will be running a programme of events, the new Food Hall will be a popular destination for families, students, workers, and visitors of all ages.”

Bolton Food Hall will be open from 11am to 5pm on Tuesday and Thursday, and from 11am to 9.30pm on Friday and Saturday. On Sundays, it will be open from 12pm to 6pm.

The Food Hall is located at Bolton Markets, Ashburner Street, Bolton, BL1 1TJ.