When it comes to the Manchester burger scene - and it is a scene - Almost Famous must surely be actually famous by now. It launched to silly queues around the block in the Northern Quarter back in 2012, with its slightly aggro vibes almost as much part of the experience as the food. Almost.
It’s no reservations policy meant that the queues added to the hype, and getting in was something of a badge of honour. Luckily, the burgers actually lived up to the hype too.
Now founder Beau Myers has opened the growing chain’s first suburban outpost, on the site of the Old District Bank in Withington. Briefly The Libertine pub, Myers has now decked the place out much as has with the other locations in the Great Northern Warehouse and Edge Street in the Northern Quarter.
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Seating 120, and with another private room to fit 40 or so, the pub has been transformed, with anarchic artwork including an inverted McDonald’s logo and various other nods to Americana from 7 Eleven to Felix The Cat.
“South Manchester has always had a special place in my heart,” Myers told the Manchester Evening News. “I was in Fallowfield as a student and lived around Didsbury most of my adult life, so hitting the suburbs feels good, giving people a super fun time without them having to head into town.
“The Withington restaurant is the latest and I think best evolution of the brand. We strive to be an escapist restaurant, and this feels a bit like a burger wonderland. It's like no restaurant I've ever been to.”
And it’s quite a place to have it too. The building itself has stood on this spot on Wilmslow Road since the late 1800s.
“We’re pretty blessed with this beautiful grade II listed bank and we've scattered and splattered it with the inside of my mind,” Myers goes on. “We’ve got oversized art which has been inspired by travels and adventures around the world, we’ve got dystopian Americana.
But we've respected the architecture of the building too, and only added surfaces that contrast and compliment what’s existing. The reception locally has been overwhelmingly positive, from councillors, civic society, locals, families and students, everyone has been so friendly and genuinely happy that we've come to Withington.
“We've been on a good vibes mission saying hello to everyone in the area and very quickly fallen in love with this community.”
As such, there’s a gift to the locals in the form of the venue’s own special burger - the Southside - stacking up two patties with smoked bacon, smashed tater tots, cheese, ‘bacon bacon mayo’, peri barbecue sauce and jalapenos.
But there’s no question that it’s a difficult time to be opening a restaurant. The building’s previous incarnation, as The Libertine, was only open a few months before it closed again. Owners had cited issues surrounding its utilities contracts, and hoped to reopen at the beginning of the year, but never did.
Speaking about rising costs, from energy to produce, Myers said: “It's killing us. I like to focus on the fun and creative side of the business but the reality is that the landscape is really tough out there. It's hard for everyone, we're doing what we can to keep going.
“It's a scary and risky time, if you listened to your head you probably wouldn't be investing in hospitality but these are passion projects for us as much as anything. I hope this place makes people as happy as it's made us designing and building it. It's a feel good place.”
The Withington site is the fifth, with Almost Famouses also in Leeds and Liverpool. As for more local sites in the offing, Myers offered up a not-so-subtle hint about what might be next.
“I feel like we have one more Manchester site left in us - does anyone like the idea of Alti?” he said. Alti probably does, yes.
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