I came to Manchester in the hopes that I could find a place to watch the Champions League final…read moreamongst some of the Red Army, learn some chants, and be local amongst the fans of what is called the best-supported football club in the world. Sam Platts delivered. It was a ticketed event and was sold out, but the fellas at the door took a liking to my friend and I, reckoning that we'd be the only foreigners inside and impressed that we'd made the trip, so they let us in. Two hours before the game, the chants were already deafening. We stood in the tented beer garden, where the game was projected on a big screen. When Rooney scored, the explosion of hollering and beer was truly deafening. The only shame was that Barcelona had to go and win (leading to a lot of beers being thrown at the screen). Chant of the evening: "He'll shag who he wants! He'll shag who he waaaaants! Our boy Giggsy, he'll shag who he wants!"

Along with The Trafford and The Bishop Blaize, Sam Platts is one of the biggest, best and most…read morepassionate Manchester United pubs in the city. Its actually (just) my least favorite of the three, but still deserves its five stars. I have seen football matches at many a stadium across the country but these three United pubs have definitely the most passionate fan-base that I have witnessed. Every game from several hours before the game to five minutes before kick off these pubs are full of fans chanting and celebrating in advance in passionate style, with hilarious songs, chants and banter. Sam Platts has got the best garden area of the pubs around here, so perhaps in the summer months this would be the pick of the United pubs. This beer garden as got a little bar where you can buy cans of beer and get plastic cups, saving those less fussy from the extreme queue inside. Its also very close to a different side of the stadium to The Trafford and Bishops Blaize, so depending where your seats are, it may be the best place for you to ensure maximum drinking time pre-kick off. Quality.

The Trafford is one of three major Manchester United pubs in the area surrounding the ground. Along…read morewith The Bishop Blaize and Sam Platts, it is one of the liveliest places to go before the game, and one of the must visit places if you want to do your visit to Old Trafford properly, a real piece of the football club. Situated on Chester Road just by Manchester FC train station, The Trafford is the first one of the big Manchester United pubs you will come across. Its got two rooms, one a huge normal pub area, and the other a square room, which looks a lot like a dance floor, with a smaller bar for bottled beers only. This in not a dance floor but a chant floor, where Manchester United fanatics gather before each game to shout and sing the classic United songs. Drinks are expensive of course, but they are the same everywhere on match day at around £3. They also have some amazing facilities for pouring beers very very fast in large quantities, so check it out. Going here are to the other two pubs (see Yelp) is a really important part of going to see Manchester United play, so don't skip it!

This is a strange king of place, there was nothing wrong with it per se, I just didn't love it…read more We rocked up here for a late lunch having spent the morning exploring the museums and galleries in Salford Quays. We decided to sit outside as the sun was shining and pushed a couple of tables together to seat all six of us. Unfortunately, there were dirty plates and glasses left on the table and we eventually had to ask for these to be removed as none of the staff seemed keen to do this. You order your food at the bar. The inside of Lime is a massive void of a place decorated in brass with illuminous lighting. Not particularly pleasing to the eye and certainly more suited to the evening crowd. The menu is quite eclectic and has something to suit pretty much everyone. I went for the homemade burger. The food came pretty quickly. The burger was ok, the meat was decent but under seasoned and unfortunately the garnish made the bun soggy and it disintegrated in my hands before I got to the end. The chips were chunky but a little soggy and sadly there was approximately six of them - I have a hangover, I need more carbs! Other dishes including the club sandwich, sea bass and steak sandwich were well received but the noodles were missing from the oriental platter. However, this was quickly resolved by the wait staff. Overall, Lime is probably a better option than the standard chain restaurants that otherwise fill Salford Quays, it just seems to lack a certain je ne sais quoi.

Very slow service. We ordered drinks and didn't get them until halfway through our meals. The mixed…read moredrinks were not good at all. The sushi was decent. Loud bar environment

Place is always great for a few drinks with anyone your with, food is good and prices are decent!…read moreDeals like burger and pint for £8-£11, always got a performer on the Friday and Saturday and great for watching football, boxing, American football. If your lucky to get a booth at the back of the bar you'll have your own screen on the table with charging slots which is helpful! Staff is all friendly and helpful

decent number of screens, food is good as wellread more

Sportsbar is located on Quay St, Manchester and is a lively place opening during the day for the…read morequieter drink and around Thurs from Sun it is very lively and great for the hard core drinkers who want a good time and good music ideal for the RnB dance and pop fans, the drinks are reasonable and the staff are nice enough, slightly to busy of an evening to have a full on chat but if you go you can understand why, i recommend a visit and am sure you wont be disapointed.

Right hear me out! You'll either love this place or hate it depending on your capacity for…read morestudents. You could easily add or take off another star according to where you stand. I think this place does what it intends to very well. Cheap booze... The cheapest in town. Food is of scream pub quality (Ok, cheap and included in beer deals). So here is why I love Courtyard. When the students leave it is empty and has an enormous beer garden.... which gets sun and becomes my first choice for early afternoon beers on a summer boozing session. The other reason it is one of those gold mines which shows ALL (yes all) premier league 3 o'clock KOs. Hazaaaaa. Great place to go with mates then but not for couples...

Lovely bar usually, today we have turned up the bouncer has refused to let us que or come till 7…read morehalf an hour later he's allowing ques outside and we now risk missing the match.

cool spot with large screens for football, with good music in the background in a another section…read moreon day time. Nice place to socialize or hang out with colleagues or friends with drinks.

I almost feel bad giving Bierkeller 3 star because I do like this place and go quite a lot but in…read morecomparison with other places that I've rated 4 stars I just can't justify it! It's a little bit of a confusing layout because this place contains four bars under one roof, when you first go in your in what they call the 'Ski Lodge' which is the upstairs bar, when you go downstairs you have 'Shooters', 'Around the World in 80 Beers' and Bierkeller. Bierkeller is a massive room with long, wooden tables representing the German beer house, they sell steins which are really reasonably priced. I would tell you about the deals but I am really confused by them! There are posters all over telling you what deals are on but there are so many it just confuses you (well it confuses me anyway!)! We ordered food using my friends taste card which meant we paid £15 for four meals! Bargain, the food is pretty average but I got a Bratwurst which was really good. Don't have high expectations for the food but it you want some filling grub really cheap it is a good place to go. 'Shooters' has a cool bar area where you can play FIFA on giant screens, just make a deposit at the bar and they will give you the controllers. There are also pool tables and it is a great place to watch the football. 'Around the World in 80 Beers' do what they call suitcases of beers, you can either get a full suitcase (£70) or a half suitcase (£35) which hold a selection of beers from around the world, it is a really great way to try new beers. This place is cheap and cheerful and the staff are really friendly, if you want a nice night out sampling the independents then this certainly isn't the place to go, but for a chilled night with your mates, playing FIFA and drinking cheap booze this is place will be a good starting point.

The newest pop-up addition the Spinningfields, Cork & Bull compliments the 'summer of sport' we're…read morecurrently experience in the UK. Set up in an empty warehouse space, they've been showing the likes of the Euros and Wimbledon on a huge screen. We recently went as a work group (it's literally 2 minutes from our office and we don't even have to leave the building - easy decision!) on a Thursday evening. There wasn't any sport showing and it was the launch of BEAT Street at Great Northern so it wasn't very busy; after asking a couple of staff members, I think this seems to be a recurring theme. They've put a little bit of astroturf out front and there's a 'hidden' garden area also so there are options if it's sunny outside. If you're there for sport, there's a tonne of tiered seating, but it's not massively comfortable unless you can grab a couple of cushions. There's plenty to do if there isn't any sport on; darts with electronic / interactive scoreboards, table tennis and pool are all available. I believe the darts is the only activity which is free of charge, with pool and table tennis both requiring a deposit. The bar holds your standard options - beer, cider and a few cocktails - but, at £5 for a pint of Moretti, it's not somewhere you want to make a habit of drinking. Especially if you're buying rounds. Food is by 'Cluck & Pluck' aka Bangers & Bacon aka Well Hung. They have a nice menu range, including vegetarian options, and we all ended up grazing on a few portions of fries throughout the evening. It's nice to see the area trying something new, away from the clean lines of Living Ventures, but there's something lacking - whether it's the location or the cost, I can't put my finger on. But it's a learning curve at least.