Burton Arms Hotel

As Sam has already pointed out, The Burton Arms is well skewed towards the local side of things, although rather unusually for Manchester, this is counter-​balanced by a decent drink selection and relatively friendly atmosphere. It’s nice to find somewhere the locals can gather that doesn’t feel the need to undergo the transformation into intimidating pit.
As a pub it puts out a good effort, with a good selection of beers, friendly staff and decent prices. Throw a pool table, live sports and entertainment into the mix and you end up with a refreshing counterpart to the nearby ‘hip’ bar-​lounges. There’s a B&B above as well, though I’m not sure why you’d pick it above the hotels all around the area.
All things considered, the Burton Arms is a rare local place that still welcomes strangers, and is all the better for it.

Sitting just on the edge of Manchester’s Northern Quarter, the Burton Arms is a busy, cosy pub that throws live entertainment, live sports, a pool table, not to mention its own bed and breakfast, into the mix. There’s a good selection of your standard beers at reasonable prices, and the staff are friendly and efficient.
I’ve been to the Burton Arms a few times, mostly because they show the important Premier League football games at the weekends. However, if you happen to pop in on any given night you’re likely to find a pub quiz, a DJ, or a musical duo performing old classic songs. «Sweet Caroline» by Neil Diamond is almost a certainty. You’ll even see a few locals get up and sing some songs as well. It’s lots of fun.
But that’s the one thing about the Burton Arms. It’s definitely geared towards the locals. As a twenty-​something you stand out a bit from the mostly older clientele. I once sat on a man’s stool (after no-​one had been sitting on it for a good 10 minutes) and even after I apologised and moved away, he was telling me repeatedly telling me that it was «his» stool. How on earth are you meant to know? I guess it takes a bit of time to learn all the locals’ rules.
Apart from this one very, very small flaw the Burton Arms really is an ace pub.