The Font

You can never go wrong with £2 cocktails!
Bit of a ball ache queuing when it’s busy cos it’s a student honey trap but hey it’s cheaaaaaap!

Seeing the reviews here made me wonder if I set myself up for failure.
You see, when I heard «Font,» I immediately thought of the Font in Brighton. If you haven’t been, it’s a revamped old theatre with amazing drinks, food, and atmosphere. So… when I came here, all I could say was, «Oh.» (Brighton = «OHHH!!!»)
I mean, it’s cute, sure. Drinks are nice, walls are painted all fun, but the atmosphere was so cramped and blah. It really didn’t do it for me. They did have good drink specials, but actually getting a drink was nearly impossible no matter where you stood or how hard you tried. A resounding «Meh» from me.

Praise be to the £2 cocktail.
Alright, we all know that they’re not proper cocktails. They get served up in tumblers instead of swish and spindly glasses, the ice is in cubes instead of crushed, and they comprise the absolute basics instead of fancy ingredients. All that aside, and they’re still pretty wonderful, aren’t they? Especially, yes especially, when one is on a budget. This is one of the reasons why the students of Manchester flock to The Font in their masses. The other reason being that it’s located smack in the middle of Fallowfield (a.k.a. student kingdom) right opposite Owen’s Park (the castle of said kingdom) and is therefore rather convenient.
I don’t even need to look at the menu anymore. I likes me a Daisy. Or a Tom Collins. Or even a Bramble. I do love a bit of gin. But if gin’s not your thing, you’re still spoilt for choice. Plus, if one’s feeling a little more luxurious, one can always upgrade to the £4 cocktail menu — it’s like a little treat! But the fun isn’t confined to the alcohol-​lovers alone, there’s a selection of tasties for the designated drivers and the sensible folk amongst us as well. Though I will admit: the non-​alcoholic menu lacks a little bit of imagination.
After the wallet-​friendly cocktails, my favourite thing has to be the quirky décor. On the walls you can find anything from unusual paintings to curious magazine cut-​outs, and none of it looks out of place, it all creates this lovely, eccentric mélange.
However, I do tend to avoid The Font at the weekends. It becomes raucously crowded, overspilling with an over-​excited, over-​inebriated and under-​dressed clientele that stumble about shrieking, before spilling their drink on you. Ok, so I’m only mildly cynical. That said, weeknights are actually quite pleasant. I would prefer it if they would turn the music down just a wee bit, so that I could have a proper chinwag with my friends, but at least the tunes tend to be of a decent variety. And during the day, well, it’s entirely different.: a cosy little place to have a spot of lunch or get one’s caffeine hit. Very nice.
Another lovely touch is that the ladies from Wonderland Vintage Boutique on Oldham Street set up shop here on Monday afternoons. It’s definitely worth a rummage. Oh and the free wi-​fi should also be taken advantage of.
In summary, if you’re of the sort that has a self-​proclaimed allergy to students, then you probably ought to avoid The Font for the sake of your health: as anaphylaxis is imminent. Otherwise, I reckon you’ll quite like it. Smileyface.

What has made me love Font even more in recent years? Well, I have many happy memories of my times in the Oxford Road version, recently rekindled by a swift visit to catch up with some friends after a Unilocal Elite event, eat curly fries and goat’s cheese bruschetta and drink beer. Great beer. Font has the best range of beer since Trof. You have your giant 500ml bottles of Budvar, you have Delirium, and I know this isn’t a beer, but you have TOFFEE APPLE BROTHERS CIDER.
Yes, when I slid a bottle of this over to the other half, you’ll not believe the brownie points I scored. It’s like a dessert in a pretty glass vessel.
Anyway, what of the Fallowfield Font? Two ace things happened here recently. Myself and Vickie S hit this spot for a black coffee for me, brew for her. We headed upstairs to le balcon so she could smoke and watched the Fallowfield bustle below. The barman was simply the best barman in the world, ever. Not only did he bring our first round of caffeine up to us on a tray, each cup of hot beverage came with a complementary Freddo’s chocolate bar on the side. Chocolate WIN! Then the second round came. Again, the barman brought our drinks on a tray all the way upstairs. And this conversation ensued.
Barman: God, students.
Me and Vickie: What have they gone and done now?
Barman: Who the hell asks for £70 cashback? SEVENTY POUNDS cashback.
Vickie: I’ll tell you who. Silly students for whom Mummy and Daddy do everything.
Me: Wilmslow Road is lined, LINED, with cash machines.
Barman: They know nothing.
He might work in Fallowfield, but wow, he’s on our side.
And another great joy I discovered on Monday evening in Font was the clothes sale, powered by a shop in the Northern Quarter. I quickly found myself a lovely bag, a pair of maroon Jordache jeans, a top and an amazing skirt, and landed myself a 15% discount when I visit their store proper. Nice!
Another place I’m very happy to live around the corner from. Forget the hit and miss cocktails, come for the food, the daytime beverages, the quality banter, and be happy.

I see font has been getting a lot of semi-​negative reviews by people saying it is oft overcrowded in the evening and the «cocktails» are weak. While this is true, my review is for its daytime function as somewhere to eat, for which it is much better.
Font became our place to go and assess the damage after a heavy night because of the breakfasts which I find the perfect medicine. This is because they are reasonably priced, the big breakfast is enough food to make up for however many meals have been missed and you can always get a seat.
What stops it from getting 5 stars from me is the service. About 20% of the times that i’ve been we have had to wait a very long time (45 minutes in one case) to get our food and once they forgot a friends’ food completely. However, I will forgive it because the rest of the time it is perfect, food with some chilled music on that will regularly have you nodding your head to yourself as you eat your way to feeling better.

I was very pleasently suprised by The Font in Fallowfield; it is way better than the one in town. It is less crowded and doesn’t play it’s music so horribly loud. It is possible to conduct a conversation in here which really shouldn’t be a point worth making bu in the case of The Font definately is.
The «cocktails» are awful even if they are only £2. They are far too sweet and I am fairly confident that they don’t actually have any alcohol in them at all. Rubbish.
The food however is fantastic! It is extrememly cheap and very well made. I ordered a Tuna Nicoise salad in their the other day; it cost about a fiver and came with a tuna steak! Amazing! This alone makes up for it poor quality drinks.

I’ve given Font three stars because although the atmosphere is lacking slightly — recently my flatmates and I ventured away from our usual haunts to branch out and visit Font more often. it wasn’t too wise — for £2 a cocktail you can’t go wrong. If all you’re after is a few cheap drinks then Font is the place to go.
However if, like us, you’re not first years then I would recommend maybe going somewhere else. It is always busy though so I suppose that’s not too bad… hard seating as well so you have fight to get a comfy one.
Going for food during the day is a lot more successful as it’s delicious but apparently the service is a bit lacking and takes a while.

Font in Fallowfield is quite a different beast to its city counterpart. It is cosier, and, if I’m being honest, in a nicer building. As it is less open plan, the seating areas in the bar seem somewhat smaller — although both bars have the same amount of seating — and comfier. This font is ideal for sitting and talking, whereas it’s city counterpart is somewhat busier.
The drinks, as are expected from Font are fantastic, both in quality and in value. The £2 cocktails deal never gets old, and, although they can be somewhat sweet, they are still an excellent price, and are consistently the bars biggest money-​maker.
As with the Font in the city, one of the biggest problems with the bar is the amount of seating made available. Font is a very popular bar in Fallowfield, with people from all walks of life, and at the weekends and popular times, the bar can become full to the brim of people, and the bar can become very unpleasantly full, very quickly. The last time friends and I visited the Font in Fallowfield, we were sat on windowsills, floors and radiators. Be warned — the bouncers are unlikely to turn you away, so be prepared to fight your way through crowds. Still, Font is as great as ever, and the Fallowfield branch is no exception.

This font plays to the same tune as its bro on oxford road. Great drinks with cocktails at £2 ranging from mudslides to dunebugs. All tasty, all cheap, couldn’t ask for more. Font in fallowfield was a revolution for me; no longer must I slog up to oxford road for those elusive cocktails. This font has lots of cosy seating and 2 levels with nice bars. Ales and beers are available if cocktails aren’t your thing. The food ain’t great all of it comes under the greasy or reheated crap, so avoid. Separate for this though font was designed for getting jolly with gorgeous drinks and sitting in cosy seats.

Those who know me, know I like a good cocktail. They also know that I keep a cocktail book by the fridge and have a constant supply of tequila, triple sec and the good rum, and that I do not do concentrated juice. And that one time I juiced my own lemons to make a pitcher of margarita (well, I lie. The boyf juiced the lemons because I was making a frittata, and he enjoys operating light machinery.) Anyway, I like a good cocktail. And I mean good. That’s why, since I stopped relying on student loan, I don’t go to Font.
Would you rather have a cocktail made with quality ingredients that you can sip slowly, for a fiver; or a glass of concentrated orange juice, cheap booze and too much ice, which takes 3 minutes to drink and costs £2? If you’re in the former camp, then you’re not even reading this review because you know full well that Font ain’t the place to go for quality drinking. If you’re in the latter, well, you’ve come to the right place.
I was never a fan of Font cocktails, even when I drank there through necessity, and would usually go for one of their bottled beers, of which there are many. On the occassions I did have a cocktail, however, I would always be disappointed. The menu is divided into Fruity, Fizzy and Creamy (euw, really? Creamy cocktails make me gag), which should give you an idea of the level of this place. The cocktails themselves are simply rubbish. And someof them are weird. Here’s an idea, Font, instead of doing apple mojitos and berry mojitos, just do normal ones, because your fruity twists are bloody awful, and it’s a scientific fact that you cannot go wrong with soda water.
If you want a place to meet friends and drink beer, this place is OK. But then, so are pubs. Font hits well wide of the mark, and lands itself in a bit of a sorry place.

Everyone knows Font of Oxford Road, but now there’s a Font in Fallowfield. Oh dear.
The place, like the old Font, has no character. It gets too busy to sit and chat but there’s also nowhere to dance and no decent music to dance to, irritating. How the place did well enough to open another bar I do not know. Plus I liked the bar that used to be here, called Sofa, and they actually made some reasonable cocktails.
Most importantly, I think these ‘£2 Cocktails’ are in desperate need of some small print. Here it is:
£2 COCKTAILS****
****Cocktails termed as such loosely. Font accepts no liability for the lack of a reasonable amount of alcohol in each drink. Alcohol may be replaced with food colouring at the establishment’s discretion. Font also not liable for inevitable damage to teeth and gums due to excessive levels of sugar in each drink. Cocktails not available in conjunction with having a good time.

I have to admit, I like this place. I like its sort-​of grown up atmosphere and its adult-​esque vibe. It’s like a posh cocktail bar for people who don’t really understand cocktails or posh. This of course places it squarely within the student category, but this is not a bad thing by any means.
The most well known thing about it are the £2 cocktails, which for the most part taste good and are served with a smile. The other drinks prices are affordable and there is good little range on offer. There is a nice relaxed feel inside accentuated by low lighting and good seating, and the music is kept low. They do serve food though I personally have never tried it, but I’ve not heard bad things.
It is essentially a lite version of the bigger Font by Oxford Road train station, so if you’ve visited one you know what to expect from the other. If you want a good cocktail bar you’ll need to head up to the Northern Quarter, but if, like me, you’ve not yet grown up, then check it out. Just be aware that if you are over 23 you may feel slightly mature.