It's attracted quite a bit of attention since landing in the north earlier this year, and now Gail's, the hit London bakery known for its freshly baked sourdough loaves, cakes and bakes, has opened its first store in Manchester City Centre.
Gail's new branch on King Street opened this morning at 6.30am and it didn't take long for queues to form, as eager punters patiently waited to snap up the bakery's signature cinnamon buns, gourmet sandwiches and fresh breads. The new store becomes its third bakery in the north of England - following hot on the heels of Wilmslow and Altrincham.
Located opposite Boodles on King Street and spread over two floors, the bakery takes over from the former White Stuff fashion store, which has just moved further up the street. While the cafe areas boast a contemporary décor, Gail's has also continued the recycling theme applied across its other branches, and has ensured that as much of the original building as possible is reused with reclaimed bricks, refurbished flooring and recycled orange peel light fixtures.
READ MORE: Join our new WhatsApp community Manc Life
Inside, staff behind the counter could be seen serving up Gail's wide range of sourdough breads, pastries, sandwiches and cakes, as well as speciality house blend coffees, while outside, punters in a queue stretching down the street were offered samples while they waited.
The bakery, decked out in Gail's signature red and cream colours, also boasts its own outside terrace - a great spot from which to admire King Street's historic buildings and soak up the sunshine. The terrace will be open from 11am every day, while the main bakery will be open every day, from 6.30am until 6pm.
Those who waited their turn - in a queue that was snaking down King Street by lunchtime - were quick to bag Gail's much-loved bakes including cookies and flourless chocolate cake, as well as the bakery's focaccia, bagels and seeded buns. To takeaway Gail's signature treats, cakes will set you back around £4 for specials like walnut, banana and pecan or 4.80 to stay in, while Sourdough loaves - spanning of 30 different types - are priced from £4.15 to stay in, and focaccia sandwiches are £5.70 to take away and £6.60 to eat in.
The opening represents the third in the region, and will quickly be followed up by the opening of Gail's Bakery in Didsbury - in the former HSBC bank building on Wilmslow Road - on June 21. The brand opened its second bakery in the region in Altrincham town centre back in March and has even attracted fans such as Molly-May Hague, who regularly posts pictures of herself outside the shop.
And while the high-street bakeries are a new addition to Greater Manchester's food and drink scene, Gail's opened a wholesale bakery in Openshaw back in 2017, and has been providing bread and pastries to some of the region’s best restaurants, hotels and cafes ever since.
Gail's was first founded in the early 90s in London by chef and baker Yael (Gail) Mejia. Since then, it’s grown to over 100 locations around the UK, from London and Brighton to Oxford and now Greater Manchester. The bakery brand has also partnered with non-profit Eat Well MCR, and supplies surplus food to those suffering food poverty in the region.
A spokesperson for GAIL’s said: “As a neighbourhood craft bakery, we offer our customers freshly baked food, which is baked on site each day and hand roasted speciality grade coffee and we can’t wait to bring our food and passion to Manchester this year.”
Read next:-
