James Martin's Manchester restaurant closes after 14 years

James Martin's restaurant at Manchester235 closes this month, ending a 14-year partnership between the chef and the casino where it opened in 2012.

Manchester235, run by Metropolitan Gaming, confirmed the closure follows the end of its arrangement with Martin's team rather than a single trigger event. The restaurant sat inside the casino building on Watson Street, serving a steak-and-seafood menu alongside the gaming floor.

"Our partnership with James Martin and his team has been an important part of Manchester235's story since 2012," said Maxine Gibbons, the venue's director. Staff working at the restaurant stay employed within Manchester235, the company said, and existing reservations will be cancelled with customers contacted directly. Outstanding gift card balances will be refunded.

Our partnership with James Martin and his team has been an important part of Manchester235's story since 2012.

A partnership built since 2012

Martin opened the Manchester dining room the same decade he left Saturday Kitchen, the BBC show he hosted from 2006 to 2016 and that built much of his audience beyond the kitchen. He has since fronted James Martin's Saturday Morning and kept two other restaurants running: Grill by James Martin at the Lygon Arms in the Cotswolds, and the Kitchen at Chewton Glen in Hampshire.

Manchester235 has not said what replaces the restaurant. A new food and drink offer "will be announced in due course," the venue said, without a timeline.

Manchester's shifting restaurant map

The closure lands in the same week as Pesto's exit from the Trafford Centre after nearly 20 years, two long-running Manchester addresses gone within days of each other. Neither operator has pointed to a single shared cause, but both sit inside the cost pressures squeezing UK hospitality margins this year, from staffing bills to business rates.

For Manchester235, the bigger business, casino and events, continues regardless of what fills the kitchen next. For Martin, the closure trims his restaurant count to two, both outside the big cities, as his television work keeps the wider name going. Manchester235 said bookings made for dates after the closure will be honoured at its other restaurants on site while the new concept is worked out.