James Martin's Manchester restaurant closes after 14 years
The chef's namesake dining room inside the Manchester235 casino has shut as his partnership with operator Metropolitan Gaming ends, with no replacement concept named yet.
James Martin Manchester restaurant closes this month, ending a 14-year run inside the Manchester235 casino after the chef's partnership with operator Metropolitan Gaming concluded by mutual agreement.
The dining room opened in 2013, replacing the former Linen restaurant inside the Great Northern Warehouse gaming complex. It carried Martin's name and his brand of modern British cooking through more than a decade of Manchester openings and closures around it, outlasting most of the restaurants that arrived after it.
Metropolitan Gaming, which owns Manchester235, called the collaboration a valued one in its statement announcing the end. The company says it remains committed to the venue and will set out its plans for a future food and beverage offer later, without giving a timeframe.
A chef's name on the door was never the same as a chef's name on the lease.
What happens to staff and bookings
Employees affected by the closure have been kept on within the wider Manchester235 business rather than made redundant, according to the operator. Customers holding reservations are being contacted directly about cancellations, and any outstanding gift card balances will be refunded by Manchester235 rather than by Martin's own company.
Neither side has said why the partnership ended after so long. One trade analysis argued the arrangement was always structurally lopsided: the casino employed the kitchen staff, held the bookings and the gift card liabilities, and effectively licensed Martin's name rather than operating alongside an independent restaurant business.
A chef's name on someone else's lease
Martin's own website restaurant listing now shows two venues, neither of them in Manchester, suggesting the closure was not a surprise internally even if it caught regulars off guard. The gap leaves one fewer big-name dining room in a city where newer arrivals, including Andrew Sheridan's Counter in the city centre, have been drawing attention away from hotel and casino dining rooms toward standalone addresses.
For now, Manchester235 keeps its gaming floor running as usual. What replaces the restaurant, and whether it carries another chef's name, is the open question Metropolitan Gaming has yet to answer. It is the kind of quiet ending that rarely gets a press release of its own, just a short statement and a list of refunds.
