Lloyds (Printworks)

...I typically visit this particular Lloyds about once a week, sometimes for dinner but mostly just for pre-clubbing drinks!

~ Location ~

The Printworks is located in Manchester just a 5 minute walk from Victoria Train Station and about 10 minutes from Piccadilly, therefore occupying a central position in the heart of Manchester.

The Printworks itself is Europe's first urban entertainment venue and comprises ...
...casino.

Lloyds itself is located on the east side of The Printworks and backs onto Dantzic Street. The entrance to Lloyds is from within the undercover setting of The Printworks right opposite the cinema.

~ Lloyds Chain ~

Lloyds is owned by the slightly more well known JD Wetherspoons chain and is arguably one of the fastest growing food/drink chains in the UK at present. It's also a chain that has won ... more

Being a student (cheap, obviously hard working and out for those bargains!) I often find myself drawn to drinking establishments in true student fashion. Now as funds can be rather limited, especially as it draws nearer to the end of term, one has to go where one can sample cheap drinks and where better than Lloyds! I typically visit this particular Lloyds about once a week, sometimes for dinner but mostly just for pre-clubbing drinks!

~ Location ~

The Printworks is located in Manchester just a 5 minute walk from Victoria Train Station and about 10 minutes from Piccadilly, therefore occupying a central position in the heart of Manchester.

The Printworks itself is Europe's first urban entertainment venue and comprises of 10 bars and restaurants (including Tiger Tiger, Lucid, Lloyds, Wagamama and Nandos), a 20-screen cinema (complete with an IMAX screen), health club and spa, some small shops and the UK's first hard rock casino.

Lloyds itself is located on the east side of The Printworks and backs onto Dantzic Street. The entrance to Lloyds is from within the undercover setting of The Printworks right opposite the cinema.

~ Lloyds Chain ~

Lloyds is owned by the slightly more well known JD Wetherspoons chain and is arguably one of the fastest growing food/drink chains in the UK at present. It's also a chain that has won many prizes for converting unusual buildings into ideal locations for pubs and so the quirky atmosphere provided by The Printworks is an ideal setting.

Each branch offers an all day menu and an uncompromising array of real ales, fine wines and branded drinks. It's renowned for combining excellence and quality with value for money - and it certainly follows through in my opinion!

~ Interior ~

Lloyds is situated on 2 floors, the bottom floor has a reasonably sized dance floor to the left as you enter with a large bar running along the right hand side of the building. To the centre and also the back of the floor there's seating, typically tables with 2 to 6 chairs around them and a couple of booths too. There's plenty of standing area around the bar and near to the dance floor for those evenings when it's particularly busy! Upstairs is a little smaller, with a slightly smaller bar to the right of you as you walk upstairs and again seating area for about 40 people.

The colour scheme creates a feeling of cosiness, inclusion and luxury with dim lighting in the evenings, heavy usage of light wood for the bar and darker wood for the furnishings, with deep reds and golds being used quite heavily for the décor and carpeting too. It's not overly brassy but it does possess an air of sumptuousness (especially to a student)!

~ Food ~

Now for a student one of the deciding factors in whether or not to return to a pub like this is the prices - never mind the quality of food or the service! But luckily for my friends and I, Lloyds surpassed our expectations on all three counts!

There's a breakfast menu which is served until noon in every branch where you'll find a typical breakfast priced at only £1.99 for everything you'd expect in an average breakfast - does the job after a heavy night drinking! There's also other breakfast treats such as bacon baguette and scrambled egg on toast - all under £2.

Onto the day menu which is the one I usually eat from as I'm rarely up early enough to sample the breakfast menu! There's a huge selection of food, firstly snacks which include rustic baguettes, hot baguettes, wraps and paninis with a selection of fillings (aromatic duck, chicken & bacon, tuna salad and philly chicken melt to name just a few to tempt those taste buds). They're all priced between £3 and £4 depending on whether you want fries or a side salad with them and taste delicious! Of course if you're slightly more peckish and want something more filling there's a range of burgers and steaks that will fill anyone! The grills start at £6 for a 10oz rump steak (with all the trimmings) and go up to £8.50. Lloyds are famous for their tantalizing range of burgers on offer which include chicken and bacon, beef and vegetable which start from £4.

For us students there's an ideal "budget choice" which involves buying one meal and getting one free - bargain! The choices here include sausages and mash, sweet & sour chicken, ham n eggs, chilli con carne, five bean chilli four cheese spinach tart and various salads. I think this part of the menu is brilliant as it averages out at £2.50 each for quite a large meal - students galore! On a Wednesday night from 5pm until close they are currently running a Steak Frites night - basically it's a £4.99 set cost and you can choose a rib-eye, sirloin or rump steak with chips and mayo, how can you argue that price!

And of course how can I forget the desserts, there's a choice of five different ones to tempt you but I have to recommend the Belgian Waffle complete with sliced banana, vanilla pod ice cream AND maple syrup - can you really resist that!

~ Drink ~

Another big bonus when it comes to being a student is the price of the drinks on offer and once again, I have no complaints when it comes to Lloyd's and their prices! They've got a varied range of beverages on offer and all those available in your local pub can be found in Lloyds.

There's a comprehensive wine list (featuring 7 white wines, 1 rose wine and 7 red wines) with glasses starting from £2.40 and bottles from £7.49 Spirits are priced at £2.69 for a double and a mixer including vodka, gin, malibu and archers, while single ones are £1.89 with a mixer. There's a varied range of beers available with pints starting at £1.69. During the week (Monday to Thursday) there's various alcopops and bottles of beer priced at just £1.09 for a bottle including Reef and Archers. Cocktails are priced at £2.69 for a glass or £5.35, which averages out at 4 glasses and gets you well on the way to being tipsy! Woo Woo can be recommended by me if you like Archers and cranberry juice, as can the Berry Nice for those of you with a sweet strawberry tooth! Shooters are on offer for £1.25 for a single shot or £2 for a double shot too.

~ Entertainment ~

During the week there is music every night, not really loud enough to interrupt conversations, which makes it ideal for a place to visit for a good old chat with friends! On a Thursday, Friday and Saturday there's a live DJ downstairs, which often proves to get the dance floor packed with merry drinkers! The music is mainstream; typically it's pop and r n b tunes that are in the charts at the time - ideal for any age of customer really!

~ Staff ~

We typically visit this establishment on weeknights and the staff have always been great with us, we've even got to know a couple of them due to our regular-ness! The bar staff are always friendly if not a little flirty too and the contact we do have with the kitchen staff has always been pleasant. The only time we've ever had a problem was when my friend's fries were brought out and were only luke warm, within minutes she had her wrap brought back out accompanied by fresh fries and an extra side order helping too!

~ Toilets ~

I'm very fussy when it comes to toilets (hence why I've bothered to write about them in their own category), if they're not clean I simply can't use them - sound odd don't I?! Again Lloyds comes up on top with spotless toilets, and a little luxurious too!

~ Clientele ~

One of the great things about this particular branch in that you really do get a mixed clientele. During the week there's often many students in here due to the presence of two of Manchester's largest clubs within walking distance but during the day and the weekend there's many business people and families too as there's offices close by and it's ideal for a family day out too!

~ Parking ~

The best way to visit The Printworks is undoubtedly by public transport - there's two train stations within walking distance, a tram stop right outside and a bus route that passes right by. If you do prefer to travel by car then there are numerous car parks, The Arndale car park is opposite one of the entrances to The Printworks and is open 24 hours a day, it uses a pay and display scheme but if you're visiting The Printworks after 5.30p.m. at night and leaving before 7.00a.m. then it's a mere £2!

~ My Experience ~

I've visited my local Lloyds at least twenty times in the past year while I've been at University and my experiences have been nothing but fun and pleasant. Apart from one small problem with a meal once the food and drink have always been perfect. I'd recommend this Lloyds and go as far to say try your local Lloyds - you may just be surprised by the mix of quality with the cheapness of the prices!

Thanks for reading!
 

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