solita

first time here and the food was amazing!!

quick service and super friendly staff.

i had the sunday lunch burger and my fiancé had thebigmanc burger.

the sunday lunch burger was perfect, it came with a side of mini roast potato’s and gravy. my only critique is that there should of been more gravy as it was a bit dry without it. however i didn’t actually ask for any more! so i can’t complain.

my fiancé loved thebigmanc and he had the salt and pepper fries with it.

very impressed with all the food.

we tried both the american beers on the menu and their some of the nicest drinks we’ve had.

definitely try blue wave!

will definitely return again (hopefully soon!)

"burgers to die for"

the vast varieties of delicious burgers..

they have incredible burgers with must try pizza fries, dry breaded chicken, the buttermilk fried chicken burger, hot chipotle chicken wings, mac n cheese balls and many more delicious items..

can seriously recommend thebigmanc and the bacon double cheese burgers 

atmosphere is so vibrant and a perfect place to sit with friends to enjoy the delicious food..

there's something for everyone on the menu..

i'm never abigfan a burger, so take this review with a grain of salt.

first of all, the interior is nice, and i got table on the basement, so that's fine with me.
i went there friday evening, arrived around 7 pm, and honestly the service was kinda slow, and we were expected to leave in 8 pm. honestly, if you want us to get out of there fast, then serve our food fast.
we had solita sharer for starter, and it was amazing. the spring rolls really lives up to the hype, it was heaven on the mouth. i almost order it for take away, but there was no room left after the burger. my friend said the mac 'n' cheese balls were amazing too, so you can't go wrong with this menu. the fried baby squid was also good, i enjoyed that one a lot.
to the burger, well, i ordered walk of shame, and it was good, but i expected some special sauce but it was just like another burger, however, the patty is good. there was no vegetable whatsoever in this burger, and did i mention it was double patties?

summary:
coming back for the spring rolls.

solita is manchester's temple of burgers, with several signature classics such as thebigmanc (a burger restaurant take on the classicbigmac), the manc-hattan, which has deep fried black pudding and pastrami in there and the once in a lifetime which is more of a health warning than a name.

they also offer a selection of wings as part of their starter menu, and their cry for help offering, whilst do-able, are up there with the hottest thing i've ever eaten.

solita have just added a second restaurant to their stable, over in didsbury village, right on my doorstep, and i can say there hasn't been a drop in standards, opening teething problems aside.

all in all i'd thoroughly recommend a pilgrimage to manchester's greatest burger restaurant.

we have been following solita on twitter for quite a while, after seeing multiple amounts of their snaps of their incredible looking delicious burgers, it was about time we had visited! we went to dine out on a thrursday evening, and by no surprise the place was packed out which meant we had to wait for about 15-20mins? nevertheless, it was worth the wait. solita's cuisine is a combination of influences of new york, italy and manchester. here is a list of the dishes we tried and a short but mouth watering description to go with it.

starters:
ribs, wings, rings and things £7.90 - self explanatory.. mmm the dish was smaller than i thought it'll be, but! it was satisfying. the barbeque sauce on the wings were yummy! & the fried jalepenos were still spicy after being deep fried.

deep fried mac n cheese balls £4.90 - small doughballs filled with scrummy mac n cheese. soooooooooo good! never tried anything like it. best best starter!

rooster scratchings £2.90 - house fried chicken skin pieces with solita dust.
extra cunchy, nicely seasoned, very tasty, not too oily and greatly unusual.

main course:
the mega manc £19.90 - 3x6 ounce minced chuck steak patties, trifecta brioche (with an extra layer), iceberg, home pickles, monterey jack andbigmanc sauce.
our waiter giggled as i placed this order, and believed that i wouldn't be able to finish this.. so, against his belief i took on the challenge that if i was able to finish the entire burger including the fries - i would get a free pudding :p
as, i chomped on this calorific burger it all started to seem bigger than it actually sounded! i loved the cheesy-ness of the sauce was and the minced burgers were surprisingly not chewy! yes i did accomplish this and i would recommend anybody who is extremely hungry to order this :p

thebigmanc £15.90 with added smoked brisket chilli £1.90 - 2x6 ounce minced chuck steak patties, trifecta brioche, iceberg, home pickles, monterey jack andbigmanc sauce.
slighlty smaller than the mega manc burger, including the same filling but with added smoked brisket chilli. my guest described this as the best biggestbigmac he's ever had, even though he was about to explode! the smoked brisket chilli really does add an extra mmmmmmmm in the burger.

whole king prawns £13.90 - brushed with chilli oil
clarissa had ordered this and said that she loved that this was a great portion size of prawns, as it wasn't too filling and tasted like it was right off the grill. the chilli oil accompanied the flavours well and did not overpower the authentic taste of prawns. it was a nice and satisfying light dish and not too chilli.

chow chow slaw £1.90 - very different to your regualr creamy coleslaw. we believed that it had oriental take on this coleslaw as it contained chilli and vinegar.

dessert - s'more. solita's version consisted of a double chocolate and nut cookie, chocolate ice cream, a layer of roasted marshmellows on top and cherry sauce. a mouthwatering dessert to end the night! even though we was all stuffed, we still managed to eat this.

all in all, solita will definitely be a place we would occasionally visit as there has been nothing like this to compare to. the food, atmosphere, staff and prices are all worth visiting for.

please visit our blog for the mouth watering photos and the full review: http://prettyandtasty-ly.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/solita-bar-grill.html

solita the name comes from the phrase 'south of little italy, hence so li ta get it? i always like finding out the reason behind names of brands or businesses as i had to do that as an exercise regularly in university so never got out of that habit!

the first thing that comes to my mind when i think of solita is lots of cheese and massive burgers - and that m'dear is a great thing! how can anybody resist something as delicious and naughty as cheese and succulent tender burger (woohh). i only tried their food before at the northern quarter street party so never actually went inside to see what the restaurant actually looks like. jenny (my manager) was visiting me in manchester and she suggested we have dinner together so i had the opportunity to show off my lovely city. the first thing i focused on was obviously food and then i remembered she mentioned to me that she loves cheese. the first thought that popped up my head was the burger i had at the nq street party and i just knew i needed to take her to 'south of little italy'. she was also living right opposite at light apartments which obviously came in handy (that is what i call a win-win situation).

we went in and a very italian looking waitress got us seated, the place was packed even though it was a monday evening. i have to mention that its a very small and compact restaurant so even a few people can make it look like its really full - which to me could be abigadvantage for any business as it can look very popular. i ordered for buttermilk fried chicken burger with extra cheese (nom nom nom) and a moreto (mexican beer) and i just have one word for it - delicious! the inca grilled veg which jenny ordered along with her chicken breast and cheese looks pretty damn good too! the food was very filling and definitely satisfying after a long day! the price was definitely on the steeper end, so yeah it's not cheap by any means, a meal for two would be easily 50 pounds with drinks.

verdict : can't wait to have one more of those face sized burgers again!

we are no experts on the manchester food scene but what is clear is that solita has been making abigimpression this past year and firmly making its name not just on the manchester map but the national map also. we've enjoyed twitter conversations with larger than life owner franco while the grill counts trusted bloggers like @hungryhoss and @sped98 as fans. it has already notched up (according to urbanspoon) a mind bending 51 blog posts and on our recent visit to manchester we felt compelled to check it out.    the restaurant at solita is based around their inka grill, a british rival to the josper, and the menu is therefore centred around burgers, steaks, and all the usual accompaniments. but franco has an eye for making a splash so as well as classic style burgers (bacon double cheese), there's amusingly quirky additions (thebigmanc is a lancashirebigmac) and some new, off the wall stuff, such as the ramen burger. throw in on top of that a nod to popular culture, the breaking b

thebigmanc is solita’s take on mcdonald’sbigmac. the mega manc is the same but with an extra burger and layer of brioche. i was amazed at how closely solita has managed to replicate the fast food icon of burgers, even down to the special sauce. being a closetbigmac fan i thoroughly enjoyed it and would go as far to say it’s one of the tastiest and best cooked burgers i’ve eaten. my mate tucked into thebigmanc with a topping of incredibly tasty smoky and spicy brisket chilli. he too thought the burger was an absolute triumph (he isn’t gregg wallace, by the way). a word of warning – you will pay the best part of £20 for these burgers but they are an unforgettable eating experience. i’m still suffering from the meat sweats three days later.

thebigmanc is a giant burger with two 6oz patties made from prime chuck steak with added bone marrow served on a brioche bun with lettuce, pickles, monterey jack cheese andbigmanc sauce.
obviously it is supposed to look like abigmac and it does, only bigger and much more impressive. in fact a regularbigmac looks pretty sad now in comparison!

solita's got abigbold menu to go with abigbold cooking device in the kitchen - an inka grill; super expensive, it's able to cook meat very quickly whilst producing the same char you get off the bbq - minus the burnt sausages and food poisoning.