Salt & Pepper announces its Arndale Market stall is permanently closing

Beloved Chinese street food restaurant Salt & Pepper has announced the shock closure of its stall in the Arndale Market.

A lunch time staple for hundreds of city centre dwellers, Salt & Pepper has experienced overwhelming success in its current location, where it has been serving a menu of Eastern and Western cuisines – including its famous sticky chicken, salt and pepper prawns and salt and pepper fries – since 2019.

However, the owners of the restaurant took to social media over the weekend to announce that they have been left with no choice but to pack up from their spot in the market.

Their social media post reads: “Due to the limited facilities in the Arndale Market, we’re no longer able to keep trading in this space.

“If you’ve been to the market, you’d know there isn’t much of an extraction system on our side (to expel smoke and smells), and the council (who run the market) have said it’s our responsibility to fix this because of the popularity of our stall.”

Their post went on to explain that the council has said it is unwilling to extend the restaurant’s lease unless they invest upwards of £100,000 to put in their own extraction system.

The owners went on to say they are ‘absolutely gutted’, and have been ‘trying to figure out how to keep our amazing staff employed and our business dreams alive’. 

However, this doesn’t signal the end to Salt & Pepper.

@saltpeppermcr / Instagram

The post went on to reveal that there will ‘hopefully be some exciting news in the near future’, before adding that they will be continuing their residency at Black Dog Ballroom, where they’ll now be opening from 12pm so you can still get your dinnertime fix.

They wrote: “They’ve [Black Dog Ballroom] kindly let us open from 12pm and will make sure the food and service matches our standards in the Arndale. Deliveroo will also be available all day.”

Their post concluded: “It’s a sad end of an era but we’re committed to keeping going and keeping serving you guys some good scran – wherever the location.”

A Manchester City Council spokesperson addressed the situation, saying: “Salt and Pepper have become so successful that our current extraction system is not capable of handling the level of smoke that originates from their stall, which posed a health and safety risk for other traders in the market.

“We have been working with the company since late 2020 to try and supply an improved extraction system. Manchester City Council deny the claims that Salt and Pepper have been asked to pay £100k for this.

“We considered several options, including offering alternative trading locations. Nevertheless, it was decided that we could not offer Salt and Pepper a new lease on Health and Safety grounds.  

“We have supported Salt and Pepper by allowing them to trade for a period of time on a licence whilst they found alternative arrangements and wish them luck in their future endeavours.”

Salt and Pepper will be open in Black Dog Ballroom from 12pm every day. You can also order for delivery from their menu on Deliveroo.