Cardinal Rule — Restaurant in Manchester

After seeing videos about this place, we just had to visit. Expectations were BLOWN AWAY. The prices are so low for the quality, service was amazing! We got huge burgers and the portion of chips were crazy big. Both burgers were beautiful. The biscuits were so nice, the chicken was well coated and wonderful. I deal with a lot of sensory issues so greasy/oily foods and burgers can usually be overstimulating but the biscuit, burger and chips were not greasy at all. I was able to use my hands to eat the burger and not have to deal with that sensory overload. The chicken was perfectly cooked too and perfectly seasoned. The pickles were just amazing. The jalapenos were something else. I can't even explain how perfect they were. Seating was well spaced out and the atmosphere was perfect. Restaurants can be stressful for me as an adhd & autistic person but here I was able to comfortably enjoy myself and the food. I'm such a lover of fried chicken and this place was by far the BEST i've ever had. We will be back again for more. The ranch sauce was absolutely divine too! There is not enough compliments to describe this place. You can tell the staff and the cooks just have a passion you can't fake. Absolutely amazing. Thank you for a beautiful meal and experience

I really wanted to try multiple burgers but just 1 burger and chips had me nice and full! ...

Great place tucked away down a side street in centre city Manchester. It has a sports bar vibe without all the t.v's, the menu is varied but not too big that your lost for choice as it specialises on the U.k take on American southern food , burgers ,chicken , American biscuits (savoury version of a scone) with sausage gravy which was delicious, I believe this place was inspired by an American couple who visited Mancheter and missed their type of food while over here so they opened Cardinal Rule. It's split over 3 levels thr basement is used for more larger gatherings like party's, hens & stag do's , ground & 1st floor tables of 2,4,6 available standalone & bench style seating i didn't see booth seating. One thing to take into consideration which is very important ,especially if you have kids is the toilets are "GENDER NEUTRAL" they are split into cubical & urinals or just cubicals which if your not familiar with these facilities offer more privacy, I walked in and 2 women were chatting as I needed a cubicle it was very uncomfortable feeling as I'm not used to this but now you know.

All in all was a great food experience , staff are friendly and knowledgeable of the menu , great selection of beer & ale on draught northen refrectory bar as its known its walk up to the bar and...

Unfortunately, there are no photos as I ended up having this on the go, but WOW this was incredible

I ordered the Hot Take biscuit, Cajun Fries & Chipotle Mayo & Dill Ranch dips and some doughnut balls (think they were called birdies?)

Biscuit was buttery and delicious! Fantastic texture. Chicken was well seasoned and had a beautiful coating. So much flavour. Cajun fries were top notch, may have overtaken five guys with those fries!

Must say the doughnut balls were not as amazing but the biscuit blew my mind. I also probably wouldn't get the dips again as they weren't really to my taste and the food was soo flavourful, so did not really need the dips.

I cannot wait to return and try a different biscuit! Cannot recommend enough! Would also love if they included some chicken tenders or something as a side as the chicken was fantastic and would have loved some more to nibble on!

Should also mention it is a little bit hard to find...it is kinda in a pub so would say its worth knowing if you are...