Every week we love to shine the spotlight on some of the best local venues that the borough has to offer, in our Pub of the Week feature. This week, we spoke with Ryan Bailey, the 38-year-old co-owner of Northern Monkey from Astley Bridge – the modern bar which brews and serves up beer in the heart of Bolton. Can you give us some history about the pub? “Northern Monkey was started by two Bolton lads from Chapel School.
It started as a brewery and went into Nelson Square as a brew pub. “Then we moved the brewery out to an industrial unit and left, obviously – but, you know, it’s probably the best craft beer in Bolton – from our opinion.” Sign up to our newsletters to get the latest stories sent straight to your inbox.
What’s it like to run Northern Monkey? “In this day and age, tough. There’s obviously a cost-of-living crisis. “We survived all the Covid stuff, but other than that we’ve got an amazing following of people who enjoy coming to Northern Monkey.
” Northern Monkey is located on Nelson Square Do you serve food at Northern Monkey? “Not at the moment. We did stop the food due to the rising cost the overheads and electricity bills , so we have paused that for now – we might look to relaunch the food towards Christmas time.” Is there an outdoor space? “We’ve got the pavement directly outside, and Nelson Square, as the town centre goes, is a really good looking square, isn’t it? It shows Bolton in its best light.
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