What to eat in Kirkgate Market, the hall where Marks & Spencer began

A double smash patty with house pickle and secret sauce costs £8.95 at Fat Annie’s, in the Market Kitchen, the street-food corner of Kirkgate Market. That’s lunch here: about a dozen street-food counters, two bakeries and a rotisserie that has been roasting ducks since 1989, all under one roof on Vicar Lane.

The history fits in one paragraph. When the covered market opened in 1857, the council says, it was the largest indoor market in Europe, and it still calls itself one of the largest. Michael Marks set up his Penny Bazaar here in 1884 with the slogan “Don’t ask the price, it’s a penny”; he later took on Tom Spencer, and Marks & Spencer still keeps a stall in the market. The ornate front on Vicar Lane, the 1904 Hall, was designed by Joseph and John Leeming and is Grade I listed.

The market opens Monday to Wednesday 8am to 5.30pm and Thursday to Saturday from 7.30am, and shuts on Sundays and on bank holidays except Good Friday. The council runs free heritage tours. Most food stalls close by 5pm, and several earlier.

How we chose: Kirkgate stalls with a named dish on their own site or the council’s trader list, cross-checked against two local guides, plus one city-centre food hall.

The Market Kitchen

Fat Annie’s

The burgers here contain no meat, and you’d struggle to tell from the Supreme, the best-seller: a double “beef style” patty with cheeze, sauce, pickle and diced onion at £8.95. Fat Annie’s started as a hot-dog cart in Manchester’s Northern Quarter in 2014, took its stall in Kirkgate in 2017 and went fully plant-based in late 2020. Add house fries for £1.95.

Market Kitchen · Supreme £8.95 · Mon–Sat, closed Sun · walk-in

Manjit’s Kitchen

Order the vada pav, a spiced potato fritter in a soft bun, which even the council’s own trader page singles out at this vegetarian Punjabi counter. Manjit’s made its name with a chaat cart on the festival circuit, and the chilli paneer wrap is the other thing local guides send people for.

Market Kitchen · prices on the board · Mon–Sat 11–4 · walk-in

Bánh & Mee

Mylinh and Sengy cook their family’s Vietnamese recipes at this counter, and the bánh mì is the reason to come. Have it with the homemade tofu if you don’t want meat.

Market Kitchen · prices on the board · Mon–Sat 11–5 · walk-in

The halls

Maxi’s Rotisserie

Roast duck, soy sauce chicken and roast pork over rice have been the order at Maxi’s since it first opened in Leeds in 1989. Find it at Unit 3 in the 1976 Hall.

1976 Hall · prices on the board · Mon–Sat 10.30–5.30 · walk-in

Bakers

Bluebird Bakery

Bluebird began on a kitchen table in York and bakes with local organic flour, wild yeast and long fermentation. At the Kirkgate counter, buy a cinnamon bun or the olive, pepper and jalapeño focaccia. The shop shuts at 3pm.

Kirkgate Market · prices on the counter · Mon–Sat 9–3 · walk-in

Karpaty Bakery

In Unit J of the 1904 Hall, Karpaty sells apple cake, Swiss rolls and doughnuts at market prices. It has a second shop on Town Street in Armley, and in the pandemic it gave discounted and free bakes to older neighbours who were isolating.

1904 Hall · prices on the counter · Mon–Sat 8.30–5 · walk-in

Beyond the market

Northern Market

On Great George Street, near the Town Hall, Northern Monk’s food hall and beer hall puts its own beers on keg and cask beside counters from Six Slice, Falafel Guys and Big Buns. It’s open seven days, which the market isn’t, and until midnight on Fridays and Saturdays. It takes bookings and walk-ins, and it’s cashless.

Great George Street · prices at each counter · open daily · book or walk-in

The next change is outside, on the market’s open-air ground. In March 2026 the council moved forward with plans for STACK, a two-storey block of shipping containers with bars, street-food units and a stage. It has no opening date yet.

Checked October 2026.