Second Cup

Popped into Second Cup to grab a quick lunch and having read other reviews, I didn’t expect the best experience, but I decided to give it a go and try it for myself.
There isn’t the best choice for sandwiches or food in general to be fair. There were 3 paninis to choose from or a prawn or chicken salad. A few cold drinks and a fruit salad. I grabbed a panini and a cranberry juice and walked over to the counter. The woman somehow managed to serve me without saying a single word to me, just to the barista on the coffee machine. I took my drink and waited for my panini.
The place wasn’t busy at all really and the staff stood around looking gormless. The food was average but overall not a great place. With so many other AMAZING coffee shops nearby I really do wonder how Second Cup is still open.

It’s not bad in here you know! I honestly had never consider second cup as a spot to pop in and do some work whilst enjoying a nice coffee but it is absolutely perfect for that!
Seb H had told me he spent a Saturday morning upstairs here doing some work (I didn’t even know there was an upstairs) and so I decided I needed to give it a go — I’m glad I did!
Coffee is reasonable priced — just over £2 for an Americano — well roasted and not too bitter and the art on the top is the icing on the cake. Yes no art on the Americano but my friend had a latte!
I walked upstairs and was spoilt for choice on where to sit: comfy sofa style seating, regular coffee shop wooden chairs, or street viewing seating as I like to call it, overlooking the street below. All seating had power options either right there or very nearby which is another plus!

I went into second cup out of necessity rather than choice. The manchester rain was in full pelt, and I needed shelter. I went for the Cuban style coffee (unusual, I know) sadly they had no whipped cream, yet things got a whole lot better when the server offered me free cake ! I obviously obliged. The coffee was full of surprises, including coconut pieces, that proved a revelation.
It’s a good place for some cake and coffee, or to do abit of work.
Quick tip the name doesn’t mean your entitled to a free second cup, sadly.

I’ve been to Second Cup quite a lot since I first stumbled upon it nestled away near the Arndale next to Pizza Hut. Sure, it’s technically a Canadian chain, but this is their flagship UK store. I should point out that, on top of this, it’s their ONLY UK store. Suck on that, London.
MCR is known for it’s thriving indy coffee scene, and Second Cup isn’t really going to challenge that. I’m comparing it only to the big boys, the other chains which are on practically every corner, station and shopping centre in the city. On that basis, I like it.
I can’t say I’ve ever been into Second Cup and had difficulty finding somewhere to sit, or having to wait an excruciatingly long time just to place my order, unlike some other chain visits I’ve made in my time.
Let’s get down to the important stuff, shall we? The coffee. I’ve had a variety of coffee from Second Cup and I’ll take it over any other chain, any day of the week. Personal favourites include the Vanilla Bean Latte, which has a very strong vanilla flavour rather than just tasting like the barista has put 10 tablespoons of sugar in your drink; the Green Tea Latte, which is curiously delicious; and, if you want to stick to the classics, they do a mean cappuccino.
For those who like lighter or darker roasts, there’s a range of speciality roasts which range from middle-​of-​the-​road medium roast to Darth Vader’s personal super-​dark roast. They cost extra, but it’s variety which you won’t get elsewhere.
I don’t recall ever trying the cakes or pastries, which I will definitely have to remedy at some point. They all look delicious, however, and are competitively priced.
Sure, the décor is a bit quirky but at the end of the day if it’s comfy then a chair is a chair. Free WiFi to boot means you can work here, if you’re one of those people who can actually work in coffee shops.
If you haven’t been to Second Cup, I’d say it’s worth a shout so go check it out, hoser!

One of the best and strongest and most flavourful coffees you can get from a chain coffee store.
Green tea lattes, vanilla bean coffee… It’s all very up market and to be honest a much welcome change to the ‘8 lattes to go, please… It’s for the office’ scene of coffee shops. I find you need a chain to really please everyone and Starbucks, Nero and Costa had all become pretty damn samey.
The décor is pretty nice, seats aren’t too crammed in and upstairs is very chilled out. Staff are friendly and helpful on the most part and the size of the coffees suits the americanised among us.
If you have a group of friends and are looking for a place to please a bunch of folk that are varied in taste, this place is just right!
Also:. You gotta get the green tea latte, it’s sweet and delicious ;)

Don’t know why this is listed as closed, as it’s certainly still an active branch (I went last weekend).
So second cup are a Canadian branded coffee shop that decided to make their debut in England by opening a chain (or now two, as I believe there is also one inside the Arndale centre) in Manchester — aren’t we lucky.
I can’t really say that they’ve gone for an individual or quirky layout or decoration as it does look like any other coffee shop you’ve ever visited when you walk in.
As well as the downstairs seating area there’s also a sizeable seating area upstairs — there’s a variety of seating options from normal chairs to comfy chairs and sofa type things. This is great as it means that it’s a suitable place to relax with friends and it’s also suitable if you’re needing to do some work (there is free wifi too, which of course helps).
When we arrived it was quite late in the evening so there weren’t many customers, this meant that we got served right away. My friend ordered a white hot chocolate (as per my photograph) and as I fancied something cold and refreshing I opted for an iced mango fruit cooler. I also drawn to the macarons so I got myself a pistachio one. As it was quite we were informed that our drinks would be brought over to us when ready so we went and found ourselves a seat. Our drinks arrived pretty quickly, however my macaron did not. After waiting five minutes I had to go back to the counter and give the barista nudge. She was apologetic and did sort out the problem right away.
Everything was just average. There was nothing that screamed out to say this is the best coffee shop around and definitely nothing to set it apart from any of the chain coffee shops in close proximity.

went back to give second cup another chance
order hot chocolate and small cake
hot chocolate came cold chocolate and tasted awful
cake was stale on the outside.
second cup you have had a second chance and i
wont be giving you a third chance as your two drinks have tried
were awful and some of your cake are old and stale.

First tried numerous amounts of these drinks, when I visited Canada last year and loved it! So was sooooo happy to learn that there was now one closer to home, in Manchester! Definitely beats Starbucks, Costa etc.
There are a variety of drinks, cakes and pastries to choose from– you can’t go wrong! The staff are super friendly & the drinks are just pure bliss!
Definitely recommend the iced latte, frozen hot chocolate & the cookies & cream chiller!

I was rather curious about this place (I even tried applying for a job there as soon as it opened for business).
I’ve been to Second Cup twice. First time, I was with someone… If I remember right, we both had cinnamon lattes. Fairly good ones as well.
Decided to go a second time only because that days Metro newspaper came with a voucher for a free coffee if I bought a cake. Because the voucher was restricted to the basic drinks I ended up choosing an americano to go with my chocolate cake, which was okay maybe a little rich. Both times I’ve been, the staff have been friendly.
All and all, the place is okay but I haven’t been interested in going back since. I was tempted to have the opera cake but quickly changed my mind when I noticed it was around £3.90 for a very tiny slice.

I have been here a few times with my mum and it’s a nice relaxed place to come, you are right in the centre but it’s a little hidden so it’s still really chilled out and it’s not to loud so it’s a great place to talk. I think it’s a Canadian coffee shop so they do lots of different coffee I like a caramel latte it’s so delicious it’s quite sweet so if you like that you should definitely try it. I usually have a poppy seed bagul its really nice and fresh they don’t overcharge either it’s only £1 for a bagule the coffees are different prices depending on what you have. The staff are really friendly and helpful and the place is really clean

Look inviting from the outside. Once in, there was a good variety of drinks and an appetising array of pastries and cakes. I ordered a pot of tea. Must say the staff were not as friendly as you would expect, especially considering they are a new coffee shop in the city centre. I even had to ask for a loyalty card upon leaving as I saw others using one.
Once I had sat down with my drink and checked in with Unilocal,I was offered a 10% discount… Hmmm, I had already paid!!!
I will return again and try once more.

I went to Second Cup today following a great experience, just over 2 weeks ago. This store was alot busier than that Friday evening, but still I hoped for good things.
The staff were not as knowledgable and kind as my first visit, my barista did not have a clue about the Unilocal offer and it took alot of fighting to get it. She also did not know the pin for the loyalty card on mobile devces, she did give me a paper one instead however.
I ordered a Medium Mexican Mocha, I was delighted to see it was under £2, but I found it undrinkable, the woman told me it was coffee based, I love coffee but I opted for it but it tasted just weird, awful and far too chocolatey. After just a few mouthfuls, I began to get a stomach and bowel pain for drinking it. If this wasn’t enough I found a hair in my drink.
I was surprised to see this place not have as many positive reviews and visitors, but after my terrible 2^nd experiance, I can understand the 3 star average, This is why I feel One star is even generous for this place. Second Cup have definitley lost my custom, I would rather pay the extra money and get a nice, drinkable drink at nearby Starbucks or Caffe Nero.
I certainly won’t be going back for a Second Cup of the Mexican Mocha drink here, or any product they sell for that matter.

Quite a nice ambiance about the place which was set up in the usual modern style of coffee shop we have grown to love in modern times!
The prices are good value for a city centre location, along with matching balance of good quality of the drinks and snacks.
Inside there is additional seating upstairs and piped instrumental music played (a little loud) throughout.
The staff could have done with a personality boost realising that making customers welcome and valued is a recipe for them becoming loyal and returning. I had to ask retrospectively for a loyalty card when we were all sat down by the till and saw another customer use one!
I will be back for a ‘second cup’ and see how that goes.

So I popped into Second Cup after hearing quite a bit about it recently and wanting to change up my working environments. Whilst Second Cup isn’t exactly Costa/​Starbies — it’s definitely far from the vibe that you’d get in an Indi. Put it this way, the décor and set up all very much looks like it comes out of a box.
I would say though that this place could be a solid 3.5 as the staff were very friendly and after me interrogating just how large my flat white would potentially be if I ordered it, dropped it down by 2/​3rds to normal FW size. There you go flat white drinkers — be warned, if you go somewhere that doesn’t scream artisan coffee shop, stop to question quite how large your coffee is gonna be… I now do it big style everywhere.
Loads of seating upstairs, quite a bit downstairs and a fairly chilled environment with a lot of laptop workers. Music is fairly loud upstairs though so be warned… (Ian M, that’s a shout out to you!)
Not a bad place — does what it does fairly well but I;d always go for an Indi if I can.
Wifi is free — password is: secondcup

Good coffee but not much to write home about
Canada’s premier chain of coffee shops opens an outpost in Manchester, taking over a troubled spot that has been host to a succession of fashion independents. Perhaps the success of Pizza Hut next door is a sign of things to come, but the coffee was so-​so and the cake I had was memorable only for its sweetness.
The ambience is unfortunately more clinical than cozy, making PH next door look positively welcoming. The view of the future tram line might improve with time but I’m not holding my breath.

The Award Winning Canadian Coffee Franchise Second Cup has opened there first Coffee shop here in Manchester! It is located next to the Pizza Hut on Corporataion Street in the City Centre of Manchester.
I went on a friday evening at 5pm and was greeted by the friendly Baristas, the place wasn’t very busy but i guess not many people know about it yet, It did take the Barista a while to make the Latte but i wasn’t in a rush.
There is a few tables and comfy chairs on the main floor and they do have a first floor with a few tables and chairs and two leather sofas, unfortunately though, the place does feel like your sitting in a furniture shop and it doesn’t really have any atmosphere to the place, It really doesn’t feel like a coffee shop unfortunately, It may be the furniture but i might be wrong.
The Coffee was lovely though and known for selling Fairtrade Rainforest Alliance Certified coffees they use hand-​picked cherry beans to make sure only the best make it to the coffee cup.
Prices seem to be good and they have specialty coffees to choose from which i would like to try next time, the cakes are a little pricey though at around £2.50-£3
The staff were friendly if not a little clueless, i asked if there was free wifi and they wasn’t sure, so they had to ask but there is free wifi with 02.
I think ill have to take another visit, there coffee is really nice but I’m not sure if i really like the place or not but it is new and will have to see what its like in a few weeks time.