Caffè Nero

You know that café on Wilbraham Road that's always got a decent queue but moves quick enough that you're not standing about? This is it. Chorlton's got plenty of independent coffee places doing their thing, but there's something about this Caffè Nero that keeps locals coming back—probably because it does the fundamentals properly. The space is straightforward and unpretentious, the kind of place where you can actually get a seat if you're not coming in during the morning rush, and the staff seem to know what they're doing with the espresso machine.