Manchester Dining Guide: The Queen City's Best Tables

Manchester is New Hampshire's largest city, and its dining scene reflects its history: mill buildings turned into dining rooms, a French-Canadian heritage you can taste, and a downtown that fills up before shows and games. This guide covers four of the best restaurants in Manchester NH, from a casual breakfast counter to a chef-driven Millyard dinner, so you can plan a full day of eating in the Queen City.

A little Queen City history

Manchester's nickname is the Queen City. Its story is tied to the Millyard along the Merrimack River, where the Amoskeag Manufacturing Company once ran the largest cotton textile plant in the world. After the mills declined, the Millyard was reborn in the 1980s and beyond, and today its brick buildings house tenants including the University of New Hampshire at Manchester and Dean Kamen's company DEKA.

That transformation shows up on the plate. Two of the restaurants below sit in buildings from the city's industrial era, and one of them is in the Millyard itself.

The scale of that past is hard to picture now. At its peak, the Amoskeag company employed about 17,000 people in around 30 buildings, and it went bankrupt in 1935 as the textile industry moved south. The renovated mills now hold offices, restaurants, apartments, art studios and a museum.

Cotton: Dinner in the Millyard

Cotton is at 75 Arms Street in Manchester's historic Millyard District. It features the cooking of chef and owner Jeffrey Paige, and it is known for food the restaurant describes as sophisticated and eclectic American comfort food, served in a casual upscale setting.

The accolades are a big part of Cotton's reputation. The restaurant says Bon Appetit magazine named it one of the ten best neighborhood restaurants in the Northeast, and that it has been voted Best Martinis in New Hampshire year after year. It also notes that the New York Times called it "hip."

The wine list is extensive, with more than 40 wines by the glass. Cotton takes reservations by phone and online, offers private dining, and runs a takeout service called Cotton ToGo on some evenings.

Order this kind of night: a martini, a few starters to share, and a slow dinner in a mill building.

Firefly American Bistro and Bar: Downtown comfort dining

Firefly American Bistro and Bar is at 22 Concord Street in the heart of downtown. It opened in the winter of 2008 as the lifelong dream of a brother and sister, New Hampshire natives David Becker and Diane Downing. Becker leads the kitchen, and his seasonal menus draw on flavors from around the world.

The restaurant was built on the ground floor of an antique building that keeps the character of Manchester's days as an industrial hub of the Northeast. Firefly describes its approach as comfort dining, with classic American fare prepared the way it should be alongside more artistic dishes built on fresh ingredients.

Firefly serves brunch, lunch and dinner. The dining room is relaxed but elegant, suited to date nights and business meetings, while the lounge is a popular spot for after-work drinks, gathering before a show, or catching a game. Expect an extensive wine list, a craft beer selection and creative cocktails. Reservations are available online.

Order this kind of night: a pre-show dinner downtown, or weekend brunch with friends.

900 Degrees: Neapolitan pizza

900 Degrees Neapolitan Pizzeria is at 50 Dow Street. It takes its inspiration from the wood-fired pizza of Naples, Italy, and its name comes from its ovens. The pizzeria says its pizza is baked in wood-burning brick ovens at an average temperature of 900 degrees Fahrenheit, which it calls the right temperature for a true Italian taste.

The menu also includes house-made pasta and salads, and the restaurant offers online ordering. For groups, 900 Degrees has private dining space for birthdays, anniversaries and other gatherings, and it offers catering with tailored menus for events.

Order this kind of night: a casual dinner with a group, sharing a few pies straight from the oven.

Chez Vachon: A French-Canadian breakfast

No Manchester food tour is complete without a nod to the city's French-Canadian roots. Chez Vachon is at 136 Kelley Street. It serves breakfast and lunch all day, with what it calls a Canadian flair.

The restaurant says poutine is its best seller. The menu also includes crepes, smoked meat and pork pie, so it is a good place to try French-Canadian comfort food in one sitting. It is a casual, neighborhood spot, and the restaurant offers online ordering for takeout.

Order this kind of morning: poutine, a crepe and coffee, ideally before a day of exploring.

How to choose

These four restaurants cover very different moods, so match the place to the occasion:

• For a celebration or a special night out: Cotton, with its martinis, long wine list and chef-driven menu.
• For a show night or a business dinner: Firefly, which sits downtown and has both a dining room and a lounge.
• For a group or a family: 900 Degrees, where shared pizzas and a private dining space make big tables easy.
• For breakfast or a casual lunch: Chez Vachon, the most relaxed of the four.

If you are visiting for a weekend, try one from each category. You will come away with a good sense of how varied the city's food scene is.

A Queen City food day

If you want to eat your way through Manchester in a day, here is one way to do it:

1. Breakfast: Chez Vachon on Kelley Street for poutine and crepes.

2. Late morning: Walk off breakfast in the Millyard, with its brick mill buildings along the Merrimack River.

3. Lunch: Firefly on Concord Street.

4. Afternoon: Explore downtown.

5. Dinner: Cotton in the Millyard, or 900 Degrees for wood-fired pizza with a group.

Tips for dining out in Manchester

• Reserve ahead for dinner. Cotton and Firefly both take reservations, and weekend evenings and show nights are busy.
• Check the schedule before you go. Several of these restaurants are closed on some days, and Chez Vachon is a breakfast and lunch spot.
• Use takeout on busy nights. All four restaurants offer some form of online ordering or takeout.
• Plan parking. Downtown and the Millyard can be busy on event nights, so leave yourself a few extra minutes.

Why Manchester is worth a food trip

Manchester's best tables are easy to reach from anywhere in southern New Hampshire, and the city is compact enough that you can eat at several of them on one visit. The mix here, from a French-Canadian breakfast counter to a chef-owned Millyard dining room, tells the city's story better than any museum placard. It is also a good reminder that the Queen City's dining scene is more than chain restaurants off the highway.

FAQ

What is Manchester, NH known for in food?

Its French-Canadian heritage, especially poutine at places like Chez Vachon, plus chef-driven restaurants in the Millyard and downtown.

Where can I get poutine in Manchester?

Chez Vachon on Kelley Street says poutine is its best-selling dish.

Which Manchester restaurant is known for martinis?

Cotton, in the Millyard, says it has been voted Best Martinis in New Hampshire year after year.

Is there wood-fired pizza in Manchester?

Yes. 900 Degrees bakes Neapolitan-style pizza in wood-burning brick ovens.

Where can I get brunch in downtown Manchester?

Firefly American Bistro and Bar on Concord Street serves brunch, lunch and dinner.

Sources

• Manchester, New Hampshire, Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manchester,_New_Hampshire
• Cotton: https://www.cottonfood.com/
• Firefly American Bistro and Bar: https://fireflynh.com/
• 900 Degrees Neapolitan Pizzeria: https://900degrees.com/
• Chez Vachon: https://chezvachon.com/ and https://www.toasttab.com/
• Amoskeag Manufacturing Company, Wikipedia (17,000 employees, 1935 bankruptcy, mill reuse): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amoskeag_Manufacturing_Company