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April 16, 2009
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50 favorite restaurants We all have our favorite restaurant. When you go there, the waiters recognize you, the bartender knows how you like your drink and you know the menu without looking at it. It’s your home away from home — or, more specifically, your dining room away from your dining room. Every year for Hippo’s Best Of readers’ poll, we ask you to pick the Best Restaurant Overall. The vote comes at the end of dozens of food-related votes. Our hope is that after thinking about the best burger, best cocktails, best desserts you’ll have a sense of what your favorite eateries are. This year, we’re offering a run-down of favorite restaurants — your favorite restaurants. What follows are the 50 restaurants that received the most votes in our “Best Restaurants Overall.” These are the restaurants that our readers (not our editors, publishers, writers or sales staff) picked as their favorites. It’s like you asked everybody you know for their recommendations for the best place to eat in southern New Hampshire. We give you here the basic information for each restaurant (address, hours, etc.) plus a sense of what kind of food is served there and what to expect, atmosphere-wise. And, when appropriate, we included what else Hippo readers had to say about the restaurants, which also represent the places you picked for best seafood, best breakfast and best sandwich. • Alan’s of Boscawen Restaurant (133 N. Main St., Route 3, in Boscawen, 753-6631, www.alansofboscawen.com). Hours: The dining room is open Monday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Friday, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.; Saturday, 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. (with breakfast from 7 to 11:30 a.m.), and Sunday, 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. (with a breakfast buffet from 8 a.m. to noon). The lounge closes at midnight. With weekend breakfasts, Friday and Saturday night live bands and daily lunch and dinner, Alan’s covers all your going-out needs. The restaurant has a something-for-everybody mix of items like fried seafood platters, pasta, steaks, burgers and pizzas. The menu features some Greek eats — Souvlaki (chicken or pork) and Spanakopita chicken (a chicken breast filled with spinach and feta cheese wrapped in phyllo dough and baked). Prices listed on the Web site range from about $6 for sandwiches to the high teens for meat and baked seafood. • Athens (31 Central St. in Manchester, 623-9317) Hours: Open Sunday through Thursday, 11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. (stops serving at 8:30 p.m.), and Friday and Saturday, 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. (stops serving at 9:30 p.m.) This Greek-themed restaurant features favorites like spanakopita and moussaka along with Greek appetizers and several dishes of baked and broiled lamb or chicken. Many dishes cost around $10. Call for pricing. • The Barley House (132 N. Main St. in Concord, 228-6363, www.thebarleyhouse.com) Hours: Monday through Saturday, 11 a.m. to 1 a.m.; closed Sunday. This tavern is both sleek and comfortable on the inside and the menu reflects that approach, with bistro eats (salmon brulee, tavern steak, tequila cilantro lime sea scallops), comfort food (curry fish and chips, chicken pot pie) and an innovative selection of burgers (the most popular of which seems to be the Dublin Burger — a peppercorn charred burger with whiskey gravy, blue cheese and crispy onions). Enjoy crackers and hummus — a tasty variation on the pre-meal bread basket — as you peruse the menu. Beers are available by the pint and by the 10-ounce tasting size, and wine lovers can find a healthy spread of wines available by the bottle and the glass. The lunch menu (which shares many items with the dinner menu) features hot dishes for about $11 to $16 and burgers for about $8 to $12 ($13 for a bison burger). On the dinner menu, most entrees run between $11 and $18 with burgers and sandwiches priced about $8 to $12. • Bedford Village Inn (2 Olde Bedford Way, Bedford, 472-2001, www.bedfordvillageinn.com) Hours: The Tavern is open Monday through Saturday from 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. and Sunday from 11:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. Corks wine bar is open Sunday from 4:30 to 10 p.m. and Tuesday through Saturday from 4:30 to 11 p.m. The dining room is open for breakfast Monday through Friday from 7 to 10:30 a.m.; Saturday from 8 to 10:30 a.m. and Sunday from 8 to 10 a.m. The dining room is open for lunch Monday through Saturday from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. and for brunch Sunday from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. The dining room is open for dinner Monday through Thursday, 5:30 to 9 p.m.; Sunday, 5 to 8 p.m., and Friday and Saturday, 5:30 to 9:30 p.m. The Bedford Village Inn is three different approaches to food with three different atmospheres. There’s the Inn’s formal dining room — the main restaurant featuring the seasonal, traditional, impeccably executed dishes BVI is known for (such as grilled axis venison rack and slow braised beef short rib). Then there’s the laid-back Tavern, which offers fun, well-crafted food like sliders (a trio of mini Angus burgers — one with foie gras aioli and red onion marmalade, one with Italian mustard fruits and St. Andre cheese, and one with balsamic marinated Roma tomatoes and Great Hill blue Cheese) and grilled pizza (such as the duck confit pizza with roasted apples, honey braised mustard greens and brie cheese). And as of late 2008, there’s Corks, the BVI’s swank new wine bar, which offers a wide selection of wines by the glass (and at different sized pours) as well as wine and beer flights and a wine-friendly selection of meats, cheeses and small plates (such as a grilled cheese dish made with duck confit and brie with smoked tomato soup). Wherever you’re seated, you can order from all three menus, and no matter where you eat you can drink a bottle from the Inn’s connoisseur-minded wine list. Check the Web site for information on special holiday meals or visiting chefs. Small plates at Corks are priced between $5 and $12. For dinner at the Tavern, the salads (which are entrée-sized and can be made heartier with the addition of different proteins), sandwiches, burgers, pizzas and entrees mostly fall between about $11 and $20. In the dining room, dinner entrees are primarily between $24 and $29 (with hearty steak or lamb cuts at or just under $40). • Belmont Hall (718 Grove St., Manchester, 625-8540, belmonthall.net). Hours: Sunday through Thursday, 6 a.m. to 2 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. If you crave an omelet or a stack of pancakes mid-day, Belmont Hall can help. Its large breakfast menu is available all day — which means breakfast for lunch or (on Fridays and Saturdays) for dinner. Or forget the meal and skip straight to the pie — Belmont Hall offers slices of pie and has sweet and savory (pork and salmon) pies you can take home. If you feel like dinner for dinner on Friday or Saturday, Belmont offers several seafood entrees and classic dishes like chicken cordon bleu, chicken parmigiana, beef liver and veal cutlets. Or indulge a bit at lunch: slide into a roomy booth (or get instant service by sitting at the counter) and order a deluxe meatloaf sandwich, a cheeseburger or a barbecue pulled pork wrap. Most lunch offerings range between about $3 and $7; most breakfast dishes range between $4 and $9 (though the cartoon-shaped pancakes are a mere $2.69). • Billy’s Sports Bar and Grill (34 Tarrytown Road, Manchester, 622-3644, www.billyssportsbar.com) Hours: Monday through Friday, 11 a.m. to 1 a.m.; Saturday, 9 a.m. (when Billy’s opens for breakfast) to 1 a.m.; Sunday, 7 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Hippo readers bestowed Billy’s Sports Bar with “Best Burgers” — and the king is the Billy Burger: “half-pound burger with barbecue sauce, Swiss cheese and Canadian bacon.” If that sounds a bit much, you could share a plate of Billy Burger sliders (bison burgers, cheeseburgers, ham and cheese sandwiches, chicken salad sandwiches, hot dogs, chili dogs, barbecue chicken sandwiches, Buffalo chicken sandwiches and sausages are also available in slider form). There are meaty, spicy and/or cheesy appetizers, sandwiches and subs, entrees like chicken tenders and ribs and desserts. A full order of six sliders runs between $7 and $9, the burgers are about $6, sandwiches run from $4 to more than $7 and most entrees run from around $8 to $14. • The Black Orchid Grille (8 Temple St., Nashua, 577-8910, www.blackorchidgrille.com) Hours: On Tuesday, dinner is served from 5 to 10 p.m., the bar opens at 4 p.m. and the pub menu is served from 4 to 9:30 p.m. On Wednesday and Thursday, lunch is from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., dinner from 5 to 10 p.m., the bar opens at 4 p.m. and the pub menu is served from 4 to 9:30 p.m. On Friday, lunch is from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., dinner 5 to 10 p.m., the bar opens at 4 p.m. and the pub menu is served from 4 p.m. to midnight. On Saturday, dinner is from 5 to 10 p.m., the bar opens at 4 p.m. and the pub menu is served from 4 p.m. to midnight. On Sunday, dinner is from 5 to 10 p.m., the bar opens at 4 p.m. and the pub menu is served from 4 to 9:30 p.m. Take a few steps below street level to enter the cool bistro-style Black Orchid Grille. The bar snakes through the side of the restaurant, offering seats where you can have a drink and chat with Joey Zontini, Hippo readers’ pick for Best of the Best in the “Best Bartender” category. Check out the grilled pizzas, Black Orchid wings and hand-cut French fries and onion rings. For dinner, the Black Orchid’s “new American”-style menu features items like baby rack of veal with a wild mushroom goat cheese flan, eggplant Napoleon, and lobster pomodoro and organic salmon baked in parchment. The Black Orchid holds wine tastings on the first Tuesday of each month (taste five of the restaurant’s select wines between 6 and 8 p.m.) and occasional events with the Wine Society. Most dinner entrees are priced between $22 and $29. • Buckley’s Great Steaks (438 DW Highway, Merrimack, 424-0995, www.buckleysgreatsteaks.com) Hours: Tuesday through Thursday, 5 to 9 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, 5 to 10 p.m. A steakhouse from Michael Timothy’s chef and owner, Michael Buckley (who Hippo readers voted Best of the Best in the “Best Chef’ category), Buckley’s Great Steaks offers a wood-grilled steaks menu of 10 different cuts and preparations — dry aged New York sirloin, filet mignon with a red wine demi-glace and a Gorgonzola rib-eye among them. There’s also a burger as well as entrees like an almond-crusted buttermilk chicken, butternut squash risotto, and seared rare tuna au poivre. (The burger is also served in its Tavern, which also offers meatloaf, lemon green tea chicken and a French dip.) One side and one sauce come with each steak and you can order additional sides for a few dollars more. In vegetables, creamed spinach, asparagus with hollandaise and hand-dipped onion rings are among the choices. For starches, choices include butternut risotto and garlic mashed potatoes. Steak entrees run between $24 and $39, other entrees run between $15 and $24 and the burger is $9. • Café Momo (1065 Hanover St., Manchester, 623-3733, www.cafemomonh.com) Hours: Tuesday through Thursday, noon to 9 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, noon to 10 p.m.; Sunday, noon to 9 p.m. This Nepali restaurant has received regular accolades from Hippo readers for its vegetarian offerings, including Best of Manchester in 2009’s poll for “Best Vegetarian Menu.” For those new to Nepali food, many of the flavors will be familiar from Indian and some Asian cuisine. After ordering appetizers of momos (dumplings filled with a choice of meats or with seafood or vegetables) and choila (a spicy chicken dish), try one of the entrees, like lamb Nepali way (lamb marinated in herb sauce and grilled), goat curry rice, salmon on asparagus, or the Brown Guy Special (a combination of sea scallops and extra large shrimp sautéed with hand-cut vegetables topped with a white poppy seed sauce). Vegetarian offerings include Tarkari Bhat (seasoned vegetables with rice), Katmandu Thaili (a crepe made of black lentil flour filled with sautéed vegetables) and beans mushroom curry. And check out Momo’s cocktails — there’s the Momo Mojito (with fresh lime juice, mint leaves and rice wine) and the Cucumber Cooler (lime juice, cucumbers and rice wine). Dinner entrees cost between $13 and $18. • Cactus Jack’s (782 S. Willow St., Manchester, 627-8600, www.go2cjs.com) Hours: Sunday through Thursday, 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, 11:30 a.m. to 11 p.m.; full menu available at the bar every night until 12:30 a.m. Part of the local chain of Cactus Jack’s (CJ’s) and T-Bones restaurants, Manchester’s Cactus Jack’s offers its take on Southwestern, barbecue, Cajun and steakhouse-style cuisine. For an appetizer, try Espinaca Con Queso (cheese dip with spinach and pico de gallo served warm). For an entrée, try crispy haddock tacos or Rajun Cajun catfish tacos, or an enchilada or burrito plate. Or try the seafood gumbo, the barbecue beef tips, a traditional steak or seafood plate or one of the five burger offerings. CJ’s has a kids’ menu featuring grilled cheese, macaroni and cheese, a hot dog, chicken tenders and adventurous items such as Kid’s Rib Dinner and Kid’s Chicken Fajitas. Entrees start at about $8 with steakhouse and seafood items running about $15 to $22. • Commercial Street Fishery (33 S. Commercial St., Manchester, 296-0706, www.csfishery.com) Hours: Monday through Thursday, 4:30 to 9:30 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, 4:30 to 10:30 p.m.; Sunday, 4 to 8 p.m. (The Web site recommends calling in advance to verify closing times.) Commercial Street Fishery offers a sleek dining room and bar space with a mix of sophistication and fun. The most recent menu features items like crab-stuffed haddock (with Jasmine rice and orange brown butter) and lobster ravioli. A selection of cold and raw dishes includes tuna tartare, oysters, littleneck clams, spicy avocado and crab maki roll and lobster cocktail. Order some cold dishes along with hot starters to make a meal of small plates. Hot starters include ginger butternut squash bisque, crab and corn fitters, garlic and lemon mussels, crispy calamari, maple pecan baked brie and steak nachos. The new menu also includes several sandwich options, including lobster roll, fish sandwich, burgers, steak or haddock tacos and Jack Daniels glazed rib sandwich as well as dishes served with chips and slaw. Entrees run from $19 to $22, starters run from $6 to the mid-teens and sandwiches and chips and slaw plates run from $12 to $20. • Common Man (25 Water St., Concord, 228-3463, www.thecman.com) Hours: Lunch is served Monday through Saturday starting at 11:30 a.m. A brunch buffet is served on Sunday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Dinner is served starting at 5 p.m. on Monday through Fridays, starting at 4:30 p.m. on Saturday and starting at 4 p.m. on Sunday. The “Bar ‘n Grill” offers lighter fare from 3 to 11 p.m. All three local Common Man sites garnered Hippo readers’ votes. But Concord’s Common Man stands out because it offers lunch as well as dinner and bar service. The menu offers classic New England fare with a mix of seafood dishes (baked stuffed shrimp, New England baked haddock, Rock crab cakes), plays on traditional favorites (vegetable Wellington, apple chicken, Maple Leaf Farm duck) and seasonally inspired dishes (lobster and crab flatbread, beet and apple salad, Atlantic salmon with a creamy black bean corn succotash). Craving classics? Check out the specials — roast turkey dinner on Sundays, prime rib dinner on Mondays and country fried chicken with mac & cheese with beet greens and corn bread on Tuesdays. The menu recommends wines or ales to pair with each dish. Most dinner entrees run between about $14 and $20. • Common Man (304 DW Highway, Merrimack, 429-3463, www.thecman.com) Hours: Dinner is served Monday through Friday starting at 5 p.m., Saturday starting at 4 p.m., and Sunday at 4:30 p.m. The “Bar ’n Grill” is open from 4 to 11 p.m. Monday through Saturday and starting at noon on Sundays. The restaurant serves brunch from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Sunday. As with the other Common Man restaurants, the Merrimack Common Man focuses on traditional New England eats, seafood and seasonally inspired dishes. Since dinner is the focus in Merrimack, make sure to leave room for dessert — the menu includes “Our Uncommon Baked Apple” (a whole McIntosh apple baked with maple syrup, brown sugar and spices, served hot with a scoop of C-Man-made vanilla ice cream), a Crème Brulee duo, a Dueling Brownie Sundae and white chocolate bread pudding. • Common Man (88 Range Road, Windham, 898-0088, www.thecman.com) Hours: Dinner is served Monday through Friday starting at 5 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday starting at 4:30 p.m. The “Bar ’n Grill” starts serving nightly at 4 p.m. Brunch is served Sunday from 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. One of the special features of the Common Man in Windham is the rustic-themed upstairs room with a big bar and cozy tables. Open a bit earlier in the late afternoon than the restaurant, it provides a comfortable place for a pre-dinner drink and snack or the beginning of a long evening of small plates. You could easily make a meal of the pizzas, homemade potato chips, fresh mussels and grilled cheese sliders. Dishes on the bar menu are all less than $10. • Cotton (75 Arms St., Manchester, 622-5488, www.cottonfood.com) Hours: Lunch is served Monday through Friday, 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.; salads and appetizers are served Monday through Friday from 2:30 to 5 p.m. Dinner is served Sunday, 5 to 8 p.m.; Monday through Thursday, 5 to 9 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, 5 to 10 p.m. Chef and co-owner Jeffrey Paige was picked by Hippo readers as the Best of Manchester in the “Best Chef” category. Whether you’re at the sleek bar or people-watching from one of the comfortable booths, Cotton is a great place to enjoy a meal. Paige uses high-quality ingredients to produce his takes on classic American dishes. Enhance your lunch meeting with crispy and surprisingly light fish and chips, a thin-crust pizza, an American Kobe beef burger or a barbecued meatloaf sandwich. For dinner, try the Retro Meatloaf, almond-crusted turkey schnitzel, buttermilk herb fried chicken or the Jasper’s Steak Salad. Martini-lovers should check out Cotton’s cocktail menu, which offers more than a dozen different flavors of martini. Most lunch entrees run around $9; most dinner entrees run between about $15 and $22. • C.R. Sparks (18 Kilton Road, Bedford, 647-7275, www.crsparks.com) Hours: Lunch is served Monday through Friday from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Dinner is served Monday through Friday, 4:30 to 9:30 p.m.; Saturday, 4 to 10 p.m., and Sunday, 3 to 8 p.m. With its open kitchen and sizeable bar, C.R. Sparks can offer an evening of people-watching as well as eats. Snack on small plates such as pork pot stickers or the roasted garlic plate, or head to the entrees: asparagus and fontina ravioli, horseradish-crusted swordfish or Cavatoppi pasta (pulled chicken, New Hampshire bacon, smoked mozzarella and roasted garlic cream). A “Wood Fired” section of the menu features bacon-wrapped filet mignon, wood-grilled Kobe burger and cedar-planked salmon and there are several variations of brick oven pizza. For lunch, enjoy one of the large salads, such as a steak salad Nicoise, or a sandwich, such as the wood-fired crab melt. Lunch plates run between about $9 and $12. For dinner, entrees run between about $17 and $29 and most pizzas cost around $12. • Damian’s on the River (73 River Road, New Boston, 497-8888, www.damiansotr.com) Hours: Tuesday through Saturday, 11:30 a.m. until 9 p.m.; Sunday, 11:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. Seasonal cooking is on the menu at Damian’s; they pride themselves on making everything from scratch from the freshest ingredients available. Depending on the time of year, the dinner menu might feature slow-smoked pork chops with cranberries reduction, slow-cooked short ribs of beef with crispy onions or cast iron-seared Hudson Valley duck breast on peppercorn sauce. Or look for a German-themed dish, such as Wiener schnitzel (with braised red cabbage, Austrian potato salad and lingonberries) or German Sauerbraten (slow-braised beef in a red wine sauce with bread dumpling and braised red cabbage). At dinner, expect most entrees to be from around $18 to $25 (with more entrees near the $18 end). • Firefly American Bistro & Bar (22 Concord St., Manchester, 935-9740, www.fireflynh.com) Hours: Lunch is served Monday through Friday, 11:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday, 11:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Dinner is served Sunday through Thursday, 5 to 10 p.m., and Friday and Saturday, 4 to 11 p.m. The bar is open until midnight. Hippo readers voted Firefly as the Best of the Best in the “Best New Restaurant” category. The bistro featuring twists on American cuisine opened in late 2008. The dinner menu features entrees that run from comfort food (Old World fish and chips, poor man’s pie, Firefly burger) to seafood (salmon puttanesca, mirin glazed tuna) to hearty meat dishes (red curry duck breast, braised lamb shank). Vegetarians can look for an eggplant Napoleon, maple-glazed root vegetables and a Mediterranean platter featuring hummus, tapenade, tabouli, pita chips and veggies. Most dinner entrees run between about $13 and $23. • Fratello’s (155 Dow St., Manchester, 624-2022, www.fratellos.com) Hours: Lunch is served daily from 11:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.; dinner is served Sunday, Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday from 4 to 9 p.m. and Thursday, Friday and Saturday from 4 to 10 p.m. Hippo readers voted Fratello’s the Best of Manchester in the “Best Italian Restaurant” category. The menu features Italian-American restaurant favorites, like pasta served with a choice of sauces (from creamy Alfredo to spicy Fra Diavolo), brick oven fired pizzas, a choice of meats prepared saltimbocca style and shrimp scampi. But save room for a dessert and/or cocktail and (during the summer) enjoy it on the deck, which looks out over the Millyard. Dinner entrees range from about $9 to about $22. • Gauchos Churrascaria Brazilian Steakhouse (62 Lowell St. in Manchester, 669-9460, www.gauchosbraziliansteakhouse.com) Hours: Lunch is served Monday through Friday from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.; dinner is served Monday through Saturday from 4 to 10 p.m. and Sunday from 4 to 9 p.m. Gauchos is a different kind of steakhouse. When you come for dinner, you pay a set price — $27.45 for adults, $10.95 for children 10 and under. It gets you a trip to their salad bar (featuring a variety of house-made salads as well as the components to make your own leafy green starter). While you’re at your table, salmon will make its way over to you. When this appetite-whetter is finished, the meats will arrive — a parade of slow-roasted beef, lamb, chicken, turkey, sausage, pork and more will pass by carried on skewers. • Giorgio’s Ristorante & Meze Bar (524 Nashua St., Milford, 673-3939, www.giorgios.com) Hours: Sunday through Wednesday, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. (lunch is served until 4 p.m.); Thursday through Saturday, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. (lunch is served until 4 p.m.). Brunch is Sunday, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. It’s the meze that sets the Milford Giorgio’s apart from its Merrimack sibling, food-wise. The Milford restaurant highlights Greek cuisine with small plates like spanakopita, mini gyros, Greek nachos and steak and potato skewers. On the dinner menu, there are Italian classics (chicken broccoli ziti, eggplant parmesan), stuffed pasta dishes, grilled dishes and then the Greek entrees like the Santorinian-style seafood boat, the beef phyllo crisps and the vegetarian plate that features spinach- and feta-filled phyllo and a stuffed pepper. The restaurant also serves grilled pizzas. Most dinner entrees run between about $13 and $23. • Hanover Street Chop House (149 Hanover St., Manchester, 644-2467, www.hanoverstreetchophouse.com) Hours: Dinner is served Monday through Thursday from 5 to 9:30 p.m.; Friday and Saturday 5 to 10 p.m. The bar is open Monday through Saturday starting at 4:30 p.m. Hippo readers voted Hanover Street Chop House Best of the Best in the “Best Steakhouse” category. It has the warm, wood-accented atmosphere and attention to detail you’d expect from a high-end steak house. Start with Kobe beef carpaccio, classic escargot, the seafood tower (of lobster tail, shrimp, shucked oysters, clams and crab) or a cheese plate. Then go for the steaks — filet mignon, top sirloin, dry aged Kansas City steak. Or go for one of the specialties —rack of lamb, tuna au poivre, natural sea scallops. Most steak dishes run between about $30 and $42; most non-steak entrees run between $20 and $28 (though a live two-pound lobster runs $48 and the surf and turf is $55). • Jewell & the Beanstalk (793 Somerville St., Manchester, 624-3709, www.jbeanstalk.com) Hours: Monday, 7 a.m. to 2 p.m.; Tuesday through Friday, 6:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.; Saturday, 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.; Sunday, 8 a.m. to noon. Jewell & the Beanstalk is the kind of place every neighborhood needs. It offers breakfast and (most days) lunch and occasionally live music and art in the evenings. For breakfast, try the omelets (Mexican tortilla quiche, avocado omelet), scrambles (tofu veggie; sausage, onion, spinach & Swiss), cinnamon raison French toast or Western Poach (served over jalapeño focaccia). For lunch, there’s a daily changing selection of soups, a menu of sandwiches (including turkey basil, herb tuna and Whole Lotta Love, with apple, bacon, walnuts and herbed cream cheese), salads and hot dishes like pot pie and a veggie burrito. Most breakfast and lunch dishes run between about $6.50 and $8. • J.W. Hill’s Sports Bar & Grill (795 Elm St., Manchester, 645-7422, www.jwhills.com) Hours: Monday, 5 to 11 p.m.; Tuesday and Wednesday, 11:30 a.m. to 11 p.m.; Thursday through Saturday, 11:30 a.m. to 1 a.m.; Sunday, 11:30 a.m. to 11 p.m. Hippo readers voted J.W. Hill’s Best of the Best in the “Best Place to be Seen” category and Best of Manchester in the “Best Sports Bar” category. If you’re at J.W. Hill’s late watching sports or being seen, you can order from its bar menu, which features sandwiches, burgers, salads and pizza (like the Italian, with Kalamata olives, caramelized onions, pepperoni, bacon, sweet Italian sausage and green peppers). The dinner menu also features salads, pizza, sandwiches and burgers as well as entrees like St. Louis BBQ Ribs, Personal Meatloaf and Classic Fish and Chips. These entrees run from about $11 to $18; the pizzas, burgers, sandwiches and salads mostly run from about $8 to $10. • KC’s Rib Shack Barbecue (837 Second St., Manchester, 627-7427, www.ribshack.net) Hours: Sunday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. You might want to wear dark clothing to KC’s — you’ll need to use your hands to get every last bit of barbecue goodness, and splatter is inevitable. Hippo readers picked KC’s as Best of the Best for “Best Ribs” and Best of Manchester for “Best Menu Item” (the pulled pork) and “Best Sandwich” (The Cardiac Sam, with pulled pork, cheese, pulled chicken and bacon). Don’t forget to start the meal off with fried pickles or Hand-made Beer Battered Shroomies. And check out the newly added sandwiches. For the very adventurous, there’s that cocktail made in the beach pail (the Bubba Bucket for Two)… A variety of differently priced combos offer different barbecued meats with sides, like the QQ Pladdas, which costs $12.99 per person (two-person minimum). Burgers and sandwiches run about $8 to $10. • The Korean Place (110 Hanover St., Manchester, 622-9377) Hours: lunch is served Thursday and Friday from 11:30 a.m. through 1:30 p.m. Dinner is served Thursday, Friday and Saturday, from 5 to 9 p.m. The Korean Place, which touts its mix of “traditional and innovative Asian cuisine,” offers a tidy menu of Korean-inspired eats, with appetizers including pan-fried mandoo (Korean-style beef dumplings, ginger and garlic) and vegetable pancakes, and dinner entrees like beef bi bim bab (seasoned rice, vegetables, sweet egg omelet, homemade chili paste); seafood in spicy black bean sauce, and calamari in chili pepper sauce. Dinner entrees cost between about $16 and $19. Bring cash; The Korean Place does not accept credit cards. • La Carreta (545 Hooksett Road, Manchester, 628-6899) Hours: Monday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. and 5 to 10 p.m.; Friday, 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.; Saturday, 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.; Sunday, noon to 10 p.m. Hippo readers picked the Manchester La Carreta as the Best of the Best in “Best Mexican Restaurant.” The menu offers all the Mexican food favorites — burritos, tacos, enchiladas, nachos — as well as chicken, steak and seafood dishes with Mexican-inspired sauces, like mole and poblano sauce. Save a little room for dessert — the menu features flan, sopapillas, churros, fried ice cream and xangos (a cheesecake wrapped in a tortilla and fried). Combination plates featuring items like tacos, tostados, enchiladas and more cost about $10, and most other entrees run from about $10 to $17. • Lui Lui (259 DW Highway, Nashua, 888-2588, www.luilui.com) Hours: Sunday, noon to 9:30 p.m.; Monday through Thursday, 11:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. Hippo readers voted Lui Lui as the Best of Nashua in the “Best Restaurant to Take Kids To” category. A healthy-sized kids’ menu offers pasta dishes (served with a homemade bread animal) and a pizza. Adults can choose from wood-grilled pizzas, calzones, pasta dishes and entrees such as Tuscan steak tips and saltimbocca. These entrees for adults mostly run between about $15 and $18; pasta dishes and pizzas start at about $11. • Michael Timothy’s (212 Main St., Nashua, 595-9334, www.michaeltimothys.com) Hours: Tuesday through Saturday — afternoon menu served from 3 to 5 p.m.; dinner menu served starting at 5 p.m. Sundays, brunch is served from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Hippo readers voted Michael Timothy’s as Best of Nashua in the “Best Restaurant Overall” category as well as Best of Nashua for “Best Wine List,” “Best Salads” and “Best Desserts.” And chef and owner Michael Buckley was voted Best Chef. Show up for the afternoon menu to try some of Buckley’s wood-grilled pizzas (spicy garlic & onion, red curry chicken). For dinner, that menu is joined by entrees such as sautéed shrimp and pappardelle, seared duck breast and confit leg and Bistro Beef Tournedos (on garlic crostini with grilled tomato, crispy pancetta and spinach hollandaise). Dessert-lovers should check out the white chocolate crème brulee, chocolate peanut butter truffle cake or the cheese selection. Dinner entrees run from $18 to $36; grilled pizzas run from $14 to $18. • Mile Away (52 Federal Hill Road, Milford, 673-3904, www.mileawayrestaurant.com) Hours: January through March, dinner is served Wednesdays through Saturdays from 5 to 9 p.m. and Sunday from 1 to 7 p.m. April through December, dinner is served Tuesday through Saturday from 5 to 9 p.m. and Sunday from 1 to 7 p.m. Choose an entrée and appetizer (fruit plate with sorbet, paté, vichyssoise, Swedish meatballs, stuffed clams or soup or substitute for seafood and other items for an additional fee); salad (Caesar or mixed greens) and dessert (pastries, peach melba, ice cream roll, maple custard, ice cream puff, meringue) come with it. Entrees include duck du jour, rack of lamb, baked stuffed shrimp, maple salmon, veal or chicken piccata milanaise, wienerschnitzel and vegetarian chaos (sweet potato cake, grilled marinated vegetables, sautéed wild mushrooms, spanakopita and vegetable du jour). Entrees cost between about $18 and $27. • 900 Degrees (50 Dow St., Manchester, 641-0900, www.900degrees.com) Hours: Sunday, noon to 9 p.m.; Monday and Tuesday, 11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Wednesday through Friday, 11:30 a.m. to 11 p.m.; Saturday, 11:30 a.m. to 11 p.m. Hippo readers voted 900 Degrees Best of Manchester in the “Best Pizza in Your Neighborhood” category and Best of the Best for “Best Pizza Worth a Drive.” The pizzas are grilled in a wood-fired oven, so the crust is thin and crispy. For toppings, pizzas include the Tuscan Sun (tomato sauce, pecorino-romano, fresh mozzarella, artichoke hearts, sun-dried tomatoes, fresh basil and extra-virgin olive oil), the Quattro Formaggi (mozzarella, ricotta, goat cheese, gorgonzola, extra-virgin olive oil and garlic) and the Florentine Pesto (basil pesto, tomato-basil, arugula, pecorino-romano, fresh mozzarella and olive oil). 900 Degrees also offers salads, deli sandwiches and panini. Pizzas cost between about $11 and a little over $14. • Ollie’s (761 Mast Road, Manchester, 626-3711) Hours: Monday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.; Sunday from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Hippo readers awarded Ollie’s Best of Manchester for “Best Chicken Tenders” and “Best Soups.” Classic family restaurant food is on the menu here — burgers, calzones and pizza, sandwiches (turkey Reuben, chicken gyro, tuna melt) and salads. For dinner, also check out hearty chicken dishes (baked stuffed chicken, fried chicken, Buffalo chicken breast), pasta dishes (haddock parmigiana, ziti pesto, baked manicotti), lamb dishes, beef dishes and seafood (all the classics served fried, baked or broiled. Most dinner entrees run around $9 to $14; sandwiches and burgers start at a little less than $6 and run to a little more than $8. • Piccola Italia Ristorante (815 Elm St., Manchester, 606-5100, www.piccolaitalianh.com) Hours: Lunch is served Monday through Friday from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Dinner is served Monday through Thursday from 4 to 10 p.m.; Friday from 4 to 11:30 p.m.; Saturday from noon to midnight, and Sunday from noon to 9 p.m. Hippo readers voted Piccola Best of the Best for “Best Italian Restaurant.” The restaurant offers Italian American classics (spaghetti dishes, fettuccini alfredo, gnocci, veal alla parmigiana) as well as risotto dishes, steak, fish and chicken dishes and lighter fare like insalata ai Frutti di Mare (a salad of fresh seafood). Entrees can run from $13 to $27. • Puritan Backroom (245 Hooksett Road in Manchester, 669-6890, www.puritanbackroom.com) Hours: Opens daily at 11 a.m. and serves complete menu until 11 p.m., Sunday through Thursday, and midnight, Friday through Saturday. Let Hippo readers give you the run-down: The Puritan Backroom was voted Best of the Best for “Best Chicken Tenders,” “Best Cocktail” (for the mudslide), “Best Ice Cream,” “Best Menu Item” (for those chicken tenders), and “Best Restaurant to Take Kids To.” And they voted the Backroom Best of Manchester for “Best Grilled Cheese,” “Best Late Night Eats” and “Best Salads.” And, as they have for years, readers anointed the Puritan Backroom as Best of the Best for “Best Restaurant Overall.” You want a grilled cheese on rye with tomato? Chicken tenders with spicy fries? A grilled Rueben with onion rings? They got that. You want a large Greek salad, a Hawaiian pizza, veal cacciatore, baked stuffed haddock or beef tenderloin kabob? They got that too. A satisfying meal can be had for less than $5 or for more than $20. • Red Arrow Diner (61 Lowell St. in Manchester, 626-1118, www.redarrowdiner.com) Hours: Open. Always. (Except for a stretch from the afternoon on Christmas Eve through Christmas morning.) Again, let Hippo readers make their recommendations: Red Arrow was voted Best of the Best for “Best Late Night Eats,” “Best Grilled Cheese,” “Best Cup of Coffee,” “Best Cheap Eats” and “Best Breakfast” and Best of Manchester for “Best Burger.” And of course they brought home Best of the Best in the Best Diner category. Enjoy breakfast all day with a Mama Kicks omelet (grilled tenders, tomatoes and Monterey jack cheese), a stack of blueberry pancakes, the Crabcake Benny Special (two eggs and two crabcakes on a grilled English muffin topped with hollandaise sauce and served with panfries) or the Queen Dinah (two eggs, two pancakes, two sausage, two bacon, beans and toast). Or have pie. Or one of the constantly changing blue plate specials. Or a dinner of fish and chips. Price-wise, a big meal can be had for almost $11 and a fried egg sandwich will cost you about $2 but most dishes fall between $5 and $10. • Richard’s Bistro (36 Lowell St., Manchester, 644-1180, www.richardsbistro.com) Hours: On Sunday, brunch is served from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and dinner is served from 4 to 9 p.m. Monday through Friday, lunch is served from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. and dinner is served from 4 to 10 p.m. Saturday, lunch is served from 11:30 to 2 p.m. and dinner is served from 4 to 10 p.m. Here dishes are seasonally inspired and offer a mix of the latest thinking and classic techniques. And the bread basket is a thing of culinary beauty unto itself. For lunch, salads and sandwiches (such as the muffaletta and the Monte Cristo) share the menu with entrees of pasta or chicken or beef. For dinner, the menu includes semolina-crusted sole (with herb spaetzle, beets and pumpkin seed pesto), soy and honey-glazed pig shank (served with Swiss chard, faro and soy demi glace), bacon roasted Maine lobster (with roasted lobster and banana puree, haricot verts and a peanut sauce) and roast duck breast (lentil soup, marinated abalone mushrooms, pea tendrils and crispy duck confit). For lunch, most sandwiches and salads run between $10 and $13 (half portions are available on some dishes). Dinner entrees run between $20 and $38. Richard’s offers daily specials of $5 lunches, $10 brunch items and $20 dinners as well as a selection of $3 mini desserts. • Saffron Bistro (80 Main St., Nashua, 883-2100, www.thesaffronbistro.com) Hours through April: Dinner is served Tuesday through Saturday from 5 to 9:30 p.m. The bar and lounge is open from Tuesday through Saturday from 4 p.m. to closing. Call for information regarding lunch. The bar and the dining room are two separate eating spots. The bar menu features nibbles like Stout-battered onion rings, a cheese plate and pomme frites as well as a Kobe burger, lobster mac & cheese and butternut ravioli. On the dinner menu, entrees include a cast-iron-seared duck breast (with Pink lady apple, roasted spring fennel salad and a raspberry gastrique), pan-roasted codfish (with seasoned green beans, Yukon gold potato hash and a spring citrus butter) and rosemary and sea salt-crusted lamb rack (with goat cheese mashed potatoes, sautéed baby organic carrots and a petit syrah balsamic syrup). Bar menu items run from $5 to $15; dinner entrees run $19 to $34. • San Francisco Kitchen (133 Main St., Nashua, 886-8833, www.sanfranciscokitchen.com) Hours: Sunday through Wednesday from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.; Thursday, 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, 11 a.m. to midnight. Lunch buffet runs from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. San Francisco Kitchen offers different takes on Asian food. You can stick to American Chinese restaurant classics like General Tso’s Spicy Chicken or shrimp lo mein. You can order from an extensive sushi menu. You can cook your own thin slices of meat (beef, pork, ostrich and more) as part of the Shabu Shabu (where a soup is served and kept hot at your table and you cook meat and vegetables in the broth). Or you can order an entree such as walnut shrimp (in honeydew melon), plum wine salmon Napoleono and bamboo-steamed chicken. On weekdays, enjoy a lunch buffet or a selection of sushi bar specials. Call for pricing. • Shorty’s Mexican Roadhouse (1050 Bicentennial Drive in Manchester, 625-1730, www.shortysmex.com) Hours: Monday through Wednesday, 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m.; Thursday through Saturday, 11:30 a.m. to 11 p.m.; Sunday, noon to 9 p.m. The lounge is open Monday and Tuesday from 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m.; Wednesday from 11:30 a.m. to 11 p.m.; Thursday through Saturday from 11:30 a.m. to midnight, and Sunday from noon to 9 p.m. Hippo readers picked Manchester’s Shorty’s as the Best of Manchester in the “Best Mexican/Latin-American Restaurant.” Shorty’s offers Mexican and Southwestern favorites like tacos, burritos, enchiladas, fajitas and quesadillas as well as burgers, sandwiches, salads and ribs. For something different, try the Swordfish Vera Cruz or the Carne Asada Combo. For a familiar favorite, try the Tres Colores enchilada plate (chicken enchilada with tomatillo sauce, a ground beef enchilada with Colorado red sauce and a shredded beef enchilada with red sauce). Some of the “Traditional Mexican” featuring fish, steaks or chicken can cost between about $12 and $18; most combo plates, enchiladas and other items costs $11 or less. • Shorty’s Mexican Roadhouse (328 Nashua Mall in Nashua, 882-4070, www.shortysmex.com) Hours: Monday through Wednesday, 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m.; Thursday through Saturday, 11:30 a.m. to 11 p.m.; Sunday, noon to 9 p.m. Like the Manchester’s Shorty’s, the Nashua restaurant offers familiar Mexican dishes as well as burgers, sandwiches, salads and more. Hippo readers picked Nashua’s Shorty’s for Best of Nashua in the “Best Ribs” category. Shorty’s baby back ribs have a wet rub and are slow cooked and topped with a whiskey barbecue sauce. While some of the “Traditional Mexican” featuring fish, steaks or chicken can cost between about $12 and $18, most of the combo plates, enchiladas and other items cost $11 or less. • Silo’s Steakhouse (641 DW Highway, Merrimack, 429-2210, www.silossteakhouse.com) Hours: Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, 4 to 9 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, 4 to 9:30 p.m.; Sunday, 4 to 8 p.m. A $9.99 steak — the Angus sirloin brushed with a honey bourbon barbecue sauce and topped with sautéed peppers, onions and mushrooms, served with potatoes — is one of the “10 under $10” lighter items on Silo’s menu along with “BBQ Baby Back Ribs” and “Espinaca Chicken.” In addition to an extensive menus of sirloins (including Big Bleu with gorgonzola and a Wonton Sirloin with soy ginger brown sugar marinade), steak tips (including maple mesquite) and other steak cuts (including a buffalo steak, when available), Silo’s offers several preparations of lobster as well as chicken (a zinfandel-flavored California chicken), lamb (New Zealand French-cut rack of lamb), pork (apple-stuffed pork loin) and more. Many items (particularly lobster and steak) are market priced, which means their prices will fluctuate throughout the year. Lighter entrees run about $9 to $11. Most meatier entrees run $14 to $24. • Stella Blu (70 E. Pearl St., Nashua, 578-5557, www.stellablu-nh.com) Hours: Tuesday through Saturday 5 p.m. to midnight; Sundays 4 to 10 p.m. Hippo readers voted Stella Blu Best of Nashua for “Best New Eatery,” “Best Bartender,” “Best Bar Menu” and “Best Cocktail.” This cozy but sophisticated restaurant takes a wine-bar approach to food and drink. The dishes are American tapas, with the menu divided into “Main Street, USA” (cod fritters, pulled pork sliders); “The Latin Quarter” (paella, albodigas); “Asia Town” (duck rangoons, orange-hoisin glazed beef skewers); “Little Italy” (arancini, grilled flatbread pizza); “Farmer’s Market” (apple & fennel salad, caramelized Brussels sprouts), and “Corner Bakery (Churro Stix, Jo’s Flan). The restaurant’s healthy-sized wine list offers many wines by the glass, and look for special flights that allow you to compare different varietals. Most of the small plates cost between $4 and $13. • Surf (207 Main St., Nashua, 595-9293, www.surfseafood.com) Hours: Tuesday through Thursday, 4:30 to 9:30 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, 4:30 to 10 p.m. Hippo readers voted Surf, which is owned by nearby Michael Timothy’s owner Michael Buckley, Best of the Best for “Best Seafood” and gave Surf’s Fried Tomato & Crispy Bacon Salad (over greens with creamy cracked black pepper Parmesan dressing) Best of Nashua in “Best Menu Item.” Also on the starters menu are Warm Curry Crab Dip, Surf Wings and Fried Jonah Crab Cakes (with Louisiana-style remoulade). On the entrees menu, look for California Fish Tacos, Portuguese Seafood Stew, Grilled Miso Marinated Salmon and Shrimp Vindaloo. Most entrees cost between $16 and $29. A few are set by the market price of the seafood. • T-Bones Great American Eatery (25 S. River Road, Bedford, 641-6100, www.t-bones.com) Hours: Monday through Thursday, 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m.; Friday, Saturday and Sunday, 11:30 a.m. to midnight. From the same people who bring you Cactus Jack’s come the T-Bones restaurants, the Bedford location of which won a slot on this list. The menu features a mix of traditional steakhouse offerings (slow roasted prime rib, center cut New York sirloin) with seafood, Italian dishes, burgers and classic American dishes like chicken pot pie, roast turkey dinner and baked haddock. Despite the steakhouse approach, T-Bones also features eight meat-free entrée-sized dishes on its vegetarian menu and five dishes on a menu specifically geared at eating fresh and healthy. For a more modest-sized entrée, try the chipotle chicken sliders, petite Cobb salad or the pan-seared parmesan cod on the “Just Enough for Not Too Much Menu.” Entrees run between about $7 and about $24 (with sandwiches, salads and other smaller dishes toward the lower end of that scale). • Unums (49 E. Pearl St., Nashua, 821-6500, www.unums.com) Hours: Tuesday through Sunday, 5 to closing. Unums is another in the growing number of local restaurants where you can make a meal by grazing on the appetizers and bar menu or go for an entrée. For smaller plates, offerings include flatbreads, fried ravioli, cast-iron-roasted nut trio with brown sugar crusted pretzels, grilled rare tuna, two styles of wings and two styles of satay. For entrees, offerings include merlot-braised half duck, wood-grilled rack of pork and broiled sake-marinated Chilean sea bass. Entrees run from $18 to $31. • Unwine’d (865 Second St. in Manchester, 625-9463, www.unwined.net) Hours: Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, 4:30 to 10 p.m.; Friday, 4:30 to midnight; Saturday, 5 p.m. to midnight. Hippo voters awarded Unwine’d with Best of the Best for “Best Wine List” and for “Best Date Place.” With its romantic lighting and its option to sit side-by-side with your date on comfortable couches, you can understand why the restaurant regularly wins in the date place category. It offers an expansive wine list with dozens of wines available by the glass. The menu features entrees such as a Duo of Duck, grilled filet mignon and sun-dried tomato mascarpone ravioli. But it also offers items such as cheese fondue, bruschetta, grilled flatbread and the assorted cheese plate that are perfect for sharing. Ditto the chocolate fondue on the dessert menu. Entrees run from $12 to $24 (most are under $20). • Villa Banca (194 Main St., Nashua, 598-0500, www.villabanca.com) Hours: Lunch is served Monday through Friday from 11:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Dinner is served Sunday from 4 to 8 p.m.; Monday and Wednesday from 4 to 9 p.m.; Thursday from 4 to 9:30 p.m., and Friday and Saturday from 4 to 10 p.m. This former bank is now a repository for Italian deliciousness. A selection of “Pastabilities” lets you match pasta style, sauce choices and extras like meatballs and sausages. Or pick a specialty pasta dish, like seafood ravioli, chicken Frangelico or salmon tortellini vodka cream. Or go for veal dishes, such as Veal Perugina or Veal and Lobster (served over farfalle). Or chicken, such as Chicken Carciofi (chicken breasts sautéed with roasted red peppers, artichokes and button mushrooms in a lemon oregano sauce topped with melted mozzarella and served over spinach risotto). Prices on the choose-your-own pasta dishes vary according to what you pick. Dinner entrees run between about $15 and $27. • The Way We Cook (1361 Elm St., Manchester, 625-5454, www.waywecooknh.com) Hours: Wednesday through Saturday, 5 to 9:30 p.m. Italian, Greek and American cuisine inform the menu at The Way We Cook, a chic and cozy restaurant on the north end of Elm Street in Manchester. The menu varies regularly, but look for appetizers like a bright caprese salad or rich spanakopita or a meatball appetizer, and entrees like chicken parmigiano, veal piccata, Mediterranean bouillabaisse, sautéed sea scallops and roast rack of lamb dal forno. Entrees mostly range in price from $20 to $30. • Thousand Crane (1000 Elm St. #125 in Manchester, 634-0000) Hours: Monday through Thursday, 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, 11:30 a.m. to 11 p.m.; Sunday, 4 to 9:30 p.m. Hippo readers voted Thousand Crane the Best of Manchester for “Best Asian Restaurant.” Chinese and Japanese food share the menu. Looking for something cool and light? Try one of the many varieties of sushi or sashimi — tuna, red snapper, shrimp, eel and more. Or go for the maki — spicy salmon maki, California maki (the familiar combination of crabmeat, cucumber, avocado and tobiko), Spider Maki (soft shell crab, avocado, cucumber, beef steak, leaf and scallions) and Sunset Canal (salmon tempura roll over fresh sliced salmon). Other Japanese offerings include tempura, udon noodle dishes and soups. On the Chinese part of the menu, you’ll find all the favorites — chicken with broccoli, kung pao shrimp, Mongolian beef, crispy duck, Hunan lamb and lo mein and chow mein. House specialties include crispy whole fish, Seven Spicy Tuna and Sizzling Triple Crowns (which features jumbo shrimp, sea scallops and sliced tender beer). Dinner entrees on the Chinese menu mostly run between about $6 and $23 (with the majority around $10). • Z (860 Elm St., Manchester, 629-9383, www.zfoodanddrink.com) Hours: Lunch is served Monday through Friday, 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Dinner is served Monday through Thursday from 4 to 9:30 p.m. and Friday and Saturday from 4 to 10 p.m. On its dinner menu, Z divides the dishes into “Small,” “Salad,” “Simple” and “Signature.” Make a dinner of a salad (field greens with goat cheese croquettes, a chopped salad with a champagne vinaigrette) and small plates (arancinis, chicken and chips, scallop ceviche). Or try one of the bigger dishes — chopped lamb steak with an orzo salad from the “Simple” menu or pan-seared duck from the “Signature” menu. And don’t forget the “Sweet” menu, where you’ll find cinnamon bun crème brulee or a spiked eggnog cream puff. At lunch, sandwiches are on the menu, including a pork loin Cuban. Small plates on the dinner menu run between $6 and $10. Bigger entrees run between $18 and $30.
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