New concept for Common Man Roadside opens in Manchester Millyard
Jul. 17—The newest Common Man Roadside restaurant and cafe inside the Tru by Hilton in Manchester's Millyard brings a vintage vibe to the brand new building.
The interior is lined with salvaged brick from the Concord rail station and reclaimed wood from two barns in Epping, including custom-made ceiling clouds. The company had lumber sourced from Goosebay Sawmill & Lumber in Chichester to create a live edge bar top.
"We wanted it to feel like we've been here for 100 years, even though the building's only been here for three years," said Brad Pernaw, managing partner of Granite State Hospitality LLC. The brand is part of the Common Man restaurant family.
Common Man Roadside might be best known for the Hooksett welcome centers on Interstate 93, but also has smaller locations on South Willow Street in Manchester and in Plymouth. The Millyard location offers a full-service restaurant, which is a newer concept for the quick-serve brand. The other locations all include Irving gas stations.
The restaurant at 451 Commercial St. casually opened last Tuesday. The news quickly spread and a line formed around lunchtime. The restaurant has not opened for dinner yet.
The core menu items remain the same with items like a Reuben sandwich ($12), Triple BLT ($14) and fast-fired pizza ($12-$25). Additional entrees will be included for dinner, which will include steak and seafood dishes.
Already becoming popular is the Nashville Hot Chicken Sandwich ($15), a fried filet with homemade spice mix, coleslaw and pickle. The sandwich is only being offered at the Millyard location.
The bar features 14 draft beers on tap, including Common Man IPA and Ale, and will include Happy Hour promotions.
"That is probably one of the fun things about going back to the office is to be able to socialize after work with your co-worker friends," Pernaw said.
The restaurant and cafe came about after talking with the Lansing Melbourne Group, which opened the Tru in 2020.
"We loved the location," Pernaw said. "We looked at this without the hotel lens and thought this would be a good area to be in for lunch business. Then, when you add in 126 guest rooms it really made the whole project work. They are doing well. They are sold out on the weekends."
The hotel draws a lot of youth sports groups and people visiting the Queen City for events, he said.
The cafe side of the 5,800-square-foot space features tables and leather chairs and coffee tables. The restaurant has indoor and outdoor seating, including a lounge area with fire tables.
Pernaw showed off the open kitchen concept during a recent tour of the space.
"You're part of the experience here," he said. "You get to see it."
The $2.5 million project, which the company financed through Bangor Savings Bank, is about a year behind given the COVID-19 pandemic.
"The impact of COVID had at the beginning was difficult," Pernaw said.
Some of the challenges included construction delays and having to wait for some products, including a 26-week wait for a walk-in cooler.
The company has had several hiring events for the new location and hopes to employ about 30 people at the new location and already have about half on board. Employees from the Hooksett location have been promoted to help run the new restaurant.
In terms of locations with gas stations, the company has announced future stores in Epsom and Portsmouth, which will both be about 5,000 square feet. A location in Concord is also in the works.
"We are going to continue to grow and expand that," Pernaw said.
The company will expand the restaurant/cafe concept if the right location comes up.
The company already has plans to expand the Millyard restaurant, likely by the end of next year.
"What we are envisioning is meeting space, function rooms and a bigger cafe and more space dedicated to online ordering and to go," Pernaw said. "We have some opportunity to grow here, which is nice."
