Best restaurant for post-hike dinner in Whites

Some sad news regarding the Alchemist:

"Disaster strikes Waterbury. The Alchemist Pub and Brewery was ruined in a once in a generation flood on Sunday night August 28, 2011. While the cannery is fine and on target to open this coming Friday, the Pub will be closed for the foreseeable future. With our endless thanks and gratitude to our loyal and returning friends, customers and fans, we will be back. Stay tuned..."

Their current twitter feed reads "The Alchemist Pub & Brewery: 2003-2011. Like a phoenix from the flames, we shall be reborn... the floodwaters have inundated the pub...."

http://www.alchemistbeer.com/

No word on Blackback Pub & Flyshop, but if I recall, they were slightly downhill from the Alchemist, and in a basement...

csprague said:

Some sad news regarding the Alchemist:

"Disaster strikes Waterbury. The Alchemist Pub and Brewery was ruined in a once in a generation flood on Sunday night August 28, 2011. While the cannery is fine and on target to open this coming Friday, the Pub will be closed for the foreseeable future. With our endless thanks and gratitude to our loyal and returning friends, customers and fans, we will be back. Stay tuned..."

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Awwwwwwww, one of my all-time favorites! That place was a goldmine, they'll have it back up quickly I'm sure.

Kevin Rooney said:

Some people like Moat Mtn in N. Conway, but ... that means you have to go thru the Conways. That's OK if you have no other choice, but...

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Rosa Flamingo's, Bethlehem carries Moat Mountain Iron Mikes and Boneshaker Brown Ales now, if that's the motivation. We've eaten at Rosa Flamingo's a couple times now. Service is SLOW, nachos were returned and taken off the bill, but sitting outside on a nice night with a Boneshaker or 2 and one of their sandwiches was very worthwhile. Actually it's probably the kitchen, not the waitresses, that's so slow. Don't be in a hurry.

We really like Rosa's. Our preference is to eat in the bar downstairs, it's a very different atmosphere than the restaurant upstairs. Good food, good menu, good beer. Very cozy in ski season.

Note that the restaurant portion does take reservations, and we've been there when it's been full.

Anyone tried Johnson's? They are a bit out of the way (one on Rt 4 in Northwood, the other on Rt 11 in New Durham) for those traveling to the White's, but I have heard nothing but good things about this place and I drive Rt 4 home every weekend and I swear there is not a single day that their entire parking lot is not FULL with dozens of cars on the LAWN. The locals must think the place is the bees-knees if it's that popular.

http://www.eatatjohnsons.com/

With the conditions. Looks like we can skip the hike and go straight to the restaurant.

JacobH said:

Anyone tried Johnson's? They are a bit out of the way (one on Rt 4 in Northwood, the other on Rt 11 in New Durham) for those traveling to the White's, but I have heard nothing but good things about this place and I drive Rt 4 home every weekend and I swear there is not a single day that their entire parking lot is not FULL with dozens of cars on the LAWN. The locals must think the place is the bees-knees if it's that popular.

http://www.eatatjohnsons.com/

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I have and I will vouch for it. My father lives ten mins away in nottingham and back when I ate fried foods ( on a diet ) I loved it. I would put it up there with all of the Iconic seacoast seafood joints, i.e. Markys and Browns ( Browns beats Markys case any were wondering).

On a side note El greccos in lincoln is not bad. I had a spinach calzone there it was really good not soggy on the bottom like they can get. ( I know people are thinking a calzone is no better than fired seafood and your right. I hiked carrigain that day and I have a rule I break ten miles on a hike I get to eat whatever I want!!)

What an absolute bummer. The Alchemist was awesome, as is all of Waterbury. The town got completely hammered by the flash floods, while 20 minutes up the road in Williston where I live, there are virtually no signs of anything more than a sprinkle yesterday. Some towns like Burlington have virtually no damage whatsoever, while Brattleboro and Bennington and towns down in the southern part of the state look like war zones.

We tried a new place for our post hike meal on Saturday. It's not right in the Whites, but we are not always anxious to eat right away. On Saturday night, Woodsville was too crowded, as was the Italian Farmhouse in Plymouth/Ashland. So we traveled a little further and stopped for the first time at Rossi's at Exit 23, across from Dunkin Donuts. We were very pleased. Great atmosphere, priced right, wonderful food, friendly staff. Brian had a pizza, I had the ravioli. My favorite type of hard rolls I love! We'll be stopping there again!

To each his own Brian. We like Brenda's, at least we've had the pizza several times.

The pink house in Bethlehem across from the gas station opened as Terra this fall and was quickly closed and renamed or reopened as Root. They spent alot, probably too much, renovating the building. It's supposed to be local/sustainable/organic. We have not eaten a full dinner, but the bar upstairs is nice, great apps to share and a drink or 2. We split a smoked trout salad that was very good. And the bread was excellent. Not cheap, but not bad, and I don't know how long it'll be there. Here's a website; http://rootnh.com/farmtablebethlehem/

The Icy Gulch restaurant in Gorham has reopened under new management. They are now open for breakfast lunch and dinner. The have a bar but it really set up as a restaurant. I have been there twice for lunch under the new management and both times the prices were reasonable and the food was good.

For those who have the Mr Pizza menu memorized this might be a good alternative to check out, Its just down the street a couple of blocks from Mr Pizza.

Wanted to stop last night for a meal at the Whittier House. They were unable to process credit cards - fortunately ther was a sign of cash only at the front desk. Does anyone here know if this is temporary or if they are closing or something else. We backtracked a little and had a great meal at Checkers, which had almost been our first choice.

Whittier House's credit card machine has been "broken" for three weeks now, which seems odd. Chequer's Villa (as mentioned), White Lake Tavern (used to be Sammy's Paw Print), and Yankee Smokehouse are all nearby.

Chip said:

The pink house in Bethlehem across from the gas station opened as Terra this fall and was quickly closed and renamed or reopened as Root. They spent alot, probably too much, renovating the building. It's supposed to be local/sustainable/organic. We have not eaten a full dinner, but the bar upstairs is nice, great apps to share and a drink or 2. We split a smoked trout salad that was very good. And the bread was excellent. Not cheap, but not bad, and I don't know how long it'll be there. Here's a website; http://rootnh.com/farmtablebethlehem/

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They (Root) are closed now. Looks like for good. So Bethlehem is pretty much Rosa Flamingo's (dowstairs pub) for true post-hike drinks/apps/pizza/sandwiches.

I heard rumors a little while ago that the Whittier House closed or was closing. I don't know much more than that. Chequers Villa is great, but I am a bit biased as I worked there for 7 years, learned how to cook there, and it's also where I met my future wife .

Off the path a bit, Ebenezer's in Lovell has been voted the #1 Beer Bar in America by Beer Advocate - food is decent as well. +1 for Shalimar in North Conway, the vindaloo will melt your face!

The Shannon Door in Jackson has great pizza!! Their other food (& beer)ranks right up there too.

Delaney's Hole In The Wall in North Conway is great too!

Remember Mooseland in Twin Mountain? And they had said they were going to rebuild after the fire. Was it as good there as I recall?