2 Best Restaurants in Manchester, The Monadnocks and Merrimack Valley

Mod lighting and furnishings lend this restaurant inside an old Amoskeag Mills building a swanky atmosphere, although on warm days you may want to have a seat on the patio, set in an arbor. The farm-to-table-inspired comfort food changes regularly but has featured pan-seared crab cakes, grilled Atlantic salmon with sweet corn and gnocchi, and Delmonico steak with a choice of sauces. There's a very good cocktail list.

Set in a stunningly restored downtown theater with a huge adjacent outdoor patio, the Crown is a splendid venue for dining, but it's the natty bar—with noteworthy craft-cocktail list, exposed-brick walls, and tile floor—that's especially alluring. Specialties from the eclectic menu include the Nashville hot chicken sandwich, veal schnitzel with asparagus and lemon butter, and coffee-rubbed New York strip steak with frites.