Puritan Backroom

Read a lot of reviews, so I had to try this for myself. We started with the Backroom nachos… onions, green pepper, tomatoes, jalapenos, black olives, Hamburg, melted cheese. Individual sour cream, sm. Bowl of salsa. Very delicious. Ordered up a Black & Tan and a Snickers Mudslide. Both drinks… AWESOME. Fresh rolls with baked cheddar on top came out next. The rolls were great, but fresh baked bread usually is, right? The best part, the Land O’ Lakes whipped butter which was in the individual packages but bigger than I’ve ever seen (see pic). The Greek salad was of good size. Very fresh. Oh, along with the rolls came 2 pieces of warm fresh Syrian bread to stuff your salad into. OK, now onto the dinner. We ordered with Chicken tenders dinner and the Fisherman’s platter. 1^st, the tenders. OK all you die-​hard Backroom fans get ready, These are just fried chicken tenders. I didn’t see anything special about them. Sure, they was good, heck, they were great… but nothing special. But come on, fry ANYTHING and it’s great. The chicken was moist and tender. But would I drive out of my way for these? No, Unless my pregnant wife was craving them. The Seafood was great as well, again, nothing special. The fish was fresh. Scallops big and yummy, clams fantastic, the haddock fresh and flakey. $ 100 with tip seems reasonable for 4 drinks, app and two dinners. Would I come back, absolutely. Am I going to freakout if it’s not soon… nah.

The wait time to be seated is a bit long. They do not take reservations but will take your name at the door. Your party has to be present in its entirety before they will seat you. The wait staff is mostly attentive. The drinks are on the strong side– which was a pleasant surprise. The food is excellent! I had the lobster pie, fried calamari as a starter, and coleslaw. My entrée came with a choice of house or Greek salad or even a soup. I chose the Greek salad which was great! I substituted my fries for coleslaw. It was one of the better coleslaws that I have had. The portions are large. The dining room is large and spacious. It can get loud due to how busy it is.

This place is an institution in Manchester and is crowded on nights most restaurants are dead. Good, basic food with good portions and their chicken tenders do have a strange, addictive quality. Their ice cream is also great and I would heartily recommend the banana split.

Yesterday got sick and my son got VERY sick within 15 minutes of eating here. We had chicken tenders and he also had clam chowder. I ate a couple tenders and stopped because my stomach felt unusually full. My son ate all his chowder and a few tenders. 15 minutes later I was cleaning off my car because he was so sick I didn’t even have a chance to pull over. By the time I got home I was sick too. The leftovers went in the trash. Something has gone wrong with this place. It was 11:30am and our first meal of the day. This can’t be the same Puritan Backroom that so many people have raved about for years. Never ever going back.

I think I could get the worst service alive here and I’d still rate The Backroom with 5 stars, that’s how much I love this restaurant. When I lived in NH I was a frequent visitor here for chicken tenders, scallops, chicken cordon blau and black raspberry ice cream. It is a restaurant my family and I can always agree on going to. So here I am with only 72 hours to spend in NH, of course this was my first stop for dinner!!! I have been dreaming of those chicken tenders since we moved away 8 years ago.
My best friend, husband and I showed up for dinner and were told it was a 30 minute wait. What I love about this place is their lounge. There is plenty of seating while waiting for your name to be called and there’s a waitress for this area too! The family next to us, pretty much ordered their dinner right there in the lounge! Because of that it took the waitress a long time to get to us. Also just behind the hostess stand, you can help yourself to a peanut snack mix which is nothing special but we devoured it nonetheless. By the time the waitress did take our drink order, our table was called.
You should always start this experience with their amazing mudslides! You can get them in different flavors and I’m sure a snickers mudslide is great but I will stick with the original. It’s creamy and very boozy! Not to mention it’s a glass that will last you through the meal! And it’s always filled to the brim! For dinner, you have to get the chicken tenders!!! It doesn’t matter what kind you get, they are like crack! I once heard they were marinated in pineapple juice, I don’t know if that’s true but if you know the secret please message me!!! I prefer the tenders fried in coconut! And the duck sauce for dipping is light but sweet. There’s something about that combination. The portions are huge for the money you’re spending but that’s ok cause they are just as good the next day. Those tenders are like pizza, just as good cold and just as good for breakfast as they are for dinner.

I really enjoy this place! My wife introduced me to their Coconut Chicken fingers 6 years ago and they are amazing! So much so that, when we have friends visit us in FL from NH, they usually bring us an order! They’re that good!
We popped in during our quick trip to NH to have drinks and chicken fingers with our friends from NH. We were told it was a 30 minute wait so we sat in the waiting area to have some drinks while we waited. We sat around for a bit before a server came over to take a drink order, but really weren’t too upset as we had catching up to do with our friend. The server finally made it over and took our order, but our table was ready just as she walked away.
We were seated and my wife ordered her Coconut fingers and i tried the Spicy Fingers to mix it up. I have to say, I like the spicy ones much better! The girls ordered awesome to die for mudslides and i ordered a local draft beer. The setting is like, an old NE restaurant and it’s nice and quiet. A couple of TVs near the bar and a nice large ceiling to keep the atmosphere.
Looks like locals and out of towners love this place!

Food is pretty bland. This is the only place I have been to where none of their food, not even the ice cream, had a clear flavor. The service is the best around though and the do make delicious mudslides so as long as they keep those coming, I would be all set. But I would love to see them bring their food into this time period.

This is one of those famous places that everyone in Southern New Hampshire knows about and for some reason I’d never been so I was excited to try them out. I went on a Saturday night with friends and there was a 45 + minute wait and the place was packed with people (out the door) trying to get in.
The atmosphere reminded me of something that would have been popular and cool in the 70s or 80s, which isn’t automatically a bad thing, but the iceberg lettuce in my garden salad was reminiscent of that era as well… where’s the deep green leafy stuff to which I’ve grown accustomed? Even plain romaine would have been a step up. Overall, their food could have used a little improvement but I’m rating them at three stars because of the strength of their drinks (and service was good too.)

Coconut. Chicken. Tenders. Doesn’t get any better. Well, until you dip them in the duck sauce that is. Always clean, great décor, efficient staff, fantastic food, amazing mudslides… my only complaint is the wait to get a table because it’s always so busy.

The Puritan Backroom is a fantastic restaurant, known for their Mudslides and chicken tenders (fantastic combo)! The coconut tenders are amazing, I usually go for buffalo anywhere else. The service is always friendly but the restaurant is frequently very busy with long wait times for a table but the wait is worth it

Ordered a coffee Oreo shake. Tastes great, but if you want a thick shake this is not the place to go. I was highly disappointed in the consistency it was like drinking a glorified chocolate milk. Was very busy and the service was friendly.

I really like this place. I think it’s really good here. The food is pretty good & the service is even better.
I really like to go here. It’s one of favorites in the city. The atmosphere is really good here too, great drinks & good appetizers here, I just wish they had Fish Chowder

Dining experience was great, food tasted alright, great waiter, but something must have been wrong in the kitchen because I got awfully sick 20 minutes after eating there, had to pull over on the highway to vomit.

We went here because we were dying for ice cream! My boyfriend tried the Cherry Seinfeld, which is like black cherry ice cream with chocolate chips and black cherries, and I got cherry vanilla. Before that we he got a Texas burger, which was very good! I had some of it. The size was good, the meat was cooked well and the toppings were fresh. The fries were amazing as well.
The wait was about 15 minutes, which was alright. They have seats there and a tv. Was pretty busy for a Wednesday evening.
My only problem is I wish they had outside seats to eat ice cream. I don’t know if maybe they do this in the summer or not, but it would’ve been nice to sit and eat outside. Overall we were both satisfied and would come back and recommend

It’s without a doubt the most famous restaurant in Manchester (maybe Southern, NH). For example: You literally can’t get become a the President of the United States without coming here at least once during the NH Primary season.
It’s a tried and true restrurant unchanged by time.

Puritan is a NH legend.
At first we didn’t really understand the hyp. Especially when dining in.
Then we discovered take out, Greek salads and chicken tenders
Ahhhhhmazing
We get take out at least once a week.
The ice cream and dinning in leaves something to be desired tho.

I am a prime rib fanatic and travel all over the country for work, having said that this place delivers! After reading Unilocal’s reviews I decided that I had to try Puritan out. I called at 4:30 on Sunday and asked if there would be an issue getting the prime rib at 6:00… I was put on hold and a minute later a gentleman named Eric got on and identified himself as a manager. I explained my request and he offered to hold a dinner for me at my requested time! They only had 8 left but I was guaranteed 1! Biggest piece of beef I’ve ever had at a restaurant!!! I did my best but only killed half. Brought the rest home and had another complete meal the next night… I would have given 5 stars but I had to sit at the bar… Tough meal to enjoy in a bit of cramped quarters.

I honestly don’t know what the hype about this place is. People freak out about their chicken fingers, but everything is pretty standard. It’s actually a bit overpriced in my opinion.
They serve quality ice-​cream, and their mud-​slides are a crowd pleaser. I’d suggest trying one of their more creative variations, especially the candy bar flavors.
Most nights, you can bet on an older crowd. It’s in a college town, but surprisingly the average age is probably 70. Long waits because it’s a popular spot, so be prepared.

My most recent visit was not an enjoyable one. As I previously stated, the tables for two are TINY and they are so busy you’ll never get a bigger table for a party of two.
I got my favorite-​chicken tenders– and half of them had no batter on them. The ones that were battered were burnt and dry. I alerted my server, who offered fresh ones, and they came out only slightly less burnt. Maybe they have new kitchen staff– who knows, but these are not the chicken tenders I previously raved about.

This is one of those restaurants where you pretty much know what to expect. Nothing great but nothing terrible. Very average, standard and fried everything. Gets crowded so I assume this place is popular. Seemed to be popular amongst the retirement community too.
The chicken tenders dinner is huge. I suggest sharing it with someone. They are good in the sense that you can tell they are homemade and not your standard super breaded and fried chicken tenders. The spicy fries aren’t spicy but they are decent.
Don’t get the stuffed baked shrimp. Not sure what I was thinking ordering it but it’s basically just bread and not good.
The dinners come with a Greek salad which is above average and has a nice chunk of feta on it and I really liked that. They also have a bunch of homemade ice cream flavors. The small is huge. Got French vanilla and mint Oreo. Fantastic ice cream but couldn’t finish the whole bowl.
Overall, it’s a solid place if you’re looking for average.