Foster’s Boiler Room

We want with a large group dinner. 14 of us were seated at one large table fairly quickly, but from then everything slowed down. We arrived at 6pm and checks weren’t collected until 8:30. I had fish & chips. The portion is large and it comes with pretty good fries and Cole slaw. The fish however, was not very good. The batter coating was very thick, oily, and in places it wasn’t cooked through and was still runny. I ate all the fries and left a good portion of the fish. My wife had the steak tips which were cooked to her preference. She said they were OK but felt the green beans were oily. Her mashed potatoes looked good.
All in all, a mediocre experience. Room was cold, we seemed to sit forever, and other than the social experience of being with friends, not a great dining experience.

It’s hard to judge properly as we came with a severely overtired baby.
We stopped in during the Highland games, and were seated quickly. However about 5 minutes in our baby decided to have a full on tantrum and we left.
They however gave us our burgers to go, and were quite understanding.
The burgers a half hour later were quite good, but who knows if we even tasted them, we were so hungry and miserable.
They definitely get some credit for not even making a face with a screaming child.

On the way back from a day hike, this place is always a good choice for dinner. We enjoy complimentary cheese & crackers, and make use of free WiFi to post pictures while waiting for food. A pint of beer (Arrogant Bastard! Good strong ale) after the hike tastes great!

Muy buenas cenas en este restaurante del hotel. Las sopas del día magnificas, la clamp chowder merece la pena. Además suelen poner queso y galletas saladas para servirte las que quieras. Todo lo que allí probé estaba muy bueno: mejillones, salmón… Y una cerveza llamada UFO muy rica. Me gustó mucho el Fosters, aunque no abrían temprano y solo pude cenar en el.

have stayed at the common man inn several times & never tried fosters until just last night. the food was great! drinks were delicious, atmosphere was inviting, I will definitively return!

I’ve loved this place for years. The factory conversion provides a great atmosphere. The food is comfortable, tasty, and well-​priced. I just brought my 1-​year old in for a weekday dinner and the team there was really friendly and made our time quite enjoyable.

So I’ve been on a craft soda kick and Common Man makes their own sodas! I don’t like root beer which is their most popular option, so I had the raspberry lime rickey. For those of you who are like me and used to order raspberry lime rickey’s at ice cream parlors, this version will completely make you nostalgic for those times.
As for the food– I had the White Mountain burger– pretzel bun, garlic mayo, thick hamburger patty, topped with mushrooms, Irish bacon/​ham and oozy gruyère cheese. Fries were hot and crispy (but too crispy)…perfect when dipped in the garlic mayo. This was easily my favorite meal of my NH holiday ski trip.
I sat in the bar area, which had TVs at most angles for sports viewing. They had a station set up near the bar where you can help yourself to ritz crackers and a big block of cheddar cheese. Bartender was friendly and prompt, coming to check on me devouring the burger and downing the raspberry lime soda.

Just stopped in for a drink-​although it was good the bar staff was obnoxiously rude… enough for me to join Unilocal just to let y’all know!

Cool place. Nice sitting areas, good bar area, and we checked out the «wine room» for a future group outing. Anyway, my wife and I sat at the bar. I had the onion soup and the reuben. Both very good. My wife had the turkey dumpling soup (on special) and a salad topped with steak tips. She enjoyed both! We had a great bartender. Quick and very friendly. Good atmosphere, good food, good service. Trifecta! We’ll be back…

In a word: Excellent.
What a gem this place is. I am so happy my boyfriend and I discovered this place. We have greatly enjoyed all Common Man family restaurants we have tried so far, and are on a mission to try them all eventually. I have to say, Foster’s Boiler Room is our favorite so far. Driving from the NH/​MA border with a preference for back roads, it took us over 2.5 hours just to get there. This past weekend was our second visit (our first visit being only a little over a month ago) — so factor in the drive, and that’s certainly saying something right there! The restaurant itself is situated within the Common Man Inn & Spa. Foster’s has several different seating areas within. We have been seated in a booth all the way downstairs with the actual fireplace/“boiler” and at a high-​top table all the way at the highest seating area, up a couple sets of stairs. We enjoyed both and were happy we got to experience different parts of the restaurant between our visits. The ambiance is great. A little rustic with fine, antique décor. The noise level was comfortable and just fine for conversation.
There is one particular menu item that brought us here the first time, and was the reason we went back a second time so soon. The Duck Melt. (Note: The menu says it’s seasonal) The description on the menu: «Shredded roast duckling, Brie, bacon jam, garlic mayonnaise and crispy fried onions sandwiched between toasted farmhouse white bread.» — is what drew us in. And boy, did it deliver! The sandwich is absolutely delicious. I’m happy to say, while it was already good enough to bring us back for more, I thought it was even better the second time (the bread was more garlicky the second time, which I enjoyed!)
Another thing I love about this place is that it allows for «carb overload,» if you’re like me and LOVE to overdo it on carbs as a special treat now and then. They have a crackers/​cheese station to which you can help yourself, they offer a basket of bread at your table, and, (in our case) we had fries with our meal, and of course the bread that made up our sandwiches. YUM!
The cocktails and beer selection are great as well.
Service was super friendly both times we went. So that’s an extra plus!
I do want to try the Lobster Macaroni & Cheese sometime — I saw that at another table, and it looked great! The White Mountain Burger also sounds delicious.
Worth the drive if you’re out of the area. I highly recommend this place. Surely we will be back!

This place sucks ! Sorry but went here with my family of 4 everything we ordered was gross ! Pork belly tacos. Sounds good right? Nope ! Nasty Burgers Cold fries. Water tasted like it came from the tap. Service was the worst ! We got there at 8:00 pm and they were vacuuming while we ate ! They close at 11pm ! Waited over 15m for our drinks ! I will eat a sandwich from a gas station before I eat here again !

We go here from time to time. The ambiance is unique– like a frumpy factory. It has lots of levels and stairs.
The food portions are moderate. The wait staff is efficient. The food is ok. They do keep the menu updated with new items. The food, however, is overpriced for the quantity and quality. We go here when we are looking for a change of pace.

We live in Plymouth and decided to give fosters a try. We have been to the bar a few times and attended a couple of functions there but never dinner. We started with the cheesy fries. They were described on the menu with cheese sauce– they came with melted cheese. They were supposed to have bacon and they did not. We asked the waiter and he brought cold crumbled bacon that was mostly solidified fat. The blt was very scanty as were the steak tips (3 small pieces of meat). The burger was just ok. We got up and helped ourselves to ketchup and later steak sauce because the waiter didn’t bring it. We ordered 2 onion soups and received only one.
Very disappointed! We will not return.

We went for dinner during peak foliage season. The bar area is great for drinks before dinner with free cheese and crackers. Once seated for dinner it felt like we were at a Cracker Barrel. Lighting was a bit too bright, but we also were seated in the dining room off to the side. Food was just average but service was fast and friendly. I am giving it two stars because it just seemed too much like a fast food chain (hence…Cracker Barrel). I also think you can get more interesting food elsewhere… but then again it is the White Mountain Region of New Hampshire.

Me and some friends came here for dinner. First all you can eat cheese and crackers at the bar. Food was good and the atmosphere is awesome. Definitely get the snowball for dessert. Highly recommended.

Good solid Common Man family restaurant. Desserts are fantastic!

The food is ok, but the prices are pretty high for what you get. Service speed seems to depend on how close to the bar you are – I’ve gotten pretty quick service sitting at it, but I’ve waited 30+ minutes for my drink when seated in the second level or downstairs by the boiler.
Foster’s just doesn’t seem to have that Common Man spirit that you see in some of the other locations. We’ve mostly given up going here and just head down to the Common Man Inn in Ashland when we’re looking for this kind of food. It’s a more pleasant environment, the food and service are better, and you don’t have to pay a ‘resort’ markup for them.

We ate lunch at Foster’s Boiler Room on our way up to Franconia Notch. Fosters is located within the Common Man Inn and Spa in Plymouth. I loved the rustic charm of the building and enjoyed the walk through it to the dining area. We arrived right around 11:30 when they opened and despite pressing their bell for service waited several minutes for someone to notice us though the bartender and other service staff were milling about. It was obvious they were preparing for the day but it a «I’ll be over in just a minute» would have helped.
Fortunately, that was the only hiccup in an otherwise great visit and it gave us time to check out the interior of the restaurant. To the left is a large bar area, to the right is a «Wine Cellar» seating area, which is behind a curtain and appears to be a private table surrounding their wine cellar. Cute. Their seating reminded me of a tree house, with two levels of seating above and overlooking the bar. We were seated on the middle level and had a great, friendly waitress who took good care of us throughout our meal.
I started with their mushroom and onion soup which was delicious. I am a huge fan of both french onion soup and mushrooms so there was pretty much no possibility this would be disappointing.
For our meals, the hubby and I got salads and split their poutine. My salad was an interesting combination — spinach, crumbled goat cheese and red grapes with an herb vinaigrette. Those flavors all melded well together and were a healthy accompaniment to the horrifyingly diet busting poutine. For those who are unaware, poutine is a French Canadian dish of french fries, gravy, and cheese curd. My French Canadian friend has been raving about it for years and I finally had the opportunity to try it. I have to say, I’m pretty sure eating it gave me like 3 heart attacks, but it was amazing.
I have to say overall I was pretty impressed with this place. Inexpensive, fun atmosphere, good food, friendly service. What more can you ask for?

Bar and restaurant in the Common Man Inn in Plymouth. The food, beer, and service were all excellent. The atmosphere is incredibly cool as the restaurant sits in an old peg mill.

Conveniently located in the Common Man Inn, this restaurant has a warm, inviting décor with very friendly staff. The food is okay but is overcome with the atmosphere.
Food — we ordered buffalo fingers for an appetizer. They were just so so and kind of tasted like they were from a freezer. The burgers were equally so so … kind of thin and didn’t have much flavor. The sweet potato fries with the maple dip was awesome! Tasted like french toast. We shared the «snowballs» dessert, which was awesome!
Service — Fast, friendly, and fun!
Drinks — We ordered the «Maine Squeeze» blueberry cocktails … pretty darn delicious.
The cheese and cracker table is a nice touch.
All in all, I enjoyed the service and atmosphere and would come back if staying at the Inn again.

After a day of skiing, I had dinner at Foster’s Boiler Room located inside The Common Man Inn & Spa. Open at 4PM on weekdays and at 12PM on weekends, Foster’s Boiler Room has a very unique pub atmosphere, a large high ceiling room surrounded by brick walls, projector screen TV, with 4 tiers (levels) of dining space accessed via stairs and a fireplace at the bottom level. Most tables are high top with candlelight. The huge metal circular smokestack pipe from the fireplace (very hot) can be seen from each level. 70s rock & roll music can be heard blaring through the speakers.
This restaurant and pub offers pretty much scaled down version of the typical Common Man restaurant menu of pub fare which includes appetizers, salads, stews, sandwiches, steaks, chicken, comfort dishes, and desserts. Complementary cheese and crackers at the main bar level. See the menu at
The main reason I was here was to take advantage of the Real Meal Mondays special, which includes choice of salad, choice of selected entrée, choice of dessert, and choice of coffee or tea for only $ 18.95 plus tax and tip, a pretty good deal! I was seated on the top level where I could see most of the action including the staff going in and out of the kitchen and going up and down the stairs to service tables on each level. I was given house ice water from the designated water guy.
I started out with a cup of coffee, decent not too strong and the Uncommon Salad, which had field greens, gorgonzola, crushed candied hazelnuts & balsamic vinaigrette dressing, one of my favorite salads. I had some cheese & crackers, assorted crackers, but only one kind of cheese (Monterey Jack). For dinner, I had the Apple Almond Chicken served with mashed potatoes and fresh green beans. The chicken breasts were a bit rubbery texture on the outside, but the accompanying apple cider reduction with toasted almond slivers was sweet and had good flavors. The mashed potatoes were chunky and perfect. The green beans were nice and crunchy, a bit salty. For dessert, I went with the Hot Apple Pie ala Mode, nice flaky crust with a dense mixture of sweet apple chunks.
The food was pretty good, but somehow the service was not that great tonight. I waited almost 10 minutes after being seated for the waitress to take my order, since she was busy taking care of a party of 4 skiers below me and some customers at the bar too. Once things got going, the salad and entrée arrived in acceptable time. However, my dessert took a while to come out and the ice cream on the pie was forgotten, so another 10 minutes for that. I was initially charged an extra $ 1 for the coffee even though it should be included with the Real Meal, I had the bill corrected. I did get a refill on coffee fairly quickly though. It’s not an easy job going up and down the stairs to wait on tables, so I’m going easy on the rating.
If you want good food & drinks and not in any rush, Foster’s Boiler Room offers a relaxed paced meal, especially after a long day of skiing or snowboarding. I still prefer dining at a regular Common Man restaurant with locations all over NH, which has a good menu, good food, consistent service, well stocked cheese & crackers, and free chocolate at the end of dinner.
NOTE: Wheelchair access to the bar level and free Wi-​Fi available. Please note on weekdays, dinner is served after 5PM, but sandwiches and appetizers are available at the bar at 4PM.