Manchester, NH, boozes it up

Alcohol is sold at Chuck E. Cheese’s.

This surprised me at first. Why would a business that caters primarily to the 12-and-under set sell booze?

But then it dawned on me: The booze is for the parents of said kids who must endure not only their own wild, screaming children, but also the other approximately 13,000 children who happen to visit the controlled chaos that is Chuck E. Cheese at the same time.

Or it could just be that Manchester residents like to booze it up wherever they go.

I recently asked the New Hampshire Liquor Commission to supply me with a list of all Manchester institutions that can legally sell alcohol by the drink. The spreadsheet they sent me contained a list of some 170 bars, restaurants and private clubs! (It should be noted that this list does not include state liquor stores, grocery stores, gas stations, bodegas, superettes or any other retail store that sells alcohol by the bottle, six-pack, etc.)

Based on the most up-to-date U.S. Census estimates available, this equates to one alcohol-serving institution for every 480 Manchester residents age 20 and older. Indeed, try finding a spot in the city where you can’t find a bar to sidle up to, or at least hit one with a rock:

View Manchester, NH drinking establishments in a larger map

As Union Leader reporter Scott Brooks noted in his City Hall column of July 5, Manchester is a drinkin’ town:

"This is a city whose aldermen postponed a regularly scheduled board meeting so it wouldn't conflict with St. Patrick's Day.

It's a city that, two years ago, elected a bartender, Jennifer Peabody, to the school board and a bar owner, Kelleigh Murphy, to the board of aldermen. Now comes another election, and we've got one former bar owner, Keith Hirschmann, running for alderman, and another, Bobby Stephen, running for mayor.

For crying out loud, our City Hall is almost literally surrounded by bars.

'Hey, it's part of the fabric of a community,' said Alderman Peter Sullivan, who likes to unwind after board meetings with a beer at McGarvey's or the Wild Rover. Sullivan's law office is located above a bar. Its owner is his landlord.

This is a city of private clubs, like the Fish & Game, but also the American Legion's Sweeney Post on Maple Street, where Alderman George Smith can be found five afternoons a week.

'Everybody has a private life,' Smith said. 'Even though they're politicians.'

This is a city where union members get a new contract and go straight from City Hall to the Strange Brew to celebrate. It's a blue-collar town, a former mill town, built by beer-swilling immigrants who begat beer-swilling sons and daughters."

Comments

[Brenda]

Part of the "problem" is the fact that there are so many good alcohol establishments. Milly's Tavern has micro brew, Strange Brew has many beloved beers on tap and the Shaskeen has authentically good music in addition to alcohol. If there weren't so many great places, maybe we would all just drink our PBR at home.

[Kathy Staub]

Manchester has a very long tradtion of combining alcohol and government. In the 18th Century, when we were known as Derryfield, the town hall was located on Mammoth Rd. near the cemetery. It was poorly constructed and not very amenable. If you look at the early minutes you will see that the first order of business was usually to "adjourn to the Waest room of Hall's Tavern" which was on Tarrytown Rd. The participants would reassemble and carry out the rest of the meeting there, where they could more comfortably conduct the thirsty work of town governance.

[Lynette Cornell]

I agree with Brenda. We have a lot of places to drink, and given how cheap booze is in NH, it's an affordable way to socialize.

My fave place so far: The Wild Rover. Very relaxed. Not obnoxiously loud like the Strange Brew. And with free peanuts.