Jason A.
Yelp
When writing reviews, Yelp encourages you to consider three factors: (1) Food, (2) Service, (3) Ambiance. I went with two friends for breakfast on Friday morning, and this is based on our experience as a group.
Let's go through all 3 so that you understand why the Restoration Cafe in Manchester, NH is garbage.
Food:
We ordered a variety of foods, curious about things on the menu. This included:
- Soothe Dr. Tom E Juice
- PB Power Snake Oil Smoothie
- Matcha Boba Milk Tea
- Acai Bowl
- Quinoa Oatmeal
- BLT Egg Sandwich
It. Was. Awful.
The beverages tasted like something my kids would make.
The acai bowl...how do you screw up an acai bowl? Well, it starts with using acai that has been sitting in the freezer for too long.
The egg sandwich was clearly cooked by someone who loves salt. Like enough to feel like my tongue burned and require an extra dose of lisinopril afterwards.
Service:
Sort their reviews by "Newest First." You'll see other people describe how miserable the owner and the staff are. Why go into a people-facing business if you clearly hate people?
Two examples we experienced/witnessed:
(1) One friend has a soy allergy. He asked for his PB Power Snake Oil Smoothie to be made with another type of milk. We heard the "chef" complain and say to the server "I don't give a bleep what his allergy is, it's made with soy milk." Uhh buddy, you ain't working at Eleven Madison Park.
(2) Do you have children? Don't come here. They hate kids. Read Piper F.'s review from Nov 22, 2023. We saw pretty much the same thing. There's an area by the front window where we saw two very adorable little kids goofing off. They were maybe 1-2 years old, and the mom was watching them. One of the staff (don't remember her name, but if I had to guess, it would be Karen) walked from all the way in the back of the cafe to the front to lecture the kids to stop disrupting the other guests. Except the thing was, besides those kids, our group was the only other group in the cafe. And we didn't care at all.
Ambiance:
Do you like looking out at your car every 30 seconds to make sure that it hasn't been broken into, while you are eating lunch? If yes, then come on down!
The address for the Restoration Cafe is 235 Hanover St, Manchester, NH 03104. The address for a Manchester public housing complex is 198 Hanover St, Manchester, NH 03104. The address for a shelter which houses addicts is 199 Manchester St, Manchester, NH 03103.
Map these locations and let me know if you feel great hanging out in the area.
Do you like eating in a restaurant which doubles as the mail room for an apartment building? If yes, then come on down!
No joke. There is literally a large group mailbox for the tenants/owners of a condo complex in between two tables of the cafe. It's such a weird set up.