Where are the Best Places to Dine Out in Conway NH?
Here we are on a beautiful White Mountain Summer Day, at my full-time home in Conway NH!, It was a full Real Estate day out on the roads of NH and Maine today! I figured that I would wrap up the day with a little video list of my Best Places to Eat in Conway NH! So I am out back at one of my favorite little spots here in my little corner of the yard outside my office. I want to let you guys get my take on the local dining scene in Conway New Hampshire. Let me just take a moment to give you the lay of the land: My office is in North Conway. Intervale, specifically, which is the very end of the north end of the Town of Conway. North Conway is a village and precinct within the Town of Conway NH and it IS the more popular and well-known destination. It’s a census “place” as far as the US government is concerned, but not its own municipality.
The Town of Conway is the municipality. As you come into the Town of Conway you drive through Conway Village, and that’s when you know you’ve arrived “up the road” and you see the high school, which is now the middle school, on the left just after the fields that give you the first view up through the valley to Mt Washington. Conway is really the gateway to the Mount Washington Valley. That having been said, it’s kind of a different venue than North Conway. A lot of people that visit like to get up into the north end of town, to their hotel rooms and, whatever they’re doing, they are picturing North Conway Village as THE place to be! , The commercial strip between here and there has changed the dining scene quite a bit in recent years, but that is a post for another day.
Folks that have vacation property in Conway or the town of Madison, just south-east of us, (you cut through Madison very quickly on Rt 16) and Eidlelweiss village district, which is a beautiful community of vacation homes around a few ponds with sandy beaches. This is really a vacation bedroom community of North Conway, right there in Madison. Folks in Albany and northern Tamworth and Madison all know that the Conway end of town has a few great dining options, from your pizza to even fancy dining. So let me kind of take you through my list of our favorites…
Best Conway NH Pizza
The next 2 places I’d put on the Conway list would be Frye’s Pizza and Subs in Center Conway and First Stop pizza and subs in Conway Village. Literally the “first stop”, I think, geographically, you have First Stop, and that’s directly across from the middle school, and before the post office, on the right. They are actually on West Main Street… Just don’t judge them by their Facebook Page! I don’t have my address right here but that’s gonna be somewhere around 30 West Main Street… or something like that…? Anyhow… I actually had started working in The Valley at the Remax office just next door to First Stop pizza. I’m VERY familiar with their pizza. When I came up to the valley in 2003 I landed… in the Remax office here in Conway Village. Now I’m with Keller Williams Lakes and Mountains in Intervale. I had been with Badger real estate, managing their commercial properties and selling residential real estate, for about eight years and I am now with Keller Williams. On the other end of Main St, on East Main St in Center Conway Village, on Rt 302 just past the Town Hall on the left, is Frye’s Store. Frye’s makes excellent prepared foods and has a great menu, including some serious pizza and sub choices and the Best take-out burger I have found.
Where to find Seafood in Conway NH
Now the next one is kind of a funny one for a lot of people that are from where I’m from because they say”Seafood in North Conway NH?”… “that’s crazy! It’s the opposite direction!!” but, considering that most of the country is not on the waterfront, plenty of people come to North Conway and they’re excited about finding seafood. Jonathan’s Seafood does a great job of simulating (to me) that North Shore- Gloucester- Essex- Ipswich seafood restaurant feel. It’s a sit-down seafood restaurant but they do have some takeout (but that’s a whole different story) The food product and the service is very good at Jonathan’s Seafood and they are at 280 East Side Road. It’s actually right on the corner of East Side Road and White Mountain Highway/Route 16, as it goes up…just past the state liquor store. It is on the left if you’re heading north towards North Conway. Jonathan’s… Seafood that’s excellent!
Conway NH Butcher Shop and Specialty Foods
Not in the restaurant category but in the category of “anybody that’s here and can cook and would grill food”. Perhaps just another mile up the road… I… I’m sorry… We will still refer to the location(for now) as the old Kentucky Fried Chicken. Is Veno’s Butcher Shop, and it’s a prepared food-type market. Ooh- doggie, that’s an excellent place to stop in your travels!! I don’t have the address here, but it’s Veno’s Market on White Mountain Highway. And that’s as you are heading up over the hill… from Conway… and you’re heading up “Bowling Alley Hill”. As you get to the top you have gone just a little bit too far…if you see the scenic view on your right you’ve gone just a little too far! So that’s the story there… Veno’s Butcher Shop and Specialty Foods! Excellent!!
Find a Good Pub and Burger in Albany on the Conway NH Line!
And I want to bring up a couple of others before I wrap up this blog… Almost There restaurant. Just as you come into town, (you might actually even be in Albany still at that point but we’re gonna call it Conway because it’s right near the sign I think) Almost There is on your left, just after the gas station, as you start to enter the Conway area. That gas station is technically in Albany, but Almost There is on your left. They don’t have a website but keep up with their Facebook Page. Everybody raves that it is the best cheeseburger /hamburger that you can get in the valley, and I have tried them all! I would put their burger very high on my ranking, if not the best… I would say that I can’t come up with exactly what would be the burger that beats it! And I like Almost There because it reminds me of a place back home where we can go and get drafts at a reasonable price and you can get food at a reasonable price. It is a very hometown- feeling, accommodating, old-fashioned style pub.
Is there Fine Dining in Conway, Eaton or Albany NH?
Now at the other end of the spectrum, you have the Darby Field Inn, a little way off the beaten path visually, but only a short drive up Bald Hill Road, past the Tin Mountain Conservation Center. It’s probably, I don’t know… maybe it’s a two mile drive up that road… maybe three… to the Darby Field Inn, which is, absolutely, fine dining in an incredibly gorgeous setting, in a classic old New England Inn. The Darby Field Inn is a great place! People have weddings there. They have functions up there… and I’ve been up therefor our office parties for a great evening, The Darby Field Inn should be something that you check out!
While we are kind of on that same track, another gem… First of all, a hidden gem of a town, is Eaton, just east of Conway on Route 153. When you come into town in Conway, and you get to that traffic light at the four corners… if you take the right onto Rt 153 you actually come to Crystal Lake in Eaton.
The left at Crystal Lake will take you to this little part of the Town of Eaton New Hampshire, called Snow Village. Snow Village has an inn and the Snow Village Inn and Max’s place are a great place to go, for anything from what you’d call a fancy dinner out, to pub dinner and drinks. They have a locals night if you’re up here midweek. They’re great! It’s worth checking them out online. And that’s the Snow Village Inn… Also in Eaton is the is the Palmer House pub. The pub is actually downstairs at the Inn at Crystal Lake. A great dining experience, just at the other end of Crystal Lake, in the Town of Eaton.
Breakfast and Lunch in Conway NH
So… there ARE restaurants that I’ve missed… Bea’s Cafe is an excellent breakfast place… Conway’s most excellent breakfast place… but then I need to pull this one in just because I want to shout out to these folks. The Sweet Maple Cafe… almost directly… or diagonally across from the firehouse, next to the Yazzi’s Ice Cream in Conway Village. This location has been a restaurant of different types over the years. For a few years now, though, the Sweet Maple Cafe has been operating, and they have a wonderful looking menu. I just haven’t been in! I think to myself, “Bill… now there’s a reason to get in there!”
So I hope you like this post. It is a Conway NH specific dining video blog (that doesn’t really roll off the tongue) but this was specific to Conway New Hampshire and not North Conway. North Conway, Bartlett and Jackson get a ton of attention of their own… and the commercial “strip” district of North Conway, as you go over the hill and from Burger King up to North Conway Village… is covered well on its own, but Conway Village… it’s… it’s close to my heart. It is where the firehouse that I’ve served out of is located, and the people that operate businesses there understand that it’s not the mainstream tourism spot. That is why they try to do things a bit different.
It’s well worth stopping in Conway Village for any of your dining choices from pizza and subs up to fine dining options.
And, as I said, I (kind of) considered Eaton and even the edge of Albany as part of this “South of North Conway – Conway” area! Thanks for tuning in!
The author is Bill Barbin with Keller Williams Lakes and Mountains Real Estate. If I can help you, or any of your friends or family, I would be honored. Thank you very much! Please tune in and check out the videos! This was a great first video blog entry! It’s a long one but it’s also the basis for this blog post. Thanks again for tuning in and my number is 603-986-0385 or you can reach me at bill@nothconway.comor check out my website www.ilovenorthconway.com Thanks for tuning in!
Have a great day!
