MANCHESTER — The owners of several New Hampshire restaurants have signed a lease to take over the former British Beer Company space on South Willow Street.
The British-themed restaurant closed at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Flight Center Beer Cafe in downtown Nashua — a craft-beer lounge — will open its second location, called Flight Center MHT. The exterior will be designed to look like the original Manchester Airport, according to Managing Partner Seth Simonian.
“We are really trying to bring a concept to Manchester that this area doesn’t have,” he said. “We are trying to give South Willow Street a real local feel.”
The restaurant group had originally hoped to open a brewery in Westford, Mass., when it came across the space on South Willow. The family of restaurants also owns 1750 Taphouse in Bedford, Chuck’s Barber Shop in Concord, Cheddar & Rye in Manchester and CodeX in Nashua.
The newest restaurant is slated to open in April.
The Flight Center features 56 beers on tap, 48 of which are constantly rotating. Besides the main restaurant, it will feature a speakeasy-like space — similar to Chuck’s and CodeX.
“We’ll have a side that we’re calling Lost Luggage,” Simonian said. “When you walk in the host is going to greet you and say, ‘Are you here for your flight or are you here to claim your luggage?”
The freestanding building in Manchester is a “premier site” for a restaurant because of its location, visibility and other amenities, said Andy Levy, a retail leasing broker at Verani Commercial, who is familiar with the property but did not work on leasing the space.
“There is always going to be a demand,” he said. “Restaurant people are always looking.”
Commercial real estate along South Willow remains strong amid the pandemic. A former Papa Gino’s in the same plaza has been leased by Gentle Dental.
Poke Spot, a fast-casual Japanese cuisine concept specializing in sushi poke bowls, signed a lease down the street at The Shoppes at South Willow. The plaza is home to the state’s first Golden Corral.
Restaurants have had to adapt to survive the COVID-19 pandemic, but Simonian and his partners are up for the challenge.
“If we have the potential to grow, now is a real opportune time to take advantage of that,” he said.
The Flight Center Beer Cafe opened in Nashua in 2017, in part to support craft brewers in New Hampshire and across New England. Frequently, dozens of brewers have to fight for one or two tap lines in larger chain restaurants, Simonian said.
“It gives brewers a place they are excited to highlight their beer,” he said.
The Nashua location reopened Friday after being closed for four weeks after work being done on a water main flooded the restaurant.
The pandemic has kept Simonian and his partners on their feet as restrictions have changed the past few months.
“We’ve been really taking some strides at our other locations to make sure that we can adapt to the environment today and make our customers at ease,” he said.
November 09, 2020 at 04:22AM
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The Flight Center Beer Cafe to open second location in Manchester - The Union Leader
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