A brewpub on our list showed up on groupon?! Yes please. There was recently a group for Milly’s Tavern, located in Manchester NH. The groupon was for 1 tasting tray, 2 pints and an appetizer. Nice, inexpensive way to try out a new place and have/start dinner!
Milly’s Tavern is a brewpub, having at least 18 beers on tap at a time.
We went on a Saturday night, as we both had worked all day. When we arrived, we were uncertain of what to do, where to go. The bar and restaurant were set low, down a small flight of stairs. We looked around for a sign stating if we should wait to be seated or to seat ourselves… We must have looked confused, because the bartender came over and told us we could sit wherever we would like. We walked over to a high top table.
It took a few minutes for a waiter to acknowledge that we were there. Once he came over, we told him (as groupon tells you to), that we had the groupon. Bad move. More on that later.
Brew offerings
We were given a sheet of paper with six squares on it to write down which six beers we wanted to try. This was nice, because we had a choice. Many times a tasting tray is set for you, without giving you the option. We chose: Twisted Ale, Raspberry Hefeweizen, Pumpkin Ale, General John Stark Dark Porter, Manch-Vegas IPA, and the Oatmeal Stout.
Our three favorites were: Pumpkin Ale (much better than Sam Adam’s!), Oatmeal Stout (very smooth), and Twisted (tastes of iced tea, lemonade and beer). I didn’t make the connection until much later that the Twisted was similar to a Twisted Tea.
Mark ordered a Pumpkin Ale for his first pint, followed by an Oatmeal Stout. I chose the Twisted for both of mine.
Pumpkin Ale
Twisted Ale
We ordered chicken nachos for our appetizer. We didn’t get them loaded because we (well I) tend to pick off most of that, and it was a ton of stuff that would be added. They were really good, and were devoured.
Following the nachos, we ordered one of their nightly specials, a Buffalo BBQ Chicken Pizza. It was sooo good (and of course I forgot to take a picture of it). The crust was perfect- light but fluffy and crispy all at the same time.
It took awhile to be able to order more drinks, and to get the bill. At the end of our night there, a heavy metal battle of the bands started- made me laugh. The singer made more noises then singing or yelling. Was very… interesting.
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Although sites like groupon suggest that you tell the server you have a groupon, I have found that you are better off not. Typically, when I or others I know have told a server that we have a groupon or other deal, they disregard the table, expecting that they will not be compensated appropriately. We left a tip based on the total bill- including what we would have paid had we have not had the groupon. Although the service was not good, we wanted to prove a point that just because someone has a groupon does not mean you will not be compensated appropriately. We responded to Groupon when asked how our visit was, and let them know. We did not hear back.
