5 Great New Hampshire Lunch Spots Where You Can Just Kick Back

Sometimes lunch doesn’t need to be fancy.

I’m talking about those days when you want a good burger, sandwich, seafood or something cold to drink, sit down for a while and basically say, “Yeah, I’m not in a hurry today.”

New Hampshire has plenty of those places. Here are five I’d put on the list, from Dover to Manchester and all the way to Hampton Beach.

Credit: Castaways Boathouse via Facebook

1. Castaways Boathouse — Dover

31 Cocheco Street - Dover

This may be the definition of what we're looking for.

Castaways sits right along the Cocheco River, with a casual neighborhood-bar feel, outdoor seating overlooking the water and boats, and plenty of seafood and pub food. Think lobster rolls, haddock, fish tacos, burgers, wings and shareable apps.

The deck is obviously a big draw when the weather cooperates, but there's indoor seating for the colder New Hampshire months, too. Reviews routinely describe it as the kind of low-key spot where you can hang out with a drink instead of feeling like you need to eat and immediately surrender your table.

My kick-back factor: River + cold drink + no reason to rush. This is where your 45-minute lunch somehow turns into ‘I guess I live here now.

Credit: The River House via Facebook

2. River House — Portsmouth

53 Bow Street - Portsmouth

Downtown Portsmouth can get busy, but there's something about sitting near the Piscataqua and watching the boats go by that makes you forget about that pretty quickly.

River House gives you casual waterfront dining with outdoor tables, a heated balcony and indoor dining, meaning the view isn't necessarily limited to July and August. The lunch menu leans heavily into what you'd expect from Portsmouth: seafood, burgers and classic New England favorites.

And the waterfront isn't just scenery. You're looking directly at Portsmouth's working harbor and tugboats.

My kick-back factor: Order lunch, stare at the river and temporarily pretend you don't have anything else to do today and you're independently wealthy for an hour.

Credit: The Kitchen NH via Facebook

3. The Kitchen — Portsmouth, New Hampshire

171 Islington Street - Portsmouth

Here's your option when you want the Portsmouth food without necessarily doing the whole fancy-Portsmouth-restaurant thing.

The Kitchen in the West End and specializes in scratch-made sandwiches, creative burgers and comfort food in a small, eclectic and casual setting. There are also rotating local drafts if your “casual lunch” happens to include one of those.

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PortsmouthNH describes it as an outside-the-box lunch spot, and that's really the appeal: interesting enough that lunch isn't boring, relaxed enough that it doesn't become an event.

My kick-back factor: Great sandwich, local beer, zero white-tablecloth energy. The kind of lunch that makes the sad sandwich you brought from home feel personally insulting.

Credit: Stark Brewing Company via Facebook

4. Stark Brewing Company — Manchester, New Hampshire

500 North Commercial Street

For Manchester, I'd head into the Millyard.

Stark Brewing Company combines a brewery, distillery and restaurant inside one of Manchester's historic mill buildings. The New Hampshire Division of Travel and Tourism specifically describes the place as comfortable, reasonably priced and loaded with pub food, with plenty of parking thrown in.

This feels like a good choice if your idea of lunch is burgers or pub food, a local beer and hanging around longer than the 34 minutes you've allotted yourself during a normal workday.

My kick-back factor: Historic mill building + brewpub + nowhere fancy to be. Technically it’s lunch. Emotionally, we’ve already started the weekend.

Credit: Sea Ketch Restaurant and Outdoor Decks via Facebook=

5. Sea Ketch Restaurant — Hampton Beach, New Hampshire

127 Ocean Boulevard

And then there's the ultimate New Hampshire version of kicking back at lunch:

The beach.

Sea Ketch Restaurant sits directly at Hampton Beach and has multiple levels of deck dining overlooking the ocean. The menu includes seafood along with burgers, sandwiches and other casual lunch options.

This isn't the lunch where you're checking email between bites.

This is the lunch where you order something, look across the street at the Atlantic Ocean and start wondering if going back to work is really necessary.

My kick-back factor: Ocean views do most of the work here. A normal lunch has appetizers. A Hampton Beach lunch has plot twists.

Sometimes Lunch Should Take a Little Longer

We spend plenty of time trying to find the "best" restaurant.

Sometimes I'm more interested in finding the place where I can grab something good, sit for a while and just hang out.

These five give you a little bit of everything: the Cocheco River in Dover, the working waterfront in Portsmouth, Manchester's Millyard and the Atlantic Ocean at Hampton Beach.

Now I want to know yours.

Where's your favorite New Hampshire spot for a long, laid-back lunch when you're in absolutely no hurry?