MANCHESTER, NH– Harpoon Brewery may conjure images of Boston, but its new taproom and restaurant in Queen City Center will definitely have a Manchester vibe.
Tender Town Tower, anyone? The menu item commemorating the city’s designation as The Official Chicken Tender Capital of the World is only part of what’s on tap at the experimental brewery, restaurant, and taproom.
Harpoon opens in Friday, at QCC, 215 Canal St., part of a multi-business entertainment and retail complex. The Harpoon opening was originally planned for June 15, Father’s Day, but was delayed.
Harpoon, at 9,216 square feet, is the largest tenant in the 30,000-square-foot multi-business QCC space in former industrial area downtown, developed by York Real Estate. It is the craft beer company’s fifth New England location – it has three in Boston, where it began in 1986, and one in Windsor, Vermont.
The brewery will have a 215-seat restaurant and taproom that includes a 50-seat bar and private event space, and an outdoor beer garden and deck with an 82-person seating capacity.
There will be 20 tap lines with “a wide array of craft beers.” There will also be cocktails and wine. The full food menu will give a nod to Manchester’s roots, including the Tender Town Tower – “a super-sharable tower of chicken tenders” – as well as pretzels with IPA beer cheese, onion dip with house BBQ chips, wings, calamari, duck fat fries, bar pizzas, hot sandwiches and burgers. The bar will serve Harpoon craft beers, including Harpoon IPA, Day Drifter, Summer Style, and Rec. League, as well as house-brewed reserve batches of specialty beers and offer rotating lines of guest beers.
Live entertainment is also planned. General manager is Jon Young. The brewery will be open seven days a week.
“Harpoon has die-hard fans all across the Northeast and beyond,” said Charlie Storey, Harpoon vice president of special events and brewery festivals for Harpoon. “We’re excited to give craft beer lovers an exciting new public house destination in Manchester…The space is fantastic, and we can’t wait to welcome the community to Harpoon at Queen City Center.”
QCC tenants also include City Club Golf, Barre Life, Clyde’s Cupcakes, Wicked Joyful, Ornate Beauty, GYK, Big Brick Productions and Windy Films.
Travis and Kyle York, of York Real Estate, at 175 Canal St., bought the building in December 2021. It was most recently a manufacturing building and was built in 1955 as a commercial printing company.
When the development was in its early stages, Travis York told Ink Link that Harpoon was a key tenant, and that other tenants would be good complements to the craft brewer.
The development is an important addition to downtown, Jodie Nazaka, city director of economic development, told Ink Link last year, and “more than just a place for shops and businesses,” but also, “where people come together, help our city’s economy grow, and add to what makes Manchester so exciting and fun.”