The Manchester Arms

From the second we walked into this restaurant, we knew we'd picked a winner.  It looks like a little English cottage tucked up against lush trees and when you duck inside, you half expect to see Snow White singing while she cooks dinner for the seven dwarves. The reality is even better: smiley, happy staff, high beamed ceilings with a rustic chandelier, a mounted boar's head (complete with an apple in his mouth). Oh, and an awesome beer selection and small but well-edited menu.  Our server Megan was delightful, as were the other servers (one of whom was Megan's sister - love it).  We cleaned our plates but managed to make room for the walnut brownie a la mode (good) AND the sticky toffee pudding (phenomenal).

I was not impressed at all.  The calamari was WAY too salty perhaps it was because of the parmesan cheese they put on top.  My fish and chips came out pale and the thick batter was not crispy all the way through.  I was not expecting McDonalds fries instead, I truly thought I would have been served fresh cut potatoes at this price point.  The rib eye came with boxed mashed potatoes.  Do not order your meat well done unless you are interested in eating sprinkled charcoal nibs on top. YUCK!  However, my watermelon beer was delicious.  Recommendation: Go to Manchester Arms for a beer after you have enjoyed a great meal elsewhere.

Two words come to mind when I think of the MA prices... expense account!  I'm sure being a 10 minute or less walk from a plethera of hotels and neighborhoods filled with the local private school families, Delta flight crews and weary travelers is why they feel they can charge over $20 for the special and over $7 for a pint of beer (and no happy hour).

Not really an Irish or British food kind of person but I did try the special (which was some kind of salmon plate) my first visit.  It was good but not worth the cost by far.  As a side note, they read you the really tasty sounding specials but don't tell you the price so either ask or be sitting down when they bring you the bill.

They have a decent chicken sandwich but make sure the head cook (if the same guy is still there) doesn't make it because it will be so incredibly salty it's almost inedible.  The blue cheese chips are really good.

I used to frequent the place mostly because of the staff.  The owner and servers are incredibly friendly and make you feel welcome but it's much more money that I want to spend on beer and a meal.