How the Common Man found success in New Hampshire with a portfolio of no-frills restaurants

The people behind the Common Man — a 12-concept hospitality group based in New Hampshire — know that a portfolio of restaurants with tasting menus and white tablecloth vibes aren’t strictly necessary for a successful restaurant group. The Common Man is known for its diners, simple menus, and country-style hospitality, and for most of the clientele at these restaurants, pretentiousness would not fit the bill.

“We're about serving good food at a decent price with a smile all day long,” Vincent Vella, CEO of The Common Man said. “Comfort food is the specialty in our restaurants, though some of our specialty part, restaurants run a little bit more exclusive like our House Grill steakhouse. But for the most we cater to the down-home New Hampshire customers. I Our founder’s vision from day one was always to be within the confines of the borders of New Hampshire, and we don’t plan to stray from that.”

Vella is just the third CEO after founder and owner Alex Ray first opened The Common Man 53 years ago. The first Common Man restaurant was located on the ground floor of Ray’s home and could seat just 35 people. These days, The Common Man has six unique locations throughout New Hampshire serving up comfort food classics like chicken pot pie, meatloaf, and pot roast mixed in with some unique fusion dishes like escargot and tuna poke. Most of the six locations still look like someone’s home with cozy fixtures and chairs in the style of Amish furniture.  

Beyond The Common Man, the restaurant group’s portfolio also includes three diners and Camp: a camp-themed restaurant serving campfire corn, chowder, and s’mores.

As The Common Man grew as a company, it started experimenting with different higher-end restaurants that were a little more upscale than diners. These specialty restaurants now include The Italian Farmhouse (an Italian family-style restaurant), Lago (upscale Mediterranean), and Lakehouse Grill (a lake-side steakhouse). No matter where they land on the sophistication scale, most of the Common Man concepts have country-fied touches like roaring fireplaces, pinewood furniture, and diner counters (the latter of which can be found at breakfast concept, The Rise & Shine Café).

The Common Man’s portfolio growth in a way represents how the New Hampshire food scene has grown over time.

“Think of that down-home, comfort food but with a sophisticated twist that’s only gotten better over the years,” Vella said. “[New Hampshire residents] are being introduced to new things and they want new flavors. There are a lot of bedroom communities where people travel in from Boston and have summer homes in the lakes regions. They have some of that city sophistication, which allows us to get creative and be able to cater toward everyone.”

The key to Common Man’s success is striking this balance between modernized dining and taking its no-frills moniker seriously. Vella said that as much as the group may grow in the future (they are looking to open a new diner in Lincoln soon), The Common Man will never expand outside the confines of the state. Instead, the restaurant group hopes to continue doing community and charity work specifically with New Hampshire citizens and needs in mind. For example, the New Hampshire Food Bank is one of the biggest benefactors of the Common Man’s charity work.

“We’re focusing on helping the communities that we're in however we can,” Vella said. “Letting them know we're there by doing community work has really helped us to grow our business and stay relevant.”

Contact Joanna at [email protected]