The recently opened Country Family Restaurant in downtown North Manchester is a new food offering for the community.
Photo from Country Family Restaurant’s Facebook page
Country Family Restaurant Offers Homestyle Meals
Jackson Johnstone
Country Family Restaurant is a new restaurant in Downtown North Manchester. They sell a large variety of food such as Mexican food, seafood and steak but mainly focus on home-cooked American-style meals. It’s housed in the former Madre’s restaurant, with a renovated dining room including new booths, redone floors and walls, large TVs as well as an ample amount of seating room.
Walking into the restaurant we were immediately greeted by a server. Our server was a very kind woman who was eager to help, even prompting us for our drinks before we sat down. Once seated at a booth at the far end of the restaurant, my guest and I were able to look over the very colorful menu with plenty of options and decide on our meals.
Ultimately, I decided on my favorite meal, Country Fried Steak, and this was a hefty amount of food, including a side from a selection of soup, a salad and green beans. This only totaled to $10.49 which made me initially skeptical of the quality. My guest ordered a Bacon Cheeseburger which came with fries. My salad was delivered immediately; the salad featured fresh veggies and ranch dressing. At this point, we were off to a good start.
About 15 minutes after ordering, our food arrived on large colorful plates. I was once again shocked by how much food arrived. I was most interested in trying my Country Fried Steak. Once I took a bite, I immediately noticed that the best part was the rich sausage gravy that was very creamy and not overly salty. I was also impressed with the quality of the meat and that it was cooked to my specifications of medium. The meat was juicy and tender, with crispy breading. My only gripe with the steak is that it had more salt than I would prefer.
Next, I moved on to my Chili. The Chili had a good flavor with a light amount of tang. I would compare it to a homestyle chili that a grandmother would make. Unfortunately, the Chili was Chilly. If it was not for the Chili being cold, then I would recommend it.
Fortunately for us, the wait staff was very attentive and was willing to fix any issues that we may have. For the purpose of this article, I left everything the way it was and did not send back my Chili.
I think the best part of this meal was the mashed potatoes as they were incredibly fresh. Every bite had a mix of creaminess as well as a nice chunk of the whole potato. The potatoes were fluffy and slightly seasoned. For visitors, I highly recommend mixing your gravy with the potatoes, as it is a delectable experience. Finally, the green beans were very tasty, and I would consider them to be southern style or Cajun style. The green beans contained bacon as well as plenty of seasoning, leaving nothing to be desired and your taste buds satisfied.
My guest also enjoyed their burger very much and stated that it was very tasty for the price, although not one of the best they have had. They were also hoping for a more traditional fry as the crinkle cut, but the fried did not lack in flavor and seasoning.
Overall, the experience would have been superb except I did notice that none of the staff were wearing a mask, and this occasionally became uncomfortable when the server was near us. The restaurant also seemed to stuff as many seats in the dining room as possible, which made it very loud as well as difficult to experience proper social distancing. We enjoyed the food very much but are going to be ordering take out next time.
Country Family Restaurant is located at 410 W Main Street.