Cotton

The almond crusted turkey schnitzel with bourbon applesauce, mashed potatoes, and buttered green beans was one of the best meals I’ve ever had at a restaurant. It was incredible! I highly recommend this place to anyone. I will be returning here MANY times in the future!

This place is a real find. Tucked away but worth the time. A great menu, super service and outstanding martinis. Do it.

Very good dinner. Visited with my wife for date night and found cotton to be a great value. We had calamari as an appetizer which was excellent. We then had the salmon and halibut for our meals. Both very good, the salmon was especially good with tomatoes, corn and gnocchi — delicious.

I debated between 3 and 4 stars — overall, good; some room for improvement.
As other Unilocalers have noted, the location is a little odd, but what was more frustrating was the lack of signage to the entrance. Plenty of parking in the back lot; but after heading up the side stairs and walking around the building, I realized the entrance must’ve been down below where I had just come from. A minor inconvenience, but still — should be remedied.
I came in around 6PM on a Tuesday evening (the voices drifting from the outdoor seating area were actually what helped me find the entrance). Two hostesses were seated off to the right, rolling silverware, and instead of jumping up to greet me it took them a good 10 seconds to notice me, finish their conversation, and play the «which one of us should help her?» eye conversation game. The one who decided to come over was nice enough, she just seemed like she’d rather be somewhere else.
It’s a little dark and moody inside, but the outdoor seating patio looks lovely — lots of plants, nice ambience. A bit of a vintage vibe going on (hello, huge Audrey Hepburn canvas).
I had a mesclun mix salad with maple vinaigrette — large portion for what I thought was an appetizer! The vinaigrette was great. My friend had the cranberry/​goat cheese? salad and said it was very good. For entrée, I ordered the Creole Jambalaya and she had the Salmon. I was a bit envious for a second; the salmon presentation looked great. My Jambalaya was a piping hot, hefty portion, though I was a bit disappointed to see that the carrot chunks looked like they came from one of those mixed veggie bags in the freezer aisle.
Still, the food was tasty and the servers were attentive. I’d come back — can’t imagine there are too many other nice places around here. For Manchester standards, this place is pretty good.

A very nice place with outdoor seating.
We tried the sample cocktails based on the reviews and they did not disappoint. Excellent cocktails.
For entrees, we tried the buttermilk chicken plate. The breading was flavorful and crispy and the chicken was tender — it was cooked to perfection.
My wife had the lobster ravioli and it was delicious, each ravioli was stuffed full of lobster meat.
Both entrees had huge portions.
For dessert, we had the banana bread pudding with vanilla ice cream — very good, it was warm, sweet, moist with a nice liquor flavor.

This sucks because I don’t really want to tell you all the bad shit but I can’t find much positive to say about this joint. It seems that many of you have enjoyed your time here.
Tuesday afternoon for lunch, not very busy, but the staff made it very obvious that none of them wanted to be there. We sat at the bar after waiting to ask the hostess if it was okay. She couldn’t be bothered to greet us so we just went ahead. Bartender was lifeless and unhappy. I asked him what do they sell the most of and he replied «Everything» and walked away. So I guess I should be happy that he responded to me at all. The meatloaf has been well noted to be a solid dish so I ordered that. My bad, dense, tough and flavorless the port wine sauce helped but it was not enough to save it. I needed a knife to cut it and since they put it on top of the potatoes it just kept sliding away from me. I also had the Buffalo Chicken Nuggets and liked them enough to mention. As I left I looked at the hostess and said «Thank you have a nice day». She continued to ignore me wrapping silverware I guess. Well the silverware isn’t paying you…

Delicious and cute atmosphere. Appetizer –calamari — fresh, crisp and delicious. For lunch I had the farm salad and crab cakes — yum! Lemonade was fresh and perfectly tart! Would definitely return.

Enjoyable from the start. Male lead waiter with female training. He was most pleasant. Very respectful and funny. Even mentioned his mom. Great guy. Food was amazing. Grilled chicken with grilled baby carrots and awesome mashed potatoes. Wonderful taste. Great Shiraz wine as well. Atmosphere is small with large plants and a view to outdoor terrace. Great experience.

Been looking forward to trying Cotton for a while. Finally made it their for our wedding anniversary and was hoping for a special meal.
The sour dough bread was a good start.
We ordered the calamari and the baked goat cheese. The calamari was pretty tasty but was very greasy. The dipping sauce was very thin which wasn’t a great complement to the greasy calamari. The goat cheese was swimming in a lot of tomato sauce which made it pretty messy to eat.
The Steak Diane was ordered medium but was delivered more on the medium rare side. Its written up as having ‘many mushrooms’ but had about 5 slices of mushroom, maybe 1 mushroom in total.
My Delmonico Steak fared a bit better. Ordered medium rare, was a bit more on the medium side, but not terribly so. Sides for both steaks were very pedestrian, mash/​asparagus, and mash/​carrots.
They have a very extensive drinks menu but no non-​alcoholic options which was unfortunate.
Two apps and two mains with tip was $ 100. For that kind of money I want something more.

Good restaurants in Manchester are far and few in between, but there are a few exceptions at different levels and for different reasons, and Cotton is on top of that list. It manages to offer a menu where every single item sound appealing. Although with a nod towards the US south, it retains an air of traditional French restaurant tradition with a high ambition but without the snobbery.
We were cordially met this semi-​busy Monday evening and had warm French country style bread and butter and wine before us within minutes. I opted for a special of the day, a creamy lobster bisque, followed by red beat salad, a lamb steak and ended with pistachio ice-​cream.
The bisque was great, but if I get to nitpick I would have preferred it blended a bit smoother but with intact lobster pieces. Still, with the fantastic bread it could have been a full meal by itself. The salad was crisp and tasty and huge. I ate a third of it to save myself for the lamb steak. The steak was served medium rare and continued to settle into medium perfection (which I had asked for). It remained warm and juicy throughout the meal. The accompanying demi-​glacé had a nicely balanced port-​wine sweetness to it without being over bearing. The asparagus was grilled just right, crunchy yet soft. The weakest point on the plate was the potato gratin since it was a bit dry for my taste, but I prefer my gratin home style full of butter, garlic and with lots of cream which I frankly never have had served that way in a restaurant. I rounded it all off with a pistachio ice cream and a coffee.
The nit-​picking aside, everything on my plates was good and for the quality Cotton probably offers the best value in town. It has a neighborhood feel and the impromptu serving has an almost Diner-​like sensibility without being tacky, and with attention to detail. This was my second time and the first equally positive impression remained. I want to come back and work my way through the menu. I warmly recommended this excellent establishment.

We had not visited in a quite awhile — but will no doubt hurry back.
A wonderful experience — basically, good food, drink and atmosphere.
We had a couple of specific dietary needs and our waitperson was thoughtful and responsive.
My first «Turkey Schnitzel» was terrific! We also enjoyed the simple, basic sides that accompanied most of our choices — mashed potatoes, fresh corn and beans, etc.
I would definitely recommend Cotten to any hungry visitor to Manchester!

Food and drinks were out of this world Fresh and delicious! However the hospitality is nothing to write home about. You can expect outstanding quality indulgence minus the welcoming staff. I think everyone could use a smile on their face for working for a place that provides such a quality product.

My fiancée and I go here at least every 3 weeks. The portions are always more than adequate and drinks are fun. All the staff are extremely welcoming. Only down fall, DO NOT have your server Jackie. She belongs more in a 99 or pub house. Not very pleasant, seems waiting on you is a bother and more
Likes throw your plate on the table. She is not Cotton quality.

Although an odd location, this place had a great atmosphere to relax on a stressful weeknight. We started with the popcorn shrimp, which is very sweet but served delightfully cutely and was fresh. We also had the Asian pot stickers, a favorite dish of mine, and the only complaint I had of these were there werent more of them. As an entrée I had the lobster ravioli which left me in a food coma. My colleagues had the jumbalaya and the scallops. While I didn’t ask exactly how it tasted, their plates were nearly empty and these all had very large servings. We ended the night with the pistachio gelato and the molten brownie. Just delicious. I also topped it all off with the espresso martini which was both strong and sweet. Delicious. I will definitely be coming here again.

Excellent.
From top to bottom, my meal at Cotton was a very good one. Starting with the Duke’s martini, to the pot stickers, to the Bistro Steak… my meal was a hit. The Steak and surprisingly, the vegetables were the stars. The steak was done perfectly. Like… perfect. And for a flat iron steak, is was super tender and flavorful. The two sauces they gave me with it (red wine demi and bacon blue butter) only added to the intensity of the dish. The baby carrots were like dessert. Carmelized in orange maple spice butter… it was like candy. And the mashed potatoes were also top notch. My gf liked the turkey schnitzel as well (and the broccolini was delicious). This place found a way to take the simple accompaniments and make them shine.
The service we had was also very good. We had an 830 reservation, but showed up early. They escorted us to the bar and got us some cocktails while we waited. Our waiter was knowledgable and confident with the menu and recommendations. The parking was also painless. For downtown ManchVegas, it was a nice bonus.
The only downside would be their wines. As a wine drinker, moreso than a cocktail guy, we ordered several wines that were meh. Their list itself is pretty decent, but the reds were served much too warm and in cheap small glasses. At $ 10+ a glass, I would invest in some better storage/​stemware. I can’t knock them though, as this is a martini bar and not a wine bar.
Overall, I am excited to back to Cotton and try a few more things on the menu. I’ll stick to the martinis though!

My colleagues and I had a few hours to kill as I awaited the arrival of my wife at nearby Manchester airport and thanks to Unilocal,found Cotton.
Located in and old warehouse district converted to retail, Cotton is upscale yet casual at the same time.
My two compatriots and I sat at the bar, asked for separate checks, and dove in. According to my friends, the cocktails were great (I was driving). I started with some delicious shrimp in a sort of sweet and sour glaze served in a novel popcorn box. My main was the farmers salad. Great in every detail with terrific dressing made in house.
The service can be somewhat pretentious. My friend wanted a shot and the response was «this isn’t that type of bar». Fair enough. However when the check came, the bartender neglected to give us separate checks. One bill was presented to me. When I reminded her that we wanted separate bills, she apologized and asked the manager to come over to override the register. The manager said in a very snooty tone, «we do not split checks here». I answered back just as snooty, «I didn’t ask for split checks, I asked at the beginning of my meal for separate checks». The poor bartender apologized after the manager left and was clearly embarrassed by her behavior. She managed a way to give us separate bills, and we were on our way.

Another of Manchester’s mill building restaurants, Cotton has been talked about a lot, so we decided to give it a shot for a friend’s birthday. The atmosphere is certainly that made for a romantic night out and while anyone can eat here, it definitely was filled with more couples than not and seemed geared towards those people. My friends who drank were impressed with drink menu. The every day menu was filled with some creative sounding takes on American cuisine and we all tried the buttermilk chicken as it was recommended as one of their best selling dishes. It turned out to be just some regular fried chicken with mashed and asparagus for the side and wasn’t really impressive at all, certainly not any different from chicken anywhere else ans nothing to make it «signature».
I like places that try new things, but the menu didn’t reflect as much of that as it should have. The prices were jacked up over other places that didn’t seen all that different and all in all it seemed like your run of the mill restaurant that for some reason enjoys the notoriety of being something more. Good for them for taking advantage, but there was nothing here that impressed me enough to go back at those prices.

Interesting bar/​tavern in Manchester — very 1940’s feel to it. Burger with blue cheese and home made sweet pickles was very tasty. They have a nice sandwich lineup on their lunch menu — worth a try if you’re in the area.

I had dinner at Cotton a few weeks ago with my husband and a friend. I would definitely make reservations (available to do via open table), especially if you are going on a weekend night. The ambiance of the restaurant is really nice. The servers are very attentive and helpful.
We started with the Asian wontons and crab cakes. I thought the wontons were just ok, but the crab cakes were fantastic. The complimentary bread that you get to start is flavorful and served warm. For dinner I had the scallops. I was a little thrown when I was asked how I would like them cooked, as I have never been asked this before with scallops. I got them medium well, and I think they would have been much better if I got them medium or medium rare. The sweet potato corn hash was amazing. I can’t recommend it enough. My husband really liked the jambalaya and my friend was a fan of the bistro steak.
The three of us shared the brownie sundae, bread pudding and flourless chocolate cake special for dessert. The brownie was incredible and the bread pudding almost as good. None of us were that impressed with the flourless chocolate cake.
All in all we had a great dining experience and I will not hesitate to return to Cotton.

Cotton — Manchester, NH — 4÷13÷2015
This is my third trip back to cotton. Each time I try a different dish. I’m always trying to surprise my taste buds… After a while it becomes a challenge tho…
I was hoping for warm bread and although it was room temperature, it was fresh and came with soft whipped butter. I’m a sucker for warm bread…
For the first course I had the Satay with peanut sauce served over a cucumber salad… The Satay was prepared differently than I’ve had before… This one was rolled in a seasoned blend of white, corn and milk flours then fried. An interesting variation on the theme but quite good.
Quite a busy place… Lots of activity with wait staff shuffling drinks and plates back and forth before me.
Next up my wedge salad… A quarter of a head of lettuce, chunky bleu cheese dressing with apple smoked bacon… Perfect consistency… Nice crisp head, just the right amount of dressing and… well… What can I say about the bacon??? Any amount is the right amount… Some more right than others but this portion was perfect…
My server Jackie really is amazing. She totally respects my pace and everything has come out at the exact pace I wanted.
Seared Scallops with a serving of broiled salmon over a sweet potato hash is the perfect way to end a work day. The hash is the best combination of sweet potato, bacon, corn, red and green peppers sitting in a chipotle aioli I have ever had!
Their dessert menu looks so tempting. Right now theres a guy with a halo on my left shoulder saying; «you don’t need that ultra delicious sounding Bananas Foster Bread Pudding with it’s warm rum raisin pudding, Giffords vanilla ice cream and caramel sauce» while on the right shoulder the guy with the pitch fork is saying; «common man… you don’t have to finish it»… «Just have a little»… Well. It is early and the hotel pool IS open till 11:00 pm…
Tonight… Yet another amazing dining experience. When you come here, make sure to ask for jackie… She is the perfect server… You wont be disappointed!