Arts Alley brings a jolt of new restaurants, bars to downtown: ‘Towards the younger crowd’

Michaela Parkinson and Riley Studley curled up together on a bench, waiting for the band to start.

Looking for something to do on their day off as counselors at Camp Brookewoods on Lake Winnipesaukee, the two had Googled fun activities nearby. “First Friday” brought them to downtown Concord.

“We actually just stumbled upon it,” Studely said. “We saw that there was some stuff going on in Concord. So we drove out.”

Enjoying a stroll on Main Street, the sight of a band setting up in the patio of Arts Alley – the new downtown development that includes multiple restaurants, an event space and a courtyard for live music, among other things – caught their eye. So they stopped in.

People crowded the patio around them, playing cornhole, grabbing drinks and setting down lawn chairs in front of the stage.

Sippers enjoyed the music from the rooftop bar above, and a host called out names from a two-hour waitlist, ushering in new guests.

With restaurants, live music and a focus on creative pursuits, Arts Alley in many ways aligns with the trajectory local business leaders and officials have envisioned for Concord: for the capital city to become a hub for the arts in New Hampshire.

In other ways, though, the slate of offerings calls out to a new demographic.

“We’re hoping that this does attract young professionals,” said Jessica Martin, executive director of Intown Concord, an organization that aims to bring growth and vibrancy to downtown. “This, I think, is a big evolution for the nightlife in Concord… with all the things that they’re saying they’re going to do. We’re really just excited to see it all happen, and we’re going to cheer them along.”

Steve Duprey, the project’s developer, noted that Arts Alley was born from a desire to pull more young adults into downtown and to strengthen the area’s entertainment and events scene.

That was his pitch to The Friendly Toast: “There are plenty of them in Concord, and we don’t have enough for them to do,” he said.

While the restaurant has expanded rapidly since the pandemic, The Friendly Toast started out with locations in Portsmouth and Cambridge, Massachusetts, that helped build its “cool, indie vibe,” as co-owner Eric Goodwin describes it.

Today, the network of kitschy, retro Friendly Toasts – Goodwin eschews the term “chain” because of its corporate connotations – brings its playful menu and all-day brunch-and-bar combo to 15 locations across the region.

The restaurant’s most popular location is in Boston’s Back Bay, but Goodwin has a soft spot for Concord: He lived here for more than two decades. Concord is where his family raised their children, and for that reason, he’d long had his eye on opening a location downtown.

At the same time, Main Street is also growing into a place that matches The Friendly Toast’s brand.

“From back in the day to today, the downtown is really thriving,” he said. “We think we fit into that equation at the end of the day, of wanting cool restaurants, wanting cool music, wanting cool arts and culture and all that.”

New Hampshire as a whole has trouble retaining young adults as they reach college age or after they graduate. For its part, Concord’s reputation is as a great place to raise a family.

“I think Concord has done a really good job of acknowledging that and then working on ways to improve,” Goodwin said. “It’ll never be Portsmouth… but I think Concord, based on where it is, has done a really good job.”

Sundays and night hours have historically been on the quieter side downtown, noted Martin, of Intown. Whether it’s a buzzing brunch spot on a Sunday morning or a booming rooftop bar with statehouse views, Arts Alley could play a part in rewriting that trend.

“It might end up changing the operating hours of the downtown,” she said.

“You’re not going to see us be a wild and crazy place,” Duprey said. “But we think the demographic that we’re appearing to, our young professionals on up, want a quality experience in a safe and secure location with different vibes offered by the different components.”

So far, so good, said Kara Laramie, who has watched Arts Alley get built from her apartment down the road.

She and a friend sipped “Pink Pony Club” and “Lavender Haze” cocktails named after recent pop music hits.

“I think a lot of the bars and restaurants around here are kind of geared towards the older generation,” Laramie said. She thinks Arts Alley will be different. “It’s geared towards the younger crowd, and it’ll draw a lot of the younger groups in, and, yeah, bring some life back into downtown Concord.”