Madear’s relocates to downtown Pembroke, introduces bakery
Nearly a year after Madear’s hosted its final night of service on Hanover Street in Manchester, the Cajun comfort restaurant will reopen in its new home in Pembroke, featuring new menus, almost twice the dining capacity and, for the first time, a bakery.
Madear’s Southern Eatery & Bakery, as it’s now known, will have the distinction of being one of the few full-service sit-down restaurants in town when it opens in the coming weeks.
Chef-owners Robb Curry and Kyle Davis originally opened Madear’s, a 35-seat restaurant and bar, in the former space of a nail salon in July 2017. Curry, who grew up in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, credits his paternal grandmother Martha “Madear” Sullivan, the restaurant’s namesake, with inspiring him to learn to cook when he was young.
As their following grew, so did their culinary inspiration. Davis said the pair’s desire to expand their Southern comfort offerings in the form of a bakery, coupled with the end of their lease on Hanover Street, was among the factors that contributed to their closure last October. At first they explored other options within the Queen City, but when those didn’t pan out they started broadening their search. In January they found the space that most recently occupied the Rock On Diner on Main Street in downtown Pembroke.
“We had breakfast here and we were like, ‘Oh, this is a really good place,’ and then about two weeks later we saw a For Lease sign, so we thought maybe it was a little serendipity,” Davis said. “This space allowed us to tick all the boxes. It gave us the size, the downtown access … and it put us right in between Concord and Manchester.”
At 56 seats, the new location is extremely spacious compared to its Manchester predecessor, with its dining room broken into four distinct arrangements. There’s an intimate lounge area and a bar with a copper countertop, plus multiple banquettes to the right of the entrance and family dining tables in the center of the restaurant that were made from reclaimed wood. The kitchen is also much larger, allowing Davis and Curry to introduce new menu items.
One of the most notable additions to the menu is a new bakery case that will be regularly stocked with scratch-made cakes, pies, cookies, tarts, croissants and other sweets.
“What we found on Hanover Street was that a lot of people who really loved the baked goods would ask, ‘Can I order a pie to take home?’” Davis said. “So now we’re going to have a daily selection of things that are done like a traditional sort of bakeshop.”
But a bakery doesn’t mean Madear’s will be open in the morning. Instead, Davis said, they will likely open the doors at 4 p.m. each day, while ordering ahead is also available with a 24-hour notice.
“We’re not going to be doing breakfast sandwiches or anything like that,” he said. “We’re really trying to focus on more of the dessert-type bakery products that people can pick up on their way home, like a few slices of cake or some cookies or something … and then for people eating in the restaurant, the dessert menu will be a combination of what’s available in the bakery, plus our staples, like the bread pudding.”
If you were a regular at Madear’s on Hanover Street, you probably noticed that the menu changed four times a year, each season — that won’t be the case in Pembroke, Davis said.
“We learned some lessons … and we decided that we’d have a menu of staples and then do specials that are seasonal,” he said. “We’ve also changed some of the terminology on the menu. So instead of calling them ‘tapas,’ which confused some people, we have [the options listed as] small plates and large plates.”
You can expect many of the same favorites, like gumbo, jambalaya, fried crab meat, fried chicken and baked macaroni and cheese items — along with some new items never before seen on any Madear’s menu, like oxtail stew simmered in a chicken stock demi-glace, and bone-in pork chop smothered in Southern gravy and served over rice.
There’s a section of the menu devoted to grits, with the option of adding one of four sauces, as well as your own protein, from shrimp, gator or catfish, to andouille sausage, pulled pork or chicken tender. The eatery’s Southern craft cocktails are also returning, including staples like hurricanes and sazeracs in addition to seasonal specials.
Once Madear’s has settled into its adopted community, Davis said, many of its popular events — like the comedy nights, the pajama drag brunches and the monthly themed dinners — will all be due to return. Cooking classes and live musical performances are planned too.
“We really want to just get into the rhythm of running the restaurant for a little bit, but we definitely have events lined up,” he said.
Photo courtesy of Madear’s.
Madear’s Southern Eatery & Bakery
An opening date is expected in the coming weeks. Visit their website or follow them on social media for updates.
Where: 141 Main St., Pembroke
Anticipated hours: TBA
More info: Visit madears603.com or follow them on Facebook or Instagram @madears603
