It's not gourmet, it's not outstanding and it's not even special, but it is very good. Florence's Restaurant (http://www.florencesitalian.com/) in Merrimack NH is one of those small restaurants you would normally see in a medium sized city, sitting on a little side street or the corner of your old neighborhood. Instead it resides in a small strip mall in a middle class town in New Hampshire. It's obviously an owner operated place and it shows when Florence greets you at the door, checks on your table, and tells jokes to the guests. The waitresses are mostly long time employees and after you've been there a few times they get know you as a regular. Once you've been back a few times it feels as if you are eating a decent meal at home. Although there are seafood dishes (calamari, shrimp, haddock) and the classic veal dishes (marsala, margherita, saltimboca), this is a basic red sauce restaurant.
Red checkered table cloths, and Italian mural scenes on the walls soften the lack of windows, strip mall look. A basket of bread and large bowl of family style salad are a given. The meals range in price from a low of $8 for the smaller pasta dishes to a high of $21 for the fruiti de mare or the pork chops, potatoes and vinegar peppers (both of these are some of the greatest comfort food). The eggplant parm is a perfect blend of pan fried eggplant, sauce and cheese, the best I have found anywhere. The total bill for a party of two, including drinks typically runs around $60 to $75 (including tip). It is the one restaurant we consider our "go to" place when we don't want to think about where to go. I'm already thinking about those pork chops maybe for tonight.
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