Windham doesn't have a Main Street in the way Derry or Londonderry do. What it has is Range Road, a stretch of Route 111A that's carried the town's restaurants for a decade, and 4.1 miles of paved trail that already logs the highest usage counts of any paved rail trail in New Hampshire. This year brought changes to Windham's dining scene, including a relaunch and a new opening.
At 49 Range Road, Old School Bar & Grill spent ten years as Windham's default neighborhood bar before closing for renovation and reopening this year as Becks Public House. But the more interesting fact is what came with it: Becks is the sister restaurant to Figaro's Martini Bar and Kitchen, which opened elsewhere in Windham earlier this year under the same ownership. One group, two restaurants, one town, in the same twelve months. Together, the openings mark an expansion of the group's restaurant presence in Windham.
A Decade-Old Bar Gets a New Chef and a New Menu
Old School Bar & Grill opened at 49 Range Road back in 2016 and spent a decade as exactly what its name promised, a straightforward neighborhood bar and grill. When it closed for renovation, the ownership brought in Chef Matthew Lavigne and rebuilt the concept from the studs up. The relaunch kept some of the old menu's anchors, including the steak tips regulars asked about by name, but the broader shift was toward what the team describes as a Boston brownstone pub feel: chef-driven comfort food, a curated beer and cocktail list, and a patio that a recent local newspaper review called impressive enough to compete with the dining room.
The kitchen kept evolving after opening. A new menu rolled out around August 3, dropping a few dishes regulars had already started to love, including a wild mushroom risotto that got singled out in that same review as worth bringing back. That's a small detail, but it tells you something about how fast the concept is still moving. Becks isn't a restaurant that opened and settled. It's still being built in public, a few weeks at a time.
Two Restaurants, One Ownership Group
Figaro's Martini Bar and Kitchen got its own write-up from the same paper back in May, months before Becks reopened, and the reviewer came away preferring it: smaller, more thoughtfully designed, the kind of place they said they'd go back to first. That's worth sitting with. The two restaurants are sister restaurants under the same ownership group, operating at separate locations in Windham.
For a town of Windham's size, two concepts under one ownership group are a notable addition to the dining scene.
What's New in Windham's Dining Scene
| Restaurant | Location | What changed in 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Becks Public House | 49 Range Road | Relaunched from the decade-old Old School Bar & Grill under Chef Matthew Lavigne, with a new menu as of early August |
| Figaro's Martini Bar and Kitchen | Windham | Opened earlier in the year under the same ownership group as Becks |
| The Windham Restaurant | 59 Range Road | No change. Still operating out of the 1812 building on a site that's held a farm or residence since 1729 |
That last row matters as much as the first two. The Windham Restaurant isn't new, isn't trying to be, and its stability is part of why the new openings read as additions rather than replacements. Range Road has The Windham Restaurant and Becks Public House; Figaro's adds another concept elsewhere in Windham.
Becks Connects Its Marketing to Nearby Trails
Becks doesn't market itself as a restaurant near the trails. It markets itself as the reward for using them. Its own site asks visitors directly if they worked up a thirst exploring Deer Leap, Town Forest, or Fosters Pond, and frames the bar as the place to land after. The copy ties a visit to nearby trails to a stop at Becks.
The Windham Rail Trail is part of the regional trail network around Windham. Its 4.1 paved miles run from the Windham Depot area toward Salem, past marsh views that regulars mention in nearly every trail review, and the segment earned a Hippo Best of Best award for Best Rail Trail. Combined with the connected Derry and Salem sections, the network already offers 11 continuous miles of paved trail, one of the longest stretches of converted rail bed anywhere in the state.
That network is about to get longer. On August 17, Londonderry Trailways members Sandy Lagueux and Bob Rimol updated their town council on a project that would connect the Londonderry Rail Trail to the Derry Rail Trail, closing a half-mile unpaved gap and creating a contiguous 15-mile paved stretch running through Salem, Windham, Derry, and Londonderry, with a target completion around 2028. Rimol told the council that the Londonderry trail alone logged 51,970 visits in 2025, and said the numbers keep climbing.
The restaurant openings and the trail expansion are happening in the same period. Becks' website highlights nearby trails, while the proposed trail connection is a regional project.
What Else Is on the Calendar Before the Leaves Turn
The new restaurants aren't the only thing moving in Windham this fall. A few fixtures worth having on your radar:
- Windham Country Club has charity golf events on the books this season, including an 18-hole outing on September 26 and a scramble-format fundraiser on October 24 priced at $109 per person, cart and lunch included.
- Pumpkinfest, hosted by Crossing Life Church at 122 North Lowell Road, returns for another year of hayrides, axe throwing, live music, and a craft vendor fair. The event has historically landed on the first Saturday of October, drawing families from well beyond Windham's borders.
- The Windham Museum keeps posted open hours on the town's recreation calendar throughout the fall, a quieter but steady fixture for anyone curious about the town's history beyond the Depot.
None of these are new. What's new is the density of things happening at once, on top of a dining scene that saw a relaunch and a new opening under one ownership group. Windham in early fall 2026 has more reasons to leave the house than it did a year ago, and most of them sit within a short walk or drive of each other.
The Takeaway for Anyone Who Already Lives Here
This year, one ownership group has two restaurant concepts in Windham: Becks Public House, relaunched at 49 Range Road, and Figaro's Martini Bar and Kitchen, which opened elsewhere in town. Becks' website highlights nearby trails, and a regional trail connection is planned.
If you already use the trails, the practical upshot is simple: Range Road is worth a second look even if you wrote it off a decade ago as the Old School Bar & Grill strip, and the trail network you already use for a Saturday walk is about to connect to a lot more of it.
Rebecca Curran Realty works with families across Windham and the surrounding towns who want a clear read on what's actually changing on the ground, not just what shows up in a listing description. If you're curious what any of this means for your own property's value or timing, reach out and we'll walk through it together.
