Most Hanover restaurants saw a marked increase in customers for lunch and dinner Tuesday night.
Everything But Anchovies "absolutely" saw an increase in business, dining room manager Amanda Deroy said. Members of the former Gov. Jon Huntsman, R-Utah, campaign ate in the restaurant's back room, and EBAs delivered 375 pizzas to the Dartmouth student watch party in Leede Arena. The restaurant also hosted a group of high school students from Burlington, Vt., and broadcast the debate on televisions for guests to watch, Deroy said.
"We were catering all night long," Deroy said. "Catering, catering, catering."
Yama Restaurant did not have an increase in business yesterday, according to the restaurant's manager Yong Jeun.
"Our business is a little bit far from the Green," Jeun said. "Maybe [people were] more interested about the debate, maybe they ate first and then came out."
Although Boloco had a normal number of customers during the day, the number of patrons was unexpectedly high on Tuesday night, Phillip Damone, general manager of Boloco, said.
Canoe Club actually saw less business than normal, according to owner John Chapin.
"I was utterly surprised," Chapin said. "I know that our regular customers were staying away in droves because they heard it was going to be so busy."
Although the debate didn't positively affect Canoe Club economically, Chapin said he was still "thrilled" that Hanover was able to host the debate.
Morano Gelato experienced a "slight increase, but not a significant one" in customers on Tuesday, according to owner Morgan Morano. Morano similarly cited that many of the typical customers tried to avoid Hanover since there was an expected influx of people.
"I was happy to see new people in town for sure, but I don't think it significantly altered my business," Morano said. "From what I heard a lot of locals were trying to stay away from Hanover."
Local hotels hosted many visitors over the past few nights, representatives said. Debate moderator and journalist Charlie Rose stayed at the Hanover Inn, as did businessman and GOP hopeful Herman Cain. A tent constructed on the Hanover Inn patio also hosted the Bloomberg post-debate party.
Many members of the news media stayed at Six South Street Hotel, although no candidates did so, according to general manager Donald Bruce. The hotel was fully booked for Monday and Tuesday night, but Bruce said he was unsure whether the occupancy was typical for this time of year because the hotel has only been open for eight months.
The strong demand for rooms during the debate period contributed to "pushing up" rates for many hotels in the area, Bruce said.
"We had a large contingent here from Bloomberg News, the co-sponsors of the event," he said. "A few months prior to coming up here, they came up and did kind of a site review, and they discovered that we didn't have Bloomberg News on our television station list, so we had to pull some strings and work with them and our television provider to make sure that Bloomberg News was on our televisions when they were here."
Due to a large demand for rooms, some hotels farther away from campus, such as the Chieftan Inn, also rented rooms to journalists. Members of the press and campaign workers stayed at the Courtyard Marriott in Lebanon, according to general manager Ty Kulick, contributing to a "pretty crazy" atmosphere. Gov. Mitt Romney, R-Mass., received a much-coveted endorsement from Tea Party leader Gov. Chris Christie, R-N.J., in a conference room at the Marriott on Tuesday at 3 p.m., causing many students and members of the media to flock to Lebanon momentarily.
Hanover retail stores experienced varied effects as a result of the increased activity, according to businesses interviewed.
Simon Pearce was "quite quiet" on Tuesday, manager Mike Vermeulen said.
"I have been working here in Hanover for a few years and [at previous debates] we've had these same things, a lot of press in town, but not necessarily a lot of shoppers because a lot of people know its going to be crazy and tough to park and don't necessary shop that day."
Hanover Outdoors saw a "slight increase in business," similar to the increase it has seen with past big events in town, sales associate Peter Harnish said.
"We have a sales selection of summer clothes, and some of the guys setting up came over and bought that kind of stuff because they weren't expecting it to be this warm in New Hampshire," he said. "We have a free parking lot out back and we had to fight a little bit to keep that open. People who weren't customers were taking the spots."
Representatives for Molly's Restaurant, the Norwich Inn, the Hanover Inn, Market Table and Murphy's on the Green could not be reached for comment by press time.
