New Hampshire Motor Speedway

The Common Man Restaurants

Alex Ray is the owner and founder of The Common Man Family of Restaurants and is known just as much for his family-style restaurants across New Hampshire as he is for his tireless philanthropic work in communities across the state.

Born on April 6, 1945, Alex moved to North Conway at the age of 14, where he attended Kennett High School. During high school, he worked as a cook at "The Eatery" at Cranmore Mountain Ski Area.

In 1970, four years after graduating from the Culinary Institute of America, Alex opened Pineshore, a little summer restaurant on Squam Lake in Holderness, NH. He opened the first Common Man in Ashland, NH in November of 1971, and since then has built a thriving hospitality business throughout New Hampshire including 18 restaurants, two Common Man Inns, a Spa, a Company Store, and The Flying Monkey Movie House & Performance Center, employing more than 1,000 people.

Click here to read "Our Story" about the growth of The Common Man family over the past 39 years.

Alex's mantra for The Common Man family has always been "Do Good," and he encourages all employees to get involved with their local communities, through hosting fund-raisers at each location and volunteering their own personal time. He allows employees a paid day off to contribute to a charity important to them and supports employee efforts to raise funds for local organizations, sometimes making his own personal contribution.

Not one to sit still for long, Alex recently completed a Common Man Inn and Common Man restaurant in Claremont, having partnered with Meredith entrepreneur and long-time friend Rusty McLear to revitalize old mills that stood decrepit and defunct for decades. Alex also renovated the historic Daniel Webster homestead in Franklin, NH, preserving the historic structures and converting them into a non-profit drug and alcohol rehabilitation center called Webster Place Center.

The newest additions to the Common Man family are a Common Man restaurant in Portsmouth, Alex's first foray to the seacoast area, The 104 Diner in New Hampton, and a defunct movie theater which underwent extensive renovations and has now re-opened in downtown Plymouth as The Flying Monkey Movie House and Performance Center.

It's easy to see that the drive and creativity Alex had when he opened his first restaurant in 1971 has never diminished and that he continues to inspire his staff and guests with his unending support of businesses and charities throughout New Hampshire.