The Press Room

By far my favorite bar in Portsmouth. As a local, it’s nice to get away from all the stupid tourists that frequent the Page or TJs or wherever they go. You won’t be wined and dined here, you will get a beer whenever the bartenders or servers can get to you. And if you complain, they won’t care. But if you are a decent person with a sense of how to behave at a bar, they’ll take great care of you and you’ll soon feel like a regular. They also have some of the best beers on tap around. Can’t ask for a better spot!

I have to leave a review because I was reading the others and they’re hilarious. This isn’t my favorite place but it’s the only «real» bar/​music club that I’ve found in that town and the best thing about the Press Room being on Unilocal is that they definitely don’t give a shit about Unilocal reviews. I’ve eaten here. It’s fine. In fact the burgers and pizza were great. But I get it that most people want sterile environments where they’re treated like royalty. This place is loud and rough around the edges and the staff will cuss in conversation and wear whatever they want but that’s kind of the beauty of it. Not recommended for sissies but a lot of fun everyone else. Oh and the draught selection has been awesome every time I’ve been in.

I went here because I was craving «rainy day» food and was recommended to go. It had been pouring all day and the atmosphere is exactly what you’d expect in a story where weary travelers need a break for the night and decide to get a meal and pint before continuing on their journey. There was folk music playing, the seating was cozy, and the chicken meal I had was great too.

Dirty dirty dirty dirty sticky sticky sticky smells BAD BAD BAD!
DO NOT EAT HERE!!! I REPEAT DO NOT EAT HERE! DO NOT DRINK ANYTHING EXCEPT BOTTLE BEER! Liquor bottles look like they came with the place in 1980!
More fruit flies than people in Portsmouth!
Clean your bar scumbags!

Great place to have a Guinness and listen to music. But don’t eat there and hold your nose for restroom.

I’m not a person who loves to leave a place and «tear them a new one» on Unilocal but I just had a really lousy experience at this establishment.
It’s Saturday night, we came in about 9 o’clock. It was not busy. I grab a table for me and my 3 friends and I’m told we’ll get table service. Well… table service didn’t show up for 20 minutes. Walked by a bunch of times but didn’t come to us until I tried to just grab a drink from the bar. Our server said she didn’t realize that not all of us had drinks, which is totally valid. Given that I have worked in the industry, I know it happens. But she’s not apologetic and she’s definitely not friendly. Like at all.
I ordered a gin and ginger ale and it seemingly had no gin in it. Wasn’t gonna send it back for fear that she’d choke slam me through the table. She doesn’t come back again until we asked someone else for our check. Even THEN, she offered no apology, grumbled goodnight as though she actually meant «I hope you get eaten by a bear» and she was off again.
Listen, not everyone loves their job every day. Especially not working in a bar. I am a human too with human moods and I recognize them and can empathize when other people are just in a crap mood. But when you’re a total jerk AND give me awful service, it’s naturally going to leave a bad taste in my mouth, worse than the aforementioned gin and ginger ale. And the worst part is that was my first time there. First impression of this place is not good. You don’t want to turn people off to you when there are so many great options in Portsmouth to compete with.

Live music, good food and decent prices for Portsmouth.

Stopped in for a beer and a snack after an early dinner and were very glad we did.
The ambiance was dark and welcoming, though it was already nearly full at 7pm on a Friday, so we felt lucky to get a couple seats at the bar.
Nice selection of craft beers-​even tried a Petrus Sour, which was a refreshing way to end a day of snacking and sampling new beers throughout Portsmouth. The half-​portion of nachos was tasty and plenty large enough, with a healthy amount of chicken and a colorful topping of red peppers and raw jalapeños.
To top everything off, the service was very friendly and professional. We’ll definitely be back the next time we’re in town.

Went here while visiting Portsmouth.
Great little bar downtown. Has a good atmosphere and some great fish tacos! Beer selection is pretty good as well with a few craft beers rotating on tap.

If you want to get aggressively groped, sexually harassed, molested, or just generally feel incredibly unsafe, this is the place for you after 11pm, ladies.
Drinks and food are good, servers and bartenders are nice, if unaware of all the shitty, shitty things happening around them.

This place is not worthy of any stars. Service, food, and our waitress Larissa were awful. Her excuse was that the kitchen is the size of my bathroom. Terrible reason. Don’t eat here, but definitely a good place for beers.

Cute little pub. Just stopped in for a beer — they had a nice selection and the bartender was helpful in letting my friend try to pick out a beer and steering her in the right direction. It was pretty quiet for a Saturday night, but it was only 5oclock.

My girlfriend, her friend, and I went here on a Tuesday evening for some drinks. Turned into just one since the male bartender was extremely rude. Apparently, I was too loud for him and he let me know it in a not so subtle way. Atmosphere sucked, small and dark. Will not return.

If I judged the live music I would probably give it 4 stars. Didn’t have food. Drink options were limited. Jazzy dive bar… but clean. Bathrooms are right in front of the band. Be prepared to be on display.

Good drinks, friendly bartenders and live music!
They do sell food. But I didn’t try anything, so I can’t review that.
Definitely a chill little bar to check out if you are in the area!

I wanted to like it here. They host great musicians and have a badass door guy. But this is the worst culinary experience I have ever had. I use culinary loosely, because i have yet to eat the food. After having enough time to finish a round of beers, a menu nor server found their way to our table. After throwing in the towel and deciding to leave after a 40 minute wait, we asked for check, then proceeded to write this review while waiting for check to come. Wished it was better.

Service was way more interested in talking to each other than taking care of patrons. Sometimes that’s alright, but maybe I just wasn’t in the mood for that this night. Draft selection in a little light, live music is pretty loud, hard to have a conversation.

Hold your ground! Hold your ground!
Lovers of pubs, of music, fellow Unilocalers,
I see in your eyes the same fear that would take the heart of me.
A day may come when the excellence of The Press Room fails,
when we lose our affection
and break all bonds of fellowship,
but it is not this day.
An odd Sunday of a crowded Jazz Fest and an overwhelmed kitchen,
when the wood stove was cold and the lentils too salty,
Oh, it was this day!
But this day we forgive!
By all that you hold dear in these, my past 25 years of loving this pub,
I bid you return, Men of the Press Room!!!
;-) In all seriousness and in the interest of full disclosure, I have to tell you that my longstanding sentimental affection for this place would practically require them to drag me out back and whip me to make me give a bad review but what I can offer is why you might come to feel the same…
This was OUR pub when we were first married and lucky enough to live in Portsmouth. It’s the closest thing to an actual British or Irish pub I’ve ever found in the states. The atmosphere is all cozy and woody and bricky and natural charmy rather than faux Irish or American skeezy. They used to often frequently have musicians camping out in a corner downstairs playing informally but I don’t know if that is any longer the case.
This past visit on a Sunday found us there with a Jazz Fest going on upstairs. Sounded nice. BUT… it did overwhelm the kitchen and while our drinks came quickly and our clam chowder (good, but not exceptional) arrived in a timely manner, our entrees were a long time coming. They were sufficiently informative and apologetic (comped our soups!) so we didn’t feel forgotten. Ultimately, the wait didn’t matter to us. We were there to linger but it’s a warning to you to bring a generous heart if you come to dine on a big-​crowd music night. What also seemed to be served quickly were HUGE baskets of fries. Looked like quite a bargain for just shy of $ 5.
Our table ordered two burgers (delicious) and the chicken breast entrée. That was lovely, overall. The chicken was lightly breaded, moist & buttery. The zucchini were perfectly seasoned and cooked, and the lentils, which I think would have been a favorite otherwise, I suspect were the victim of a kitchen error. They were edible but powerfully salty. We also enjoyed their two desserts… a crème brûlée and chocolate cheesecake.
Last time I was here, about a year ago, was with a large party. They put us upstairs where a band was just getting started and didn’t require a cover charge from us for the favor. Nice!
Bonus of all bonuses… They have Strongbow cider on tap. I just doesn’t get any better.

Yessss! We have been to Portsmouth many a time but this is our first stop at the Press Room. Sent the wife in to scope out the baby appropriateness and got the thumbs up.
As a side note we ended up here because we felt margaritas at Agave were not super seasonal. as we walked in I suggested «maybe you can get a dark and stormy.» BOOM! Maine root ginger beer and goslings!!! Yesss
Our server Jackie was awesome! Informative friendly real a great face to the pub!
Food– hummus was good. A bit less tahini then I like but good flavor. Lamb and chickpea chili was also very good.
Entrees were a burger with sweet fries (yum) and a pulled pork flatbread (where is a friend to help you out when you need them!!).
So needless to say this is a spot you should stop into as you wander around Portsmouth indulging in shopping and great food!

This bar was cool. Nothing bad to say but nothing fantastic either. Went on a Tuesday night. They stuffed the band in a corner by the toilets. He was ok nothing to shake it to. Typical bar drinks nothing fancy like infused pepper vodka or tequila! My company was great! We talked gardens, running lots of good stuff. Then there was the pos system from the 90’s hey why change it if it works. Posted a pic of that orange black screen on Facebook with my Hootergirls from back on the day. Got a chuckle all in all had a good time as do with any bar on main area but nothing to write the press about.