The Barley House

Bar, Eatery

132 N Main St
Concord, New Hampshire, 03301-4917
United States

(603) 228-6363 | map
thebarleyhouse.com
PLACE STATS
Average:
3.96
Reviews:
17
Ratings:
30
pDev:
6.82%
View: Place Reviews
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Ratings by Satchboogie:
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Reviewed by Satchboogie from Belgium

4.08/5  rDev +3%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4 | selection: 3.5 | food: 4.5
My favorite bar in Concord (I know, not saying much). The beer selection is rather average with the one good regular their house pale ale (Harpoon brewed). The food isn't your typical pub fare. They start you off with homemade humus and breadsticks and pretzels. The menu is practically gourmet with a major Irish influence. My favorite thing to get is their Dublin Whisky Gravy burger. Every time I've ordered it I got it perfectly MR. It's a 1 1/2 inch thick juicy patty encrusted with black peppercorn topped with blue cheese, deep fried onions, and whisky gravy. It might be the most balanced burger I've ever had.

The atmosphere is a nice cozy, brown and black pub. Service is decent although I've had my share of slow servers, especially when it was slow.

Beer pricing is standard but the food pricing is a little pricey. I love the burgers, but $12 is pretty steep.
Jan 05, 2011
More User Ratings:
Photo of tekstr1der
Reviewed by tekstr1der from New Hampshire

4.06/5  rDev +2.5%
vibe: 4.25 | quality: 4.25 | service: 4 | selection: 3.75 | food: 4.25
Great burgers and a fairly run-of-the-mill tap list with of course a smattering of local offerings. Pool tables downstairs is kinda cool as it separates that from the main bar area upstairs. Been many times and would return.
Mar 01, 2023
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Reviewed by morebeergood from Massachusetts

3.93/5  rDev -0.8%
vibe: 3.75 | quality: 3.75 | service: 4 | selection: 4 | food: 4.25
Dinner pit stop on the way home from up north. Interesting b&w photos of whisky all over the walls. Our waiter was a cool dude. They had a few local NH beers on tap, but a few other goodies. We all liked our dinner choices. Must be a popular place in Concord.
Jul 20, 2017
 
Rated: 4.09 by ScottP from New Hampshire

Apr 03, 2016
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Rated by rodmanfor3 from Vermont

3.51/5  rDev -11.4%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 3.5 | service: 3.25 | selection: 3.5 | food: 4.25
Good burgers with a limited taplist.
Jun 29, 2015
 
Rated: 3.99 by StrayteEDGE from Massachusetts

May 14, 2015
 
Rated: 4.14 by SawDog505 from New Hampshire

Mar 26, 2015
 
Rated: 3.89 by jco3 from New Hampshire

Mar 15, 2015
 
Rated: 4 by JasonHaviland from New Hampshire

Oct 26, 2014
 
Rated: 3.75 by smanson56 from New Hampshire

Sep 01, 2014
 
Rated: 3.84 by BierBliss from New Hampshire

Aug 26, 2014
 
Rated: 3.75 by ctone from New Hampshire

Jul 27, 2014
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Reviewed by greenmountainale from Vermont

4.65/5  rDev +17.4%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 5 | selection: 4.5 | food: 4.75
Great spot in downtown Concord, NH. Had the Barley burger and potato salad. Food was perfect on a 92 degree day. Stone Face IPA on tap was great. Probably the best IPA in NH at this time, from a relatively new and hard to find brewer. Service at the bar was perfect. 12 taps, but all quality brew.
Jul 01, 2014
 
Rated: 4.25 by Mikeypnh from New Hampshire

Jun 11, 2014
 
Rated: 4.25 by dpgoblejr from New Hampshire

Feb 26, 2014
 
Rated: 3.75 by fermentedbarley from New Hampshire

Feb 18, 2014
 
Rated: 4.25 by HeadieBrews from New Hampshire

Dec 26, 2013
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Reviewed by MightyMonk from New Hampshire

4.05/5  rDev +2.3%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 4.5 | selection: 3.5 | food: 4.5
Stopped in on Friday night before a show at the Capitol Center to grab a bite and have a brew. The place was mobbed and there was a 45 min. wait so had to change plan.
Followed up the next day (stayed in town) in the early afternoon and breezed into the bar and got to enjoy a very pleasant lunch in a comfortable clean establishment.

The bartender was very good. The food was great the beer selection was not overwhelming but the tap had about 13 brews. Mostly macro but as has been mentioned they have a great pale that is made by Harpoon.

Would definitely go back next time I'm in town.
It's worth a visit.
Nov 21, 2011
Photo of puboflyons
Reviewed by puboflyons from New Hampshire

4.25/5  rDev +7.3%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4.5 | food: 4
This is a great place to go to from time to time, especially for me...a middle aged guy who hates the bar scene. What I like about it is that it is clearly a bar in downtown Concord across the street from the State Capitol building, but they offer some above average beers both on tap and in the bottle. It is an Irish style bar and offers Irish style food. They have made arrangements with Harpoon, Long Trail, and other regional brewers to put a Barley House label on some of their offerings. They usually have at least one macro tap to appease the masses but the other 8 or 9 taps are often something a little different like Belhaven or Smithwicks. They offer plenty of bottle choices such as Brew Dog, Chimay, and others. The food is generally burgers, sandwiches, and stews served with an Irish twist. A lot of folks like their scallops. It is a popular place for the movers and shakers. If you are lucky you may run into a few State Senators, State Representatives, or even the Governor when you visit for lunch.
Jan 16, 2011
Photo of bishopdc0
Reviewed by bishopdc0 from Maine

3.75/5  rDev -5.3%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 4 | service: 3.5 | selection: 3.5 | food: 4.5
I went here on a guys night out I had a buffalo burger medium rare which was cooked perfect. The bacon and the topping were wonderful. I had a side of fried that were good but I must also mention that there are two ketchups regular and chipote whixh was awesome.

All our party agreed that the serving size was good, we all finished our meals and were satisfied.

The beer selection here was pretty good but the best part was the 10 year pale which was great and despite the fact our server it was his first night it was good. Worth stopping in and I would highly suggest the buffalo burger and a couple of the 10 year pales.
Dec 22, 2010
Photo of BeerNinja007
Reviewed by BeerNinja007 from New Hampshire

3.93/5  rDev -0.8%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 3.5 | food: 4.5
I wandered into the Barley House for a bite to eat while exploring Concord a few weeks back. It was late afternoon on a Saturday, maybe 4 o'clock. Most of the seats at the bar were taken but only 3 tables were occupied, so it was a nice quiet atmosphere before the dinner crowd set in.

Atmosphere was cozy... lots of brick, wood, good AC on a hot day. Modest and tasteful decor. One television on the wall in the corner of the dining area, with the sound muted so it was thankfully easy to ignore. Music playing at a low volume: mellower rock, folk, classic rock.

Waitress was friendly and personable, saw me writing on my note pad and asked if I was taking beer notes, said she does the same with scotch (a kindered spirit, pun intended).

Food was good. Complimentary breadsticks and pretzel rods to snack on with some hummus for dipping in. Menu is standard pub fare- salads, sandwiches, burgers, etc. I got their supposedly famous Dublin Burger. I ordered it cooked rare, and perhaps for the first time in my life a restaurant actually served it rare. Soft, red, cold center rare, exactly as I've always wanted but never gotten. I was really impressed and scribbled a note of thanks on the back of the receipt.

Beer selection was modest, maybe a bit better than average for your typical corner bar. Approximately 10 taps, mostly macros, but a few local micros (ex. the Smuttynose Star Island Single, which I had). More unique was a small selection of 22oz bombers available by the bottle. The menu was very helpful in providing %ABV and average BeerAdvocate rating for all of the beer.
Aug 01, 2010
Photo of Superwes80
Reviewed by Superwes80 from Kentucky

3.55/5  rDev -10.4%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4 | service: 2 | selection: 4 | food: 4
We went on Tuesday night when they have Irish music/band in the cellar. It was very surprising and entertaining! The hummus that was brought out with our drinks that was very good. They had a good drink selection of import and craft brews(some local) with decent prices. Make sure and check the cellar out if you go as it has a very nice pub vibe. The only problem we encountered was the service. It took almost thirty minutes for the first server to take our food order, but at least we had good beer to pass the time. We had three different servers and not by choice. Over all the experience was very pleasing with reasonable prices.
Jul 16, 2010
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Reviewed by GratefulBeerGuy from New Hampshire

4.22/5  rDev +6.6%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4 | service: 5 | selection: 3.5 | food: 4.5
This is a nice stop when in the Concord area. I had the house tomato soup (2 bowls) and it was exactly what the DR. ordered, I'm a big soup and chowder fan and this stuff hit the spot. The beer selection is average at best for a place that calla s itself Barley House. some decent imported and domestic offerings with a serious lack of beer geek brws. I had two pints of the special Harpoon-brwed Barley House 10 year Pale ale...that stuff was delicious. A brillaint, highly drinkable Pale ale and easily one of the best overall Harpoon brews I've ever had. The waitress was very nice, fast and easy to deal with. Nice.
Jul 15, 2010
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Reviewed by Boppar from New Hampshire

4.22/5  rDev +6.6%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4 | food: 5
I really like The Barley House. The waitstaff are friendly and attentive. The food is excellent. The garlic hummus that they bring you while you wait has never failed to impress. The spinach-artichoke dip is also a very good call. The specials (blueberry salad, crab-stuffed trout, etc.) are well worth a try.

There is a three-hour set of live, traditional Irish music every Tuesday, and live music every Friday.

The barley House also has a decent selection of beer, ranging from imported and domestic bottles, as well as some local favorites on-tap. The Barley House even has one proprietary beer (a dark ale). There are also some hand-crafted, flavored spirits behind the bar (mint-flavored bourbon, etc.). Seating is available in two dining areas, at the bar, as well as in a cafe-setting on the street. Definitely worth a trip if you are in the Concord area.
Jul 23, 2009
Photo of AJFitz
Reviewed by AJFitz from New Hampshire

3.8/5  rDev -4%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4 | service: 3.5 | selection: 3.5 | food: 4
I stopped by this place on a Tuesday night with a couple friends. There was a small band there playing some good Irish music which definitely helped the atmosphere.

We did linger there for quite a while, both because we were catching up and having a good time talking and because the service was a little slow.

The food was good. We got a spinach and artichoke dip appetizer that was very tasty, and then I had a Coffee BBQ Bacon Bison Burger (try ordering that without getting your tongue twisted) that was very good. All was reasonably priced.

And for the beer. It was definitely a better selection that many local pubs in NH, but was not what I would consider a beer bar. The draft selection included the typical Irish pub offerings of Guinness, Bass, and Smithwick's as well as some local offerings included Tuckerman's Pale Ale, and Redhook's Blackhook Porter (which was on nitro). The highlight of the night was the Victory Hop Devil, an easy beer to find, but not always available on tap in NH. There were also some bottle offerings such as Magic Hat, Longtrail, Blue Moon, Sierra Nevada, Sam Adams, and maybe a Brooklyn offering. The list also included the usual BL, Bud, Coors Light, Michelob, and PBR, Stella, and Heineken.

Overall, it was a good place to grab some food and had a couple interesting beers on the menu. A place to check out if you are in the Concord area.
Feb 25, 2009
Photo of bilyboy65
Reviewed by bilyboy65 from Colorado

3.45/5  rDev -12.9%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 2.5 | selection: 3.5
Visited this place on a Sat night. 2 floors open and spent most of the night downstairs.

Upstairs was more of a social bar atmosphere. Downstairs seemed more geared towards younger people with a pool table, juke box, TVs and an area that could be used as a dance floor.

The beers seemed fresh and the glasses were clean. The place itself was kept very clean as well. The bartender downstairs seemed to be in over his head and was slow. There was no wait staff to be seen downstairs either. The selection was good. Had a better selection upstairs. Didn't try the food, but the price for a pint was about $4 for Stone IPA.
Feb 09, 2009
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Reviewed by drinksandeats from Massachusetts

4.05/5  rDev +2.3%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 4 | food: 4.5
Hit this bar after lunch rush. Lots of seating in the restaurant, but my friend and I decided to saddle up to the bar and have a pint of Red Hook Porter on their nitro-tap. The bartender was friendly and quick to hand us menus and take our orders.

Very clean interior, with a few flat screens. The front windows give a good view of the New Hampshire state capitol. The beer was good, and the food was great. The bison burger, cooked to perfection, and the bratwurst with amazing mustard were quite filling. Two lunches and two beers came to $27, well worth the price of admission to this nice place right on Concord's main drag.
Apr 08, 2008
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Reviewed by Zoh from New Hampshire

3.68/5  rDev -7.1%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 3 | selection: 3.5 | food: 4.5
Nice place right in downtown Concord. I enjoyed the beer and the food and I am looking forward to going back. Atmosphere is Bitish pub style, lots of brick with a dark wood bar and brass rail. I haven't actually sat at the bar, we were in the dining room with a group. I ordered a Widmer Bros. Hefeweizen and it was served in a Widmer weizen glass. The beer selection isn't huge, but it is decent and includes a few regionals besides the usual suspects of Bud, Guinness, Bass, and the like. Service at the table was decent. The food was great, very tasty. I had lamb chops that were excellent and my wife had a swordfish steak. Dessert was good as well, bread pudding and a giant made in-house bon-bon. Prices were reasonable, but expect $25-35 per person for an appetizer, drink, entree, and dessert. As a side note, if you have a New England region entertainment card you can use it for a free entree. That was what got us there in the first place, but I know we will be going back.
Nov 02, 2005
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Reviewed by UnionMade from New York

3.58/5  rDev -9.6%
vibe: 3 | quality: 3.5 | service: 4.5 | selection: 3
The place is located right in downtown Concord, very easy to find. It looks great from the outside, with a Bass umbrella (rather than Bud) over an outdoor table. The signage across the top proclaims that they sell fine ales and lagers. Another good sign.
Walking in, it's rather small. An elongated room, with a smallish bar area, brick walls, and a few redhook signs around. The bar is an attractive dark wood, with a brass rail around the edge. Very british in style, this place is. Most of the pint glasses, and all of the coasters were either redhook or widmer. They did have proper glassware for all of their selections, including tall weisen glasses for the Widmer and the Stella goblets for the Stella Artois. There's a dining area to the right, and a small area up ahead, where an unusually loud band is playing some cover songs. A bit cramped, particularly with a Saturday night crowd. Probably pretty cozy during the middle of the week.
Surveying the tap selection, I was a little disappointed. Apparently there's very little call for craft beer in Concord. The bar boasted 12 taps, with the usual macros included in that 12. Bud, Coors Light, etc. The bottled selection is fairly glum, with the standouts being Anchor Steam and Julius Echter. A little better than your average downtown bar selection. Mostly stuff you can get anywhere, including Guinness and Bass. They had a couple more interesting taps, including Sierra Nevada, Stella Artois and Spaten, but the only thing on tap that i couldn't get back home was Redhook Piper's Ale. Apparently it's brewed for the 28th annual highland games, so we tried that. The bartender was very attentive and friendly, despite being busy. She brought us a coaster and an ashtray without needing to be asked, and the beer was served in an imperial pint, which I'm always happy about. Clean glassware, too. Prices are reasonable.
We didn't eat, but the menu looks very appetizing.
My one real complaint was that the place is incredibly smoky, probably because the bar area is so small. My eyes were stinging about halfway through my second pint. I don't mind live music, but the band was rather loud and it was a little hard to talk over. You had practically shout to compete with the band and the other patrons. Not a bad place at all. They could stand to add a few more taps, but did fairly well with what they had, covering a broad range of tastes. I still don't get why people go to the bar and order a bottle of Bud Light for $3.
Sep 09, 2003
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Reviewed by BillyBrew from Maine

4.05/5  rDev +2.3%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 4 | food: 4.5
One of the destinations of downtown Concord.

Pleasantly dark and filled with wood and brick. Packed with New Hampshire's legislatives (the capitol is across the street). Live entertainment every night, usaully small acoustic sets. Bar, tall tables and booths on one side, restaurant seating the other side.

Service is always solid, helpful and knowledgable.

12 taps loaded with great brews. Good Germans, Regionals (Smuttynose, Magic Hat, ect.) and West Coast brews compliment the more traditional Bud, Bass and Sam Adams. Guest tap is usually great.

The food is great. Interesting salads and apps., sandwiches, wings. Although, I have never had an entree.

Not open on Sundays. Check the website if you are from away.

Hint: Thursdays are 10 cent wings and cheap micros.

Well worth seeking out.

Cheers!
Aug 02, 2003
The Barley House in Concord, NH
Place rating: 3.96 out of 5 with 30 ratings