The Halligan Tavern

2^nd visit… braised short ribs and ½ rack of ribs for dinner. AWESOME! The short ribs melted in your mouth. Had a nice brown gravy with mushrooms too. The pork ribs are very flavorful and satisfying. Timmy the bartender set us up with a few beers and it was a fantastic dinner, also thanked the chef again for a fantastic dinner. Can’t wait to go back.

Are your standards really low? Do you like loud, noisy «sports bars?» Disinterested waitstaff? Mediocre, over-​priced pub food? Then this is the place for you!
Kinda reminds me of Fat Belly’s (
) in Portsmouth.

Pretty cool spot. I literally ran into the place to catch the end of a pats game so I didn’t get the full experience. What I did get was an awesome local heavy bar with true fans, good beer, and good prices. I’d go back for sure.

Awesome! Great service and a great staff. A perfect place for what ever you may be looking for. Separate area for families and a great space for a beverage.

First of all, the Groupon brought us into this place. I can’t say enough about how good the food was. The burgers are top notch, the ribs were AMAZING and if you get the mashed potatoes, ask for the mushroom gravy. It’s to die for. Steak tips were perfect too!

I don’t know where to even begin with this review! My friend and I stopped in on our way to the airport for a quick bite to eat. Looked like a fun and decent place… Boy were we wrong!
The first was the overwhelming smell of urine that hit your face as soon as you walked in. We sat and waited for drinks and finally someone came over to take our order. We put in an order for some apps as well (spinach dip and buffalo bites).
After waiting for about 30 mins and fearing we would be late to the airport, we flagged down a gentleman to check on the food and order a few more drinks. Upon asking him about the food, his response was, and I quote «I’m not sure what to tell you, it’ll be out when it’s out.» At this point, sensing his rude undertone, my friend had mentioned ordering another round of drinks. He literally huffed at us, leaned his hands on the bar and said «what do you want?» I looked him dead in the face and said «if this isn’t something you can help us with, that’s fine. Just let us know who we should ask.» Bartender/​waiter: «Well, I can but I’m busy helping someone else (with aggressive and rude undertone). What do you want?» Me: «Go help them then… I’ll wait for someone else.» He never returned and never checked on our food.
We then told the other bartender, after waiting some time yet again for anyone to even acknowledge us, how rude the gentleman was to us and her response was «yeah» as if his attitude and poor service was a known thing! She comped our food like it was nothing which says a lot about how often it must have to be done.
The food arrived and was cold. The buffalo bites were hollow and overcooked. Spinach dip was cold and chips were stale.
But I’d have to say, the final straw for me was when another owner/​waiter/​bartender, whatever the hell he was, approached the gentleman two seats over from me. He was clearly a regular and frequented this bar often. Bartender (in a very loud, abrasive, and aggressive tone): «Kevin, pick a side! Move either to the left or the right!» After ‘Kevin’ moved and he flagged over two of the trashiest people I’ve seen in my life: «And that ladies and gentlemen is how it’s done!» As if he was proud of how rude he was to the customer!
News flash, be nice to your regulars cause let’s be honest, based on your reviews on here, they might be the only things keeping you in business!
Don’t even wanna give a star at

Wow. Been here twice — why is it that every single bartender and server has a stick permanently up their ass? Would be awesome to find a local bar to you know, become a local at, being new to the area. We are young, and there seem to be very few young crowds anywhere but here, which made it seem appealing at first. But these people are so dishearteningly rude and unwelcoming. Like the last thing they want is for you to walk in the door and expect decency. Never again.

Such a nice place with a staff that could care less if you are there or not. The girl that seems to be the head bartender has the mean look all night.
Lighten up! This is supposed to be a place of fun

My husband and I would go quite often, even with those two gentlemen being so awful at serving tables, The food is very good. We’ve stopped going after I took my infant daughter to be changed and found a used needle in the diaper changing tray.

Food is still pretty decent but for all that is holy, please fix the bathrooms! Men’s room had no hand dryer and no hand towels; the women’s room sink was broken so a handful of soap was just peachy! The bartenders were fairly attentive but after 2 rounds, how can you not remember the draft beers we ordered?

Waitress was the most unfriendly person ever and her tip reflected it. Smile it won’t hurt you! Beer was warm and at the end of the keg won’t b going back anytime soon

Awful service every time. Even if it isn’t busy, the time to get a draft is ridiculous. There aren’t enough bartenders/​wait staff when they are busy. I’ve eaten here once and wouldn’t go back for food. It’s a nice place for beers, especially on Sundays, but the service is so bad. They really need to get more waitstaff, bottom line!

This place has just updated the menu and it is better than ever. Had the new garlic ribs for $ 9 a FULL RACK. Take a bit longer to prepare, but worth it, fall off the bone good. The old stand by Irish potato skins were great. Local beers like 603, Tuckermans and 50 others on tap. Was hopping but not too busy Friday nights.

Prices are a little on the expensive side for what you get food wise. But the beer is the bomb, I got the Seadog blueberry ale and it’s my favorite

This was our first time visiting and my husband was a bit nervous due to all the reviews. However, the food was really good. We only got some appetizers but the nachos were piled high and very tasty. The mac & cheese (which I never order anywhere because I’m nervous it will be dried out and not good) was so cheesy and creamy. I loved it.
Now when we first arrived there was only one bartender on the bar and he was running around with lots of customers. Eventually, 3 more showed up, luckily. My husband was drinking and he had plenty of drinks, I was only drinking soda but when I finished none of the 4 bartenders that happened to be on offered a refill.
All in all we’ll definitely go back.
********Okay, so I’m updating my previous review********
After having returned the service has not improved and has only in my opinion become worse. I mean, how can you sit at the bar for 13 minutes without a refill. Me being the designated driver, I’d think you’d want to keep just as happy as my drinking friends. The longer I’m happy the longer we stay.
When the bartender finally came over to ask if I’d like a refill and I said «please» she filled it and left it on the bar, while she made 4 other parties drinks and charged them out while my drink sat there in front of her station. No one else came by to help us or even walked by for me to say excuse me. I was definitely upset.
I think at this point even though the food is good, I’ll go elsewhere. I had so many options that night to go out and I won’t be making this mistake again. To me a restaurant is only as good as it’s service and I don’t think I received any. This designated driver will be taking her drinkers elsewhere.

Stopped in for lunch while driving through. The beer list looked pretty extensive, but since day drinking wasn’t in the cards, we stuck with food.
First, the place smelled a bit of urine. It wasn’t overpowering, but enough that we noticed. Sort of off-​putting. Sorry, but it’s true. I got a burger, and my fiancée got the fish and chips. Burger was good — nothing to write home about, but a pretty decent pub burger. Onion rings were pretty good, though the batter was a little thick. The fish and chips, though, wasn’t really all that great. The fries it came with were floppy and soggy, and the fish had a strange taste in some parts. Bummer.

Halligans has come a long way and definitely improved. That bartender that irked me so much for the first review is gone and all the other ones are awesome. The food has been consistently pretty good and the onion rings are always awesome. It’s typical pub food but done pretty well. Can’t give 5 stars because the bathrooms can be gnarly.
I can definitely recommend stopping in here now. Great local spot!

I had dinner at The Halligan Tavern with my husband last week. I really like the exposed brick look and overall décor of the restaurant. We shared the fried mozzarella to start, which was very tasty. For dinner I had a build your own wrap and my husband had the shepherds pie. My wrap was good, but the fries not so much. My husband enjoyed the shepherds pie. Overall solid food and we will be back.

Food was above average — our party of 5 had Fish n Chips, Mac n Cheese, Reuben Burger, Mushroom Burger and Short Ribs.
The burgers looked great as did the Mac n Cheese. I had a taste of the Fish n Chips and it was great along with the sweet potato ff. I had the short ribs which were ok. Info believe that they were purchased already prepared then reheated. It was more like pot roast in a very sweet mushroom gravy. My dinner also had red skinned mashed potatoes which were stone cold and asparagus which was delicious.
If I were to come again, I would certainly stick to the sandwiches or Fish N Chips.

Funny, went back to The Halligan Tavern almost two years after my first experience and review and had the same exact experience.
The server was nice and helpful in picking out beers– but not energetic by any means. He sort of sucked the energy out of me. I ordered the same steak tip salad. The restaurant was empty aside from one other table finishing up as we arrived but yet the service was slow. The food was good enough that I’d go back again. And, I love the local beer selection and the old firehouse ambiance.