One Pelham East

We were looking for a relaxed place to have a drink after dinner and the sign for live music drew us in. We still had an hour (so we did not pay a cover) and we were easily able to play a few games of shuffle board and relax. Bryan the bartender was pretty much the best as far as bartenders go. He made good drinks, was good natured and helpful to us as tourists and even cracked a joke. The live music was enjoyable and the music played while the band was not on was also well chosen. We moved on to play ping pong and then darts for an overall fun experience. We are definitely game people so the variety was nice.
Oh– and the bathrooms were clean!

This was the bar I started going to with friends in college. They have great cover bands here. My friends love to go here still after all these years. It gets packed but I still have a great time. It is cash only and don’t accept credit cards so be prepared to go the ATM prior. There is many different sections of the bar. There is a pool table they have a DJ in the back room. There are many bars to get your drinks.

The one redeeming thing about this place is the live music. Otherwise I do not care for it. This place rips you off with outrageous covers because they know there are so few dance clubs in town. The worst part is the type of people who frequent this place on weekends and holidays. Very immature crowd. And I’m all for a crowd but it was impossible to move or get a drink. Also the whole place is cash only on holidays so I’m paying $ 10 for a small weak vodka cranberry. Thanks for nothing Pelham.

F-​ing ridiculous! Bartender sold us seriously watered down tequila! And the worst was that when challenged on what was the tequila and what is the alcohol content he didn’t even try mediate the dispute. Never had such an experience.

The Thomas Tewsday pirate crew swung by Pelham for a couple hours this past Saturday and it was a great time! I had only been to Pelham during the night before but it is just as fun during the day with the right crew!
They have ping pong and shuffleboard and tons of booze and beer! What else do you need?! Oh they also had a super fun staff and live music! The daytime music was definitely a bit more low key than the hair bands that take over the night scene there but it was absolutely perfect for a Saturday afternoon.
I’ll be back for fun between now and then but hopefully they’ll have us back next year for Thomas Tewsday 2016 too!

Went here a few weekends ago for my sister’s bachelorette party. We got there around 9:30 since the band was coming on at 10. We got a few high top tables and bar stools near the side bar which was nice. The bartender was great! We saw the band Brick Park and they are amazing! They were so good and everyone was dancing all night. I can’t comment on the men’s bathroom, but the women’s was very clean and updated! There are only 3 stalls but we never had to wait. This bar is CASH ONLY so make sure you bring some so you don’t have to use the ATM.

Had such a blast here this past weekend ! The male review on Friday night was so much fun. All of the staff was so nice and super accommodating to a large group of girls (for a bachelorette party). Bar managers Chris & norm we’re the best of all. Highly recommended for a fun night at the bar.

LOVE the PELHAM! Always a blast with great music with live bands! Always a great crowd every weekend. Tuesdays and Thursdays are also a great time. The bartenders are all always super friendly and you never have to wait for a drink (also very good looking)! A couple side bars and tables so if you want to just sit and have a casual drink you can do that too. Chris the Manager is awesome, super friendly and always there if theres a problem or if you need anything.
Also I’m a gay man and I love coming here I always feel safe and know there will never be a problem. If you’re in Newport be sure to go to the Pelham! (also CASH only, but theres an ATM right outside) :)

This is your typical dive bar. We went here the Monday night of Labor Day Weekend, after a suggestion from our waitress at dinner. We were looking to play darts, but they don’t offer that. When we got here, a band was playing decent music. We stayed for a couple of songs then wandered down the street in search of darts. We found a place, but the dart board was occupied and had a long wait, so we headed back to Pelham since the music was good.
When we got back here, the band was on break, so we grabbed a couple of newly emptied seats at the bar and ordered drinks. This establishment is cash only. Luckily we had cash with us, but another couple came in and ordered drinks and handed over his credit card and the bartender was rude about it being cash only. If it’s cash only, maybe you should tell people before they order or before you fill their drink orders. The guy had to go to an ATM to pay for the drinks. He did not look too happy about that.
The floors were sticky and the place looked dingy like your typical dive bar. The band came back from their break, but the music was pretty lousy afterwards. It’s hard to believe it was the same people. We finished our drinks and headed back to our B&B.
My husband used the restroom and said it was nasty, so I’m glad I decided to wait until we got back to our room.
I doubt we’d be back.

Jerks! Were very stingy on trivial things. And the DJ was openly homophobic! Time for a change!

Left because the DJ gave my friend crap for being gay. Tried to talk to management about it. He called me sweetheart, said I was full of shit. All it was was some alpha guy not wanting to be wrong. 2014 is too late in the day for that. The sexist crap, the anti-​gay crap — all of it.

This was «THE Spot» when I was in my early 20s. The Pelham always had fun entertainment as well as a line at the door. The place gets packed, as they jam ‘em in like sardines and it can be difficult to get a drink during those times. However, I base my rating on my last two visits to The Pelham: One was for a bachelorette party on a Saturday night and all of the above rang true… we went here because of the band and we couldn’t move to dance, nevermind get over to one of the bars to buy a beverage. Another time, I went as part of a company outing for some after dinner drinks on a Friday evening… we were all having a blast by the billiard table area for awhile until an argument broke out during a pool match between one of our employees and a Pelham regular. The establishment had their security come up, and altho there were no fists thrown AND we’d already spent hundreds of dollars between the 15 of us, they immediately sided with «the regular» and shoved our 55 year old CEO out the side door to the street where he was apprehended by police (while his 21 yr old daughter & sweet as pie, wife watched his head get slammed down onto the pavement) FOR NOTHING!!! Bad bad call by The Pelham and better believe ALL of my old employer’s workers, our friends and family know about the reputation this place holds… stay away from «the regulars», you just won’t win.

Only complaint was the bathrooms. You can’t have a 3 stall bathroom for hundreds of people. Especially when you have a future bride puking in one of the stalls forever.

I’m an out of towner, so my one experience is not the word of the Lord or anything, but seriously? This place blew. It came highly recommended by others who’ve been several times, so maybe it was an off night but I was thoroughly unimpressed.
I hosted a Bachelorette just this past weekend in Newport, but apparently hosting it on a Friday night is just all sorts of unusual. Yes, I would have loved to do it on a Saturday but there were extenuating circumstances. Oh well. They offer nothing in the way of anything special other than the bride gets in for free, the rest of us biatches would have to pay a $ 10 cover if we went in after 10pm. We went early to avoid the cover, and by early I mean 9:30. We were excited to see the live band that was promised, Green Line Inbound, which I expected to be starting around 10pm. I even signed up for texts from the bar and promptly shared info about Green Line and Pelham on my own FB page so that we could secure a free cover if we didn’t make it in before 10pm.
Previous reviews were right… cash only bar and 1 Captain and ginger in a plastic cup cost me $ 8. Eff that. It was absolutely dead in there until about 10pm, when it started to fill in a little. They were playing a poorly made mix of country, rock, and older top 40 while we waited for the band. Then some weird skinny little freak with dreds and a guitar got up on stage and started playing music that wasn’t good. By 10:30/10:45pm the band had yet to appear and we made the vote to move and save the night, because we couldn’t afford to stand around bored and drink $ 8 «cocktails.»
Let’s just say Newport Blues Café was so much better and thankfully saved our night. I don’t know if the band ever showed up or played, but if someone asked me for recommendations in Newport I would avoid this place for now.

A bunch of stupid bouncers will try to tell you some bs rules about hats then you let you in for a 10 $ cover if your lucky too be greeted by shitty bar service, and some crappy band. Stay far away from Newport with their stuck up locals that think they can punch people in the face face while walking down the sidewalk outside the pizza place cause they feel cool. No joke I have a black eye for talking to a girl. Watch out for stupid aholes outside the bar that want to start trouble. Cops won’t help, screw newport and the ship they sailed in on. Can I give no stars I got a gin and tonic when I ordered rum And coke!!!

I’m not a Newport local so this is an out of town visitor’s perspective:
Visited on a quieter summer Friday night when they had a live band playing.
$ 5 cover. Band was not worth the cover. Each successive song saw more people depart the bar.
Drinks were expensive compared to other establishments on the same strip– $ 8.50 for a cocktail in a plastic ‘water’ cup. And when I say cocktail, I mean Jim Beam and coke. Only the best. I’ve been here before and I didn’t remember it being particularly pricey — maybe there are summer prices.
I think «meh» describes the experience best. More exciting nightlife for less cash certainly available on Thames!
I give it an extra (3^rd star) because of past experiences that were more exciting.

This place is the bar equivalent to a butter face. On the outside it doesn’t look too bad, on the inside yikes. I mean it’s a dive bar no doubt about it. I wasn’t impressed with the place at all from a dive bar perspective. But, this is exactly what I think it wants to be. Here are some highlights in brief:
–cash only, and they’re kinda dicks about it
–Aluminum beer bottles that are kept cold in 5 gallon buckets that look like they are also a puke bucket
–bathrooms — enter and pee at your own risk
–Band that night was actually pretty good
-$ 5 cover when we got there, friends came 20 minutes later and it was $ 10 cover.
I guess compared to other bars we went too that were charging the same amount for beer this place doesn’t get my vote as a place to go. I hate to say it but I’d rather hit the other touristy places that were the same price and oh I dunno… clean.

Always the best entertainment and BEST staff. The place is always filled with girls and is always a party. Definitely the place to be for a fun night out in Newport. I went down while the band «Run for Covers» was performing and couldn’t believe the energy in the place. They apparently have a guarantee on their entertainment so I can only assume its always that great. Good pricing on drinks and quick service despite the capacity crowd.

2.5−3 stars
Walked in since this seemed to be the most packed bar. $ 5 cover charge on a Saturday night to see a live band seemed a little lame but there was no other choice.
Drinks were cheap. $ 14 for johnnie & diet & vodka tonic. $ 7 patron shots. $ 4 bottled beer.
Pretty small bar. The second level had a pool table where people were playing and relaxing/​watching the band. The bartenders were okay.

One Pelhman East is exactly what I would expect, in a sense, from a Newport, seaside bar. On a recent trip to the bar I encountered, a bachelorette party, a large group of sailors in their white uniforms carrying their hats around, overpriced drinks, and a small band playing early 90’s pop/​rock hits. Not exactly what I look for in a bar, but I dealt with it none-​the-​less.
Bartenders were very unhelpful when making drink choices. A friend and I had gone out drinking for the night and were annoyed we could not be more adventurous with our drink choices. Who wants to drink the same ‘ol things each time they go out? Most bartenders are quick with suggestions and even sociable at that. Not here, at all.
Gets crowded quick, bathrooms are small and located up a flight of stairs and past closely positioned pool tables. I highly enjoyed the band, Wicked Peach, had a great time listening to some old favorites. Probably the only reason I stayed here for as long as I did. I would definitely consider trying out one of the many other options for nightlife in the area. Plus.. . cover at the door for a place like this? Not worth it.