First House Pub

This place has a nice long serpentine bar with a good selection of draft beers. The wines are average, nothing high end. I would definitely recommend this as a bar to have drinks at. I do not recommend the food. We had lunch there today. The hamburger, which was ordered medium, came well done. The turkey club was really small. The bacon in both was all fat. Nothing tasted good and left a feeling of indigestion. Also, there were very few people in the restaurant for lunch and it took ½ hour for the food to come. On the plus side, our waitress was great.

Since the first time I ventured into the First House Pub… after finding them on Unilocal,I have been nothing but pleased with the experience. There have been up and downs with the food, but you can get that with any restaurant. The cajun chicken sandwich is one of my favs and one of the best I have had. The waitstaff and bartenders have always been exceptionally friendly and engage in conversation. The draft beer selection is great, to the point I joined the Mug Club. If you are in the Winchester area, give the First House a try. If your not hungry, grab a draft beer and some «salsa guac and chips.»

Love everything about this local pub. Food is really, really good. prices are great… everyone in here – from Ben, the bartender, to all the waitresses and hostesses make this an extremely great experience. A really fun, enjoyable local pub.

worst food I think I have ever eaten. staff was nice but food was truthfully GROSS. Turkey burger was a skinny, frozen half cooked patty with soggy fries and don’t get onion soup or portobello sandwich, just don’t. I won’t gross you out with the details. shame on the owners for allowing food like that to be served and expect to wait a long time. I will Never Return.

The servers were friendly so I feel somewhat bad giving one star, but MAN the food was bad. I can’t believe we went from Stonehearth Pizza to this. Such a wasted opportunity. Water: tasted like chlorine. Side salad: lettuce from a bag, thick hacked onion pieces, plain oil. Pizza: soggy crust, chewy cheese, grease grease grease, cafeteria appearance. Chicken sandwich: requested onions and mushrooms, came with neither, dry chicken strips. Fish tacos: they were set down in front of me and the entire table said «ew» and scrunched their faces at the same time, due to the overpowering beyond-​fishy fumes. I surely saved myself illness by removing the fish. I ate the Stop & Shop tortillas and coleslaw and pico de gallo, and the «vegetable of the day» was a zucchini, squash and carrot medley straight out of a frozen bag. I pointed and laughed at it. At least the rice pilaf was good.

The bartender we had was kind of clueless. We asked for a blacksmith and I had to explain it plus I asked for a founders but was given a blacksmith which I drank but wasn’t what I asked for. The environment was great and the menu looked nice but the bartender we had seemed to be somewhat out of it or out of her element.

I’ve been here three times now. The first time was the week it opened. Things were a little crazy and a bit unorganized that night, but I gave it a pass for the first week jitters and decided to come back and try it again. Since then, I’ve been here twice. Both times have been very good. The drinks are excellent, not too pricey and the food is good. It’s a pub, not a 4 star restaurant. I’ll definitely return and love the fact that there is now some competition in town for the Black Horse Tavern (which I also like, but is often crowded and a little pricey).

Food is good, service not so much. The atmosphere is not great either. It feels more like a cheap chain restaurant than a neighborhood pub. Needs some booths. It took so long for everything … To get seated, to take our order, to get the food. It was frustrating.
We are really hoping the kinks can get worked out so this place stays alive. It has great potential!

Beer list is mediocre, could certainly use more local beer and some more variety. Food was not much better, I had an avocado grilled cheese which was disappointing. Fries where those weird coated twice fried things that you get at an Applebees. All aspects could use improvement, if so this could be a great and much needed hangout in Winchester Center.

Second time there. First time had steak and bleu salad and it was awesome — the best steak tip salad ever. Today had bad experience ordered same thing and steak was overcooked. Sent it back and only half the pieces came back rare. First time I have ever had a send back not come back right at any restaurant. Meanwhile others in my party had over or under done steak.

The bartenders are very friendly and fantastic at this pub, perfect for this neighborhood pub’s venue.
The food has been surprising good since its opening. Although Winchester is only 15 mins drive to the back bay (without traffic) and a 20 mins train ride to North Station, this place has been a good alterative when one wants to avoid making a trip to downtown bars. I would describe my past meals here as Whole Foods Market ingredients cooked by caring chefs.
However, the food seems to have dived this weekend, Saturday and Sunday. Seafood, grilled entrees and salads were much worse both in quality of ingredients and cooking. I do hope that this trend won’t continue as there is a real need for good pubs in this area.

Great change from the black horse. Welcoming bartenders, on top of the fact that they are friendly and created the cheers atmosphere.

Fantastic beers, great food, fun atmosphere. This place is the best. Highly recommend.

When in a few weeks ago and was hoping for the best. We got a seat right away and our server was very pleasant. However, I unrolled my napkin and the fork and knife were filthy. I ordered the French onion soup I had no utensils so I asked for a soupspoon and the young man who is delivering the food handed me a a teaspoon and it was filthy too. Now, I wasn’t looking for fine dining but clean utensils is pretty basic and a bare minimum expectation. The soup was ok, too salty and with no bread in the onion soup, just cheese on top. I also ordered chicken wings which were good, but not worth a special trip. My friend got a burger and she was happy with it. I do agree with the other reviews that it is a very loud place, but it wasn’t bothersome to me. It’s okay if you want to just have a beer and hang out locally, but I wouldn’t make a special trip from another town. Its just ok.

I know they are pretty new so maybe they’ll get better. Service was friendly, but slow and forgetful. Ordered a Moscow Mule (by some other name) and the ginger beer was flat and had no lime. Burger tasted exactly like a Whopper.
No reason to go back, but may give them another shot in the future.

Missed opportunity to be the pub of choice in town. Friendly servers, but the food was awful. My son couldn’t eat his cheeseburger sliders and my turkey burger didn’t taste like real meat. I might go back to watch a game, although draft beers aren’t cheap at $ 5.50. Winchester finally has a few restaurant options so if they don’t figure out the food I don’t see them lasting.

I’m giving it one star because the hostess at the door was friendly. I can’t rate the food because we never ate. The bartenders need to be retrained. We walked in on Sunday afternoon at 4:15. The place was pretty quiet. It was our first time there and we sat at the bar. The bartender came over pretty quick asked us if we knew what we wanted. I ordered a Guinness. She promptly turned away to pour my beer. She started it and stopped it half way. Ok no problem. Then she walked away. She Came back 3 – 4 minutes later. Asked my husband if he new what he wanted. He ordered a Guinness. She pushed my half poured Guinness to the side. She half poured my husbands and walked away again. We sat there waiting as our two half poured Guinness just sat there at least another 3 – 4 minutes while they both lost their head. I’m not sure what the problem was. We could see her on the other side of the bar talking. Then for the first time ever, we got up and walked out. It’s to bad. We never even got to see the menu. I’m not sure if we will try it again.

Stopped by twice and have enjoyed it each time. Casual and laid back. Great selection of draft and bottled beers. Not the same olé same olé in every other pub.
Winchester needs a new pub (tavern) to go to with a better atmosphere and attitude.
Worth the trip here to have a few and a meal.

My husband and I came here after a wake. We needed our spirits lifted and that is exactly what happened! Ben and the other two bartenders (one who came from Black Horse Tavern and the other, I want to say was named Dennis) were so incredibly friendly and knowledgable. They made us feel as though we’d been there a hundred times. It’s how you want to feel at a local pub! We sat at the bar (so I cannot speak for table service) but they always made sure we had a fresh drink and that the service/​food was good! We had great conversation and can’t wait to go back! It is very busy (which is why there is noise) but for a brand new restaurant, that’s not a bad thing! Be happy for the restaurant and it’s owners — and be patient! Happy to have FHP in the neighborhood! We’ll be back very soon!

Went back — service way better — food fantastic. Service could still be better but I will be back —