Best dive bars in Seacoast? 8 spots loved by locals for stiff drinks and good times

Seacoast dining is becoming higher end, but there are still a few holes in the wall for locals to enjoy.

Eli Sokorelis estimated there were probably 20 to 30 dive bars in the Portsmouth area when he opened State Street Saloon in 1983. Most are gone, he said, the watering holes replaced with expensive development and fancy restaurants.

“We’re becoming dinosaurs,” Sokorelis said. “Ask the locals, you know what I mean? And you’ll see that they go to three or four, maybe half a dozen establishments in town they can afford.”

But a dive bar is more than just cheap. It has a certain character, local dive bar owners say, and certainly is not cookie-cutter or commercial.

“It’s not McDonald’s, it’s not Chili’s,” said Bill Niland, owner of the Chop Shop in Seabrook. “And it’s not a white collar-type of establishment. You don’t go there for business meetings.”

A dive bar is blue collar, according to Niland, giving a place for “regular folks” to chat and meet. Those places in the Seacoast still have dedicated followings, offering live music, dart leagues, bowling and karaoke.

Here’s a look at eight of the Seacoast’s popular dive bars that still pack in the locals

State Street Saloon, Portsmouth

The bar on the corner of State and Pleasant streets was known as Roger’s Café when Sokorelis took it over and opened State Street Saloon. It was a time when Sokorelis said Portsmouth’s downtown catered more heavily to the workers at nearby Portsmouth Naval Shipyard.

“Navy yard workers would get out at 7 in the morning, and to them that was 4:30 in the afternoon,” Sokorelis said. “So, I bought it.”

As Portsmouth changed around the Saloon, “Statey” stayed much the same, including its clientele. Manager Maureen Reilly said there are customers who line the bar today who were coming when she started in 1992.

The bar itself is not the same. The original State Street Saloon burned in a fire in 2017 that resulted in the building collapsing. Sokorelis rebounded a year later by reopening in a new location at the former VFW space on Deer Street under the name Statey.

The bar returned to downtown Portsmouth in 2022 at 43 Pleasant St., just a block away from the first address, where the building has been torn down and a vacant lot exists.

Reilly said State Street Saloon hoped to move into the future development on that lot, but she said complications with the rebuild have made that unlikely. She and Sokorelis said the current Statey seems to be doing well.

“We would of course (move back),” Sokorelis said. “But right now, we’re very content where we are.”

Daniel Street Tavern, Portsmouth

Jason Stiles was working with his father at the Old Bridge Café in Portsmouth when he decided he wanted to open his own local bar at 111 Daniel St. Now, 23 years later, Daniel Street Tavern remains one of the last dive bars in Portsmouth.

The space previously belonged to the private club Golden Memories. Its menu offers pizzas, hot dogs, sandwiches and appetizers like potato skins and pretzel bites. In the daytime, D Street can be a quiet place to get a drink among locals who sit at the bar and enjoy a game of pool, often chatting with the bartender on shift.

At night, the room comes alive with what D Street calls “Portsmouth’s best karaoke spot” on its website. The karaoke began in 2008 for one night a week, then slowly expanded to six nights a week.

“Anyone can be a rock star,” Stiles said.

Dive bars are in Stiles’ blood. In addition to the Old Bridge Café, his father owned and ran Wally’s Café in Portsmouth from 1977 to 1992, then owned and ran Wally’s Pub at Hampton Beach. They eventually sold it to Al Fleury, who has since turned Wally’s into a venue for national touring acts.

Stiles paid homage to the Old Bridge Café by putting the letters “OBC” on the bow of the ship in the image on D Street’s window. He said Daniel Street Tavern remains a popular dive for simple reasons – he tries to keep the place clean and not too fancy.

“We’re just a regular bar,” Stiles said. “You come in, this is what you get.”

Jitto’s Super Steak, Portsmouth

Once merely a Route 1 sub shop, Jitto’s now features a three-sided bar and draws a dedicated crew of locals. It’s been owned for the last two years by Clipper Tavern owner Jeff Goss, who embraces the dive bar ethos of catering to locals and serving consistent and affordable grub.

“The drinkers come first,” Goss said, speaking about both Jitto’s and the Clipper Tavern.

Goss grew up not far from Jitto’s, living in Elwyn Park off Route 1 in Portsmouth as a child. His father owned two car dealerships, one of which was across the street from the 99, where Bournival Jeep is today.

“I was always right there in the area, I’d go to Jitto’s all the time,” Goss said. “It’s always been my sneak-off spot.”

Jitto’s started with a smaller bar where Goss recalled one could get a pitcher of beer and bring it to their table. He said Jitto’s started getting a bar crowd when that bar was put in. The newer, larger bar was built right before the COVID-19 pandemic to continue that growth.

“We open at 11, we’ve got people sitting at the bar,” Goss said. “It’s kind of really taken off on that blue-collar crowd.”

Castaways Boathouse, Dover

Rob Kilty had a vision of bringing Key West to Dover’s riverside when he opened Castaways in 2005. He said the bar’s secret weapon has been its tiki bar overlooking the Cocheco River.

Today, Kilty believes there are at least a few other bars that might be considered a dive bar. Castaways outdoor patio featuring live music seven days a week during warm weather, he said, sets them apart.

“This is the one place you can’t recreate anywhere else because you’ve got to have the water,” Kilty said.

Kilty said the building was formerly an old stable for the nearby gas plant and featured just a tent on the water. He said the owner of the marina was looking to lease the space.

At the time, Dover was much less developed.

“Back when it was being built, it was really secluded down here,” Kilty said. “People used to feel like they weren’t in Dover.”

Today, the area nearby is much busier, and Kilty is preparing for a new 415-unit residential development to go in nearby. He said Castaways remains a getaway for locals looking for a little sunshine on the riverside with their favorite drinks and bar staff.

“Truly a locals bar,” Kilty said, “that has fanatical customers that absolutely love it here.”

“People that have been to Key West, when they come up here, they feel at home,” Kilty said.

The Corner Pub, Kittery, Maine

Like downtown Portsmouth, Kittery’s Foreside has become known for high-end restaurants with chic drink menus and cuisine. The Corner Pub at 4 Wallingford Square remains much like the bar and restaurant it was when it opened decades ago.

The pub has been run by various owners over the years, Jessica Becker being the proprietor since 2022. She said the Corner Pub remains a dive bar in its own right, offering good food, darts, pool, an outdoor patio and a very dog-friendly environment.

“It’s a storied bar that’s been around a long, long time,” Becker said.

The pub existed under other names in the past, like Chuggers in the 1980s, according to Becker. It has long been a gathering spot for Portsmouth Naval Shipyard employees and locals near Gate 1 in Kittery’s Foreside.

The pub closed briefly in 2019 after a 28-year run as the Corner Pub. The space was leased that fall, and the pub reopened in 2020 under a group that included Michael Landgarten, owner of several other Kittery businesses, and who is credited with helping improve the Foreside.

Becker was part of the team that reopened the pub under Landgarten before she purchased it. She said it was important to Landgarten that, while other unique restaurants emerged, the Corner Pub remained a place that everyone could feel comfortable.

“I think there’s room for everything,” Becker said. “I think we’re a great place to have dinner, or a drink, where you wait for some place fancy.”

Shooters Pub, Exeter

Downtown Exeter has become a dining destination, home to acclaimed chefs and refined restaurants like Otis, Vino e Vivo, and Il Cornicello. But just a short drive up Route 27 and a turn into a quiet neighborhood leads to a different kind of gathering place — where darts fly, pins fall, and cold drinks flow in a laid-back outdoor beer garden.

Rob Ficara, owner of Shooters Pub, said he has no problem with the dive bar label. For decades, he has been catering to locals, including in the residential neighborhood that surrounds his establishment.

“It’s really just a name for a comfortable neighborhood bar,” Ficara said.

Ficara bought the bowling lanes at 6 Columbus Ave. 40 years ago. The lanes came with an attached party room. He said he quickly converted the space to host dart leagues.

“Hence the name Shooters,” Ficara said. “Little did I know there was a whole franchise in Florida called Shooters Pub.”

The name stuck, and Ficara said Shooters became a place for people to land after softball and hockey games to enjoy a drink and some socialization. The space was rearranged over time, at one point featuring a stage for bands. Today, bands play outside on the patio and beer garden.

Ficara credits Shooters’ dive bar vibe to its pizza, drinks, and loyal crowd — but also to the team behind the bar. Some employees, he said, have been with him for decades, including a few who’ve stuck around for 25 years or more.

“There’s a familiarity, and there’s definitely a sense of loyalty and pride that my staff has,” Ficara said. “I think that’s one of the things that honestly makes us a comfortable place to come.”

L Street Tavern, Hampton

The L Street Tavern has been at Hampton Beach in some form for decades, at one point named Millie’s. The current owners, Terry Daidone and Jake Magro, took over the bar in 2017 to give it new life as one of Hampton Beach’s top karaoke destinations.

While Hampton Beach has seen businesses around L Street upgrade and shift away from the dive bar aesthetic, Magro said L Street Tavern has leaned into it.

“We have a shirt we made last year – ‘Five Star Dive Bar,’” Magro said.

Hampton Beach was once known for its basement bars, from La Bec Rouge to tucked-away rooms at spots like the Sea Ketch and McGuirk’s Ocean View. Today, L Street stands as one of the last holdouts, with its downstairs bar helping preserve the divey charm that Magro says defines the place.

That character also lives in the décor. Quirky touches keep the mood light—mannequins dressed as Bart Simpson, Donald Trump, and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un have greeted guests over the years. The bathroom features a keg repurposed as a urinal, while the rest of the space is adorned with license plates, cheeky signs, and a Captain Morgan statue.

“Everything doesn’t fit together,” Magro said. “Ten themes in one.”

L Street continues to grow with its upstairs space opening in recent years, as well as its outdoor patio continuing to expand in the coming year. Magro said he felt like no one knew about L Street Tavern when he and Daidone first took the space over, and that its popularity has only grown.

“It’s that bar that’s not on the front strip,” Magro said. “It’s that bar that you can go to get away from the average tourist.”

The Chop Shop, Seabrook

Bill Niland said he was running a successful construction company 17 years ago when he decided to open the Chop Shop in the plaza at 920 Lafayette Road. He said he was getting older and needed something that would put less of a strain on his body.

“I figured, hey, why not open a bar, sell some people drinks, talk to some people. How hard can it be?” Niland said. “Seventeen years later, it’s probably the hardest thing I’ve ever done.”

The Chop Shop has gained a following as a biker bar and is considered a big stop for motorcycle enthusiasts passing through Seabrook. The decorations have more than just biker parts, though. Piece by piece, Niland collected and arranged the items in the bar that include band posters and taxidermy.

Niland, who enjoys wearing a top hat as the Chop Shop’s ringleader, almost lost his business in 2015 when snow on the roof of the original Chop Shop caused it to cave. Niland worked with the town to rush the Chop Shop into the space across the same plaza at the former location of the Honey Pot. More than 45 bikers and friends of the Chop Shop showed up to help Niland move his bar into its new home.

Niland said the industry has its challenges, but he said his connection to his community and customer base has helped them survive. The Chop Shop also held regular fundraisers, like their drive for Toys for Tots.

“We take people in, and we make them friends, and they come back and they stay,” Niland said. “At 17 years, the formula is working so far.”

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald. Reporting by Max Sullivan