Library Restaurant — Restaurant in Portsmouth

I went a couple of weeks ago with friends for dinner and we were not disappointed. We arrived very early for our reservation hoping to get seated sooner, but the restaurant was full. We figured we would wait at the bar. There were no available seats at the bar, but there were four reserved seats that the staff was kind enough to allow us to use until such time as our table would be ready or the party who reserved the spaces arrived. We enjoyed amazing cocktails crafted by Steven (sp?) in the small, ambient space. When it came time to relinquish our seats at the bar for the patrons who held the reservation, we were a bit disappointed that there is no place to hang out in the bar area either with or without a cocktail. It's a "bar seating or no seating" kind of deal.

Enter the manager, Michelle...

Apparently, the restaurant was made aware that we were celebrating my birthday and Michelle knew of our disappointment about not being able to even stand by the bar due to the hustle and bustle of restaurant staff. Although our table was not ready any earlier than our reservation time, Michelle shuffled us off to the side and offered us each a glass of Champagne. Now, before this, I had already officially (in my head) vilified Michelle only because I childishly had to blame someone for my disappointment. I pulled Michelle aside and although she had no idea about my mental vilification, apologized to her for making a very poor and rushed judgement about her when, in fact, she was only doing her job by moving us out of the bar area. To my glee, Michelle absolutely beamed with delight when I thanked her for her hospitality and told her I had mad respect for her position. Management is rarely easy; I know...I've done it most of my life. Proof that a little kindness goes a long way and that we should never rush to judgement. I adore Michelle and hope to see her on my next visit.

But since this really should be a review more about the restaurant and not solely about Michelle...

Drinks were great. Food was fantastic (although in my opinion our steaks were a bit over-seasoned.) Service was impeccable. Atmosphere is gorgeous. Staff was beautifully accommodating. You can even "check out" a book. And...did I mention Michelle?

I will definitely return for all the reasons remarked above. If you haven't already gone, you need to go. If you have already gone, you need to go again. And if you see Michelle, tell her Fred...

Do you enjoy being shuffled out of a restaurant because they’ve overbooked? If so, you MUST visit the Library restaurant. My husband booked reservations a week in advance for an early time slot of 5:30 pm. We actually arrived around 5:15 because the show we saw at the Seacoast Rep ended at 5. The hostess promptly seated us, but as she walked us to our table, she explained that it was a busy night so if we could be mindful of that, it would be appreciated. It was really off-putting and came across as a bit rude.

We were celebrating our anniversary so we shrugged it off and tried to enjoy our time together. However, it was extremely difficult to do so. The hostess made countless trips to the dining room under the pretense of “checking on things,” but really, we could feel her glancing in our direction practically willing us to eat faster. As if that wasn’t bad enough, partway through our meal, someone arrived at our table, asking us if we wanted anything boxed up. Now, I know that’s a regular practice, but that usually occurs after people have distanced themselves from their plates, looking full and happy. My husband and I were literally mid-bite, partly through our meals, not even CLOSE to being full or finished. Laughable, right?

The kicker was when I overheard the hostess conferring with our waiter. Our waiter told her, “I’ll swing by with nothing on the dessert tray.” As if to say, we have nothing for dessert so it’s time to go now. We don’t know for sure this was pointed at us, but regardless, it was unprofessional.

As for the food, we split the BLT salad and enjoyed it. My husband enjoyed his lamb and I enjoyed my haddock. My roasted vegetables were crunchy and completely undercooked. The chocolate cake was delicious. There was one pleasant server who saw us playing a trivia game and recommended another game that they thought we’d enjoy. And the server who brought over the dessert tray was sweet and kind.

Given the ample amount of delicious restaurants in the area, we will never visit the Library restaurant again. Too bad, as this is where we had our wedding reception eleven years prior. We wanted it to be our “special place,” but obviously this experience left a bad taste in our mouths. Clearly, this is not the kind of impression you want to leave your patrons when you’re in the...

When I went the first time last year, the fish was overly cooked and extremely bland with salt and pepper seasoning only, and it was also kind of dry. my friends who had steak said it was average. I thought, maybe it is just because they recently opened after Covid shutdown. However, there had also been a change in management, so I am not sure. This time, I was going to give it another shot for restaurant week with a plan to try a restaurant everyday this week in Portsmouth, hoping that the first visit was just a fluke. and I realized their restaurant week menu had no vegetarian or pescatarian options after my partner had booked a reservation. I called to cancel, and was told I would not be charged a fee. Actually, at first I was told there are no managers around to review whether or not there would be a fee. I requested them to contact someone who can make the decision in the next 20minutes so we can decide if it’s worth cancelling, letting them know we will just come rather than forfeit the fee although would not be thrilled to come today given the purpose of the visit was restaurant week. The person on the phone was kind of rude, she reported at first there was no way to contact someone in charge. I told her that surely there must be someone with authority to review this concern, since the restaurant is open and it is restaurant week, she told me she would “get someone who can explain this to you better”, (this was at 4:30pm on Monday April 24th) and then she had come back on the phone and promised I would not be charged the fee after being put on hold, and of course, we were charged the fee. Moreover, the reservation was cancelled before I even personally confirmed I wanted it cancelled. Absolutely ridiculous. Staff seem poorly trained and careless - I am wondering now if she had just put me on hold and just decided to tell me there would be no fee so she can hang up the phone. Also, how is there no manager available to contact during Portsmouth restaurant week open hours, or someone appointed to cover for them while they are out? An extremely disorganized, inelegant place that from my experience also has poor to average quality food.

We will be disputing this with the credit card if it is not resolved, it is unacceptable. I made it very clear to the hostess we would come in rather than...