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    Kooks Cafe & Beach Bar

    4.2 (52 reviews)
    Open 8:00 am - 9:00 pm
    Updated 1 month ago

    Kooks Cafe & Beach Bar Photos

    Business Info

    KOOKS CAFE & BEACH BAR ATMOSPHERE

    What's the vibe?
    Outdoor seating
    Good for groups
    Dogs allowed

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    Recommended Reviews - Kooks Cafe & Beach Bar

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    The Hombre - Egg  cheese, bacon, BBQ, cilantro, tortilla
    Denise F.

    Love swinging in for brekkie, always great, quick and fun. Their coffee rocks. My go to is one of their bowls

    Kevin D.

    Great beach bar, we were there on a Tuesday evening and they had music bingo! What a blast listening to old tunes. While the service was a little slow, it kinda goes with the laid back beach bar vibe and was welcome in a way. I had the tacos and they were Great!

    Molly H.

    Awesome spot! The drinks were spot on, the tacos were amazing and the place just has a great vibe. The inside is tiny, but they have a whole outdoor area with picnic tables and corn hole. Great beach bar!

    Tacos
    Lindsay M.

    Food and drink always a 10/10, you can't go wrong with any food or drink on the menu. I highly recommend the banana boat with muddled strawberries (recommended by one of the bartenders). Tacos and bowls are all incredible. The laid back beach vibe is so fun and all of the servers and bartenders are incredibly nice!

    Kook bowl
    Elan A.

    It was a lazy Wednesday afternoon.... I had not yet eaten breakfast.... Brunch hour had creeped up on me so what did I do? I rode my Yamaha Vstar 650 to Kooks. Upon arrival the Kook bowl immediately caught my eye.... I ordered it.... It arrived.... I dug in! Needless to say my mind was blown. As I enjoyed this kook bowl I turned my attention to some light reading materials.... THE TACO MENU.... I wasn't very hungry but once i noticed the chicken corn taco I knew that There were no two ways about it.... I had to have it!!! Once again my mind had been absolutely blown... The bowl: A hit!!!! The taco: A hit!!!! Oh and did I mention the Irish coffee!? Yes! A hit! I will be back. Oh yes. I will absolutely be back.

    Bar

    Really is the coolest beachy cafe/bar that nails the perfect kick-back vibe. Good music. Original drinks. Staff are super friendly and personable. Surf films always playing in the background with a breezy open concept bar. Situated right across from beach access makes it easy to grab quick snacks and cafe meals on the go. Best pit stop on the way through North Hampton...Rye...Portsmouth 5 star spot!

    Hawaiiiii!!!...
    Michael W.

    Just across the street from Pirate's Cove, at Wallis Sands soft sand beach ‍ Great fresh fruit smoothies and tasty tacos w the best of Annabelle's most amazing ice cream flavours!! Great outdoor and indoor island inspired seating w a beach bar to boot!!!

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    5 years ago

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    5 years ago

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    Giorgia N.

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    5 years ago

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    6 years ago

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    5 years ago

    Awesome breakfast sando and coffee. My favorite causal breakfast spot.

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    Giorgia N.

    Thank you, Cam! We hope to see you again soon!

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    7 years ago

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    5 years ago

    Great food, great drinks, all around great vibe!! Highly recommended stop for any beach day/seacoast tour.

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    6 years ago

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    5 years ago

    cutest spot ever!!! The smoothie bowls were amazing and tacos even better. stop by for good vibes

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    Giorgia N.

    Thank you, Julia! We're so happy you liked the food and atmosphere.

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    7 years ago

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    Ask the Community - Kooks Cafe & Beach Bar

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    I don't know if we hit this place on a good day or what but the food was fantastic. I don't…read moreunderstand a lot of the reviews. If you've ever had Mexican especially tacos this is one of the closest places I have tasted to Texas or California tacos. I got the barbacoa tacos and it was cooked to perfection, the tacos were stuffed and filling and I left full but wishing I had room for more. I'll be back to this place on my way through Kittery!

    Our family was visiting Kittery and spotted this Mexican restaurant, and we were excited to give it…read morea try. Unfortunately, the experience didn't live up to expectations. The service from Teresa was good -- she was friendly and attentive throughout our visit. Unfortunately, the food was extremely disappointing. The meats were some of the worst parts of the meal. The chorizo and steak on the nachos were tough and unpleasant, the carnitas tacos were so dry they were more like jerky, and the ground beef lacked even basic seasoning. The chips served with both the salsa and nachos seemed stale, almost as if they had been fried days earlier. They were incredibly hard -- hard enough that you genuinely worried about breaking a tooth. We came in excited to try something new, but sadly left very disappointed. Honestly one of the worst restaurants we've ever eaten at. I never write reviews, but felt compelled!

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    Vida Cantina - Chips and salsa flight. It was delicious! The Salsa Verde had a nice touch of heat and the Mango Habanero Salsa was great too.

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    3.8(446 reviews)
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    Vida cantina hit the spot for me, as someone who just moved here from southern CA and has been…read moremissing the Mexican food we get down there! You walk in and the vibe is fun, colorful, and eclectic. It reminded me of a classic Mexican restaurant with a tasteful, funky modern touch. My watermelon margarita was incredible and we got the salsa trio that had a good mix of spicy mango salsa, a mild but flavorful green salsa, and fresh pico de gallo style. The chips did taste homemade but if not still enjoyed the thicker corn style chip you don't usually find in restaurants! We each got 3 street tacos and all were great, even the sweet potato taco! The chicken was chopped a bit thick for street taco style but it was still great flavor, and rice was a bit salty but not unbearable. The service was also incredible, I love a restaurant that boxes up your leftovers for you and our server was super super attentive and friendly. We will be back!!

    Ambiance is great! Lively interior with a wraparound bar and lots of booth seating…read more In terms of service, the host was not very attentive. We (parents and a toddler) arrived hungry after driving two hours and had a hard time getting his attention at times. We arrived before 6pm on a Friday but still there was a wait. Once we were seated, the server was pretty prompt and really friendly, though generally service was somewhat slow with a wait for food. We were waiting almost an hour for entrees and about to change our order to to-go because of stress with our exhausted toddler, but of course that's when the food arrived. We had to shovel it in and leave. The food was the most disappointing part. The chips are clearly not homemade. The salsa didn't have much flavor, and the guacamole was a huge letdown. It had a dull green color and very "slop" style texture (think sour cream texture, not chunky like real guac) that all pointed to store bought / not fresh. I had the chicken enchiladas, and the sides of rice (so salty) and beans (very soupy) brought down an already undesirable dish. The enchiladas were cooked nicely but far too cheesy. The green sauce was nearly tasteless, the red sauce is what made it all edible. Wouldn't ever really come back here. I wish I could say something more positive!

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    La Carreta Restaurante Mexicano - Complimentary chips and salsa

    La Carreta Restaurante Mexicano

    3.8(182 reviews)
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    Stopped in between lunch and dinner to meet up with a friend. They have a large outdoor seating…read morearea, a huge bar that takes up much of the inside and booth seating along the outside walls. We chose to sit at the bar. A basket of tortilla chips and salsa was brought and we ordered beverages. We sat and chatted for a couple of hours. The restaurant was mostly empty during our visit with a few lunch diners still in house who left during our stay. Once we had drinks, the bartender was not in sight. They did come by once to ask if we would like to order another beverage. Our pre-paid parking time was running out and we needed to run. Could not find our bartender. We sorted that out and were able to get back to our cars as the parking maid was making the rounds. Portsmouth does not mess around with paid parking! The interior is festive Mexican. Single bathrooms for Female, Male and family, so 3 total restrooms. Parking is paid city lots. Entrance is up a set of steps. Outdoor dining in a pedestrian area.

    My friend's & I wanted to come here to try out their soft serve Margarita & wanted to sit outside…read more We went up to the hostess station & once we were finally greeted (a little bit of a wait) & told the young girl she said "we can't sit you outside, do you want to go inside?" & I immediately said "no." There were a couple of empty tables so not sure why we couldn't sit outside?? But she then says "oh, I found you a table!" lol Service took forever....soooooooo SLOW it was painful. It was busy & I saw @ least 3 servers and peeps running out food. Our waitress was very nice, Sophie but the wait for EVERYTHING was torture. Menus, silverware & chips and salsa did come out quickly but we weren't there to eat. Their salsa was horrible, it was sooo thin & tasted like a cheap spaghetti sauce or like a can of tomatoes puréed. Thumbs down for that. Our soft serve margaritas were super cute & colorful but also really, really small & for $13 not worth the $$$$. Those took forever to come out. She brought 2 out @ first & we had to wait for the machine to make more to get the other 2. It didn't taste like a margarita but tasted like an italian ice, a very sour one. This isn't on the menu, you have to ask for it. We ventured off to another Mexican bar to try their's out which was huge, creamy & tasted like a Margarita. We spent way more time in this place than we wanted to due to the very slow service. I doubt I will be back here to even try out their food, sorry guys......maybe inside the service may have been quicker?

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    Howling Wolf Taqueria

    Howling Wolf Taqueria

    3.6(50 reviews)
    3.9 mi
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    Not too loud. The music is at the right volume. The food is great. And the service is adequate…read more You can't go wrong here. Whether you come for drinks (and the chips and dip [they do have a spicy version of salsa]), or if you come to dine. The options are good. You can easily stay fpr apps and transition into dinner! The bar may not be as big as desired, but I was able to transition from table to bar, once others cleared out. the bartender was very accommodating, and the food was ON POINT!!! had I known that this place was in Downtown Portsmouth from the get go, I may just have come here FIRST!!! You can't miss with Howling Wolf! by and large the better "mexican" joint anywhere!

    Howling Wolf Taqueria used to be a quaint book bar that we loved, where you could get drinks, read…read morebooks, and play board games. We were shocked to walk in and see that the book bar was replaced by a super trendy chain restaurant. Nevertheless, we decided to give it a try. We were just in time for happy hour, and ordered a happy hour marg and three tacos. Our marg was very sweet, weak, and they forgot the salted rim we asked for. It was also served in a pub cup, and I thought they could've tried harder with the presentation given this is supposed to be a taqueria. We ordered one shrimp, one beef, and one al pastor taco. Each taco was quite expensive ($5-$6 for one taco). The steak and pork tacos were quite dry, and the steak taco only came with onions and cilantro. For how expensive the tacos were, there wasn't much meat in them. It felt like we were getting tacos from a diner, not a restaurant that specializes as a taqueria. Also it was very empty inside; the restaurant is huge but it was just us and one other family. Overall I feel like Portsmouth is the wrong place to put a chain restaurant, especially one that isn't serving great food, and it kind of ruins the quaint vibe of the town. The only reason I won't give this one star is because our waitress was very kind and attentive. We brought our baby and she was very patient and understanding when he became a bit fussy.

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    Duck spring rolls and two fish tacos were delicious and perfect. The duck rolls came with a dipping…read moresauce but were seasoned and meaty enough on their own. The fish tacos had a freshly made tortilla and the perfect amount of crispy slaw and fish and juice. Two very nice treats

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    Parkd - Interior

    Interior

    Parkd - Shaved salad.  Ice tea.

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    Kooks Cafe & Beach Bar - lounges - Updated June 2026

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