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The Barrelman

3.8 (65 reviews)
ModerateAmerican, Pubs
Open • 5:00 pm - 11:45 PM

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Fish tacos! House made salsa Verde
Damien S.

A bare bones local that features three surprises: live music, an Asian-inspired menu, and grilled cheeses on... ciabatta?! The burger rundown looks amazing, so if you're in the market, give 'em a go. We, a bit pressed to our dinner reservations, opted for lighter fare - or so we thought. Her gourmet grilled cheese (yes, on ciabatta) came with a mountain of skin-on fries, that hit the tongue rich in Russet flavor. The bastardized sandwich itself (I had a few bites) was more of a baconwich with cheese. Rasher after rasher of excellent quality pork, salty cheddar and a roll (?) that could have used a bit longer on the press - a bread crunch was non-existent. I went for the fish tacos ($10) and a Caesar salad ($10), both of which floored me in sheer size. A serious portion of haddock in a super crunchy coating sat atop a lightly dressed slaw in two gigantic tacos. Side sauces, on this plate - a smokey salsa verde and a sweet and sour number, are house made; the former had me digging in with a spoon. Unfortunately, the Caesar was a big miss. All the seasoning came from capers, and the citrus completely overtook the more subtle ingredients. It tasted like reasonably crisp greens tossed in salted lemon juice. The stale croutons added nothing to the plate. Service was solid, and 16 oz of Bantam will run you a paltry $6 bones. Line up at the bar, order what's fried (or griddled!), and chat with the locals. Friendly environment, and for you fams, kiddies are welcome during the day.

Mushy shredded lobster salad :( I have never seen a "lobster roll" like this. So disappointing. Fries are amazing though!

This is a tough review. The Barrelman is a really cute little dive with nods to bands I'd never expect to see in Marblehead, MA (The Descendants picture above the bar was fun to see). Service was attentive, prices were okay, beer selection was good, but the lobster roll killed it. I had no idea I was going to get shredded up lobster salad. Maybe I should have said something, but couldn't bring myself to. I had no idea this execution would even exist and be conveyed as a lobster roll. Literally, shredded lobster and mayo. The texture ruined everything I love about lobster... a $21 mistake, but the fries were awesome!

Kids sliders

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2 years ago

I still think about the French onion burger I had this past summer. We will definitely be going back - especially for the live music!

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7 years ago

Worst place to eat in town. Loud and crowded, kitchen is filthy we had bugs in our food.

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Mercy Tavern - Skillet Nachos. Fries

Mercy Tavern

4.5(387 reviews)
2.1 mi
•$$

Tiny place, absolutely delicious! I don't have one bad thing to say about the place, food, or…read morestaff. The menu doesn't look particularly amazing, standard-ish pub fare (steak tips, fish&chips, mac&cheese) but they do them EXTREMELY well. The tips were tender and flavorful, the sneaky star of the entree was the salad with feta though. I'm pretty sure the feta was marinated in whatever outstanding salad dressing they use. The havarti grilled cheese with avocado, garlic aioli and fried egg...C'mon. You have to spend the extra $2 for the bacon jam, you will not regret it. I'm sure we've all seen truffle fries right? Some bullshit frozen garbage either drowned in cheap truffle oil, or "dusted" with truffle salt. Well, they don't do that crap here, however they do garlic fries. Hand cut, with whole cloves of roasted garlic all over. Not one or two cloves, like several heads worth of glorious, slow-roasted garlic. I managed to scrounge a couple spoonfuls of the kids mac&cheese from my son, almost lost a finger in the attempt and I found out why. They put just as much effort into the kids food as the adults. If you need a break from your witchy business in Salem, definitely stop in here.

Mac and cheese was just ehhhh, but the havarti grilled cheese was a YES. The clam chowder was cold,…read moreso I'd skip. cocktails are super unique. Definitely order the sun damage! I got the mocktail version and it was so tasty. The live music they had this night started at 9 and was super funky. You can't really have conversations during it, it's very loud, so don't go there if you're trying to have deep conversations instead of vibing to some music lol. Overall I would go back for drinks and music again!

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Mercy Tavern - Vibe

Vibe

Mercy Tavern - Whole roasted garlic!! DELICIOUS!

Whole roasted garlic!! DELICIOUS!

Mercy Tavern - Outside

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Outside

The Landing Restaurant - Monkfish special - great flakey fish, the sauce was a bit more tart than expected but still a great combination.

The Landing Restaurant

3.4(365 reviews)
0.5 mi
•$$

New England, end of summer, and you're out and about on the rocky beaches of "noat shoa" (north…read moreshore)? Then youve got to lunch at the Landing. First, the view: you eat with your eyes they say, but you see the bay with your nose. That salty sea air makes you hungry for some chowder, or mussels, or just fish and chips. Or crab cakes. And a beer. All on the menu. All good. Sit on the deck and watch the lobster come in. Small white buckets filled by fishermen with accents. Hemingway ate here and it totally changed his style, as if. Sometimes the ambiance adds to the food and no better example than here: fish and chips, but under the sea gulls on the deck by the boats? That's a memory. Come early and/or make a reservation. Eat fast because there's a line waiting for your spot.

Great lunch with a view! We all ordered the Fish & Chips. Very fresh Haddock lightly battered and…read morenot too greasy. Paired with a tasty tartar sauce. Nice selection tion of beers and cocktails. There is a parking lot and it fills up quickly. We found a spot amd when we left, a waiting line for parking! Service was excellent. Jason was our server and he checked on us often for drink refills. Definitely a great brunch, lunch, ot dinner spot with a view! We sat out on the patio on a colder day; enclosed witg heaters running. Very comfortable.

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The Landing Restaurant - Inside

Inside

The Landing Restaurant - Haddock, purse parsnip, asparagus in front. Munk fish, risotto, squash in back. Both so so delicious.

Haddock, purse parsnip, asparagus in front. Munk fish, risotto, squash in back. Both so so delicious.

The Landing Restaurant - Local Seaside restaurant

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Local Seaside restaurant

The Tin Whistle

The Tin Whistle

4.2(109 reviews)
2.3 mi
•$$

I wrote this review back in August of 2013, we lived up the street from the whistle for 7 years,…read moreAugust 2021 we moved to South Carolina, and man do I miss this place, it's changed owners in the time we went there, and was hit hard by covid. But the Whistle keeps going. We miss the crew there, the staff and the regulars. When we go back up north to visit, this is on the top of the list of places we have to go. Miss you guys!

What an unknown gem in Salem! It's not on a beaten path, but the food has got to be one of the…read morebest in town. We've been in before for their superior steak tips and burgers. We just went in and dropped a worthy $80 on lunch - 2 tequila mules, a special of buffalo bites (if u are lucky and these are on special again - order them!). Chicken kabob sandwich - juicy, perfectly grilled chicken and my husband got the mouth-watering pastrami sandwich. We packed half of it up for dinner tonight. I only gave 4 stars due to the lousy, noisy, raunchy bar flies. They couldn't care less about other customers as they were shouting and cussing away. Having a conversation with my husband was impossible. The bartender, who was 5 stars in her service to us, attempted to remind these people to stop yelling. I understand being a local, as I am one, and it makes me want to keep my favorite places in business. However, disruptive and rude bar flies should be shut out ff earlier and asked to leave or at the very least pipe down. Ultimately, I highly recommend anyone local or out of town to try The Tin Whistle for the food and service. Maybe try one of the tall comfy wooden booths would make for a better atmosphere.

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The Tin Whistle
The Tin Whistle - Egg roll of the day, carnita!

Egg roll of the day, carnita!

The Tin Whistle - Jack Honey. Shots. What else would you expect from the Whistle?

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Jack Honey. Shots. What else would you expect from the Whistle?

All Souls Lounge - Grilled cheese Vietnamese style

All Souls Lounge

4.4(140 reviews)
2.2 mi
•$$

This place is a dreamy, cozy, hidden gem. The menu has all tradition cocktails, gourmet hot dogs,…read moreand more. They have board games and cards available for customers' entertainment. The staff is extremely attentive, friendly, and skilled at their craft. You can easily stay hours in here because of the inviting ambiance and fun. Highly, highly recommend.

Recommended to us by some locals as a great place for "tourists" to go. I can't agree, since the…read moretwo bartenders on duty were slinging drinks to their buddies while ignoring us. (They clearly saw me there; we made eye contact and the one guy wasn't even doing anything.) After about 10 to 15 minutes of waiting with no service, we were about to leave when a server finally came to our table. Since they were obviously busy and weren't keeping up with the crowd that night, we tried to order two drinks each so they could save a little of their time and we could relax without worrying about if a server was going to take our order again before the end of the week. The server very sharply said that he was NOT going to give us two drinks at a time, CERTAINLY not with drinks of this high alcohol content. We ordered one drink each, cashed out and bounced. The cocktail I got was fine; I could make a slightly worse version at home at a fraction of the price (or even two at once!). We we were told later by a friendlier Salemite at a bar with a better vibe that there is a Massachusetts state law that prohibits having two drinks at once at a bar. Fair enough. Had our server told us that, unfortunately, he wasn't allowed to give us two drinks at once -- instead of making us feel like idiots/degenerates for daring to ask -- we probably would have dropped a lot of vacation money there that night. Oh well; we had a great time at the other places we went.

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All Souls Lounge
All Souls Lounge - Delicious

Delicious

All Souls Lounge - Spinach and artichoke dip

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Spinach and artichoke dip

The Barnacle Restaurant - Did I mention they serve draft beer?

The Barnacle Restaurant

3.6(305 reviews)
0.7 mi
•$$

"Here lie the roses in the ashes Deep as the barnacles that…read morecling Just like a lace that runs through everyone and everything" (Elvis Costello) This is a tough one to write up. The food was very good, and I thought my Steamed Mussels might have been the very best version of a favorite dish I ever had. The view of the harbor from the back counter was beautiful. But..........there were a lot of buts. First of all, The Barnacle is not a large restaurant, and the dining room was so crowded, with tables and chairs so densely packed into every square inch it's really quite difficult to navigate your way around the room. In fact, after we were seated at that back counter, a server asked us if we could slide over because another patron couldn't maneuver herself into an open seat. We placed our order - a cup of clam chowder ($8), fish tacos ($14.95), and those fabulous Steamed Mussels ($18.95). And then we waited. And then we waited some more. And then the couple who sat next to us hadn't seen a server yet, so the gent walked over to the bar to get his own beer. And then we waited some more. And then our server sheepishly walked over and said she never got around to placing our order with the kitchen, so would we mind reminding her what we ordered? Now look, we had no appointment to keep and didn't mind the view of the scenery. But truthfully, the wait and delay did slice into a big chunk of our metered parking fee. And it sure would have been nice to see their service lapse translate into some tangible consideration. How about a complimentary appetizer, drink, dessert, or a cost reduction or anything. But no, there was no consideration given at all. No attempt to make things right. I'd say forgetting to place an order and not realizing the mistake for half an hour is a fairly serious issue. A waterside restaurant on a hot day really should have done a better job with the crowd, and they clearly weren't up to the task. But... those plump heavenly mussels in a sweet, herb and garlic broth were divine, and influenced my rating decision for a four-star experience.

One of our go to Local spots in Marblehead. Great location with a fabulous view of the Harbor and…read morethe lighthouse. Very friendly staff but the star of the show is the seafood. We ordered an order of steamers to share. Very good! For the main course, Fish and chops for me. As I had remembered from prior visits, the fish are outstanding. Very good cold water white fish /Haddock, cooked with a light breading so it doesn't overwhelm the fish. Fries were fine but again the star is the fish and definitely worth the visit!

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The Barnacle Restaurant
The Barnacle Restaurant - Fish tacos

Fish tacos

The Barnacle Restaurant - View from the seats at The Barnacle.

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View from the seats at The Barnacle.

The Barrelman - tradamerican - Updated May 2026

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