Monday, April 8, 2019

The Wellington Room In Portsmouth Has Closed

Sad news for those who were fans of The Wellington Room in Portsmouth, they have closed.

The reasons behind this one are not completely clear and as usual, we have our assumptions.  We loved the restaurant for its beautiful location on the water and food that was top notch.  The truth is that NH Reviews had not been to visit them for several years but the memories will not be forgotten.

Like any older restaurant in a thriving dining environment such as Portsmouth,  trying to stay relevant with new restaurants popping up all around you is a real challenge and did not help The Wellington Rooms chances long term.

Location was another problem and most likely contributed to their demise. On the second floor of a building on Bow Street, people just walking around would see and go into places like Poco’s or River House first without even knowing of The Wellington Rooms existence.

The quality of the meals you could always count on and although we can not say from recent experience, there were signs of issues here as well.

In the end,  The Wellington Room was a lower volume restaurant relying on higher priced overall checks to make ends meet and failed.  A poor location along with no name recognition in an area of new more desirable restaurants was too much for them to overcome.