To an outsider, Book & Bar is both stately and a little shabby; a bookstore-cum-coffee shop and bar housed in an historic building, it’s the Velveteen Rabbit of the Portsmouth social scene. Curl up with an espresso and a book in a quiet corner, or meet your neighbors over a local brew at the tiny bar. This is a place to catch up with friends, or comfortably avoid interacting with anyone and get lost in an old book—with a good drink and a cheese plate, of course.