The Oldest Pub in the Oldest City in Norway. 🇳🇴
This is, so far, our most favorite pub in Tønsberg. Nice Ambiance and Friendly People. Whether you’re coming in a group or just all by yourself, you’ll surely enjoy this place! 💯
Laid-back, cozy, shabby chic "dive" (in a good sense) with friendly bartenders and excellent music choices. Deep cuts from 60's to current rock and psychedelia. Varied clientele of all ages. Winner of the Tom Waits Run "best pub of the year" award several times.
The longest-running pub in town, founded 1926, will look the same were you stop by now after a few years away. There are no real changes since the early 2000's -- The Bob Marley mural is still on the wall and the pool table and dartboard are where they've always been.
Coming up the stairs (saving to memory the notice about it being illegal to trip and fall down them on your way out) you will be met with a friendly hello and a smile. You hear the music, which can be anything. 70's soul, Beefheart, 80s pop, Norwegian prog-rock golden age deep cuts - The staff is eclectic in their tastes, mellow, tolerant and kind. Should you experience otherwise, it's probably something with your face -- or maybe you farted loudly instead of saying "hi?"
The decor is like a dive-ish bar should be - walls filled with replica (and some real?) gig posters for The Beatles, Pink Floyd and Zappa; anecdotes, art, postcards, old tobacco and beer ads; all trinkets collected or donated over decades. There are Harley gas tanks and some signs (panhead parking only) revealing a loose connection with bikers, but you rarely see colours on anyone here should you even meet one.
Standard is a natural go-to if you want to be unbothered in a corner reading, or if you like to get to know all sorts of people. Freaks and geeks, artists and accountants, hard-lived wise people, and people that still haven't learned.
It's not the divest of bars in town, and if we're honest, it's not exactly upscale. But that's why it's so great -- it's right where it should be.
