Portsmouth Odds and Ends

The Local's Guide to Portsmouth

The eponymous John Russo of John’s Barber Shop.

Annabelle’s Natural Ice Cream
49 Ceres Street in Portsmouth
(603) 436-3400

Heading to the decks for a drink on a summer day, glance down Ceres Street to appreciate the line of people outside of Annabelle’s. With award-winning ice cream at an affordable price, everyone local to Portsmouth knows to walk past the handful of pop-up gelato stores to get the real deal from this 35-year-old staple.

Hobo’s Tattoo
113 Daniel Street in Portsmouth;  78 Congress Street in Portsmouth;  87 N. Main Street in Rochester
(603) 436-0805

With his full-sleeve tattoos, the Dropkick Murphys’ Barr says there’s only one place to get tattooed. Hobo’s has been poking people with needles for 35 years, and it has an almost religious following of locals from the kitchens, studios and stages of Portsmouth.

John’s Barber Shop
95 Daniel Street in Portsmouth
(603) 436-8443

John the barber (or John Russo) remembers when Portsmouth was “a working man’s town.”

“My father started across the street in 1923,” says Russo, who took over his father’s business as the town barber in 1968. “There’d be a lot of hair on this floor if I didn’t sweep it.” From a barber chair on Daniel Street, he has watched decades of history pass by his window.

John’s barber pole lends a classic touch to the neighborhood, but it’s more than that to locals who remember old Portsmouth. “I get guys that come in here, they really don’t need a haircut. They just wanna shoot the breeze,” Russo says with a smile.