The back bar (on the Parmenter Street side) is a WONDERFUL place for a quiet drink. The regular bar is expansive and if there is a big crowd in there it gets noisy and it echoes. But the back bar (or side bar, depending upon how you look at it) is a VERY nice cozy quiet place for a drink.
For whatever reason I'm most often in the Free House in the cooler months of the year. They have an excellent selection of single malt scotch whiskey and I usually try one of them (Scapa 14 and Talisker Storm being particular favorites of mine, also Laphroig) and a porter or stout on the side.
Excellent selection of draft beer and single malt scotch. I have not yet experimented much with their bourbon selection.