Best Pubs and Bars in Dublin

Dublin's Pub Culture

There's a reason people fly halfway around the world to drink in a Dublin pub. It's not the beer, really. You can get a pint of Guinness in any city on earth at this point. What you can't get is the feeling. That particular thing that happens when you walk into a place like Grogan's on a wet Tuesday afternoon and there's a fella at the bar reading the paper, two women deep in conversation by the window, and a barman who nods at you like you've been coming in for twenty years even though it's your first time.

Dublin pubs are living rooms for a city that, let's be honest, has always had fairly small living rooms. They're where deals get done, hearts get broken, bands get formed, and rounds get bought. The tradition goes back centuries, but the scene isn't frozen in amber. Dublin's drinking culture has evolved massively over the past fifteen years. You've got craft beer bars that would hold their own in Portland or Berlin, cocktail spots hidden behind unmarked doors, and natural wine bars that would make a Parisian nod approvingly. But the old pubs are still here too, and they're still the beating heart of the city.

This guide is the one I'd write for a mate visiting Dublin. Not a "top ten" list pulled from TripAdvisor. These are pubs I actually drink in, places I've had some of my best nights out, and the spots I'd steer you towards depending on what kind of evening you're after. Whether that's a quiet pint and a read of the paper, or a messy Saturday that ends at 3am wondering where your jacket went.

Best Traditional Pubs

If you only visit one traditional pub in Dublin, make it The Long Hall on South Great George's Street. It's been pouring pints since 1766 and it looks like it. The interior is absolutely stunning: ornate plasterwork ceilings, a carved mahogany bar that stretches the full length of the room, antique clocks, and chandeliers that throw warm light across everything. It's the kind of place that makes you want to order a whiskey neat just because the setting demands it. The pints are well kept, the staff are sound, and there's no TV blaring in the corner. Just proper pub atmosphere.

Kehoe's on South Anne Street is probably the most perfect Dublin pub in existence. I'll die on that hill. It's got the original Victorian interior, a beautiful snug near the front door, and that upstairs room that feels like drinking in someone's slightly eccentric grandmother's parlour. On a Friday evening the crowd spills out onto the street and it becomes this wonderful, chaotic gathering of office workers, students, blow-ins, and regulars all mixed together. Get there early if you want a seat. By half six you won't have a prayer.

Grogan's Castle Lounge on South William Street is the pub that Dubliners are most protective of. It's a writers' pub, an artists' pub, a "I'm having one more and then I really am going home" pub. The walls are hung with paintings by local artists, many of which are for sale. They do toasted sandwiches that have achieved near-mythical status in this city. The ham and cheese on brown bread is genuinely one of the finest things you'll eat in Dublin, which says something about both the sandwich and the city. Grogan's doesn't do cocktails. It doesn't do craft beer. It does pints of Guinness, glasses of wine, and conversation. That's it. That's enough.

Toner's on Baggot Street Lower is another beauty. It's one of the few pubs in Dublin with an original Victorian bar, complete with wooden drawers behind the counter from when it also functioned as a grocery shop. W.B. Yeats supposedly had his one and only visit to a pub here, though Dubliners will argue about that until closing time. The back beer garden is a sun trap in summer, and the front bar on a cold evening is about as cosy as it gets.

Mulligan's on Poolbeg Street has been serving pints since 1782 and is famous for having one of the best pints of Guinness in Dublin. The pour here is taken very seriously. It's an old-school working pub near the quays, the kind of place where you can still feel the ghost of every journalist, docker, and theatre-goer who's propped up that bar over the past two and a half centuries. The interior is beautifully plain: no gimmicks, no fairy lights, just dark wood and good beer.

The Palace Bar on Fleet Street sits at the edge of Temple Bar but feels a million miles from the tourist madness outside. This was the literary pub of Dublin for decades, the haunt of writers like Flann O'Brien and Patrick Kavanagh. The whiskey selection is excellent, the stained glass is gorgeous, and the upstairs room is one of the nicest spots in the city for a quiet pint. If you're in the Temple Bar area and want to avoid the worst of it, duck in here.

The Stag's Head on Dame Court is worth visiting for the interior alone. Built in 1770 and remodelled in the 1890s, it's got stained glass, a marble-topped bar, and the mounted stag's head that gives the place its name. Finding it is half the fun, tucked down a narrow lane off Dame Street. The crowd is a good mix and the atmosphere on a weekend night is electric without being obnoxious.

Doheny & Nesbitt's on Baggot Street Lower is the unofficial parliament of Ireland. Politicians, barristers, journalists, and economists have been arguing in here for generations. It's a gorgeous Victorian pub with an intimate front bar and a series of small rooms and snugs that make it feel much bigger than it is. If you're into people-watching, there's no better spot. You never know who you'll end up sitting beside.

Best Pubs for Live Music

If you want to hear traditional Irish music played properly, not the performative stuff aimed at tourists, you need to go to The Cobblestone on King Street North in Smithfield. This is the real deal. Trad sessions happen most nights in the front bar, and they're not background music. People come here specifically to play and to listen. The musicians are often world-class, sitting in a corner with fiddles, concertinas, bodhrans, and uilleann pipes. The back room hosts gigs and the upstairs has set dancing. It's an institution, and the kind of place where you genuinely forget what year it is.

O'Donoghue's on Merrion Row is where The Dubliners used to play. It's more tourist-friendly than The Cobblestone, but the sessions are still excellent, particularly on weekend afternoons. The pub itself is charming, with a dark, low-ceilinged front bar and a covered courtyard out the back. The history in the walls is palpable.

Whelan's on Wexford Street is Dublin's most important live music venue, full stop. Nearly every significant Irish band of the last thirty years has played the upstairs room. It's a 400-capacity venue that books everything from indie to folk to electronic, and the intimacy of it means you're always close to the stage. The downstairs bar is a great pub in its own right, and the late bar runs until 2am on weekends. Check the listings before you go, because on any given night there could be something brilliant happening upstairs.

The Grand Social on Liffey Street Lower is another multi-purpose venue that does it all: live bands, DJ nights, comedy, and their famous Bingo Loco nights. The rooftop beer garden (called "The Loft") is brilliant in summer. It's a key part of the Capel Street and north city centre scene, and the programming is consistently interesting.

Best Craft Beer Bars

Dublin's craft beer scene has come a long way since the days when asking for anything other than Guinness, Heineken, or Smithwick's got you a confused look. These days the city has genuinely excellent beer bars, and new ones keep opening.

The Black Sheep on Capel Street was one of the first dedicated craft beer bars in Dublin and it's still one of the best. They've got a rotating selection of taps with a good mix of Irish and international breweries. The staff actually know their beer, which makes a difference. It's a small, buzzy spot that gets packed on weekends, and its position on Capel Street means you're surrounded by other good options if you want to move on.

Against the Grain on Wexford Street is a Galway Bay Brewery pub, which means the house beers are consistently good. The Full Sail IPA and Bay Ale are reliable pints, but the guest taps are where it gets interesting. The building itself is a converted bank, so the ceilings are high and the whole place feels airy and open. It's right beside Whelan's, so you can combine a few pints here with a gig next door. Hard to beat that double act.

P.Mac's on Stephen Street Lower is technically a cocktail and beer bar, but it earns its spot on this list for the craft beer selection and the atmosphere. It's got a lovely covered terrace out the back that's perfect for afternoon pints, and the interior is all exposed brick and warm lighting. It attracts a creative, artsy crowd and the DJ sets at the weekend are quality. Somewhere between a pub, a bar, and a hang, in the best possible way.

Underdog on Dame Lane is a pizza and beer spot done right. The pizza is excellent, proper sourdough bases with inventive toppings, and the tap list is curated with genuine care. It's a casual, no-fuss kind of place where you can drop in for a quick slice and a pint or settle in for the evening. The location on Dame Lane puts you in the middle of everything.

Honourable mentions go to The Brew Dock on Amiens Street near Connolly Station, another Galway Bay spot with a massive tap selection, and 57 The Headline on Clanbrassil Street, which is a brilliant neighbourhood beer bar that's slightly off the beaten track but very much worth the walk.

Best Cocktail Bars

Dublin's cocktail scene has quietly become excellent. You won't find the same density as London or New York, but the quality at the top end is right up there.

The Liquor Rooms on Wellington Quay is a subterranean bar under the Clarence Hotel, and walking down the stairs feels like stepping into a different era. The decor is theatrical, all velvet and low lighting, and the cocktails are inventive without being ridiculous. They do live jazz and burlesque some nights, which adds to the atmosphere. It's the kind of place where you lose track of time and emerge blinking into the Dublin night wondering what happened.

Vintage Cocktail Club (VCC) on Crown Alley in Temple Bar is a speakeasy-style spot behind an unmarked door. You'll need to book, especially at weekends, but it's worth the effort. The menu changes regularly and the bartenders know exactly what they're doing. Three floors, each with a different vibe. The top floor is the cosiest. It proves that Temple Bar can actually produce something genuinely special when it tries.

9 Below on Stephen's Green is located in the basement of what used to be a Georgian townhouse, and the setting is beautiful. Exposed stone walls, candlelight, and cocktails that are as photogenic as they are drinkable. The menu draws on seasonal ingredients and they're not afraid to do unusual flavour combinations. It's slightly more upmarket than some of the other spots on this list, but it never feels pretentious.

Bar 1661 on Green Street, just off Capel Street, deserves special mention for its dedication to Irish spirits. Named after the year the first licence to distill Irish whiskey was granted, it focuses on poitin, Irish whiskey, and Irish gin. If you want to understand what's happening with the Irish spirits revival, this is your classroom. The cocktails are built around these native spirits and the results are fantastic. The bar itself is intimate and beautifully designed. Possibly the most unique drinking experience in Dublin.

The Blind Pig at House on Leeson Street is another speakeasy concept, this one hidden behind a wall in a restaurant. The entrance changes periodically, which is part of the fun. Once inside, you're in a small, atmospheric room where the cocktails are strong and the chat is good. Not the easiest place to find, but that's rather the point.

Best Pubs by Area

Capel Street and the North Side

Capel Street has become arguably the best drinking street in Dublin, especially since it went pedestrianised. On a warm evening the whole street comes alive. Start at The Black Sheep for a craft beer, move to Bison Bar for whiskey, hit Pantibar for the craic (Dublin's most beloved LGBTQ+ venue), and end up in Bar 1661 on nearby Green Street. Token on Smithfield is also worth a look if you want to play retro arcade games while you drink. And The Cobblestone is a five-minute walk away in Smithfield if you want trad music. This strip is the best pub crawl you can do in Dublin without having to get a taxi between stops.

Camden Street and Wexford Street

The other great drinking strip. Cassidy's at the top of Camden Street is a solid trad pub. The Camden next door is a newer spot with good cocktails and regular DJ nights. Devitt's does great trad sessions. Walking down towards Wexford Street you've got Against the Grain and Whelan's side by side. The Bleeding Horse is a massive old pub with multiple levels and an interesting history (it's been a pub since the 1640s). This stretch is where a lot of Dublin's nightlife happens, especially on Saturdays.

Temple Bar: The Honest Truth

Look, I'm going to be straight with you. Most of Temple Bar is an overpriced tourist trap and any local will tell you the same. A pint in some of those bars will cost you two euro more than anywhere else in the city, and what you get for it is a packed room, sticky floors, and a bad cover band playing "Galway Girl" for the fifteenth time that evening.

But. There are gems in Temple Bar if you know where to look. The Palace Bar on Fleet Street is one of the best pubs in Dublin, full stop. The Vintage Cocktail Club on Crown Alley is excellent. The Temple Bar pub itself, the one with the red front that everyone photographs, is actually fine for one pint if you want the experience. Just don't make a night of it. The Porterhouse on Parliament Street brews its own beer and is worth a visit. And The Norseman is a decent spot that's usually slightly less rammed than its neighbours.

Stoneybatter and Smithfield

This is where the locals drink. L. Mulligan Grocer on Stoneybatter is a gastropub that takes its beer and its food equally seriously. The craft beer selection is excellent and the menu is proper, seasonal Irish food done well. The Belfry is a lovely neighbourhood pub with outdoor seating. Dice Bar is a tiny, divey rock bar that's been a Stoneybatter institution for years. And of course The Cobblestone is right there in Smithfield Square.

The Liberties and South Circular Road

Fallon's on The Coombe is one of Dublin's oldest pubs, dating back to 1612, and it's a proper local boozer. No frills, just a good pint and good people. The Back Page on Phibsborough Road (technically a bit north) is a sports bar done brilliantly, with board games and craft beer alongside the big screens. In the Liberties, the proximity to the Guinness Storehouse means there's no shortage of pubs, but the ones slightly off Thomas Street tend to be the most authentic.

Late Night Options

Dublin's licensing laws mean most pubs close at 11:30pm on weeknights and 12:30am on weekends. It's a bit of a shock if you're coming from a city that goes later, but there are ways around it.

Whelan's on Wexford Street has a late bar until 2am at weekends, and it's often free in if there's no gig on upstairs. The Grand Social runs club nights that go until 2:30am. Copper Face Jacks on Harcourt Street is the most Dublin nightclub experience you can have. It's cheesy, sweaty, and packed with GAA players and nurses. You'll either love it or hate it. There's no middle ground. But it's open until 2:30am and it's a rite of passage.

Wigwam on Abbey Street has late nights with DJs playing everything from house to hip-hop. The Workman's Club on Wellington Quay is another late-night option with multiple rooms and a varied programme. Some nights it's indie, some nights it's techno, some nights it's a comedy show. Check the listings.

If you're looking for a more relaxed late option, a few of the cocktail bars, like VCC and The Liquor Rooms, stay open until 2am at weekends and are a far more civilised way to end the night than a sticky-floored nightclub.

Dublin's late-night licensing has been changing in recent years, with the Night Time Economy report pushing for later opening hours. Some venues now hold Cultural Exemption licences that let them stay open later. Keep an eye on this because the landscape is shifting, slowly but surely.

Pub Etiquette and Tips

The Rounds System

This is sacred. If you're drinking with a group, you take turns buying rounds. When it's your turn, you buy a drink for everyone. Then the next person does the same. Do not skip your round. Do not "forget" your round. Do not suggest splitting the bill instead. These are social crimes in Dublin that will follow you for decades. If the group is too big for rounds to be practical (more than five or six), it's acceptable to pair off or just buy your own. But in a small group, you're buying rounds. That's just how it is.

The Snug

Some older Dublin pubs have snugs, which are small, enclosed seating areas with a hatch to the bar. They were originally designed so that women and clergy could drink without being seen. These days they're just lovely, private little nooks. If you spot an empty one, grab it. Kehoe's and Toner's both have great ones.

Ordering

Table service is becoming more common post-Covid, but in most traditional pubs you still order at the bar. Don't wave money at the barman. Don't click your fingers. Don't say "excuse me" fifteen times. Just catch their eye, give a nod, and wait your turn. They know you're there. They'll get to you. If you're ordering Guinness, order it first because it takes about two minutes to pour properly. A good barman will start your Guinness, pour everyone else's drinks while it settles, then come back to top it off.

Closing Time

Standard closing time is 11:30pm Sunday to Thursday, 12:30am Friday and Saturday. Last orders are called about 20 minutes before. When you hear "last orders," go to the bar. Do not wait. Do not assume you've got time. When you hear "time, please," that means finish up. The lights will come on about 30 minutes after closing, which is everyone's cue to actually leave. There's no hanging around.

Tipping

Tipping at the bar isn't expected in Dublin the way it is in the US. That said, if you're in a busy pub and the bartender has been looking after you well, leaving a euro or two when you settle up is a nice thing to do. In cocktail bars where someone has spent five minutes crafting your drink, a tip is more common and appreciated.

Practical Bits

A pint of Guinness in Dublin will cost you somewhere between 5.50 and 7.50 depending on where you are. Temple Bar is the most expensive. Stoneybatter and Phibsborough are more reasonable. Cocktails run between 12 and 17 euro. Cash is still accepted everywhere, but card is king these days. Most pubs don't have a minimum spend for card payments anymore.

Dublin Pub Crawl

If you want a guided experience that takes the thinking out of it, there are some excellent pub crawl tours that hit the highlights with a knowledgeable guide. It's actually a great way to learn the history behind some of these pubs, even if you've been living in Dublin for years.

Dublin pub tours on Viator offer a range of options, from literary pub crawls that take you to the haunts of Joyce, Behan, and Kavanagh, to traditional music crawls and general bar-hopping tours. Most run in the early evening and last about two to three hours, leaving you free to continue the night under your own steam.

Pub crawls on GetYourGuide are another good option, with some tours including drink vouchers and skip-the-queue access at popular spots. The literary pub crawl is particularly well regarded. Two actors perform scenes from Irish literature as you move between pubs, and it's genuinely entertaining, not just educational.

DIY Pub Crawl Route

If you'd rather do it yourself, here's my recommended route for a proper Dublin pub crawl. Start at Toner's on Baggot Street for a quiet opening pint around 5pm. Walk up to Doheny & Nesbitt's next door (or close to it) for a whiskey. Cut across to Kehoe's on South Anne Street. From there, walk to Grogan's on South William Street. Then down to The Long Hall on South Great George's Street. Cross the river and head to The Cobblestone in Smithfield for some trad music. Finish up on Capel Street at Bar 1661 or The Black Sheep. That's seven pubs, covering both sides of the Liffey, with a mix of old and new. Pace yourself. Have a toastie in Grogan's to keep you going. And for the love of God, remember the rounds system.

Dublin's pub scene is one of the richest and most varied of any city its size. Whether you're after a quiet pint by a turf fire, a world-class cocktail in a hidden basement, a trad session that makes the hairs stand up on the back of your neck, or a messy night out that you'll be talking about for years, this city has you covered. The trick is knowing where to go. Now you do.