Old Dublin reborn around Variety Jones on Thomas Street and Spitalfields on The Coombe. Guinness Storehouse anchors the south, the Fumbally on Fumbally Lane anchors the cafe scene.
Spitalfields on The Coombe in Dublin's Liberties, a Michelin Bib Gourmand pub-set kitchen serving the city's most considered classical Irish menu.
Signature: Tom Crean's oyster stew, Slow-cooked beef cheek, Dublin coddle
Order: The seasonal stew with soda bread, and the coddle when it lands on the daily card.
Tip: Tuesday to Saturday dinner only, 17:00-21:00. Walk through the public bar and ask for the back dining room.
Keelan and Aaron Higgs's one-Michelin-star room on Thomas Street in Dublin 8, twelve tables, an open hearth, the city's most original tasting menu.
Order: Whatever is over the fire that night and the sourdough with cultured butter.
Tip: Book at the seating window opening; the room has only twelve tables and the kitchen runs two seatings a night Wednesday to Saturday.
The Fumbally on Fumbally Lane in Dublin 8, Aisling Rogerson and Luca D'Alfonso's open-plan day cafe and fermentation lab, the Liberties' working kitchen.
Signature: Sourdough toast, Daily soup, Friday Dinner
Order: The daily soup with house sourdough at lunch; Friday Dinner if you can grab the booking window.
Tip: Communal seating; arrive before 12:30 to get the long table to your group. No reservations except Friday Dinner.
Leo Burdock on Werburgh Street in Dublin 8, the city's longest-running chipper since 1913, beer-battered cod and chips on greaseproof paper.
Signature: Cod and chips, Spice burger, Fresh ray
Order: Large fresh cod with chips, salt, vinegar and a lemon wedge; add the famous spice burger as a side.
Tip: Closes 21:00 most nights; the queue is fastest at the Werburgh Street original. No seating; walk to Christ Church and eat on the steps.
Dash Burger on Kevin Street Lower in Dublin 8, Barry Wallace's 2020 smash-burger room that landed at the top of every Dublin best-burger list.
Signature: Double smash burger, Skin-on fries, Buttermilk chicken nuggs
Order: Double smash with American cheese and onion; skin-on fries on the side.
Tip: Walk-ins only at both rooms, kitchen from 12:00-21:00 daily. The Kevin Street room is small and turns fast at lunch.
Sano Pizza on Exchange Street Upper in Dublin 8, the wood-fired Neapolitan pizzeria with a Caputo flour spec, the city's most credible margherita pizza.
Signature: Margherita, Diavola, Nduja
Order: A margherita with fior di latte, then a diavola with extra basil; share over a glass of Aglianico.
Tip: No bookings; arrive at 17:30 to walk into a table. Counter and tables sit twenty inside.
Two Pups Coffee on Francis Street in Dublin 8, a Liberties counter and brunch room, the southside's strongest cortado and one of the city's brunch references.
Signature drink: Cortado
Order: Cortado on the house roast; the eggs Florentine with house hollandaise at brunch.
Tip: Walk-in only; arrive 09:30 Saturday before the queue. Two long tables share with strangers; the window stools turn fast.
The Fumbally cafe on Fumbally Lane in Dublin 8, Aisling Rogerson's open-plan day cafe inside a fermentation hub, the kitchen the Liberties learned.
Signature drink: Single-origin filter
Order: The Fumbally toast with cultured butter and house ferment; a filter coffee from the roastery board.
Tip: Communal tables; walk-in only and bag check at the door. Open 08:00 Tuesday to Saturday; Sunday 10:00-15:00.
Imbibe Coffee Roasters at Dolphin's Barn in Dublin 8, the wholesale roastery supplying specialty cafes across the city with single-origin espresso and filter.
Tip: Order whole-bean retail through the roastery webshop; the Brazilian Pulped Natural is the steady espresso option year round.
Sources from: Ethiopia, Costa Rica, Brazil
How they serve: Espresso, Filter, Whole bean retail
The Brazen Head on Bridge Street Lower in Dublin 8, established 1198 as Ireland's oldest pub, the present 1754 coaching inn serves Irish stew and trad.
Signature drink: Guinness with an Irish stew
Food: Full Irish pub kitchen, food to 21:00
Tip: Food served until 21:00 daily; nightly trad music sessions from 21:00. The back snug holds eight; the courtyard runs summer only.
Dash Burger on Kevin Street Lower in Dublin 8, the Barry Wallace counter that opened in 2020 as Ireland's first dedicated smash burger room.
Try: Double smash burger
Tip: Order the double smash with skin-on fries; walk-ins only, no reservations. Small room, faster turn at lunch.
Leo Burdock on Werburgh Street in Dublin 8, the city's longest-running chipper since 1913, beer-battered cod and chips wrapped in greaseproof paper to take.
Try: Cod and chips
Tip: No seating; eat on the Christ Church steps. Closes 21:00 weekdays, 22:00 Friday.
Guinness Storehouse at St James's Gate in Dublin 8, the seven-floor brewery museum and the Gravity Bar's panoramic stout pour, the city's most-visited paid.
Tip: Pre-book online for cheaper tickets; the connoisseur experience runs €65 with two pours and a tour of the experimental brewery.
Rascals Brewing on the Goldenbridge Estate in Dublin 8, the brewpub and taproom of the husband-and-wife Inkwell brewery, the city's reference for craft pizza.
Tip: Taproom is a working pizza kitchen; the wood-fired Rascals margherita pairs with the in-house lager. Saturday brewery tours at 14:30.
Third Barrel Brewing in Dublin 8, a Liberties craft brewery doing modern IPA and stouts, with a small Friday-Saturday taproom and a serious wholesale draft.
Tip: Friday and Saturday taproom only; the rotating IPA flight runs €12. Six-packs to take home.
Teeling Whiskey on Newmarket in Dublin 8, the Liberties' first new distillery in 125 years, the working three-pot still and the city's modern Irish whiskey.
Tip: Distillery tour with three-whiskey tasting runs €25; the small-batch finish flights run €45.
Dublin Food Co-op at Kilmainham Square in Dublin 8, the country's oldest member-owned wholefood grocer relocated from Newmarket in 2018, bulk bins.
Tip: Saturday morning is the social shopping window; bring containers for bulk bins. Open seven days now under the Kilmainham roof.
The Fumbally Stables in Dublin 8, the workshop kitchen behind the cafe, monthly pickling classes, sourdough and seasonal vegetable workshops the Liberties.
Tip: Pickling on the first Saturday of the month; vinegar-making on the third. Classes capped at ten; book ahead.
Leo Burdock on Werburgh Street in Dublin 8, the city's longest-running chipper since 1913, beer-battered cod and chips on greaseproof paper, takeaway only.
Try: Cod and chips
Tip: No seating; the Christ Church steps are five minutes east. Closes 21:00 weeknights, 22:00 Friday.
Two Pups Coffee on Francis Street in Dublin 8, the Liberties brunch room with cult flat whites, the southside's most reliable Saturday eggs Florentine.
Order: Eggs Florentine with house hollandaise and a cortado.
Tip: Walk-in only; arrive 09:30 Saturday before the queue. Two long communal tables share with strangers; window stools turn fast.
The Fumbally on Fumbally Lane in Dublin 8, Aisling Rogerson's open-plan day cafe inside a fermentation hub, the Liberties' canonical weekend brunch room.
Order: Fumbally toast with cultured butter and house ferment.
Tip: Communal tables; walk-in only and bag-check at the door. Sunday 10:00-15:00 is the calm window.
Leo Burdock on Werburgh Street in Dublin 8, the city's oldest chipper since 1913, beer-battered cod and chips wrapped in greaseproof paper, the city's late.
Try: Cod and chips takeaway
Tip: No seating; the Christ Church steps are five minutes east, the perfect post-pint vantage point.
Vicar Street on Thomas Street in Dublin opened in 1998 and has hosted Bob Dylan, Adele and Ed Sheeran in a 1,500-standing Liberties room that touring artists prize.
Tip: The cabaret-table seated layout is the best one in the room, book direct on vicarstreet.com and pick the bottom tier for sightlines.