All The Food

Why is a Dublin restaurant guide talking about a pub and restaurant in Wicklow? Because GLENDALOUGH. We all talk about doing it, suggest doing it, mean to do it more regularly, but without a food-based carrot at the end of an activity stick we struggle to commit to just about anything. Well consider this a carrot of titanic proportions, and the best excuse for an 8km hike since you trekked from the Electric Picnic carpark to the campsite. What are the essential must-knows

What’s the lowdown on Lulu’s? We should have believed them when they said they’re “not a restaurant”. We’d taken it in the sense that it's more trattoria as the storefront announces, but on our first Friday visit there’s very little food at all - just pizzette. It was aperitivo hour’s €2 cicchetti more than wine that lured us to Lulu’s, but no harm. A glass in hand, the world passing by a people-watching perch up front -we enjoy the atmosphere and plot a return.

What’s the story with La La Burger? There isn’t much worth queueing for around the IFSC, so we weren’t the only ones shocked to see a snaking line of salivating punters packing the footpaths outside the Harbourmaster in March. It wasn’t €7.70 pints of Guinness they were out the door for, but a peculiarly placed In-N-Out Burger popup. The California chain’s milkshakes might have brought all the boys to the yard, but this was less a market toe-dipping than planting a flag les

What’s the story with Banco? The queues speak for themselves – not since 2008 have we seen such a run on a Banco around here. The new Italian bakery from Roberto Mungo is the third tricolour he’s planted on Stoneybatter’s main street, and one rallied to by locals and blow-ins alike with the same fervour as his still-packed Grano and neighbouring wine bar A Fianco. What should we get? Planning, for one – arrive at the wrong time and you’ll spend half your day in a hangry

What’s the story with Nino's? Endless ingenuity came out of the Covid 19 pandemic, and that's how Nino's started life. Originally food truck Doughbox, opened by former dental clinic manager Anthony Power, they migrated into a full restaurant attached to The Brook Pub in Portrane in 2024. The same team are also behind Pronto on Pearse Street, serving handmade pasta and Neapolitan pizza out of Moss Lane. North Co Dub isn't exactly overflowing with inspiring restaurants, so we

What’s the story with Morso? Schiacciata (skia-TCHA-tah) is about to become the most mispronounced food since bruschetta burst onto the scene in the ‘90s. All summer long you'll hear shak-att-ah, sheek-eet-eh, and chiquitita from the queues snaking daily down Drury Street to get their mitts on this flattened Tuscan sandwich bread. It’s a mystery to Mani maestro Ciaran McGonagle why nobody had done it in Dublin yet, so when his Roman slice shop shifted to a bigger site acros

Post-plunge treat-seekers fresh from the sauna round the corner. Muslim families in for a feast after visiting the Mosque next door. TikTok trend-trawlers trekking to Tallaght from every corner of the city. In the hour you'll need to spend sweating over the meat-piled portions at Salama Lama, you'll get a good glimpse at the impressively mixed crowd that makes up modern Dublin – and the exciting new food bringing them together. What should we get? One of those TikTok draw

What’s the story with Mambo Sambo? “Our vision of what a deli should be like” at Mambo Sambo is pretty simple: “not just processed shite”. We couldn’t argue when their Christmas toastie took honours in our latest annual rundown. Back then they were managing loaves-and-fishes miracles out of a poky truck behind Inchicore’s Glen of Aherlow; since, they’ve shacked up with a renovated McDowell’s up the road and bagged themselves the space to really go wild. What do we need to

What do we need to know about Twist Bakery? It's the new Temple Bar bakery where Coco Brew used to be, and it's very quietly VEGAN. Twist aren't shouting about it as they don't want to put the non-vegans off, but stepping into a café and bakery where every croissant, Danish and patisserie is dairy and egg free is a unique experience in Dublin. One of the owners is dairy intolerant, while head pasty chef Marija Lacic i s vegan (she ran vegan bakery Cake My Day ), but anot

What’s the story with Deano's Woodfired Pizza? Tucked beside the CherryTree pub in Walkinstown, Deano’s Woodfired Pizza has built a fiercely loyal local following since opening in 2022. Owner and head chef Jordan Grossman brings serious credentials to the hatch, having trained in Naples with renowned pizzaiolo Enzo Coccia , owner of La Notizia 53 – one of Italy’s most celebrated pizzerias. Jordan told us that the flour, meats and cheeses all come from Italicatessen , a

What’s the story with Volumes? “ He literally wrote the book on coffee! ” is the clear pitch for Volumes , and what volume it's been pitched at since Dublin Coffee Guide author Paddy Kirk teamed up with As One owner Mark Cashen, and ex- Bastible and Delahunt chef Fionn Dwyer Hyland to give us this new Scandi-chic café. It’s the must-have Insta-backdrop du jour – but is it any good? Well? On this team’s well-documented desire to deliver a Copenhagen-style community

What's the background on Cinnamood? Viral German cinnamon roll brand Cinnamood has landed on O’Connell Street after months of teasing , bringing queues , hype and talk of “ iconic ”, “ next level ” buns. Founded in Cologne in 2022, the brand has franchised rapidly across Europe , with its Irish debut operated by Vertex Horizon Holdings , who claim to " create obsession-worthy products that outlast trends and compound in cultural relevance ". Just what we look for in a bak

What’s with all the buzz about Tribe Coffee? Founded by friends Simon Lambert and Finn McGarry, Tribe Coffee opened in 2021 at St. Enda’s GAA club in Ballyboden, before opening a café proper in Rathmines in 2022. Their latest and third opening in Rathgar village answered a request from regulars - more seats. The new space keeps their signature pastel palette and has been designed with social media snaps in mind – look at that purple La Marzocco coffee machine. Natural ligh

What’s the story with Honest to Goodness? A smart social media presence and everything-in-house ethos had Liberties café Honest to Goodness on our hitlist long before their turkey meatball Christmas wrap leapfrogged the competition to land best-in-class in our seasonal sandwich rankings . With a revamped menu just launched, and another sopping day leaving us in dire need of a lift, it was time to dig deeper. What should we order? They really do make almost everything o

What’s the story with Dollars? After being impressed by the Peruvian plates at The Hoxton’s Cantina Valentina , we were quietly curious if daytime deli Dollars could repeat the magic. With New York deli counter culture a dime a dozen in Dublin these days there’s no novel niche-filling here – especially with so much local competition about. Add to that all those years we had to walk through the ugly hoarding outside, and these would want to be good. And? There are worse