Sometimes you just need to get out of the house, or the office, or the library. Whether you need decent coffee, a change of scenery or to get away from your co-workers (often it's all three), surrounding yourself with good coffee, breakfast and lunch options will do much to soften the blow of not yet being a millionaire retiree, free to spend your days not having to answer to the man. These are our favourite places to head for sustenance, coffee, plugs and Wi-Fi when the need arises...
As One, City Quay
If you shimmy past the queue of office staff waiting to take their coffees back to their desks, the seating options in As One are numerous. They've got plugs and wifi so you won't be without power or connectivity while you're working, and the big booths are perfect for spreading out in. As One's commitment to transparency when it comes to the provenance of their ingredients is second to none, and the breakfast and lunch options are both ATF-recommended if you get peckish while you're toiling away.
Tang, Abbey Street
Tang serve bright, punchy food (it's in the name really) and their Abbey Street location happens to be a great space to work from. Both plugs and Wi-Fi are available so your battery won't die nor will your signal drop mid email, and a plate of pancakes will make your work feel a lot more palatable.
Third Space, Smithfield
If you're looking for somewhere to work in Smithfield, Third Space is on the south-west side of Smithfield Square. It's a social enterprise meaning that the purpose of the business is not profit maximisation but social benefit, and aside from serving coffee, breakfast and lunch, they also have plugs and Wi-Fi available so you can work while you eat.
Mind The Step
As much as the phrase irks us, Mind The Step has a very valid claim to being a real life 'hidden gem'. Nestled away down Strand Street Great, just off Bloom Lane and the Millennium Walkway, they also boast a dance studio upstairs, lest the stresses of your work prove too much and you need to shake it off. Equipped with plugs and wifi, and having the distinction of being one of the few cafés in the city that open late (until 23:00) it's a perfect place for a few hours of graft.
The Art Of Coffee, GPO Arcade & Grand Canal Dock
New locations from The Art of Coffee have been proliferating rapidly around the city in recent years, but we think we've established the best two to work from. If you're looking for somewhere central, they have a location hidden away in the GPO Arcade, or if you're near the Docklands they're also in Grand Canal Dock. Both are furnished with plugs and Wi-Fi and the Grand Canal Dock one gets extra points for the views.
Vice Coffee, Dublin 1
Existing in the same space as the bar and club Wigwam on Middle Abbey Street, Vice Coffee provides a place to work with a quirkier interior than others. They have plugs but no Wi-Fi, however there is good data reception. Just make sure you're finished your work before the music starts pumping early evening.
Brother Hubbard, Capel Street
With a deceptively large interior and plenty of seats, Brother Hubbard North is an excellent bet for a space to get a table to work from on Capel Street. There are no plugs but there is Wi-Fi and Middle Eastern inspired breakfast/brunch and lunch menus which will definitely sustain you through a hard morning's labour on a laptop.
Brother Hubbard, Ranelagh
The younger sibling of the Capel Street Location, Brother Hubbard Ranelagh received a bit more parental attention, and so has the provision of both plugs and Wi-Fi for hungry hybrid workers requiring a space to get tasks done. The menu is similar to their other locations with the usual homey Middle Eastern fare, with the baked goods and coffee a highlight too.
Copper and Straw, Aston Quay
Copper and Straw's Aston Quay location have recently started stocking cakes and other treats from The Cupcake Bloke, which makes it a very enticing (and dangerous) location to work from. They also have a 'happy hour' from 12:00-13:00 where all drinks are €2.50. There are plugs lest you get distracted by the coffee and cakes and your battery runs out but there is no Wi-Fi so you'll need your hotspot.
The Fumbally, Dublin 8
The Fumbally’s spacious café should provide you with the head-space and natural light you need to get your head down and that work finished, or at least distract you with its mismatched furniture and fresh bread. Just do not under any circumstances attempt this on a Saturday morning, i.e. crazy crowds time.
Bibi's, Portobello
If you want to get some work done in Bibi’s make sure to go mid-week and avoid the weekend brunch crowd. You’ll get a bigger table to sprawl your work across, and feel extra important, while suspending the illusion that you’re not procrastinating.
Blas Café, Dublin 1
Blas has loads of space to settle into, as well as WiFi and plugs, and the menu is so well priced you'll probably end up staying for breakfast and lunch.
3fe/Gertrude
3fe's Grand Canal Street café and Gertrude on Pearse Street are great places to plug in your laptop over a top coffee. Both have plugs, but there isn't Wi-Fi.
Network, Aungier Street
Sleek and modern, regardless of what you’re actually doing, doing some work in Network will make you feel like you’re a hip architect sipping sweet nectar contemplating the next Spire, although hopefully less of an architectural tragedy. Fortunately you just popped in for a pastry and five euros of procrastination, so no harm done, and they're so high tech in here they even have MagSafe chargers.
Coffeeangel, Various Locations
Coffeeangel has multiple locations across the city, meaning you’re never far away from the freedom of a hot drink outside the cave, and it's a solid cup of coffee to snap you out of that too-long-stuck-indoors induced rut. There is Wi-Fi in all of their Dublin locations but in Hatch Street Upper it's provided by the building, not Coffeeangel themselves. Hatch Street Upper and the IFSC location both have plugs, and their Trinity Street location (our fav) is also finally reopening in the next two weeks after a dormant period over the last few years.
Two Boys Brew, Phibsboro
TBB’s Melbourne style cafe is a favourite of ours to do work in, mostly because it’s decorated like the dream apartment that we can't afford, and the food and coffee is better than what we'd be making in that dream apartment too.
Shoe Lane Coffee
The upstairs in Shoe Lane Coffee near Tara Street Station feels like one of the best kept secrets in the city, and it's nothing but calm and positive workflow vibes - until it gets jammed with people with the same idea as you. Grab a coffee and a museli breakfast biscuit downstairs and head up to your own little co-working oasis, complete with plugs and Wi-Fi.
What are your favourite cafés to work in? Let us know by emailing info@alllthefood.ie.
