Where to eat and drink in Dublin this Christmas season

Dublin’s restaurants will be hopping from late November to early January as friends, families and colleagues gather to break bread together. Many have special festive menus, but some truly excel at combining a flair for hospitality with an especially atmospheric setting.  

For lively dining near bustling bars, Drury Buildings overlooks the ornate brickwork and lively atmosphere of Fade Street. It specialises in seasonal shared plates and offers a structured Christmas menu for groups: think game terrine, Salters' slow-cooked pork belly with celeriac and Granny Smith apple, and Christmas pudding parfait.  

Media captionStart your festive celebrations at the Drury Buildings.

Nearby Kicky’s on South Great George’s Street offers a warm and welcoming atmosphere with a focus on both hospitality and quality food. Popular dishes include Lambay Island crab with smoked haddock, a warm potato soufflé pancake, buttermilk and pickled seaweed. The restaurant also serves exceptional beef, such as Peter Hannan’s ‘Mighty Marbled’ 40-day aged Striploin, and wild fish served on the bone. For larger groups, family-style sharing allows everyone to enjoy a variety of flavours. Similarly, at Library St on Setanta Place (just off Nassau St), signature dishes like the turbot tranche with jus gras, sorrel, and béarnaise are meant to be shared. 

Across the river at The Winding Stair restaurant, which sits above the quirky sister bookshop and overlooks a twinkling Ha’Penny Bridge, traditional Irish fare and discerning sourcing translate to dishes like Wild Irish Game guinea fowl with Pigs on the Green sausage stuffing, bacon sprouts, roasted Irish baby potatoes, gravy and cranberry relish. Nearby restaurant The Woollen Mills pairs similar riverside views with an all-day antidote for shopping fatigue. 

Media captionDine along the River Liffey at The Woollen Mills.

Off Grafton Street, Cornucopia is a beloved vegetarian haunt worth remembering when you don’t have a dinner booking. Choose counter-side from vibrant salads and flavourful mains, then linger in the airy Georgian dining rooms with table service for local beers, vegan wines and Dublin’s own Craft Cocktails. (And yes, they sell their legendary vegan Christmas dishes to go, like their savoury cranberry, almond, oat and caramelised onion cheesecake or nut-loaf with juniper-spiced red wine and chestnut gravy.)  

For fine vegetarian dining with full table service, the fully gluten-free Glas Restaurant stars grown-up dishes like sweet potato parfait with elderberry ketchup, braised chicory and spiced walnut. 

Media captionEnjoy a gluten-free Christmas feast.

Media credit@mrixy

Moroccan Dada Restaurant on South William Street has well-priced three-course Christmas menus starring Moroccan classics including various meat and veggie tagines; they also serve alcohol-free wines, beers, mocktails and house-made pomegranate lemonade. If you want to add alcohol to the mix, pick up a bottle from a nearby wine shop like The Corkscrew; Dada welcomes BYOB with corkage fees for beer (€1.50), wine (€5) or champagne (€7). 

If you’re looking to enjoy a meal on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day, the best plans are laid well in advance, as most restaurants that serve lunch on either day will book up months ahead. That said, there are still plenty of options for spontaneous festive bites.  

On Christmas Eve, you can queue for a homemade bagel with Ballycotton smoked salmon, chive and caper cream cheese and turmeric cucumber pickle at The Pepper Pot Café in the Powerscourt Townhouse Centre, or join locals for a creamy pint and ‘toasted special’ (ham, cheese, tomato and onions) outside Grogan’s Castle Lounge to soak up this day like no other.

Media captionTaste Christmas at The Pepper Pot Café.

Media credit@thepepperpotcafe

For Christmas Day dining, two fine options are the traditional Palestinian family-run Bethlehem Restaurant in Rathmines, and M&L Chinese Restaurant off O’Connell Street, where the Sichuan street food and chef’s recommendations are particularly good – and BYOB is welcome with €7 corkage. Other Chinese restaurants open for Christmas Day include Lao Chinese, Han Yang Court and Gushi Chinese Hot Pot.  

For something a little more traditional, Gallagher's Boxty House serve a Christmas Day menu like no other, with boxty (a regional potato pancake) appearing alongside the classic flavours of turkey and ham wellington with stuffing, roast gravy and cranberry sauce. 

Of course, residents in the city’s fabulous five-star hotels will be treated to some lavish traditional Christmas Day feasting. Most serve hotel residents only on Christmas Day – with the exception of The Merrion, where The Garden Room restaurant is also open to non-residents (with a wait list available). 

If you can’t wait for the big day itself for some roast bird magic, several Dublin destinations are iconic for their Sunday roasts. The Old Spot on Bath Avenue is an institution for its traditional roast chicken and dry-aged beef with all the trimmings, including duck fat roast potatoes and buttermilk Yorkshire puddings. Meanwhile, Liffeyside, The Legal Eagle's all-day roast selection includes a nut roast and carnivorous classics. Both bring the dark wood charm of a cosy gastropub to the meal.  

For city centre dining in Italianate neo-Classical interiors, Hawksmoor (formerly the National Bank at College Green) dials up the Sunday roast experience with crispy beef dripping potatoes and bone marrow and onion gravy. More weekend glamour is served at The Westbury hotel’s Wilde restaurant, where you can choose from their Sunday roast or go a la carte with their stacked seafood platter. Caribou on Stephen’s Street is where dressed-down hipsters roll up for an indulgent roast and a well-slung cocktail. 

Some pubs are made for Christmas, and for festooning in more-is-more lights, baubles and tinsel. The Hole In The Wall (established 1651) on the edge of Phoenix Park is worth the trip for the wonderland swagger of its Christmas décor alone – or to warm up after strolling in the park with a coffee from Dash Coffee Container outside, or inside by the fire with their own McCaffrey single grain whiskey and something from their Josper grill. Closer to the city centre, pubs like The Ginger Man and Mary’s Bar and Hardware Store don’t hold back on the Christmas bling and will serve a burger or toastie for soakage.  

Media captionGet inspiration for your own Christmas decorations at The Hole in the Wall.

Media credit@itsmelifdogukan

Speaking of toasties, this Dublin pub staple is a beloved comfort food, and most old-school spots get it just right. Pair it with a hot whiskey (aka hot toddy) or hot port in the festival-like Grogan’s Castle Lounge, the convivial Peter’s Pub or the Edwardian comfort of Neary’s Bar & Lounge – or any in our list of cosy Dublin pubs.  

Media captionEnjoy a quiet one at Grogan's.

Media credit@shotsbywhatsername

Many pubs offer picturesque Irish coffees with whiskey warmth and a cool, creamy head, but for the best in town, visit The Sackville Lounge, just off O’Connell Street. This historic pub has been revitalised by the expert team behind Dublin’s top cocktail bar, Bar 1661. Known for their Belfast coffee, which combines Irish coffee with cold brew and poitín, they also flavour their Irish coffee with soda bread and Kerrygold butter, a truly memorable drink.  

You’ll find an Irish coffee experience unlike any other at The Church, the Jervis Street café and late bar inside a 17th-century former church which hosted the wedding of Arthur Guinness. Befitting its name, The Church is done up to the nines for the Christmas season, and you can take a guided history tour of the space that finishes with a demonstration on how to make the perfect Irish coffee. 

Nearby on O’Connell Street, Vice Coffee Inc presents three versions of Irish coffee: Fancy Frankie’s, with double espresso; Teeling Small Batch infused with orange zest and nutmeg; and bottled options for heating at home. 

Media captionPick from one of Vice Coffee's Irish coffees.

Media credit@vicecoffeeinc

Even a stroll through the fairy-lit streets with a warming winter drink in hand can be a magical Dublin Christmas moment, perhaps while hunting down the best Christmas sandwich.  

Drury Street is a fine place to begin your grazing with (arguably) the city’s most decadent hot chocolate: at Spilt Milk, the Marshmallow Bomb is legendary – milky hot chocolate flavoured with ganache, topped with home-made marshmallow fluff (both made on-site) and torched to toasted perfection – or try new toppings like Aero mint, honeycomb and Oreo crumb. Nearby Butler’s Chocolate Café and Ladurée do their own decadent hot chocolate spins, as does Brother Hubbard in various locations across the city. 

Mulled wine fans can follow their nose to find cafes like people-watching favourite Metro Café serving this warming drop. Look out for Dublin Cocktail Lab’s Mulled Wine at Drury Street neighbours Industry & Co. and Mani Pizza (whose Christmas slice with guanciale, roasted sprouts and cranberry sauce was a winner last year).  

Most of the Christmas markets will serve some class of boozy beverage, whether that’s a Baileys hot chocolate at this year’s Wild Lights at Dublin Zoo (Nov 6–Jan 31), a winter warmer of choice from the cosy Twinkle Tavern at the new Twinkletown in Smithfield Square (28 Nov–4 Jan) or mulled wine and mince pies at The Fumbally Christmas Market (5–7 Dec). 

Media captionGrab a hot drink before taking in the Wild Lights.

Dublin loves a Christmas sandwich, so expect to see them everywhere. Greenville Deli’s toasted Christmas Special is the bomb, featuring roasted turkey breast, honey-glazed ham, home-made hazelnut, apricot and sage stuffing, melting Wicklow brie, cranberry sauce and mustard mayo on sourdough with a cranberry aioli for dipping (at four suburban locations including Rathmines). Griolladh (various locations), The Commons @ MoLI, Fairmental and Honey Truffle all put their own stamp on the seasonal sambo.  

For the best festive pastries, Dublin is blessed with wonderful bakeries. Proper Order Coffee in Smithfield is worth a pilgrimage for No Messin’ Bakery’s crumbly mince pies, while nearby Elliot’s (Phibsborough and Arran Street) are close contenders for the best in town.  

Media captionKeep an eye out for Elliot's mince pies.

For more inspiration this festive season, discover everything on during Winter in Dublin.