This week, we are visiting more of an event venue than a pub, but needs must.
The subject of our profile is Token, relatively recently re-opened in a new location, some two years after closing in Smithfield to general consternation. As the name implies, it’s more of an arcade than a bar, with a mix of video games, pinball and suchlike.
But it wasn’t (quite) always like this; although we only hit the former location once or twice, it did seem that the balance tipped a bit more toward the ‘pub’ side before, whereas now that feeling is very much reversed. Token in its previous incarnation held a wide variety of events, from art-making to LGBTQ+ community gatherings (and everything in between). In short, it felt like a neighbourhood bar that offered something of an alternative to simply ‘sitting at the bar,’ though you could do that as well, if you preferred. This Token, however, feels very much more transactional, and much more, well, bro-y.
And it may be that this vibe is a direct result of this new space: surrounded by bland offices and corporate apartments, it now feels like an after work ‘enforced fun’ spot for company meetings. The prices certainly fall into the ‘someone else is paying’ category with an ambitiously-priced pint of Scraggy Bay on offer for €8.20 (and a service charge added to food orders, despite it being relatively difficult to find someone to take your payment when you want to leave, even at the bar).
Although it’s part of the same ownership group as The Back Page, it feels less like a pub in comparison to that one as well, though both have games on offer. Their other sister venue, The Bernard Shaw, has arguably also lost much of what made it unique when it moved locations some years ago, though it still hosts a number of handy neighbourhood activities and meetups.
Really, the main lesson learned is that we should have let the tween solve a Rubik’s Cube in under a minute for a free pint (for us) – it would have been a fair exchange for some game tokens. Still, there is a shark…
Where: Custom House Square, Unit 4 Mayor Street Lower, North Wall, Dublin 1, D01 DE47
Access from the city centre: Luas Red line, buses G1, G2, 14, 15, 27, 56A, 77A, 20-ish minute walk
Food: All-day breakfast, burgers, pizza, vegan bowls, snacks
Sport: Lots of sport
TVs: Many screens of varying sizes around the venue
Music: Aggressively ’80s on our visit
Family-friendliness: Kids welcome and busy spending money before 6 pm
Pub-crawl-ability: Low-medium – The Brew Dock, Urban Brewing, or head across the water to Dockers, Daphni or Brewdog, if you prefer…
Local sites of note: EPIC, Connolly Station, Grand Canal Dock, Bord Gáis Energy Theatre
Haunted: Presumably by poor choices made at work off-sites
Other notes: Another karaoke warning; main floor toilets
Socials: Instagram, Facebook
BrewDog is, once again, back 
Inside, the look is straight out of 
Nowadays, we are rarely in this part of town, and if we were looking for pre-show drinks, we’d be more likely to hit up 
We have no insights into ‘what will happen’ with BrewDog’s uncertain future (though it’s difficult to imagine a space of this size continuing without global private equity money). In our ideal world, this would continue as an independent tap room and community space with the same staff, but we also know that’s highly unlikely. It’s also possible a buyer will swoop in and continue running BrewDog’s portfolio as-is (for good and ill), but as of this writing, it’s all guesswork.
Welcome to 2026!
Although the branding is different, Urban Brewing is an outpost of 
But what I particularly enjoy about Urban Brewing is that each part of the venue feels very different – the outside space is the go-to when the weather is good, but the modern bar in the old building has a lovely look and feel, while the vaults below are great for events – cosy and always beautifully decorated. And as a newer business in an older building, they’ve had the space to get their accessibility figured out in the retrofitting; there are lifts as well as stairs.
Locals know this, but the visitor to Dublin may not know that horse racing is Kind of a Big Deal. There are endless ads from the various wagering platforms leading up to some of the larger race meetings, and as we’re in the middle of Cheltenham Week*, it seemed appropriate to venture to one of the many Old Man Pubs that draw in the 
But back to The Wind Jammer: the exterior looks more than a little tired, but once in the door, it’s perhaps surprisingly tidy and well-wallpapered – not to the standard of the much-newer 
While it’s only a short walk from more ‘hipster’ bars like 
I’ve never seen U2 live. But like everyone of my age and fighting weight, I saw Rattle & Hum a fair few times, and back in the 1980s, I rented the U2: Live at Red Rocks VHS not infrequently. And while I completely agree that a lot of the stuff of that era of the band still slaps, I can see that the kids might find certain things about U2 a bit, well, cringe. But as a transplant to Dublin, I also don’t have that immediate animosity some seem to have to anything Bono-related – I’m essentially U2-agnostic.
Why the U2 preamble? Well, because this week’s pub, The Dockers Bar, was 
And what do those current regulars find at The Dockers Bar? It must be said that they were there in numbers on a weekend evening, so clearly, it’s working for them – is it the combination of some excellent independent Irish beer options (Rascals, Kinnegar, Trouble, Wicklow Wolf)? Or maybe they are mostly there for the Guinness, or perhaps the cocktails? The more-interesting-than-usual nibbles? In any event, it was a packed after-work scene.