While Dublin is not, on the whole, a destination for pizza, there are some excellent choices – if you know where to go.
And no, we aren’t advocating queuing outside Bambino; we don’t see the appeal of eating a slice of ‘fine’ pizza standing outside over some street furniture, possibly in the rain, after a long wait next to traffic behind your fellow tourists (and there’s a much nicer experience to be had at their Merrion Street location, where you won’t be blocking local beer nerds trying to get into Craft Central).
Locals know there are many better options, and a not-insubstantial number of them happen to also be some of Dublin’s finest drinking establishments. But this is by no means a grownups-only list; most of these pubs and breweries are very family-friendly.
We adore Rascals for many reasons: a great team and wonderful beer at their Inchicore brewpub are, of course, fundamental, but their pizza is also top-notch, with monthly specials one should keep an eye out for. It’s very much worth the trip from our end of town, and the whole family is welcome. The Morris Bar is closer to our part of town and it’s also a fantastic spot for pizza, with both grownup and children’s options available. A short walk from The Morris Bar is MeMa’s, which would be our go-to for a hot honey option; theirs is absolutely delicious.
Heading over to Phibsborough, we’d argue that Vice makes Dublin’s absolute best pizza, and while you can have it there in their restaurant, you can also order it in to Doyle’s Corner, if you prefer a wider drinks selection and pubbier vibes. The €5 pint of König Pilsener there is perfect with pizza. We are also fans of The Back Page for pizza; the sports-themed choices add a fun touch, and there are the arcade games and pinball for the kids. Not far away in Smithfield, Bonobo is also an excellent pizza choice, or venture further north into Drumcondra for The Cat and Cage and their range of pizza options.
Heading out to the southern suburbs, Bonobo’s sister bar Kodiak is a reliable option in Rathmines, Other standout pizza spots further south include PYE in Dundrum, or if you (sorry) circle back toward town, The Circular is very good indeed, as is their sibling bar, Lucky’s, in The Liberties.
Finally, we couldn’t finish this pizza round-up without mentioning Dublin’s darkest bar, Frank Ryan’s. It’s not always easy to see your pizza there, but it’s an interesting spot to pass an afternoon – may as well enjoy some pizza while you are at it.
Yes, there are some spots like BoCo or Doom Slice, which are also standouts for pizza, but we consider those to be much more ‘restaurant-y’ than pubby (though perhaps ironically, you’ll find a more varied beer selection than at many pubs at both spots), but we tend to prefer a more relaxed pub experience when seeking out pizza.
In any event, we do recommend a seat as a start…
We tend to avoid bigger crowds when out and about (and, frankly, we like to be home early – sleep is important!), but we recently made an exception to stop into 
It certainly leans more ‘gastro’ than ‘pub,’ but the overarching feeling about the place is ‘
And while it may feel a bit less spontaneous than your typical 
And while we are usually visiting 
Is it a pub, or is it a bar?
This Dame Street spot was formerly home to Berlin Bar, which was 
And while it’s *slightly* confusing where you need to go to order your slice of Detroit-style pizza by Doom Slice as there is an indoor hatch that might or might not be serving, plus an outdoor one, it’s easily sorted out. It is quite a tasty slice, it must be said, and it’s one of the cheaper options for food and a pint in Dublin (without the Instagram-driven queue for Bambino – why stand outside when you can sit inside with your slice and beer)?
We’ve been rather remiss in not getting to Kavanagh’s in 
We took a break from the partying to relax indoors with some pints – the sun was ‘too bright’ for the youngest in our party – and to have a general nosey around the pub. Inside it’s every inch the Victorian/Edwardian pub – there are public and lounge bars that have separate outdoor entrances, but that are also connected inside via the stained-glass-adorned doors that (also) lead to the toilets – you’ll just need confidence walking through that you know where you’re going.
But as imposing as it looks outside, it’s pleasantly warren-like inside – there’s a semi-snug near the front on one side, and a variety of cosy spots on the other, including a tiled inset that seems to have appeared from the 1930s, while the rest of the bar remained in about 1901 (the date on the façade outside does 
There aren’t any independent beer offerings (and no, Beavertown certainly doesn’t count nowadays), but it is possible to do the Big Three Stouts here for those who enjoy doing their blind Guinness/Murphy’s/Beamish tasting; we tend to prefer Beamish of the three, but all were in excellent shape. As an aside on the ‘comparing stouts’ point, this is a handy area for it – 
It’s true we have a tendency to stick to pubs that are north of the Liffey, but we rarely venture out into the true suburbs – we are usually still within reasonable walking distance of Dublin city centre. This week, however, we take a longish bus ride out to the wilds of Kilbarrack to visit The Bayside Inn.
Indeed, The Bayside Inn is so ‘of this place’ that it sits in the car park in the shopping centre, next to the church – all of a thoroughly 1970s vintage. One gets the feeling that not much has changed in the internal décor since the doors opened in 1974 (per the painted gold letters on the half-glass doors. Some fairy lights have been added to the open rafters, and a taxidermied bear is observing proceedings from above, but beyond the TV screens, we doubt that much has been altered. It might not be a perfect time capsule from the 1970s, but it’s also not terribly far off. And while there may be very slight visual and architectural similarities to this particular vintage of ‘estate pubs’ on the Neighbouring Island, the feeling is still very much ‘neighbourhood Dublin pub’ – it doesn’t have a ‘locals only’ vibe, even if it does have plenty of regulars (which can, of course, be said of many estate pubs in Britain, even if that’s not the popular reputation).
And some things have changed with the times; there is good support for local independent beer here, with fresh selections from Hope, brewed under 2 km away at Howth Junction, on tap. Yes, there’s Guinness and all the other usual options, but it’s nice to see smaller local businesses giving each other a helping hand. We confess we’ve only made it up here when we’ve been visiting local friends (or doing a spot of cat-sitting), but we’ve always felt very welcome here, even as only occasional drop-ins.
This week, we make a trip not only south of the Liffey, but nearly into the heart of Dublin 4, with a visit to 
It’s very much a neighbourhood spot, welcoming local families, game day regulars and guests – you can even stay in the pub. And while its renovation of the past decade means it’s got a bit more polished wood and stained glass than many of its counterparts on the other side of the river, it never feels snobby. There are some lovely snugs – again, more stained glass – and various different spaces to spread out around this large pub. Local independent beers are well-represented (from Trouble and Wicklow Wolf on this most recent visit, though we’ve also seen Hope in the past), but this is another spot where the stout enthusiast can do the full Guinness–Beamish–Murphy’s taste test.
We will eventually do a ‘Best Pubs for the Aviva’ roundup to complement our ‘
This week, we are visiting more of an event venue than a pub, but needs must.
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 
We are back in action this week, now that the Paddy’s Day crowds have moved on, and, as so often, we find ourselves in 
With one recent glorious afternoon of sun, however, making the most of it was a moral imperative – and so, we repaired to Lucky’s. The main pull was their large and well-appointed 
As a sister bar to 
Beer-wise, there’s a nice, rotating mix of local independent options from Whiplash, Rascals and Hopfully (among others recently on tap), along with the usual Guinness; bottles of flavoured cider seemed to be the thing the Young People were going for. Rather unusually, there’s also Hoegaarden, plus a range of cocktails and non-alcoholic options.
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.
We admit we are stretching the boundaries of the blog this week, as our profiled location is neither a pub, nor, in any meaningful way in Dublin. The clue, indeed, is in the name: we headed a long way out of town to visit 
First, though, the practicalities and context: it’s a good 90+ minutes on the bus (or train and bus) from Dublin city centre out to the industrial estate that houses Wicklow Wolf’s production brewery and taproom. The occasion in this instance was a 
Once there, we got the usual friendly brewery tour, made a little more in-depth and interesting as we could skip over a lot of the basics that one might get on a more general brewery tour for The Normals (which they absolutely do – the tour after ours was a knees-up for a local women’s rugby team). Instead, we could get some fairly obscure technical questions answered, and go deep on the merits of the brewhouse and the sustainability efforts of the brewery. And then it was on to the tasting, at one of the smaller, private bars that overlooks the brewing floor – your fair scribe was thrilled to see Locavore 2025, a fresh-hopped ESB still on tap (it appeared in cans around town just before the holidays, and as one of a very few bitters available in Ireland, it’s always most welcome to see), but trying the core range of Wicklow Wolf beers was more instructive than expected. We must confess that in general, we don’t gravitate toward Wicklow Wolf’s core range when we see it around town, but the massive difference in quality on-site more than suggested that we’re often not getting it in the best shape elsewhere. Now, to be clear, it’s never been off, but it does make one wish that more pubs looked after their independent lines as lovingly as they do their Diageo and Heineken ones – the beer here was all top-notch.
And beyond a great day out, with some really lovely beers, what was our biggest takeaway?