The Reel Inn

For an Irish pub that makes its living on tourists, its pretty standard. There is a sign by the door listing prices and what the offer which is incorrect – don’t bother informing the bartender of that though, she will just blow you off. Live music which made about half of us want to sleep as there were no words (unless they played Johnny Cash). Never played the standard songs like Galway Girl even though we chanted for them. I also think a homeless man came in at some point and played…

Amazing atmosphere!!! This is the real deal– an honest to goodness jam session between the locals, regulars and brave visitors. The space gets packed later in the evening, don’t be shy– work your way into the room and find a seat– it feels like everyone with a toe-​tapping wish is welcome.

Went there with several friends from California. We all discovered that we had little bugs (Bed Bugs) on our close when we got back to the Hotel. We went back to the Reel Inn to complain and discovered that they were infested in the little Booths that we were sitting in. Totally disgusted with the Reel Inn and the owner who refused to acknolwedge that the couches and chairs were infested with BedBugs. We had to throw all our clothes out and leave town. Such a horrible experiance that I hope in time I will forget.

A good basic bar with live music 7 nights a week, and a mix of locals & tourists.
So your a tourist in Donegal during the week and all the pubs are dead. Then roll over to the Reel Inn (it’s just at corner near the bridge) where they have live music every night of the week and usually a good crowd.
As a local (or ex-​local) going in here for the 1^st time I felt like I’d walked into Deliverance (google it), some odd folk from the bogs, townies, rockers, and maybe a few fellas barred from all the other pubs in town, and then mixed in is usually a load of English tourists, and surprisingly it works!
Everyone’s having the craic, these bog critters are friendly and are trying to wind me up, we’ll all supping our drinks and enjoying the music, the tourists are dancing away, and usually it’s a great night, and everyone’s good and drunk by the end of the night and I mean drunk.
Sometimes the music is hit-​or-​miss, sometimes it’s a bit of jam session, other times it’s quite good. On quite nights there may not be many musicians there and the owner get’s up and play. And both him and the missus are decent friendly folk. I just wish they poured a better Guinness or had a nice Heff-​Weisse. ;)