The Grand Social

Great place for a Saturday hang out!
There is a craft market here every Saturday where vendors sell felt hats, jewelry, bags, accessories, etc. Why not booze while you shop?
Full bar and full of space! The main space is HUGE, and if you take he long corridor and walk up the stairs, there you will find another huge space for the smoking area. Fear not, it’s closed in and has heaters, it’s great for groups balancing the smokers and non smokers!
Along the same corridor you can see some cool wall art that looks handmade!
I think this place is for the chill at heart — no gimmick, just a low key place to get a drink on a Saturday afternoon… but at night, the place is packed and has the best music! If you’re looking for a place north of the river that’s still close enough to city centre, this is it!
#dublinshopslocal

Love this place. It can feel like a bit of a labyrinth at times, but that’s part of the charm. It’s home to one of my favourite live venues and has a great smoking area too.
As with most pubs in Dublin these days, it’s involved in a Cold War with various breweries and the drink line-​up is bit of a hodge-​podge as a result. The staff are well-​versed at pointing out what the different beers are and making substitutions if they don’t have what you’re looking for on tap.

There are some places in Dublin that are a must go and This is one of it. Great to drink a pint, two or as much as you want because the music and the people there are really cool. There is food as pizza or sandwiches, and a really nice terrace where they made special parties.

Yet another overpriced bar in Dublin. There is nothing special about it apart from their parties.

They serve pints of Leffe Blonde! What else could you ask for? :)

This place is like 5 venues in 1
So my review isn’t actually a 5 star rating, it’s five 1 star ratings
1. There’s the front bit which is inexplicably an old man pub.
2. There’s the side venue bit that sometimes has comedy, or at least used to. It’s probably the worst dancefloor in Dublin and the DJ’s always ALWAYS refuse to play Girls Just Wanna Have Fun by Cyndi Lauper.
3. Then there’s like the staircase area bit that stinks and there’s people wearing sunglasses and yell profanities at you even though they don’t know you.
4. There’s the upstairs venue that’s kind of like a sports hall. The good thing about here is that they have bands sometimes and organize poorly attended charity nights.
5. The outside bit that it’s really easy to have a bad time in. You realize you’ve spent most of your night there you’re money is pretty much all gone from the € 6.50 pints of Heinieken and then you’re all of a sudden in a taxi home thinking «Jesus that night sucked.»

Free pub quiz on Thursdays!
I love a good pub quiz… This is nice and fun. Winning one of the sessions will gain you entry into the final later in the summer.
The questions are fun and challenging, and there’s spot prizes and banter… goes down really well with a few pints!

One of MY FAVORITE places in Dublin. They have so many things going on all the time and they do them well. There’s food, there’s music, there’s themed nights, there’s outdoor seating to enjoy drinks. There’s a cool vibe, there’s friendly people. And my favorite, every Saturday and Sunday they have a little market with knick-​knacks and clothing. And all the vendors are so wonderful, it is hard to chose who you want to get something from. The place really lives up to its name. If you’re in town make sure you stop by and see what they have going on, there’s literally something awesome happening All. Of. The. Time. Always a grand social at The Grand Social!

I find this place a gem in the city. There is an outside area with a few tables and chairs, ideal for some chat in sunny days while overlooking the old Ha’penny Bridge, a real landmark of Dublin. Inside, the place is informal and rocky with great paintings and grafitti on the walls. When going clubbing at night time, bouncers are open and not rude at all, welcoming people.
In the downstairs section, they either have a dj or some themed nights like a Brazilian one once a week for example.
The upstairs section is my favorite as it is where the gigs happen and the big dj’s play. Usually the prices vary between 5 and 10euro so it is good but the best thing is that some nights the events are free and you might be positively surprised by the quality of the music. Last week I saw a russian dj that was absolutely awesome and no one could stop dancing til 3am. Class!

Recommended purely on the basis of ‘Groovement Soul’ — Dublin’s best funk & soul night that takes place in the Loft of The Grand Social on the last Saturday of every month. Been going to this residency in the GS for a few years now, and it never fails to deliver a whopper night. The crowd are bang-​on — not too young, drunk or mashed — just a relaxed bunch of fellow psychedelic soul adventurers getting our groove on to the best beats around.
As for The Grand Social itself, it’s one of the better multi-​purpose venues in Dublin. Other than ‘Groovement Soul’, they also put on a lot of indie, mod and house nights (in the latter category, the «Nightflight» lads are always worth checking out). The pints can be a bit pricey (€ 6.30 for O’Hara’s, € 6.50 for a Budvar), although they do some promotions on pitchers and bottles. Their outdoor /​smoking area is terrific, with the kind of laidback vibe that even a non-​smoker could easily enjoy the whole night in … if the tunes inside weren’t so consistently good.

I like the grand social for a number of reasons. Firstly the beer garden is great, I’m not a smoker but in the summer a gig in this place turns very social, it’s very cool. Secondly I think the décor is quite cool. They have an awesome vending machine for the musicians of this world and there’s an extremely cool flea market on Saturdays.
Things I don’t like about this place, it can be a little dirty (or I suppose it used to be, the ladies bathrooms in the venue have been done up so hopefully that means cleaner loos all round), the venue is quite cramped, they call it a 300 people venue, not if you want to dance… or go to the bar! Very small & very crowded. Also can get quiet hot as it’s a roof room with just a very small air-​vent. I do think the bar is over priced too. Managed to spend about € 50 on 5 drinks the other night.

This place is interesting. There’s a lot of going on. From latino dances to serious DJs coming from abroad.
What I don’t like about here is the place itself. The interior. Especially upstairs. If it’s a rainy day, the roof is leaking.
Staff is really friendly. Bouncers are great fellows. They are nice and helpful.
I’d say price for the pint is a bit too high.
I never would come here, only when someone good is performing.

Ah, the Grand Social. People seem to either love it or hate it. I love it. And this is my review. Whether you want to browse some vintage gear and handmade jewellery on a Saturday, have a giggle at the join in Jazz night on a Monday or dance the night away to old and new indie tunes on a Saturday, the Grand Social has it all. Live music, BBQs, a huge smoking area and Cosmos that make you blind if you have too many– what more does a girl need? Cleaner toilets maybe. Yes, but that’s it.

Love it here ! Everything about it is great ! Nice friendly crowd. always free in except for when there are bands playing … Saturday night the best. great for a dance. and great venue for gigs.. great smoking area…
Saturday day they have a flea market on also !! great vintage and handmade picks… I also come here one Sunday and they had a Brazilian themed dance night! they gave lessons and all !!! … bit of a dive bar

I love this place, especially as a late night venue! I was first here on a Goulash Disko night, and had an absolutely brilliant time, so look out for these and other events. Even on a regular Friday night it doesn’t disappoint.
The crowd is easy going, not too hipster, not too drunk, just perfectly nice and cheerful. The doormen are pretty ok, never causing a fuss or barring people randomly.
That being said, on the Ballroom upstairs you do cross paths with one or too people a bit high, feeling the love and trying to dance with you/​your hair (maybe it’s my hair or my stature, but this has happened more than once), but nothing too weird or abusing. Also, all the guys trying to pull a girl in Dublin seem to be parked on their smoking area upstairs, so ladies/​gents go prepared to let them down gently…
The place is quite big, but even when it’s packed you’ll probably be able to find a seat/​table if you want to. Surprisingly, for a place relatively big, there’s never a long queue to the toilets and they’re usually in a ok condition. There’s also a cloakroom upstairs, right before the smoking area.
During the day it’s a good spot to hang out and have a drink, especially if it’s a sunny day as they have a couple of tables outside as well as the beer garden. If it’s a Saturday, check out their flea market!
The only downside? It closes around 3am like everywhere else, ending the party tooooo early :(

One of my favourite venues in Dublin. I’ve been here on 2 separate occassions:
First was at the Spanish Festival event held in April. It was a fiver for entry, which is typical if they have a band or some kind of event going on here (which is often). But its got the bottom part of the bar, which has a front sit down area, normal bar area, then a disco/​dance area with another bar — its quite large! Then along you have toilets and cloakroom. Then upstairs, my favourite bit, the beer garden/​smoking area. It large, it has glass roof, so it can be opened when hot (which is was roasting at this event) or closed if its raining but still see the sky. The décor is great, at night the lights look fantastic. Then inside there is another area for bands/​dancing etc. The spanish event had a Tapas area and great drink deals on particularly relating to spain. They also had flamenco dancing and spanish guitar. I think i may have been the only english speaker there, but everyone was super friendly (like the spanish are), but got massively crowded later on.
The second time I went her was on a friday night, no gig or event on, so free entry in as a normal pub. A pitcher before 11pm was 10 € and then after is 12 € — so pretty good value. Again up to the rooftop area, very chilled out, everyone was able to have their own table/​seats. There is also a fuseball table to play if you want.
But overall I love the décor, it doesn’t feel like it is trying hard to be trendy, it just kinda found stuff stuck it on the wall, found some chairs and barrells for people to sit on.,… the staff are really nice and super friendly. They have a good joke with you and try to help you out on cheapest drinks if you ask. Overall great place to go — watch events on facebook!

I was there last night for the swing dance beginners class and i was excellent fun. It was an event organised by Emily with a lot of other beginners and there was no need to have a partner as we got to dance with everyone there in rotation which helped put us all at our ease.
Downstairs is very dark and there were not a lot of patrons but i suppose as it was a Tuesday evening maybe that was why it was not so busy,

The grand social. Its where hipsters go to grow old. Although I can’t complain much since I went there and would certainly go back. It is nice to go to a club that isn’t playing the same shitty modern club music as every other club, instead playing music people know and love.

The Ballroom is one of the very few places to listen to decent electronic music in town and there are good bands playing live music before the DJ starts. No poshing, no fights just fun and good vibe all over the place. If you don’t like the music upstairs you can stay on the ground floor listening to great rock and indie music and the craic is always brilliant.
The prices are good and you can order pitchers for 10 €. This is also a good place if you want to escape from girls who pretend to look like if they were in Geordie Shore

There’s a few different elements to this pub, it’s sort of a sprawling little town tucked in behind upper liffey street. The front bar has an interesting selection of beers, missing some you’d expect and having others on tap you don’t see all that often, the space is a bit narrow at this part of the pub and unless you’re quite early the chances are you’ll be standing in the narrow corridor unless you choose to go down to the main part of the club.
Having been and gigged here many a time, I know that the music can be anything from rock to electro in the main club area, and I’ve had many a good night, the bathrooms are a bit skimpy considering the volume they take and not always the cleanest but for what it is they’re grand (no pun intended).
The jewel in the crown of this place is, as you would expect, at the top. A new addition since the place was refurbished a couple of years ago, the rooftop beer garden is really nice of a sunny day and has plenty of seating and the upstairs venue is honestly my favourite in Dublin for mid sized gigs, having well overtaken Whelan’s and the button factory because of it’s sound quality, accessible bar and ‘circus tent’ styling.
Price wise this place is nothing special, though it has a few deals on from time to time that I’ve happily indulged in, and if you’re a connoisseur of stout this isn’t your place, the pour, the taps, the glasses; it’s all wrong.