WJ Kavanagh’s

Great beer selection, awesome food, great service, great music (Adam Ant!) — all the ingredients for an excellent experience. The bartender had some great beer selections (I was focused on IPAs). Killarney and Galway Bay Full Sail were just awesome. She also suggested the bangers and mash which were also very good.
The ambience was that of a cozy pub but with a wall of beers and taps that were on steroids! Definitely worth a visit.

My wife and I were incredibly pleased with the mouth watering presentation here! North of Dublin city centre, and just a short walk from our AirBnB flat, it offered a perfect, high quality meal for a very reasonable price! We had the Steak and Chicken burger, both were complimented with good sauces and the service was delightful.
They also serve a list of local craft beers and had Chimay on tap! First time I’ve seen that, personally, being from the US.
This is a great choice for dinner and offers a charming pub atmosphere. I hope you enjoy it as much as we did!

Was recommended by our walking tour guide for its wide selection of craft beers on tap and stayed for dinner. Food was very good and beer was great. The waitresses are very friendly and accommodating as we had a fairly large group. The waiters on the other hand could use some tips and training from their female peers. I felt as though the waiters couldn’t wait for us to leave! Despite the uneven service, I would definitely come back again. It’s a local hangout and away from the touristy crowd. Just make sure you order from the waitresses. You’ll feel more welcomed and want to order more!

I went there because of Anthony Bourdain layover review. Well, they did not have that special coddle. They were almost closed when I walked in. So they let me eat their beef stew. Thanks to them. But honestly, I had a better one in New York.

Nice place to grab a bite to eat, good food, good service and they seem to have a great selection of craft beers and decent wi fi too. it was a quiet Wednesday when I was there and it lacked a bit of atmosphere I’ll come back and try again later maybe a weekend.

Local style pub with the normal selection of beer and good food.

On our last night in Dublin we wanted to get some Irish food that wasn’t catered specifically to tourists. So after checking Unilocal for some local cuisine suggestions we ended up at WJ Kavanagh’s. Dinner is served until 9 PM, and we made it just in time.
The restaurant is split into two dining rooms, a bar and a small lounge area. The back dining room was being used for a big party, so we ended up at a small table in the front. We fist ordered drinks– they shockingly enough did not have Guinness. Instead their bar featured all local craft brews, which we liked.
For dinner I ordered the Ribeye Steak– what a meal to end my trip on! It was delicious– cooked, seasoned, and presented perfectly. The dish is served with lots of extras– roasted heirloom tomatoes, shallot, onion purée and even fries!
Since it was our last meal, we decided to splurge and get desserts. My boyfriend and I shared both the Chocolate brownie and the Balsamic Glazed Strawberry Delight. The Strawberry Delight was okay– everything was great except the banana crisps– they were a little too crunchy for me. But the Chocolate Brownie– that was perfect! The brownie came out warm with a scoop of delicious sorbet in the middle of the plate. If you are debating if you should get dessert– you should, and it should be the chocolate brownie.
If I’m ever back in Ireland, WJ Kavanagh’s will be one of the first places I stop.

This place came under new ownership [ever since the L Mulligan Grocer owners called it a day here].
The atmosphere is very different as a result.
They have kept the whole gastro pub/​craft beer hall vibe and it seems to be really working well for them.
I was here the Friday before Christmas. Started off in the afternoon with some food and of course pints.
The food was pretty good and very well priced. I got the pulled pork with chips. The chips were really good. The bread was good too. The pulled pork was drenched in mayonnaise which let the dish down big time. Stop putting mayo in such ridiculous quantities on the pulled pork. In fact don’t do it at all! It doesn’t work with pulled pork. At least have it on the side instead. [This really was my only gripe].
The beer selection was great. Some really tasty craft beers I had not had before and some familiar ones too.
The staff really made it for me. The guy behind the bar, possibly a bar manager, was great craic. and helpful with suggestions for what to drink. The waiitng staff were great too. The lady who initially served us food was particuarly friendly and good fun.
I really can’t wait to come back here.

Yummy, yummy, yummy! Our Airbnb hostess recommended this restaurant and I’m so happy she did! We ate dinner and I had a spring salad to start and my main meal was bangers and mash. The presentation of the food was lovely which made it all the more appealing. My mom had the steak sandwich and for dessert we had Eton Mess and an Irish Coffee (duh). The bathrooms were clean (that’s important to me) and the service was attentive.
It’s not in the center of town so if you are staying in central Dublin you may have to hop on a bus or catch a taxi to get here but it’s worth it. The neighborhood may look a bit sketchy to some at night but I figure as long as you don’t walk outside and act like a tool you won’t have any problems.

Went in here for lunch and had the steak sambo. All i can say is wow it was fantastic with a great mix of ingredients and flavours. A little pricey but so worth it, the service was great and i loved the ambience of the place.
A huge cut above the standard pub food fare that i would recommend to anyone for lunch or dinner. One of my favourite pubs in the area!

Good choice of beer, very nice food, friendly staff, pleasing décor. If you’re anywhere near and looking for a pub, this place will float your metaphorical boat.

Excellent pub in a really unfortunate location.
This incarnation of Kavanagh’s arose from the ashes of its predecessor which was twinned with L. Mulligan Grocer of Stoneybatter. It has done well to retain all that is great and good about both pubs with a friendly welcome and staff eager to guide you through their extensive selection of craft beers and a relaxed atmosphere.
On the food front is where it really differs from it’s predecessor offering a better value selection from lunch options and bar bites to a full evening menu. On one hand are the lunch options like the smoked salmon sandwich with a bowl of soup offering amazing taste and value and the starters/​bites like chicken wings (Buffalo style and well within my top 3 favourite places to get em in Dublin) and the (as yet untasted by me but sound unbelievable) char siu pork lollipops.
A word of warning on the mains though. I’ve yet to have a good experience with any after trying the sliders which were on the dry, tasteless side and the tagine which was ok by average home cooking standards. Hopefully they can up their game to match the quality of the rest of the menu!
As a side note… Please go here! It has always upset me to pass on weeknight evenings with not a sinner in the pub and the barman looking silently back at me. It really deserves to do well but struggles on aul Dorset street.

I put this at the max review because the food is AMAZING. My friend and I grabbed a groupon voucher, gave a main, desert and drink each. We asked the super friendly waitress if we could have a starter instead and it was no bother. THe starts came out, nachos and wings and they were whole meals in themselves. Delicious and best nachos I have had in a while. The mains were fajitas and lasagne and massive meals and extremely delicious. I couldn’t eat all mine and the staff were great at packaging it up for me to take home with me. Very old school pub, toilets are a bit iffy, but the locals are great craic and super friendly.

Scotch egg is amazing twist on the traditional. Great craft beers available. Waitress was very friendly.

This is a really great Dublin pub. We went there for a whiskey tasting, which was hosted by Michael, who seems to be the owner of this place and L. Mulligan Grocer (another great place).
I am not a whiskey drinker, but I loved the selection they presented us with as well as how well Michael knew his whiskey. This was clearly his passion and he loved talking about it and telling us how he got to know about each bottle.
The food was also really good. The place had an old pub feel but was clearly renovated.
I definitely recommend this place if you want good Irish food and a nice selection of whiskey.

Excellent food, great selection of beers and ciders, friendly helpful staff. As others have said, don’t be put off by the exterior.

An unexpected gem on otherwise dreary Dorset Street, Kavangh’s has the traditional pub perfected. The selection of beers is as good as you’ll find anywhere in Dublin, but I’ve found Kavanagh’s a good bit cheaper than other craft beer pubs.
Staff are great, unpretentious and friendly. They’re old fashioned bartenders who just somehow know when you want to talk and when you just want to read the paper. They’re always happy to give you a taste or whatever new cask ale is in or give advice about what they think you’ll like. If you’re a beer buff nowhere else in Dublin will beat Kavanagh’s. It feels like a real local. No tv and the music is always what you want to hear.
The food is great too, really well made and well priced traditional dishes done with excellence. Try the homemade crisps! They’re addictive.

Après un accueil dans la norme, nous avons reçu la carte pas très grande mais très diversifiée, avec entre autre des plats typiques irlandais, certain mijotés à la bière. Malgré un très large choix de bières irlandaises et belges, le serveur à su bien nous renseigner. Le repas était très frais, original et copieux. Un petit resto à recommander !

Now this was a surprise gem to find. Visiting a friend in the hospital across the road, we emerged onto an otherwise desolate Dorset St. In search of sustenance and didn’t expect much. Stumbled on this place and were double surprised in that, not only do they have a quirky line in micro-​brewery beer but they also served really good food despite the relatively late hour. Two pints of Sam Adams and fish and chips for two duly consumed, we departed replete and happy. Service was friendly and attentive. Bill, including tip and an extra beer (as you do) was € 50. Excellent value. Will come back next time I’m in the neighbourhood.

Since opening last spring, this has been a welcome addition to Dorset St for myself and friends in a nearby choir.
The menu changes a little from time to time which is great for frequent visitors like me. Favourite dishes include the hazelnut crust chicken with homemade slaw, fish chips and wasabi peas and the steak sandwich. I normally keep clear of steak sandwiches as they’re like eating cardboard but the one I ordered last night was pink, tender and absolutely gorgeous.
Staff are generally friendly and attentive and there’s a great selection of craft beers on tap and bottled, although some are a bit expensive. There’s plenty of space and a couple of big tables and couches which is great for meetings as is the free wifi.
One slightly odd gripe is the fact that when the new owners took over and renovated, they didn’t rename it to differentiate from the other Kavanagh’s pub up the street which causes a bit of confusion for directing people!
One major bonus? They don’t have TVs everywhere which the footie on.

First off: Whoever put the category in as «American» is way off base! Might want to fix that, Unilocal team! :-) It’s not American, it’s Irish to the core!
Ate and drank here for the first time on a Saturday night last week. Very impressed I must say. If you’ve been to the sister venue in Stoneybatter then you may already know the score: food and drink; where food is hearty, Irish-​sourced where possible, and somewhat interesting /​inventive but at low-​mid prices. And a sense of humour! Drink includes one of the best selection of both bottled and draught beers available, plus interesting jam jar cocktails and a rather good whiskey selection.
Very impressed with the food: we had some black pudding won-​tons to start, and some excellent cold smoked salmon (very good), and then beetroot tart /​sausages /​mash/​gravy for mains. Minor niggle on the tart (I was expecting something more of a real pastry beetroot tart, as opposed to a filo-​pastry bundle) — tasted great, just a little different to what I probably though tit was going to be.
All in all — very good: knowledgable, interested staff behind the bar who asked you about whether you liked the food, and the drink, and seemed to actually care about what the answer was, as opposed to having it «customer trained» in to them.
And of course, they serve Metalman beer. Awesome!

Can I start by saying, seen as it is still under the same name, that if you have been here before the 20^th March 2012 then you were in a different pub.
As of that date it is owned by a new company and has been refurbished.
Sauntered in here last night to find a really bright and spacious pub, I had been in here when it was under other ownership and it was a dark pub… the likes of what you see in spy movies!
The staff, being from L. Mulligan Grocers, were bright, cheery & knowledgeable. I seen one of them successfully convert a local woman to start drinking Pale Ale’s.
There was ¹⁰⁄₁₂ taps, with no sign of where they might have a cask. But with a pint of Galway Hooker costing 4.50 compared to 4.65 for a Heineken in a pub around the corner, I would hope they will be converting more locals to proper brews.
If you like a different whiskey, then they have a vast selection — will try and add the photo I took.
The downsides/​bad points:
Please note it had only opened on the day.
No food for me to try out — I will come back next week.
It was a bit empty — which will hopefully change as people hear about it.
The mens toilets were in a state — Seriously, this is the opening night (open 1 hour) and the urinal was blocked up, there was a ladder to get into the ceiling in the middle of the floor. And the worst was the lock on one of the cubicles was broken. I mean it was only open an hour, so no customer had time to break it. Overlooking such things while trying to make a good first impression is a bad start.
Anyway I will go back in a week and update with, hopefully, a better review.