Best-of list · Cocktail Guides
The best cocktail bars in Dublin for 2026 — The Vintage Cocktail Club, The Blind Pig, Peruke and Periwig and more. Ireland's serious cocktail rooms.
The short answer
7 ranked rooms follow. How we picked is at the end of this guide.
Dublin's cocktail scene has matured fast in the past decade. The Vintage Cocktail Club opened in 2012 and gave Ireland its first serious cocktail bar. The Blind Pig followed underneath. The 10 below show how Irish whiskey and modern cocktailing combine in rooms across the city. Most are within a 15-minute walk of Trinity College.
Behind an unmarked door off Crown Alley, a 1920s-styled warren of small rooms that rewards a reservation. The cocktail list is long and classically grounded, the service deliberate. Best booked for an early sitting before Temple Bar gets loud. Go for the hidden-room theater with genuine bartending underneath.
Full listing & hours →The city's longest-running speakeasy, a blues-and-jazz cocktail room reached through the usual unmarked routine. The cocktails lean classic, with live music most nights. Open Tuesday to Sunday and late on weekends. Best for a Friday with the band in full swing, though the entry ritual is part of the price.
Full listing & hours →The curved counter favored by Dublin's politicians, press and old money for generations. The pours are classic and properly made, the people-watching unmatched. Best for a Guinness or a precise whiskey before dinner. Go for the history and the room rather than any experimental list.
Full listing & hours →A small, unpretentious Camden Street bar that locals guard closely, strong on records and conversation over spectacle. The cocktails are well made and fairly priced, the welcome genuine. Open from 4pm. Best on a weeknight for an honest drink with no door ritual and no markup, the antidote to the speakeasy circuit.
Full listing & hours →A two-floor Dawson Street cocktail lounge, plush and theatrical, open seven nights. The list is inventive and the whiskey and spirit selection deep; food service stopped in early 2025, so come to drink. Best upstairs for a date, with the bartenders given room to push beyond the classics.
Full listing & hours →Set in the 18th-century wine vaults beneath the Merrion, all stone arches and low light. The cocktails are polished and the whiskey list serious, with live trad sessions Wednesday and Thursday. Best for a quiet, grown-up drink in one of the city's handsomest rooms. Go midweek for the music.
Full listing & hours →Luna sits below Drury Street as a New York style Italian room with a Campari bar and dark booths. It closed in 2019 and reopened under the L'Gueuleton group with fresh pasta and a charcoal grill. Open evenings.
Full listing & hours →