Every Dubliner has an opinion on where the best pint of Guinness is poured. Clean lines, a cool cellar, high turnover and a patient two-part pour all make a difference you can taste. Here are 10 Dublin pubs with a reputation for getting it right.
Worth knowing before you go
- At the Guinness Storehouse academy, staff teach the six-step pouring ritual and count the 119.5 seconds it takes to pour a perfect pint. (source)
- Guinness reviewer Daragh Curran (the ‘Guinness Guru’) has rated 250 Irish pubs; only three scored over nine out of ten, and two of those were in Dublin – Bowe’s (9.2) and The Gravediggers (9.3). (source)
- The Storehouse’s Gravity Bar, on top of the old fermentation plant at St James’s Gate, gives a 360-degree view of the city, from the Wicklow Mountains – source of the brewing water – to the Phoenix Park. (source)
How we picked
We looked for pubs repeatedly named for their Guinness by Irish press, Guinness fans and pub guides, that are open in 2026. Turnover, cellar care and pouring craft mattered more to us than décor.
Best pints of Guinness in Dublin: the quick list
- John Kavanagh “The Gravediggers” (Glasnevin, Dublin 9 (beside Glasnevin Cemetery, ~20 min from the centre)): The pint many call Dublin’s holy grail
- Mulligan’s (Dublin 2, Poolbeg Street (near O’Connell Bridge and Trinity)): No-nonsense bar staff and a legendary pour
- Bowe’s (Dublin 2, Fleet Street (edge of Temple Bar)): Whiskey-bar calm and a top-rated pour
- Grogan’s Castle Lounge (Dublin 2, South William Street (Creative Quarter, near Grafton St)): Toasties, art and people-watching
- Kehoe’s (Dublin 2, South Anne Street (off Grafton St)): A Grafton Street pint with heritage snugs
- The Long Hall (Dublin 2, South Great George’s Street (near Dublin Castle)): A great pint in a Victorian showpiece
- John Fallon’s “The Capstan Bar” (Dublin 8, The Liberties (The Coombe)): Four centuries of pints in the Liberties
- Walsh’s (Dublin 7, Stoneybatter (near the Jameson Distillery, Smithfield)): Award-winning Stoneybatter local
- Ryan’s of Parkgate Street (Dublin 8, Parkgate Street (by Phoenix Park and Heuston)): Victorian snugs by the Phoenix Park
- Gravity Bar, Guinness Storehouse (Dublin 8, St James’s Gate (The Liberties)): The pint with the best view in Dublin
1. John Kavanagh “The Gravediggers”
Eight generations of Kavanaghs have run this bar since 1833, and it shares a wall with Glasnevin Cemetery – legend says gravediggers once tapped on the wall for a pint passed through the railings. There is no music and no TV, so the Guinness gets all the attention: BBC Travel’s pub expert calls it simply the best in Dublin, and Daragh Curran gave it 9.3. Pair it with a bowl of coddle, the classic Dublin stew.
- Known for: The pint many call Dublin’s holy grail
- Where: 1 Prospect Square, Glasnevin, Dublin 9, D09 CF72
- Good to know: It is cash only, and the kitchen takes Sundays and bank holidays off.
- Website: instagram.com
2. Mulligan’s
Mulligan’s began as a shebeen and has been legal since 1782; James Joyce drank here and set a scene of his story ‘Counterparts’ in its back room, and a young journalist called John F. Kennedy came to see Joyce’s seat in the 1950s. The decor has hardly moved and the pint is legendary – the Guinness Guru names it as the one he always goes back to. Now run by a third generation of the Cusack family, with barmen as quick with a quip as with a pour.
- Known for: No-nonsense bar staff and a legendary pour
- Where: 8 Poolbeg Street, Dublin 2, D02 TK71
- Good to know: Don’t expect fuss or service with a smile – prop yourself at the bar, let the pint settle and enjoy the regulars’ banter.
- Website: instagram.com
3. Bowe’s
Pouring pints since the 1800s, Bowe’s is all wood and brass, with no blaring TVs and one of the city’s best whiskey shelves. Its Guinness scored 9.2 from Daragh Curran, one of only three pubs out of 250 he rated above nine. Quiet by day, it is the sort of place where you will be chatting at the bar within minutes.
- Known for: Whiskey-bar calm and a top-rated pour
- Where: 31 Fleet Street, Dublin 2, D02 DF77
- Good to know: Opens at noon (1pm on Sundays) – an early-afternoon pint is the quietest way to enjoy it.
- Website: bowespub.com
4. Grogan’s Castle Lounge
Founded in the late 19th century, Grogan’s became a magnet for Dublin’s artists and writers in the 1970s, and its walls are still hung with ever-changing local art. Lonely Planet’s Dublin team praises the quality of its stout, and its corner terrace is one of the city’s great people-watching spots. Don’t leave without the famous ham and cheese toastie.
- Known for: Toasties, art and people-watching
- Where: 15 South William Street, Dublin 2, D02 H336
- Good to know: No music and no sport on screens – it is a pub for conversation; the toastie comes with a jar of mustard.
- Website: instagram.com
5. Kehoe’s
Kehoe’s makes the bold claim of the ‘best pint in Dublin’, and plenty agree: BBC Travel’s pub expert praises its ‘beautiful Guinness’, and Lonely Planet says everyone loves it for the stout. And you get to drink it in an 1803 pub-grocer with its original snugs. Friendly staff keep the pints coming even when it is rammed.
- Known for: A Grafton Street pint with heritage snugs
- Where: 9 South Anne Street, Dublin 2, D02 NY88
- Good to know: Doors open at 10.30am Monday to Saturday (11.30am on Sunday) – arrive early to bag a snug.
- Website: kehoesdublin.ie
6. The Long Hall
Time Out says it serves ‘a cracking pint of Guinness’, and with no food and no music the pint is the whole point. Drinking it under the 1881 mahogany, mirrors and chandeliers of one of Dublin’s oldest licensed premises only improves the experience.
- Known for: A great pint in a Victorian showpiece
- Where: 51 South Great George’s Street, Dublin 2
- Price guide: pint of Guinness ~€6.50 (Dublin Spirit, 2026)
- Good to know: On Fridays, come before 6pm or after 9pm to avoid the crush.
- Website: instagram.com
7. John Fallon’s “The Capstan Bar”
Fallon’s traces its history to 1619, when Dublin was still a walled medieval city, and its wood-panelled interior and Victorian snug have never been modernised. BBC Travel’s pub expert names it Dublin’s best historic pub, and the pub bills its pints as among the city’s finest. It sits among the Liberties’ distilleries, so it is a natural stop after a tour.
- Known for: Four centuries of pints in the Liberties
- Where: 129 The Coombe, The Liberties, Dublin 8, D08 NP52
- Good to know: Opens at noon daily (12.30pm Sunday) and does toasties – ham and cheese, tomato and onion, or a full cheese melt.
- Website: johnfallon.ie
8. Walsh’s
A Victorian heritage pub dating from 1826, Walsh’s has been named Dublin Pub of the Year twice, in 2018 and 2023. Lonely Planet’s Ireland editor calls it her favourite pub in Dublin for ‘great Guinness, always a good atmosphere’, and it has a snug, a fire and stained glass. It is a proper neighbourhood local rather than a tourist stop.
- Known for: Award-winning Stoneybatter local
- Where: 6-7 Stoneybatter, Dublin 7, D07 A382
- Good to know: Live music on Sunday and Monday nights; it opens at 3pm Monday to Thursday and 1pm at weekends.
- Website: walshsstoneybatter.ie
9. Ryan’s of Parkgate Street
A beautifully restored Victorian public house near the Phoenix Park gates, Ryan’s keeps its gas lamps, tea drawers, whiskey barrels and traditional snugs. Lonely Planet rates it as an excellent pub, and it makes the most of a pint with old photos of the 1930s Phoenix Park Grand Prix and the original Guinness toucan on the walls. Upstairs, the F.X. Buckley grill room does dry-aged steaks.
- Known for: Victorian snugs by the Phoenix Park
- Where: 28 Parkgate Street, Dublin 8
- Good to know: The bar doesn’t take table reservations, but the restaurant upstairs does.
- Website: thebuckleycollection.ie
10. Gravity Bar, Guinness Storehouse
The glass-walled Gravity Bar crowns the Guinness Storehouse, the brewery’s former fermentation plant, and visits end with a pint (or Guinness 0.0) with a 360-degree view stretching from the Wicklow Mountains to the Phoenix Park. Locals will tell you the old pubs pour a better pint, but for a first-timer there is no more dramatic place to taste the stout at its source.
- Known for: The pint with the best view in Dublin
- Where: Guinness Storehouse, St James’s Gate, Dublin 8, D08 VF8H
- Price guide: Storehouse tickets from €24 (official site)
- Good to know: Allow 2–3 hours, and add the Guinness Academy (+€14) if you want to learn the six-step pour and pull your own pint.
- Website: guinness-storehouse.com
Best pints of Guinness in Dublin in pictures
Plan the rest of your day
Want to see where it’s brewed? Pair your pint crawl with a visit to St James’s Gate.
- Guinness Storehouse vs Jameson Distillery
- Join a Dublin pub crawl walking tour
- Our 3 days in Dublin itinerary
- Getting around Dublin: buses, Luas and DART
Prices, opening hours and session times change often, so check each venue’s own website before you go. Information checked October 2026.
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