On Monday, Ireland’s restaurants and cafes can reopen their doors to customers, more than three months after Covid-19 restrictions forced them to close. The sector faces unprecedented challenges in the weeks ahead. We asked restaurateurs about their plans for reopening; this is a selection of the responses we received.
DUBLIN CITY
The Chancery Grill Radisson Blu Royal, Dublin 2, thechancerygrill.ie "We're delighted to be reopening on Wednesday, July 1st. We had launched the restaurant not long before lockdown, so we're over the moon to get back in the kitchen and welcome our guests. We're in a lucky position in that the restaurant is brand new and very spacious, so we can still cater for good numbers while maintaining social distancing."
Fallon & Byrne Dublin 2, fallonandbyrne.com "Menus for our Exchequer Street restaurant, which reopens on Monday, are now live. We've been busy behind the scenes and are excited for customers to see our new space. Thanks to everyone who has booked a table so far: we can't wait to welcome you."
Hugo's Dublin 2, hugos.ie "We are reopening on Thursday, July 2nd, five days a week, instead of seven, Tuesday to Saturday. Our normal capacity is 84; with 1m social distancing it's 64. We are fully booked for the first weekend, and heavily booked for the second weekend, but midweek is very slow and lunch reservations are almost nonexistent. We're very anxious. The streets around us are very quiet compared to normal."
Jamie's Italian Dundrum, Dublin 16, jamiesitalian.ie "We are opening on Monday, with a limited menu, in the hope that we can build business up to a decent percentage of where it was. We will be operating with a very limited staff to start with, the level of business dictating how many people we can rehire . We have a big restaurant and are confident that our guests will feel safe while dining, with social distancing guidelines being observed."
Las Tapas de Lola Dublin 2, lapasdelola.com "We're aiming to reopen July 1st, with a much reduced restaurant – 70 per cent of tables gone – but plenty of tapas, wine, beer, laughter and the rest flowing. Weekends are booking up first, but early week starting to fill too. While driven demented by the myriad of guidelines that need clarification, we'll need to adjust for a period, and normality will return. For now we need to build customer confidence. Forget the layers of paperwork, hygiene, distancing – that's our job."
Nightmarket Dublin 6, nightmarket.ie "We're going to continue doing takeaway and delivery in our downstairs area for the foreseeable future. We may open for dine-in customers in our upstairs restaurant in mid- to late July. We will make a decision on that in a few weeks."
Press Up group Dublin, pressupgroup.ie "The majority of our restaurants" – it owns Angelina's, Angelina's Deli, Bison Bar & BBQ, Captain America's, Dollard & Co, Doolally, Elephant & Castle, Isabelle's, Layla's, Mackenzie's, Roberta's, Sophie's, Tomahawk, Union Café, Wagamama and Wowburger – "are reopening on Monday, and we have seen a strong pick up of reservations so far, particularly for Sophie's, Doolally and Angelina's. We have the benefit of having quite large spaces, which will allow us to apply social-distancing measures while still (hopefully) having busy and atmospheric restaurants."
Restaurant 104 Dublin 9, restaurant104.ie "We are reopening on Monday. We had to turn the booking system back on last week to accommodate interest, which was great. The wage-subsidy support until August will help us navigate the first few weeks."
The Saddle Room and Lord Mayor's Lounge Shelbourne hotel, Dublin 2, theshelbourne.com "From Monday the Saddle Room and No 27 The Shelbourne Bar will reopen for lunch and dinner and the Lord Mayor's Lounge will reopen for afternoon tea. We have had to significantly reduce seating capacity in order to abide by physical-distancing guidelines. We have implemented a detailed safety plan and are witnessing a strong increase in reservations and would advise customers to prebook."
Wild Goose Grill Dublin 6, wildgoosegrill.ie "We are back open on Monday and have been pleasantly surprised by the keen interest in bookings. We are going to stick to the 2m distance for moment; we assume this means we do not have to turf people out after 90 minutes, which would be completely alien to our ethos."
CO DUBLIN
Rage Restaurant Blackrock, ragerestaurant.ie "We're opening on Thursday, July 2nd. We'll have dine-in and takeaways options and are also launching cook-at-home meals. We have a few bookings but are very limited capacity-wise."
Volpe Nera Blackrock, volpenera.ie "We are really excited to reopen on Friday, July 10th. We will continue to offer our Volpe Nera at Home meal kits, but it will be wonderful to see guests in our restaurant again. We have already been getting a lot of inquiries . We are very lucky to be so well supported by our community and previous customers."
CO CLARE
Henry's Bistro Ennis, henrysbistro.ie "We are reopening on Friday, July 3rd. The most heartening thing is our regular customers contacting me to book either by phone or even when I'm out doing the shopping. My 10-year-old son, Sam, is astounded how many people stop me to ask about it. He thinks I'm famous. We are opening for dinner Wednesday to Saturday and lunch Friday, with a Sunday long lunch, 12.30-6.30pm. It will all be about public confidence."
CO CORK
Dockand Cork city, dockland.ie "We are hoping to open from Thursday, July 2nd, taking reservations by phone and email. We can't wait to be open again."
Paradiso Cork city, paradiso.restaurant "We are reopening on Wednesday, July 1st. Reservations are steady, but it's trickier to organise in a reduced capacity. It's a learning process, and everyone's excited about the challenge and the potential."
Pilgrim's Rosscarbery, pilgrims.ie "A new kind of Pilgrim's summer of 2020 is coming. We are reopening on Wednesday, July 1st, with a new three-course set menu using the best ingredients from the wilds and waters of west Cork."
The Townhouse ODs Schull, facebook.com/thetownhouseods "We are reopening the gastropub on Monday, and our takeaway option will remain in place. We have a good level of requests for reservations, especially from people with holidays booked in west Cork. People are very flexible, emailing the dates they're here, and asking for reservations on two to four nights, and will take whatever is available."
CO DONEGAL
Lemon Tree Restaurant Letterkenny, lemontreerestaurant.com "We are reopening on Monday for dine-in reservations. We will be opening up with 2m social distancing in place, and our first few nights are looking good. We are booked up for our first night open, albeit at half-capacity. We are offering a new dine-outdoor option, weather permitting. We will also be offering a Lemon Tree to Go street-food-style click-and-collect service and an on-street hatch for ordering and collection."
CO GALWAY
Ardilaun Hotel Galway city, ardilaunhotel.ie "We are delighted to open the Ardilaun Bistro on Monday, and are now taking bookings for lunch, afternoon tea and dinner."
Brasserie on the Corner Galway city, brasseriegalway.com "We are reopening on Monday for lunch and dinner. Bookings are steady – people are excited to get out for dinner again."
Cava and Tartare Galway city, tartaregalway.ie, cavarestaurant.ie "We're taking reservations for Cava and Tartare. We have 60 booked for the first Friday at Cava. It's usually around 90-100, so let's see. We are putting an extra person on the door."
Kai Galway city, kairestaurant.ie "We will be open for lunch on Monday, for walk-ins. Dinner service will start on Tuesday, June 30th, and we will open from Tuesday to Saturday, with a reduced capacity."
The Universal Galway city, theuniversal.site "We are reopening on Wednesday, July 1st. We were fully booked within a few days of putting it up on social media. We've had loads of interest and loads of good-luck messages. All regulars – it feels good. We have a long bar, so that's a no-no for now. We have a good relationship with our landlord, and he has been great. With social distancing and without the wage-subsidy scheme, we would not be able to reopen."
The Kings Head Pub & Bistro Galway city, thekingshead.ie "We will be reopening exclusively as a restaurant on Thursday, July 2nd."
The Twelve Barna, thetwelve.ie "Our team has been practising the fine art of waiting. The wait has been hard, but on Wednesday, July 8th, we get to say again our four favourite words: 'Welcome to the Twelve.'"
The Sea Hare Cleggan, theseahare.ie "We are opening on Friday, July 10th, in our new pop-up location on the pier in Cleggan."
Mitchell's Café Kylemore Abbey, kylemoreabbey.com "We are reopening on Friday, July 3rd, and our opening hours will now be 11.30am to 5pm. There will be reduced seating inside, so we will encourage takeaway, where possible. We are putting picnic benches around the estate, so visitors can enjoy their lunch looking out over the Connemara National Park or Pollacappul lake."
Ballynahinch Castle Hotel & Estate Recess, ballynahinch-castle.com "We are delighted to be reopening our doors to residents and the community from Wednesday, July 1st. Our kitchen team will be busy in the walled garden next week, harvesting produce for our new summer menus."
CO KERRY
Celtic Whiskey Bar Killarney, celticwhiskeybar.com "We're opening on Monday but will also be continuing with our takeaway service, which has proved popular at the weekends."
The Park Hotel Kenmare, parkkenmare.com "We are opening the hotel on Friday, July 10th, and the dining room and the terrace will be for the exclusive use of residents."
Dromquinna Manor Kenmare, dromquinnamanor.com "The Boathouse opens on Monday, and we will also open a new pizzeria, Shutters Pizza, on the pier. Both restaurants have outdoor areas, and both are on the waterfront."
Dooley's Waterville, dooleyswaterville.com "We are getting great reservations, thankfully, and ready to go. We are especially excited about our new rooftop restaurant. We have completed lots of back-to-work-safely webinars with all our really brilliant staff."
CO KILDARE
Aimsir Celbridge, aimsir.ie "We are reopening on Wednesday, July 1st – it's great to see the country slowly start opening back up again. We have definitely missed the social aspect of our day-to-day life at Aimsir. Yes, we won't be going back to 'normal' anytime soon, but our staff are all very excited to finally get back to what they love doing."
CO LAOIS
Kelly Lou Cafes Portlaoise, kellylou.com "We are looking forward to opening up fully on Monday; we are currently working as a takeaway. We are unsure about the reopening guidelines for cafes, regarding bookings. Can't imagine too many booking in for a coffee and a cupcake."
CO LIMERICK
One Pery Square Limerick city, oneperysquare.com "We will open July 1st for lunch, dinner and overnight stays. We are opening a new garden room to enable guests to enjoy more space and lots of new garden and terrace seating."
The Mustard Seed Adare, mustardseed.ie "Delighted to say we are reopening on Monday, and thankful for great interest and local support. Bookings are going well."
CO LOUTH
No 3 Wine Bar and Restaurant Collon, no3collon.com "We are opening on Thursday, July 2nd, to give our chefs a few days to get the kitchen set up again. We've had phenomenal interest for our opening weekend."
CO MEATH
Cinnamon Garden Ashbourne, cinnamongarden.ie "We are reopening on Monday. Taking reservations and having loads of bookings and inquiries."
CO SLIGO
Osta Café Sligo town, osta.ie "Really looking forward to opening on Monday for sit-down service. We have been very busy for takeaway. We won't be taking reservations, as we usually turn tables quickly, but we will have to put in a traffic-light system to manage sanitising between guests. OstaW8, in Manorhamilton, is opening on Thursday, July 2nd."
Walker 1781 Sligo town, walker1781.com "We are opening on Monday, for the first time. Our reservations book shows lots of interest in the first day and the Friday and Saturday. Otherwise people are being very cautious, and lots are saying they will leave it a few weeks."
CO TIPPERARY
Bailey's Hotel Cashel, baileyshotel.com "We are reopening the restaurant on Monday and the hotel on Friday, July 3rd. Restaurant bookings are going very well – not so much the rooms, though. Hopefully that will change when the OPW announce when the Rock of Cashel can reopen."
Mikey Ryan's Cashel, mikeyryans.ie "We are reopening on Monday. We have a new brunch offering from 10.30am every day, and lunch until 3pm. Pizzas in the garden from lunch until evening and dinner menu in two sittings, 6pm and 8.30pm. An outdoor terrace on the plaza in front of Mikey's is coming in July. Bookings are very good, with strong weekend trade returning first."
CO WATERFORD
Cliff House Hotel Ardmore, cliffhousehotel.ie "We are opening from Monday for casual dining and in mid-July for the House restaurant. We can't wait, and bookings are strong. We will be prioritising hotel guests, and our local residents who book. Reservations must be made for all dining."
Everett's Waterford city, everetts.ie "We are reopening on Wednesday, July 1st, and are pleasantly surprised at inquiries for bookings to date."
CO WESTMEATH
The Fatted Calf Athlone, thefattedcalf.ie "We are reopening on Wednesday, July 1st. We've had lots of interest and are looking forward to getting back to work."
CO WEXFORD
Wild & Native Seafood Restaurant Rosslare, wildandnative.ie "We were in the middle of renovating when Covid-19 hit, so all building work came to a halt. We are now back working around the clock to get open as close to the start of July as possible. At the moment our booking system is open for the end of July onwards, and we are filling up very fast. This has been a huge relief. Still a worry, though, for the safety of our staff and our customers that will dine with us."
