Slattery’s Bar Dublin Review:
Irish Breakfast Like Bourdain

“I love that this place hasn’t changed at all,” I said to my husband as we sat at our two-top table in a corner of Slattery’s Bar in Dublin, awaiting a much-needed plate of starch, protein, and a few tomatoes thrown on top. The hidden subtext was, of course, that it hasn’t changed since Anthony Bourdain visited back in 2012; some places become so popular that they lose the soul of what they are and do best. But not Slattery’s.

While we hadn’t been out putting back pints of Guinness the night before in the Irish capital as Bourdain was before his visit, we were a few days out from a bout of bad food poisoning in London and I finally had an appetite. I knew that despite our short trip to Dublin, there was one place we had to get a proper Irish breakfast: the place Tony did the same during his visit.

Anthony Bourdain ate at Slattery’s Bar while filming The Layover in 2012; his endorsement of the restaurant’s Irish breakfast has given this otherwise innocuous Dublin pub a halo reputation – but how is Slatterry’s now, a decade on?

I ate at Slattery’s Bar in Dublin in September 2022, and wanted to put my thoughts together into a review for fellow Bourdain enthusiasts who might be planning to dine here during their Irish holiday. Read on for my full Slattery’s Bar Dublin review, plus a video I put together during our meal there.

Want to watch Tony’s visit to Slattery’s in Dublin?
The Dublin episode of The Layover can be seen on Amazon.

Visiting Slattery’s Pub in Dublin

First, let’s cover the basics of Slattery’s to help you plan your trip:

• Address: 129 Capel St, Dublin, Ireland
• Hours:
  • Monday: 7am – 12am
  • Tuesday & Wednesday: 9am – 12am
  • Thursday, Friday & Saturday: 9am – 1am
  • Sunday: 12pm – 11pm
• Website: slatterys.bar

Slattery’s is located north of the River Leith in what’s officially called the North City. It sits at the corner of Capel Street and Mary Street Little; it’s easy to spot with an iconic black and white exterior.

It’s within easy walking distance from O’Connell Street (the main north-south arterial through north Dublin), as well as more popular tourist sites like Temple Bar and the Ha’penny Bridge. We stayed near Arran Quay and Bridge Street, and it was an easy, flat 10-minute walk.

Almost every day is a great day to visit Slattery’s based on their hours, however I wouldn’t plan Sunday breakfast or brunch here though, as they don’t open ’til noon on Sundays. We visited on a Friday morning and the pub was about 1/3 full during our meal.

Inside Slattery’s Bar Dublin

Picture in your mind the perfect pub: Slattery’s hits pretty close to the mark. The primary design elements are rich emerald green and wood; the walls themselves are covered almost entirely in historic photos and framed artifacts from the Irish civil war.

There are all kinds of different seating options: low tables, high tables, spots at the bar, and even a tiny round table tucked under the stairs with a booth. There is also an upstairs area, though I didn’t go up to see what was up there.

Most importantly, there’s proof that Tony ate here – aside from the fact that we know from the episode. On one pillar near the stairs to the bathroom, you’ll find two frames; one includes several newspaper clippings about Tony’s visit and the other is pictured above and includes a screenshot of him enjoying his breakfast at Slattery’s Bar.

Irish Breakfast at Slattery’s

Speaking of breakfast… At the end of the day, the most important aspect of any place that Anthony Bourdain ate was the food and how well it represented the place he was visiting. So after his visit and all the attention that came with it, how was my breakfast at Slattery’s?

Well, first off, let’s cover what you should order. Slattery’s offers two Irish breakfasts: the Mighty Breakfast (€10.95) includes two McCarron’s Irish Bacon, two Tournafulla sausages, one each of Tournafulla black and white puddings, tomatos, hash brown, a fried egg, and toast, served with tea or coffee, and the Medium Breakfast (€8.95) is one bacon, one sausage, black and white puddings, a fried egg, toast, and tea or coffee.

I’m not sure which one Tony ate, but I recommend the Mighty Breakfast; it includes everything that’s traditionally served in a full Irish breakfast and actually isn’t a huge portion size by American standards.

So how was my Mighty Breakfast? Honestly: delicious and weird. As an American, we don’t have a spread of breakfast proteins like the Irish breakfast, but it was a great start to the day to have so many different meats to try and enjoy. I’ve had black and white puddings before on previous to visits to Ireland, and actually enjoyed them more than in the past; white pudding is my favorite of the two.

The best part of my breakfast was the toast, even though I look skeptical about it above (also it’s weird to be photographed/filmed eating – Anthony Bourdain must have had to get over that quickly!). Fresh-baked bread and deliciously salty Irish butter made toast the perfect starch to swirl around in the runny egg yolks, and push the greasy sausage and bacon rashers onto my fork.

So is it worth visiting Slattery’s? Absolutely. Has it been ruined by Anthony Bourdain’s visit? Definitely not. Slattery’s Bar retains its unique atmosphere even as enthusiasts like you and I make our pilgrimages to eat there – and the two Irish breakfast options do justice to the dish while bringing back memories of Tony.

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Have any questions about my Slattery’s Bar Dublin review or planning your own visit? Let me know in the comments below!