The best restaurants in Kilkenny

22/01/2026: Almost €8 for a sandwich and €4 for a coffee at a service station can’t be justified by inflation, by “costs,” or by any modern excuse. That’s not paying for quality or service: it’s squeezing a captive customer because they know you’re passing through, tired, or without alternatives. And on top of that, the product is often mediocre or downright bad. The most insulting thing isn’t just the price, it’s the normalization of the rip-off: • Industrial bread • Minimal filling • An average coffee (when it isn’t bad) • And the feeling that they’re taking you for a fool That creates exactly what you felt: indignation—not because of the money, but because of shameless greed. Shameful, yes. And counterproductive too: more and more places jump on that bandwagon and then wonder why people stop going there. The only good thing is that you don’t forget an experience like that: next time, if possible, bring a thermos of coffee, a homemade sandwich, or stop somewhere else. Not because you can’t afford it, but because it’s not worth rewarding abuse.

03/12/2025: Last year, I wrote that the Standards had dropped here with a reducion in the quality of service. This has been completely reformed with a service of high qulity and satisfying breakfast. I highly recommend this facility as a quality stop in your journey. Well done to everyone who carried out the improvements to the service here. I've revised its star rating to 5 stars. Well worth a visit.

01/11/2025: Nice Staff and plenty of options.

24/07/2025: Absolutely blown away by the cake Quigley’s made for my wife’s birthday! It looked stunning, tasted incredible, and was a real showstopper at the party. Everyone was asking where we got it from and my wife couldn’t have been happier! What made it even better was how quick and easy their online ordering service was. Simple to navigate, great communication, and everything was ready exactly as promised. Massive thanks to the whole team at Quigley’s for making the day extra special. We’ll definitely be ordering again for the next occasion! 🎂👏

19/02/2026: I booked a 5pm reservation for Wednesday, but quickly realized it wasn’t necessary — only a few tables were occupied. The room itself is lovely: warm, spacious, beautifully designed, and a welcome break from the cold snap we’ve had this week. I was seated right away, given a menu, and ordered within a few minutes. My wine arrived promptly. All good so far. Comfortable seating, nice view of the street, and only two other tables occupied in my section. The food arrived in a reasonable amount of time. I had the lamb croquettes and the rosemary fries — both nicely prepared, not greasy, and genuinely enjoyable. I’m a slow eater and was also working on my laptop, but eventually I pushed my plates aside and placed my empty wine glass where it could easily be seen. And this is where things went off the rails. There were three servers on the floor and roughly the same number of tables seated, yet for about 25 minutes no one noticed that my food was finished and my glass was empty. I attempted eye contact several times — no luck. I’m not someone who waves down servers unless I absolutely have to, but eventually I did. I asked for another glass of wine; the server took the order and hurried off, leaving the plates on the table. She brought back the wine but still didn’t clear anything. I finished the second glass and the plates sat there for another half hour. No check-ins. No clearing. Nothing. Eventually I had to turn fully around and wait until one of the three staff chatting behind the bar happened to notice me. When the young woman finally approached, she simply stood there with raised eyebrows, saying nothing, as though she couldn’t imagine what I might want. I asked for a dessert menu; only then did she remove the plates before disappearing again. Ten more minutes passed. She served another table behind me, but didn’t bring the menu. I had to flag down yet another server to ask *again*. When I was ready to order dessert, same issue — I had to flag someone down a third time. At this point I genuinely wondered if I had somehow offended the staff. The dessert (sticky toffee pudding, which was lovely) arrived promptly. I worked on my laptop while I ate, couldn’t finish it, and pushed the plate aside. And again: twenty minutes with zero acknowledgement. I eventually had to flag someone down to ask for the bill. The plate remained untouched. By now the room was getting a little busier, but nowhere near what I’d call “busy.” When no one returned with payment options, I made a visible show of packing up my laptop and putting on my coat — the universal signal for “this table is ready to close out.” Still nothing. I finally walked my bill to the bar and paid there. For context: I worked in the service industry for years. I eat out at home a couple of times a week, and now that I’m traveling I’m doing it daily. I know the difference between an overwhelmed team and a disengaged one. This was not a case of being slammed. This was a case of no one paying attention. I *always* tip. Even when it’s not expected, even when service has been mediocre. I did not leave a tip. **Conclusion:** Statham’s — your food is very good, and your room is gorgeous. Someone clearly cares about the design and atmosphere. But your front-of-house team needs training. When service is the weak link, the whole experience suffers.

31/01/2026: Fantastic new menu. Had the trout, cauliflower and almond, my partner had the carbonara chicken schnitzel. Delicious! We both had truffle hash browns… to die for!!! Eva the waitress was fantastic.

03/11/2025: Excellent bookshop. Helpful and friendly staff.

14/10/2025: Rather over-priced café. Nice mezzanine space over looking main street. Friendly staff. Cramped toilet space. Upstairs venue so not wheelchair or child buggy friendly.

09/01/2026: What a bar, tuam nice place usually pass by it, but on this occasion we stopped in for a few. The blonde with the black skirt absolute creamers. Sue perb.

15/12/2025: Unreal evening with incredible staff. Absolutely incredible venue.

25/12/2025: Great place! Walking distance to lots of things--shopping, pubs, castle... Parking ramp right across the street.

20/12/2025: No complimentary parking is annoying

21/11/2025: Sarah and Julie are the best, 🥰💛

11/10/2025: Lovely pub, great atmosphere and service

29/12/2025: A very pretty café in the city center. Cozy atmosphere – and quite busy! We were there at lunchtime and had a delicious soup of the day. Good value for money!

18/12/2025: We all had delicious food. This was my second visit travelling through Kilkenny in a week, a treasure of a Café.

11/03/2026: Lovely place - had two fish n chips and 4 pints of Guinness here with my girlfriend and our dog, people here are friendly and the staff is really nice to everyone. Would recommend to anyone looking for a nice time

02/03/2026: Fine Jug O’ Ale poured by the big ‘Nach himself. Pionois!

12/11/2025: Delicious food and great service with a smile. What more could you ask for.

22/07/2025: Great place. Food is tasty and portions are large. Really liked capri special and onion rings.

22/10/2025: Spent an hour or so there last June. Wonderful atmosphere. Friendly service, good food. One of my favorite stops in Ireland. Just a very comfortable place to be. A great place for quiet conversation of an afternoon.

29/07/2025: Cute bar and gift shop all in one worth the look

26/09/2025: I live about 5 miles away out of the dozen in the same radius this is by far the best takeaway. Good food and great service. They Answer the phone even when busy, get the order right, in at most 15-20 min & the food is good. An excellent chipper all round. Keep up the good work.

31/05/2025: Wonderful local ‘chipper’ spotlessly clean with friendly hard working staff. The food was excellent with generous portions. I had Southern fried chicken , chips and chilli sauce, excellent. But the highlight was the smiling friendly staff. It is worth going in just to see the pizza ladies smile, Rosalia I think was her name. I will be ordering Pizza next time 😁

31/12/2025: The service is excellent, especially thanks to Joel for his advice and help. The hotel is very, very nice. However, the value for money isn't great; it's expensive for the quality of the facilities.

17/11/2025: While the hotel is very beautiful, it feels like they rely on their historic charm over actually providing premium products. We booked our room through a third party (which may have led to some of the issues) but we did not get the room we booked. We paid for a King, but got a Full and a Single. A married couple sleeping on the full was less than spacious. The mattress was beyond hard, my spouse and I woke up with shoulder and hip pain all night. There were no outlets by the headboard to plug in electronics. The tv in the room was very small and dated. The bathroom tub wasn’t angled properly, resulting in you standing in water your entire shower. The bathroom toiletries appeared to be watered down, as they were very runny. The bathroom towels were very thin, but did the job. The hotel location was convenient, customer service was excellent, I appreciated the welcome cocktails, and the hotel was beautiful, but at the end of the day of your room is uncomfortable there’s no point in staying there.

10/11/2025: Love the customer service here 😀

12/09/2025: i was having a really bad day today, but then iwent to supervalu ballyragget...it got even worse, i was on the brink and then i came in here and it pushed me over the edge, first i watched thru the doors and strolled to the deli, i asked for a chicken fillet roll and he got that, grand, i then proceeded to ask for egg mayo and he then proceeded to smack the egg mayo on the roll like he was trying to stick it to the wall, he then put the fillet in. he just put the fillet in, without even cutting it, i had to go home and cut it myself and preform the surgery on the roll there, not even cutting in half either, was absolute madness. I wonder had the man every seen a chicken fillet roll in his life