The best restaurants in Kilkenny

13/06/2026: Great spot with a savage outdoor area, owner is a gent

22/05/2026: Great bar. I really like this place. It caters for all age groups easily. Lovely area out the back. Great pint, great service and staff. They cater for all sports fans but it's not consuming the atmosphere.

22/09/2026: Food was good, staff were friendly

29/08/2026: Lovely food Fine atmosphere OK service

17/08/2026: I loved the food here.. there’s just 1 staff member who is so very rude! As I loved the food when I came with my husband, I went back alone on my lunch break and this lady kept avoiding giving me the menu.. I had to leave the restaurant , the same thing happened yesterday but then another kind waiter noticed and got me the menu. If the management is interested- For lack of a better description: This server was wearing a brown shirt yesterday and is around 5 feet tall. This is not to vent, But if someone else has felt uncomfortable by this lady’s service then You are not alone.. Anyway The food is lovely and the other staff members are lovely to deal with.

05/08/2026: Really good sandwiches. Great presentation, creative flavors, and generous portions. Reasonable price. The espresso was good too. Friendly staff. Highly recommended.

14/09/2026: I ordered a fish and chips today which is €18.50. I was expecting a decent portion for this price. Unfortunately, I was only given two very small pieces of fish, with half of the plate taken up by some salad leaves. I mentioned this to the waitress (Jean - it would be unfair on the other friendly staff unless singled out here) who simply walked away with no care in the world, and left us waiting fifteen minutes to pay the bill. Very disappointing for such a nice hotel. Would not recommend. Many other nicer restaurants in the city.

30/07/2026: Hmmm. Upfront: absolutely no complaints about the food. Cons: Crowded, hardly we've been walked to our table. People being on the balcony are either forgotten or intentionally not served on time. I saw the other table's guests leaving without being served, so yes, this is an area to improve

28/08/2026: Best pub in Kilkenny. Great craic. Great people. Great atmosphere

13/07/2026: No food. Everything else is excellent. Love this place.

03/10/2026: Staff on intercom have very poor English. He had not a clue what we were saying. Ages to take our orders

02/10/2026: I went to the drive through this evening, when I went to order the man on the speaker said "ill just be a second " meanwhile on the other lane five other people ordered, when I said out loud "oh come on" the person on my order speaker laughed and went to take my order, when I asked for a chocolate milkshake, he told me, "we don't have any milkshakes" I told him to forget the whole order. I've been here a few times and numerous times there have been no milkshakes, the burgers and fries were barely warm and the bins overflowing, this is a poorly ran mcdonalds. I wasted 10 minutes queuing, a simple sign outside with,"sorry no milkshakes this evening " would be helpful. Also the person in front of me got a mcflurry, surely if there's ice cream there has to be milkshakes, or has this civilization lost their ingenuity.

28/06/2026: Daily commute to work. This is a great Pitstop for food fuel and good coffee

12/04/2026: For fuels ,hot foods sit inn take out ,lotto ,lots

02/05/2026: The Hibernian is in an excellent location in Kilkenny. The staff are so helpful and patient, especially Andrew. Would 100/10 recommend their brunch. A great event for any occasion. An excellent venue in a very central venue. Thank you!

13/08/2026: This afternoon tea was not a good experience. This was not at all the product advertised online, on Google or on the Langton website. What a disappointment, and a waste of money. We were first accommodated on the terrasse, which was noisy (loud music) and not well-kept. Being too hot, we migrated inside. The place was untidy, with one table still covered in the remains of previous customers. We were served triangle sandwiches, which seemed weird but an afternoon tea comprising sandwiches we didn’t question it, to have them removed from us a few minutes later because they were not intended for us. What became of our nibbled sandwiches I don’t want to know, for I’m not sure the waiter went back in the kitchen… The sandwiches we received were the tiniest I ever had, and not tasty, savory and sweet for the majority of them. I wonder. Too many pastries, and not tasty, especially the macaroon. And the scone!! Cinnamon in it! The gluten-free one was inedible. Two persons asked for green tea, and the other for jasmine tea. The 2 green teas arrived and we had to ask again and again for the jasmine tea. In the end, the waitress told us they were out of stock and the person ordered a green tea instead. She received mint tea 🫩 It turned out the waitress couldn’t find green tea and we had to wait and wait yet again. We had to ask twice for whipped cream and strawberry jam, -and I’m sure we would have never received them had we not asked for them— which arrived in tiny quantity for three people. Hopefully we didn’t need them for the scones were bad. All in all, even the quality of the tea was poor. In the end, we were utterly disappointed by everything, service, environment, quality of the food. And the price! For that! What a rip off.

25/07/2026: While food and service is excellent, it will be hard to beat this place on price 😉 in this economy.

17/03/2026: The masala was far too sweet. The rosgh was good, but there was no noticeable difference between the cheese and the garlic naan. However, it was very quick.

02/02/2026: All the menu items we tasted was weirdly sweet. Just sweet. I have no idea how everything tasted the same kind of sweet, be it paneer, baingan, or even non veg curries. The only thing I liked was samosas. I would sadly not recommend this place to anyone with a spice palate.

23/09/2026: Some funny characters in this place. Good music and a good atmosphere (sometimes)

07/06/2026: A no frills pub. A typical old fashioned English pub with plenty of characters. We've been in a fair few times as a couple despite not living in Bury, and chatted to regulars no problem. The drinks prices are really reasonable. It does attract an older crowd as there are plenty of TVs with horse racing on etc. The staff have always been engaging and we've always been served quickly. Think along the lines of a Last Orders pub and you'll get ehat l mean.

06/06/2026: I chose this upstairs restaurant for a late lunch, and was really glad I did! The barn-like interior, with its timbered ceiling and whitewashed walls, recalled this building's former use as stables and grain store for the castle. It was spacious and clean, with comfortable chairs. The restaurant is self-service, and there was a decent choice of hot meals as well as a cold counter with quiches, jumbo sausage rolls, smoked salmon and various salads. I chose the cold poached salmon with green salad in a balsamic dressing, coleslaw, and grated carrot with raisins. The salmon was the best I'd eaten for a long time, chunky, moist and sprinkled with herbs, and the salads were very fresh and flavourful. The young man who served me at the counter was both charming and helpful. Would have liked to try one of the desserts but I was much too full! My lunch was not cheap but what you would expect to pay for a meal of this quality. Would heartily recommend!

04/05/2026: I had such a wonderful experience at the Kilkenny Design Centre Café, and I felt compelled to share it. From the moment we arrived, everything was warm and welcoming, but what truly made our visit stand out was a staff member named Kate. Kate went above and beyond to make sure my family and I were comfortable and well looked after. She was incredibly friendly, attentive, and genuinely seemed to love what she does—it really shows in how she interacts with customers. She also had great knowledge of the coffee menu and offered helpful recommendations that we all enjoyed. It’s rare to come across service that leaves such a lasting impression, but Kate absolutely did that for us. She made our visit feel special, and we’ll definitely be returning again!!! Highly recommend this café, not just for the lovely setting and food, but for the exceptional staff.

06/10/2026: The staff are very welcome in the people and very friendly 😀 ❤️

12/06/2026: Went during lunchtime and ordered a southern fried ciabatta which had majority of the mayo on one side and the chicken was not well cooked, one of the goujons was grey inside when I bit into it meaning it was undercooked and it had consistentcy of processed meat. For near 11 euro I was very annoyed I didn't just go to a garage instead. A vegan co-worker I was with ordered an Avocado bagel and the bagel wasn't warm but the Avocado was and he said it tasted weird. We contemplated just walking away after our first bites but we were stuck for time and hungry, we both regretted pushing through it afterwards. Maybe the coffee and cakes are okay but I would avoid food during the lunchtime rush if you have to go here.

28/07/2026: Always consistently great food and service with a very relaxed atmosphere for kids. The kids always clean their plates here.

11/07/2026: Food was lovely and staff looked after us very well..