The best restaurants in Waterford

11/04/2025: We loved our time at Grattan Bar! We walked the distance from our hotel because of the great reviews on food and service. Let me tell you, they’re right! Our server was so kind and attentive- making sure that dietary requests were understood and met. The atmosphere was perfect and the lager was spot on. The fish and chips were delicious. High recommendation from this visitor!!

04/04/2025: Very welcoming atmosphere with amazing traditional Irish food! Could not recommend enough!!

29/03/2025: Excellent food and service and a cool vibe

28/03/2025: Best coffee, cakes and handmade chocolates in Waterford. Sitting watching the cakes come out of the oven is a delight 🤤. Highly recommend.

30/03/2025: My wife and I had a great experience here. The wait staff was friendly and the food was tasty.

22/03/2025: Came in without a reservation and was able to squeeze in, but definitely should make a reservation as it is quite busy! Excellent customer service and delicious food! The staff was very attentive and made us feel very welcome! Good variety of wines available!

05/04/2025: Best food and best staff 10/10 couldn't get better

26/03/2025: Emiliano's delivered an incredibly authentic Italian experience, with some concessions to local preferences. The ambience is super nice. The interior design makes it feel like one is in a trattoria in the center/south of Italy during summer. Most of the waiters and waitresses are Italian. They are all very attentive. The menu has a lot of truly Italian courses with a few things that probably try to accommodate local taste. Everything I tried was very good. Some things were good but not in the way I would have expected. For example the pasta with meatballs didn't have the type of taste that I would expect to find in a restaurant, rich and filling, but it tasted like an Italian mum or grandma may prepare for the family during a normal day. This place came highly recommended by a friend who lives in Waterford and I can see why. I will definitely go back when in the area.

31/03/2025: This place is my favourite cafe in Dublin and I’ve sampled a few the food is always top notch and I still haven’t gotten a bad meal from here the staff are always helpful and extremely friendly and the desserts always very good too I personally recommend the rice crispy square. You won’t ever go wrong here if you choose to eat

29/03/2025: Excellent food, decent service. It's small but seems like people come and go regularly. I was surprised at the portion sizes and how delicious the food was for how unassuming the place it. Recommend it!

20/03/2025: Simple but well-equipped restaurant with a variety of dishes. Also vegetarian cuisine. However, I ate a very good Blaa on site. A regionally limited specialty.

13/03/2025: Lovely coffee, Lovely atmosphere and lovely staff.

27/03/2025: Great coffee Great food. Just like a vist to Roma !

15/03/2025: Fantastic, flavourful food, friendly service, good pricing. Make sure to make a reservation!

09/04/2025: Great service, great atmosphere, allergens where hard to find out, not many food options for people with dietary requirements

08/04/2025: We ordered hot drinks and desserts here. The desserts did not look or taste fresh. My child had hot chocolate and then had stomach problems. Despite the large number of positive reviews, I'm not sure I'll come here again.

31/03/2025: Gorgeous meal recently. Staff friendly and knowledgeable about the menu, cosy booth seating available and the food was perfect!

18/03/2025: We found food in Bodega to be incredibly tasty: both meaning that it has a strong taste and that the taste is deeply enjoyable. That's a very good reason to give it a second chance as the rest (service and atmosphere) was not where we would have liked it to be. We went in on a very busy night and so we're ready for some sub optimal things. We were surprised when we got our food in 12 mins (not what you would expect for a crispy duck leg and fresh pasta). We were also quite disappointed when the 2 cocktails we ordered arrived when we were toward the end of our main, after we had to solicit them and the waiters came back a couple of times to clarify the orders they had taken. The atmosphere was very lively but seeing waiters literally running up and down the place and repeatedly dropping glasses and glass bottles didn't help having a relaxing enjoyable night. That contested with them literally stopping to talk to customers who were paying to go and hugh other customers who were leaving. It didn't help that at the table right close to us there was a very loud group of friends celebrating someone's birthday.

23/03/2025: A fantastic spot. We had the Guinness pie. It was was mouth watering. We would highly recommend it and we will be back please god

03/02/2025: Great menu, delicious food and I'd recommend the bacon ribs 💙💙💙

20/02/2025: I asked for a “medium rare” steak, and I got “bleu”. Was like a wobbly water ballon on plate. They took the steak back to the kitchen - only after all the waiting staff had a good poke around at it - whereupon they served me the same steak now “well done”. €40 for the hassle. Won’t be back!

13/02/2025: Went with my girlfriend, we experienced the best service we could have asked for from all the staff. She was shocked that the staff would take her jacket for her. Food was incredible, the Filet steak is perfection. Could not recommend this place any more, one of the best nights of my life and very fairly priced based on the quality and service you’re receiving!

24/03/2025: Service 10/10 as always and food amazing

24/03/2025: I got the Cajun chicken ciabatta in a meal was 10/10 . Service was phenomenal really attentive and very courteous. Price was also very good for the quality and quantity of food. Would definitely return. We had sat outside as it was nice but good selection of seating too.

09/03/2025: Very nice and centrally located. Very friendly and helpful staff. For me the best hotel in Waterford in this price range.

07/02/2025: During my time living right in front of the Waterford Marina Hotel, both before and after Covid, their restaurant became a place of comfort and delight for me. Though I never stayed in the hotel itself, I found myself returning to Elva time and time again, especially on the days when I didn’t feel like cooking. It wasn’t just about convenience—it was about the experience. The food was always outstanding, crafted with care and presented beautifully. Every meal felt like a small indulgence, a quiet moment of joy in the midst of daily life. But what truly made Elva special was the atmosphere. There was a deep sense of tranquility there, a kind of peacefulness that made it the perfect place to unwind. Whether I was sitting alone, savoring a meal, or sharing the space with others, I always felt welcome. And then, of course, there was the staff. Warm, attentive, and genuinely kind, they had a way of making every visit feel personal. I never once had to ask for anything—they anticipated needs before they even arose, always proactive, always professional. But beyond their efficiency, they were simply lovely people, ready to chat, to share a smile, or to offer a moment of connection that made the experience all the more special. If I ever find myself back in Waterford, I know without a doubt that I’ll be returning to the restaurant of Marina. Not just for the food, but for the warmth, the familiarity, and the feeling of being somewhere that truly cares about its guests.

19/03/2025: Flawless tasting menu with the perfect pairing of wine. A must try! We ended the dinner feeling happy, satisfied and not overly full, which is always a risk with this type of food experience. We found the pace to be perfect. We never had a dull moment. There was a perfect cadence of: bring the wine, explain the wine, allow a few minutes to enjoy it, bring the new course, explain the course, taste the course, clean, bring the new glass & restart. Toward the end of the dinner we started noticing how they adapted seamlessly to the pace of every table so that it felt they always left exactly the same time in between stages while they clearly weren't. Very smooth. Luis has great storytelling and a very good sense of humor that brought lightheartedness to the dinner, something that we always like and made us feel super comfortable. In fact, while it's clear there a lot of work went into preparing the dinner and then in serving it, I would never call this a "fancy dinner". It just didn't feel so, which means bonus points for me. All the 7 wines served were very interesting and tasty. Some were even surprising (like the first, which was a sweet wine!). All the courses were an explosion of flavour, often presented in surprising ways and the base ingredients were clearly very good. If I have to call out one single area of improvement, I think the finale could be improved. I found the mini madeleine of the petit-fours underwhelming. I then lacked a strong taste to end, something like coffee as they don't have decaf (they said they are getting a new machine) or a spirit (I think they only have wine & dessert wine)

26/01/2025: This was a beautiful place to eat. I could not recommend it highly enough. Food was top class. Owner was very attentive and pleasant. We will definitely return.

06/04/2025: Great spot for breakfast or lunch. Highly recommend!

28/03/2025: Friendly service, very helpful with my elderly fathers food requirements, highly recommended