(and Always)
It’s never been more vital to support Queer-Owned Spaces in Dublin. Put your money where your morals are as often as you can.
As someone who has worked in hospitality, I know that the people who run our bars, restaurants, and cafés shape the atmosphere more than the decor or the playlist ever could. And in any city like Dublin it’s meaningful to walk into a space and know it’s queer. Not coded or presumed, or allied but owned, operated, and shaped by LGBTQ+ people. That knowledge changes the experience, especially if you’re someone used to scanning a room before reaching for your partner’s hand.
This Pride weekend why not spend your time and money supporting them even if you don’t fancy going fully rainbow pasties.
01
L. Mulligan Grocer
Run by beer writer and queer publican Seáneen Sullivan, this Stoneybatter gastropub has long championed Irish producers, independent drinks, and sustainable hospitality. It’s a textbook third space. Somewhere you can go alone and end up in conversation, where the staff genuinely care, and where queerness is present without being performative.
02
Social Fabric
Run by Monica Penkos and Karolina Zajbert this one often flies even further under the radar than most. It serves fresh, thoughtful food that makes you stay for a second coffee. Made with queer roasted beans from Cloud Picker, naturally creating a full circle of queer supporting queer in a tasty cup of bean juice.
03
Lemon Jelly
Ten years ago a Redditor declared that “Lemon Jelly is a nice restaurant which has become basically “lesbians only”. And while it’s definitely not exclusively lesbians, it is very much a queer space. OGs, or more accurately elder millennials, will remember when Lemon Jelly opened on the Millennium Walkway bringing crepes and smoothies to a Dublin sorely lacking in both. Brian Keogh has been the managing director there since 2005. He employs a plethora of LGBTQ+ plus people with many of them working there for many years. Go for the Essex Way, stay for the always banging playlist.
04
Slice & The Cake Café
Ray O’Neill is the owner of Slice in Stoneybatter and The Cake Café off Camden Street which have been quiet pillars of queer hospitality for years. During lockdown, Ray was part of GCN’s In & Out festival, teaching people how to bake cookies from home. The “Pandademic” ones became legend. His food is high quality with a dash of showy. Perfect for queers in need of a soft seat and something sweet.
05
Stage Door Café
Temple Bar is divisive at best but the team at Stage Door have done a great job of fostering a queer space in the heart of it. They describe themselves online as “a tight-knit family committed to creating lasting memories” which they have been doing for over twenty years. The owner operator, Alan, is a community oriented man. He once gave me a free coffee when I was counting my change at 7am because I was his “first customer of the day”. That was easily 15 years ago, and I still tell people that story when I recommend them as a pitch perfect scrambled eggs on toast.
06
Two Boys Brew
This is a Northside café with impeccable eggs, friendly service, and two out gay men at the helm. Kevin and Taurean’s café has been open since 2016, and I don’t think I’ve ever been in without seeing someone who clearly needed the refuge it offers. Plus the coffee is next level.
07
Cloud Picker Café
Frank Kavanagh and Peter Sztal’s café and roastery on Pearse Street is technically just a great place to get a coffee. Their values of care, precision, and community radiate through every choice in their business from the confectionary they choose to the year round iced coffees they offer.
08
La Gordita & Las Tapas de Lola
I’ve had many a celebratory oyster at La Gordita, the younger sister of Las Tapas de Lola. Both are owned by Anna Cabrera and Vanessa Murphy, an Irish-Spanish lesbian couple who’ve created two of the most beloved restaurants in the city. The food is deeply felt, the atmosphere is fizzy with intimacy, and the romance of each space is unique.
09
Table 45
This queer-run spot hosts craft nights, and elicits the kind of queer joy that can’t be PR’d. The food’s great, yes but so too is the spirit of the place. It’s got that IYKYK energy and it serrrrvessss.
10
Bismarck
Bismarck feels like a queer dinner party. Low light, niche wine, quality produce, ‘before they were famous’ bands, book clubs, movie nights. Everything here feels like fun silly secrets passed between friends. It’s gay in the way a secondhand book is, or a playlist that only includes tracks by women. Just drop by and grab a glass of wine. Perfect way to support Queer-Owned Spaces in Dublin.
11
Bahay
Owned by fellow bisexual adhd gal Alex O’Neill this pop up is still very much part of the queer sphere of hospitality. Many bisexuals in straight presenting relationships, like Alex is with Richie, struggle with their place on lists like this in the company of trailblazers. But there is something distinctly queer about a bisexual front of house operation. Bahay creates a homey feel wherever they pop up and that’s worth supporting this Pride. Especially with all the biphobia floating in the ether.
Home Base
Panti Bar, Penny Lane, The George, Street 66
Yes, they’re obvious. But they’re also essential. Panti Bar is still the beating heart of Dublin Pride, and Penny Lane’s glitter disco ball remains the best lighting in the city. Street 66 serves the city’s best craic and allows dogs. The George is home base. These spaces hold us dancing, drinking, flirting, grieving. Always.
During Pride, and especially this year where the global political climate is giving WW3 aura it feels even more urgent to remember where our money goes and who it supports. Queer hospitality is often invisible in the mainstream. So this Pride, upport Queer-Owned Spaces in Dublin. Go where the queers are. Eat well. Drink better. And Pride like you mean it.
