RetroReviews: N1099 Sackville Lounge

This tiny pub has probably caused more heartache for the pub aficionados/Pintmen of Dublin in the past few years. My first visit to it was probably only in 2015 or so, but its been a regular since - an experience shared with many others who go and want to go back.

The pub has closed, reopened, closed for COVID like everywhere else, and then published a statement that it was not reopening that has since been refuted but got significant media coverage, much of it never updated to reference the refutation. New owners, who operate other premises in the city are apparently prepared to reopen it immediately on it becoming legally possible.

A "one-manner", the entire pub area is about the size of a large dining room in a 70s or 80s suburban house; with the gents toilets in the basement and the ladies an utter afterthought upstairs; and used to be decorated with a full set of GAA jerseys. 

Prior to its first closure in January 2017, you could get the standard range of auld lad pub pints here, along with toasties - stored pre-made in a tiny fridge behind the counter; just as they should be in this kind of pub; but when it reopened in September 2019 there were some slight modernisations to the offering of drinks, and the toasties took a few weeks to come back. Despite the reopening being flagged for some time, there were plenty of people who were unwilling to believe it had happened and I had to send people photos from the pub when I managed to get in a few days after they opened the doors again!

I'm looking forward to returning here when it reopens again. As a public plea to the new operators - the slight rework before the 2019 reopening was sufficient (except maybe some further works to the toilets - but there's only so much you can do with Victorian fittings) - don't do anything else!