RetroReviews: 1001973 The Gibson Hotel

One of the last hotels built before the late 2010s economic crash, and with a rock/guitar theme to match its location right behind the 3Arena; this is very near where I work, so I've been in quite a bit. Its also where a different employer had their Christmas parties and where some friends married, so my visits here have been multitude.

The main thing to note here is that food service is usually a tad on the slow side; but the food is good and the staff have always been exceptionally accommodating - particularly with the wedding I attended there. Its one of a limited number of Dublin hotels I've actually stayed in, too.

RetroReviews: 1001965 Dublin Airport T2

This is a catch-all licence for any facilities run or owned by the DAA in T2 that serve alcohol, such as any concession stands in their duty free, some of the bars and the generic lounge. 

As far as I can tell, the way the licencing works is that each operator - DAA, SSP, Wrights etc - needs a licence for each building - T1, T2, the carpark structure, the south boarding pier - that they use. This means that there are quite a few licences in the airport. They aren't pub licences as such, as you can get new ones generated without cancelling and old one; and I'm never quite sure whether to count them or not - but the old arrivals bar in T1 was certainly considered to be a "proper pub" by many; but a fridge with a few bottles in what is basically a huge portakabin is about as low as it gets

RetroReviews: 1001735 RIOT

I haven't actually visited this as RIOT; but only in its prior incarnation as the Gypsy Rose. This was a regular spot after gigs in the Button Factory or the Academy; but for whatever reason in gig scheduling, all I've gone to recently have been in Whelans (which becomes its own after-gig spot) or the Olympia, which drives me towards Georges Street instead.

What you got back then - a rock bar. If you've been in one you've been in them all I'd say. 

RetroReviews: 1001489 Aviva Stadium

To drink at the Aviva, you can go to a concert; or a rugby match; or for the posh seats at a football match - and if its a UEFA controlled match, don't expect to actually see the game with your pint. Which won't be great either.

Multiple FAI Cup finals in Premium (you used to get this automatically with a FAI season ticket; I no longer have one but I got used to the cushioned seat!), and one Champions League Qualifier for which I can't quite remember how a Premium ticket was obtained make up the times I've drunk here; but I've been to a decent amount of other games in normal tiers.

Its a Diageo shop, which dictates what drinks you can get. There isn't really much else to say.

RetroReviews: 1001292 Olympia Theatre

I've been here a vast number of times, as a gig venue; to the level that I'm not quite sure I could actually count it out. Hitting a sweet spot in venue sizes, and with not that many venues bigger until you hit 3Arena or outdoor arena sizes, its a permanent fixture on the touring schedules for mid-popularity brands and also the regular home of charity events.

Unlike the other gig venues, it's actually famed for its drinking facilities -  all the bars on all floors are quite special in terms of design; but Maureens Bar is the best known, as it is still watched over by the now approximately 95 year old Maureen Grant, who has worked at the theatre since 1949. 

As an old building, its been through quite a lot; including being saved from conversion to a dance hall by the then new planning laws in 1963, the collapse of the main arch in 1974, leading to a three year closure; and then its canopy being severely damaged by a truck in 2004. Both have been restored to their original glory and there are minor restoration works underway pretty much all the time to keep it going in decent condition.

I quite like this as a gig venue; although the Heineken Ireland products only bars do rather dampen the drinking experience!

RetroReviews: 1001691 Convention Centre Dublin

 A few of the now defunct Alltech beer festivals make up the entirety of the times I've entered the building that currently houses the Dáil. I'm unsure as to whether there is a bar operating here for the TDs; but a members bar doesn't need a publicans licence; hence why the normal Dáil bar is never going to appear here.

RetroReviews: 1000012 The Green Room

 I live in Kildare, not Dublin; which means that for the next two weeks (at least), there'll be no further pub visits for me. I do actually have a few from two weeks ago that are not yet written up, and will appear in the next few days, but I've been intending to do what this post starts for some time now...

At the start of this project, I figured out that I had already drunk in about 130 pubs; which I marked off the now much abused spreadsheet I've used to keep track of where I am with the project. As Revenue updates came in, or pubs reopened - or, in a few cases, I had a sudden remembrance of a long-lost night out - a few further pubs have been marked off as previously visited.

I want to eventually be able to link to every pub's post when mentioned, which means I need to write up these 130 or so reviews. Some are going to be particularly abrupt; and if I ever get around to doing the small number that were closed prior to the Revenue open data era there's going to be at least one "I know I was here, but I can't remember a thing" - for Polly Hops in Newcastle.

I'll be going in the order my spreadsheet has them in, which is number order; so what better place to start than with the lowest numbered pub in Dublin - The Green Room on Sheriff Street.

This pub is part of the Liffey Trust complex of apartments, studios, offices and kitchens; which replaced a former equivalent, destroyed by fire in 2002. As the old building was apparently uninsured, I must assume the rebuild was funded by the apartments which the previous setup didn't have.

This is very near to where I work; and was one of the few places doing lunches when I started working there; so I've been a fairly frequent visitor for that, and also the occasional drinks before going to something in the 3Arena or the Gibson. However, since the opening of 1015426 Rubys, I've rarely been back, the reason for which will become clear.

The pub has its normal sized area, which is what is open regularly for lunchtime trade as well as its locals; some of whom even have customised bar stools; and a significantly larger area and second bar which I have only ever seen open for major gigs in the 3Arena.

Its fine as a drinking pub; but I've never liked the food (excepting for one day there was a BBQ in the smoking area, actually); and Rubys food is both better and cheaper so the majority of my business has moved. It should be fine from its locals and gig trade once this comes back to normal; though.