Dublin in the early 80's

Ded_Zebra

My mother is for ever telling me that in Dublin in the 80's there was no such thing as a restaurant. Specifically we were talking about her graduation, she is saying that it was't major celebration back then to graduate. No one in her class made a big deal of it, apparently. I find this hard to believe. She attributes this in part to the fact that there was no such thing as a restaurant in Dublin at the time that you could have gone to with your family etc. and had a meal out and a couple of drinks.

This isn't the only time she has argued that there was nowhere to eat out in Ireland in the 80's. I really really find this very hard to believe. I think it is a case of she never ate out back then and therefore assumed that no one did. This was, in her mind, because there was nowhere to do it.

I also believe that graduating would have been a big deal for a lot of people, just as it is now, and they would have celebrated it. Even if they had to have a home cooked meal. This is an aside point however.

So AH, is there any knowledgeable people here old enough to remember the 80's to confirm this one way or the other?

Grayson

I was a kid back then but my only memories of ever eating out was in hotels. I do remember seeing restaurants (for some reasons chinese restaurants stick in my head) but there certainly weren't anywhere near as many as today.

The flying mouse

Dublin in the Dublin thread :-)

Roadtoad

Your mammy is right. The first restaurant opened in Dublin in Jan 1990, catering for the Arnotts sales set. Oh except for Nicos in College Green, but that was Italian and pretended it was in Rome.

Princess Consuela Bananahammock

Swiss Chalet across the road from the Stillorgan bowl. Spent three birthdays there (only one of then mine) - your mother is wrong.

Outlaw Pete

Load of shnollox.

I was brought to see E.T. as a kid and we eat in Flanagan's before the film.

The Trocadero is going since the 50's too.

vicwatson

King burger in ilac centre and burgerland o'connell st (went on fire), ah when burgers were beef

Ted111

You could have spinned down to the Meeting of the Waters and got a basket of sausage and chips and a pot of tea. No more than five pints if you were driving home though.

Mongfinder General

The country was on its knees in the early 80's. Going out for a meal was a big hit to the Phoca. Some people just couldn't afford it

Ded_Zebra

She has said before that you could eat in Hotels alright... But nowhere that was just a restaurant.

I can't imagine that you wouldn't eat in a hotel though... You still would these days if they did good food.

GreenFolder2

I'm pretty sure there was Captain America's and Blake's.
I remember in Cork there was definitely Bully's.

Now this could have been the early 90s. But, it was around that era anyway.

The flying mouse

I was 21 in 1983, There was massive unemployment,The north was a war zone and there was a huge dark cloud hanging over the country.

There certainly wasent as many restaurants around and I don't remember any graduation dances or debs, weren't to many hotels either, emergration was rife, there were countless elections.

Bit of a depressing country really or so it seemed to me, but I was only in my twentys so maybe someone older can give a better review.

Red Kev

There were very few mid priced restaurants as we know them. A few posh ones like Shanahans on the Green, some fast food, or diners like Cafolas. If you went out for a family meal it was to a hotel.

Cheap family dining in restaurants only became big in the 90s. Grads were rare, started in the posher schools, gradually worked it's way down. Usually you went on the beer with your gang or clique after the Leaving, maybe headed to Lisdoonvarna if the funds were there.

Simpler times really, not as complicated as today and not always a bad thing either.

Big Nasty

Of course there were restaurants, many of them. Was no shortage of fast food joints either. That said, there wasn't a restraunt / cafe / take-away every second door like today. I do remember when most pubs would offer not much more than a toasted ham & cheese and only an exceptional few would stretch a greasy burger and chips or roast chicken.

The Backwards Man

Fat Pat's in the Ward is the only restaurant I remember from that time, anyone remember it?

Dubl07

Princess Consuela Bananahammock wrote: »

Swiss Chalet across the road from the Stillorgan bowl. Spent three birthdays there (only one of then mine) - your mother is wrong.

We loved the Swiss Chalet. BBQ chicken and coleslaw were so exotic for us as children. :eek: The Library Bar in the Killiney Court was a family favourite but as part of a hotel, perhaps that doesn't count.

There were other places too, but I was too young to go to many of them at that stage: Shannon's/Pings, Beaufield Mews, Guilbaud's, The Guinea Pig in Dalkey. Paulo Tullio's brilliant place Armstrong's Barn out in the countryside needed a designated driver even back then.

vicwatson

The Backwards Man wrote: »

Fat Pat's in the Ward is the only restaurant I remember from that time, anyone remember it?

That near slim jim's?

Holograph

Even in the early 90s it was a huge deal to go for a meal in a restaurant - not even a fancy one, but there were restaurants in the city centre long before then!

The Backwards Man

vicwatson wrote: »

That near slim jim's?

Near the Brock if I remember right, not many places served Donegal youngfellas fresh from a night clattered in whelks in those days.

Stoogie

GreenFolder2 wrote: »

I'm pretty sure there was Captain America's and Blake's.
I remember in Cork there was definitely Bully's.

Now this could have been the early 90s. But, it was around that era anyway.

Blakes is what the aforementioned Swiss chalet became. I remember when the first mc Donald's opened.

RayM

Ted111 wrote: »

No more than five pints if you were driving home though.

Or eight pints if you were driving home on the back roads.

the evasion_kid

Dublin in the 80s always reminds me of Jimmy rabbites estate in the commitments..

silverharp

your mother is exaggerating , there were always a selection around town, Southside yep Blakes was popular, the Courtyard in Donnybrook, going to hotels was more common, Jurys grill. if I remember the first McD's was around 1981 give or take a year.

Zaph

GreenFolder2 wrote: »

I'm pretty sure there was Captain America's and Blake's.

There was also a place in Grafton Street similar to Captain A's called Thunderbird. And at the other end of the scale you had The Mirabeau in Sandycove, the Patrick Guilbaud's of its day.

Cortina_MK_IV

I was working in the 80's and as mentioned earlier I'd take a girl to Flanagan's to show I had a few bob. Wasn't there a Berni Inn somewhere up around Grafton St? I'm sure my sister and her then fella (he's a woman now) used to go there.

Zaph

Cortina_MK_IV wrote: »

I was working in the 80's and as mentioned earlier I'd take a girl to Flanagan's to show I had a few bob. Wasn't there a Berni Inn somewhere up around Grafton St? I'm sure my sister and her then fella (he's a woman now) used to go there.

I think the Berni Inn was where the Porterhouse is on Nassau Street now.

Dyr

silverharp wrote: »

your mother is exaggerating , there were always a selection around town, Southside yep Blakes was popular, the Courtyard in Donnybrook, going to hotels was more common, Jurys grill. if I remember the first McD's was around 1981 give or take a year.

Not really, proper restaurants were not on the agenda for most dubs in the 80s and there was not a whole lot of them around. We didn't have a culture of dining out like other european countries did.

It was very much an aspirational thing for people who saw themselves as being on the up.

Stoogie

silverharp wrote: »

your mother is exaggerating , there were always a selection around town, Southside yep Blakes was popular, the Courtyard in Donnybrook, going to hotels was more common, Jurys grill. if I remember the first McD's was around 1981 give or take a year.

Grafron street was 77

Annasopra

Princess Consuela Bananahammock wrote: »

Swiss Chalet across the road from the Stillorgan bowl. Spent three birthdays there (only one of then mine) - your mother is wrong.

Blakes?

Zaph

Joeytheparrot wrote: »

Blakes?

Opened as Swiss Chalet and later became Blake's

Pretzill

Yes there were restaurants - but from what I remember having a meal out was a rare treat - and some of the highly priced eateries were out of reach for most. Deb's was a thing too - My sister had her Deb's in '75 - (it wasn't just for posh schools)

The restaurants I remember where Chinese restaurants( when spring rolls were called egg rolls) - Chinese restaurants felt very sophisticated then - Pizzaland (where you paid for pizza by the slice 18p from what I recall, delicious too), Blake's (a family affair), a couple of pricey ones in Dun Laoghaire (which I never got to eat in) - pubs only really served toasties - nite clubs served chips at the end of the disco - and then the likes of the Lido or McDonald's when it opened first in the early 80's - or a hotel for a carvery (yack)


But in the main you weren't tripping over an eatery on every corner nor did you have a choice of a varied cusine.

And my first curry was a Vesta curry -

Annasopra

Some evidence



https://comeheretome.com/2014/01/02/advertisements-from-the-1983-dublin-theatre-festival-guide/

https://comeheretome.com/2013/08/22/some-notes-on-the-history-of-lebanse-restaurants-in-dublin/

https://comeheretome.com/2013/05/16/some-notes-on-the-history-of-indian-restaurants-in-dublin/

https://comeheretome.com/2013/01/08/dublins-first-italian-restaurants/


https://comeheretome.com/2010/01/09/dublin-citys-oldest-restaurant/

https://comeheretome.com/2013/01/14/dublins-first-pizzerias/

Dubl07

Bambi wrote: »

Not really, proper restaurants were not on the agenda for most dubs in the 80s and there was not a whole lot of them around. We didn't have a culture of dining out like other european countries did.

It was very much an aspirational thing for people who saw themselves as being on the up.

OP was talking about her mother's graduation, not just a date night.

Joeytheparrot wrote: »

Blakes?

Same premises. It started out as the Swiss Chalet in the 70s (part of a Canadian chain, I think?) then Blakes for ages, after that a variety of other short-lived enterprises which didn't all qualify as restaurants. Upstairs was the upmarket Shannon's which went bust pretty spectacularly, and then a smashing Chinese called Pings which was pricey enough but excellent. Access to the site has always been awkward though and the building appears to be dilapidated these days.

Steve

Nobody remembers Bewleys?

Failing that, and if you were loaded, Clereys?

silverharp

Bambi wrote: »

Not really, proper restaurants were not on the agenda for most dubs in the 80s and there was not a whole lot of them around. We didn't have a culture of dining out like other european countries did.

It was very much an aspirational thing for people who saw themselves as being on the up.

it wasnt a big thing for sure, as a kid chances are I was mostly going to restaurants when american relations came over and took us out , I do remember Captain Americas and Bad Ass Cafe for the odd birthday party

silverharp

Steve wrote: »

Nobody remembers Bewleys?

Failing that, and if you were loaded, Clereys?

there was some italian place that used to be open between leeson st and the burlington where you could get a nice meal at 3 or 4 in the morning...good times!

Steve

silverharp wrote: »

it wasnt a big thing for sure, as a kid chances are I was mostly going to restaurants when american relations came over and took us out , I do remember Captain Americas and Bad Ass Cafe for the odd birthday party

We were left in the car with a bottle of red lemonade and a packet or crisps between us..

Zaph

silverharp wrote: »

there was some italian place that used to be open between leeson st and the burlington where you could get a nice meal at 3 or 4 in the morning...good times!

Da Vincenzos? It was more or less opposite the Leeson Lounge.

riclad

People would mainly go to hotel restaurants in the 80s,
There was not the wide range of restaurants there is now .
there were places like the kylemore or arnotts restaurant.
there was hardly any places to get coffee apart from bewleys .
starbucks was not in ireland in the 80s.
OF course alot of pubs served dinners in the 80s

silverharp

Zaph wrote: »

Da Vincenzos? It was more or less opposite the Leeson Lounge.

memory is hazy after a bottle of lesson st port which was the closest thing to to russians getting alcohol out of boot polish :pac:

Harvey Normal

riclad wrote: »

People would mainly go to hotel restaurants in the 80s,
There was not the wide range of restaurants there is now .
there were places like the kylemore or arnotts restaurant.
there was hardly any places to get coffee apart from bewleys .
starbucks was not in ireland in the 80s.
OF course alot of pubs served dinners in the 80s

I can remember the late 80's and coffee was served in cafes. Mostly it was tea though.

Clearly there were restaurants- not as many as now is not the same as none. And a hotel restaurant or a pub restaurant or a fast food provider or a cafe all count anyway.

Gatling

vicwatson wrote: »

King burger in ilac centre and burgerland o'connell st (went on fire), ah when burgers were beef

Ahhhhhhhh the memories ,

Breakfast of champions too

Dubl07

Oh, and Dobbins, The Unicorn, Le Caprice and other Gentile family places.

At what stage did Fitzers develop a restaurant on every corner? Was it only in the 90s?

foggy_lad

Ded_Zebra wrote: »

My mother is for ever telling me that in Dublin in the 80's there was no such thing as a restaurant. Specifically we were talking about her graduation, she is saying that it was't major celebration back then to graduate. No one in her class made a big deal of it, apparently. I find this hard to believe. She attributes this in part to the fact that there was no such thing as a restaurant in Dublin at the time that you could have gone to with your family etc. and had a meal out and a couple of drinks.

This isn't the only time she has argued that there was nowhere to eat out in Ireland in the 80's. I really really find this very hard to believe. I think it is a case of she never ate out back then and therefore assumed that no one did. This was, in her mind, because there was nowhere to do it.

I also believe that graduating would have been a big deal for a lot of people, just as it is now, and they would have celebrated it. Even if they had to have a home cooked meal. This is an aside point however.

So AH, is there any knowledgeable people here old enough to remember the 80's to confirm this one way or the other?

Is this a school graduation we are discussing here? if so then most schools except the poshest only ever had a debs ball and the practice of going to more that one debs was extremely rare, then the American influenza arrived and we get graduations as well as debs and it is common as muck for lads and girls to go to several debs balls.

When I had my debs it was a big occasion but has been cheapened by the Americanisation of Irish society.

There were very few places where normal people could afford to eat out in more than a few times a year, restaurants were only for family occasions and anniversaries etc

Graduation(from School) was not a big deal as it did not exist for most schools.

Faith+1

Christ the 80's sound miserable.

foggy_lad

Faith+1 wrote: »

Christ the 80's sound miserable.

They were really miserable for many people as your mortgage could increase by several hundred pounds a month, at one stage interest rates were up over 18%, there was no USC but taxes were higher as were PRSI deductions, petrol was expensive as was insurance and car tax. There were few large cinemas outside of the cities and county towns and most were only 1 or maybe 2 screens.

Faith+1

foggy_lad wrote: »

They were really miserable for many people as your mortgage could increase by several hundred pounds a month, at one stage interest rates were up over 18%, there was no USC but taxes were higher as were PRSI deductions, petrol was expensive as was insurance and car tax. There were few large cinemas outside of the cities and county towns and most were only 1 or maybe 2 screens.

Fcuk. I was born in '85 so the 80's are a vague memory! lol

The_Valeyard

I remember when Captain America's was cool

And the Pizza Pie factory by Stephens Green.

VladamirP

Ded_Zebra wrote: »

She has said before that you could eat in Hotels alright... But nowhere that was just a restaurant.

I can't imagine that you wouldn't eat in a hotel though... (years of wisdom flow's here)...........You still would these days if they did good food.

JupiterKid

Yes of course there were restaurants in the early 80s. I was only a small child back then but Nicos on Dame St was going since the 1950s, quite a few French restaurants were in Dublin in the early 1960s and Guilbauds opened in 1981.

Captain Americas opened back in 1971. McDonalds on Grafton St opened in 1977. KFC has been here since 1972. Italian owned chippers have been here since the 30s. The first Chinese eateries opened in the 1960s. The first posh Indian restaurant, the Radjoot Tandoori, was established in 1971.

Your mother is wrong. There were much, much fewer restaurants back in the 80s, the country was much poorer, people ate out far less, the choice of food was a lot more limited but the well heeled did eat out in restaurants - it's just that it was much less common than today.

Things were indeed bleak in the 80s but if your family were middle class, as mine was, it wasn't a bad time to be a child.

Ded_Zebra

foggy_lad wrote: »

Is this a school graduation we are discussing here? if so then most schools except the poshest only ever had a debs ball and the practice of going to more that one debs was extremely rare, then the American influenza arrived and we get graduations as well as debs and it is common as muck for lads and girls to go to several debs balls.

When I had my debs it was a big occasion but has been cheapened by the Americanisation of Irish society.

There were very few places where normal people could afford to eat out in more than a few times a year, restaurants were only for family occasions and anniversaries etc

Graduation(from School) was not a big deal as it did not exist for most schools.

No college graduation. Should have been clearer in the op!