Dublin in the early 80's

Gatling · 20-10-2016 3:17pm

Dubl07 wrote: »

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?

Posh nosh

The flying mouse · 20-10-2016 3:42pm

riclad wrote: »

you don,t miss what you don,t have .The music in the 80s was good, there was no isis ,no global warming ,.Now we have coffee shops and restaurants all over the city, also we have non nationals making up 10 per cent of the population.So theres a wide range of restaurants from many different countrys .
We are a much richer county .

Nope, we had mostly IRA,PLO,RED BRIGADES,Baader-Meinhof Group, and we hadn't global warming we had the opposite the COLD war.:pac:

DEFTLEFTHAND · 20-10-2016 4:26pm

This a joke? Can you imagine tourists visiting Dublin in the early 80s being told that there's no restaurant in the entire city.

Ken. · 20-10-2016 4:28pm

Mod-Moved to the Dublin city forum. Please read the local charter before posting.

peneau · 20-10-2016 4:35pm

Can remember eating in these two "Captain America" type places on special occasions in the eighties: Papillion (near top of Grafton Street on left hand side Stephen's Green end) and Solomon Grundys in Suffolk Street beside Elverys

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

amtc · 20-10-2016 4:35pm

Ah listen, there were lots. Went to Blake's loads (including one occasion when my dad spotted the consultant who delivered me and introduced us), local places in Castle knock, sheries and Wynn's in town.

arybvtcw0eolkf · 20-10-2016 4:51pm

Mid 80's and I'd take the GF to Flanagans on O'Connell St or there was Gallagher's on Abbey St (beside the Oval pub).. There was a Chinese place on Abbey Street too, it was famously attacked by the Triades and a few staff members were chopped up.

Outside of that I don't remember much else.

harr · 20-10-2016 4:57pm

Don't know much about Dublin during the 80,s but it was miserable in a small midlands town...we had one local chipper who opened for 3 hours Thursday to Sunday...we were lucky in the sense our dad had a job and we got a week in Salthill every year...in a clapped out rented Mobile home...I know we got to go to the galleon restaurant in Salthill on a few occasions...money was non-existent for anything other than the bare essentials to live on and all my clothes were hand me downs ...I didn't get new clothes till my confirmation 😳
But we as kids in the 80,s had a lot more freedom...out early in the morning home for lunch and out again till dinner or till the street lights came on.. no mobile phones or computers and with only two stations on the telly..we really had to make our own entertainment..

jimgoose · 20-10-2016 5:01pm

Everly Skinny Grapevine wrote: »

...There was a Chinese place on Abbey Street too, it was famously attacked by the Triades and a few staff members were chopped up...

That was big news down here where I live now - your man's mother lives up the road!

ohnonotgmail · 20-10-2016 5:12pm

harr wrote: »

Don't know much about Dublin during the 80,s but it was miserable in a small midlands town...we had one local chipper who opened for 3 hours Thursday to Sunday...we were lucky in the sense our dad had a job and we got a week in Salthill every year...in a clapped out rented Mobile home...I know we got to go to the galleon restaurant in Salthill on a few occasions...money was non-existent for anything other than the bare essentials to live on and all my clothes were hand me downs ...I didn't get new clothes till my confirmation 😳
But we as kids in the 80,s had a lot more freedom...out early in the morning home for lunch and out again till dinner or till the street lights came on.. no mobile phones or computers and with only two stations on the telly..we really had to make our own entertainment..

aye, and you try telling that to kids these days.

GHOST MGG · 20-10-2016 5:19pm

Zaph wrote: »

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

Well i was the chef in da vincenzoes from 88 to 92 and i can tell you it never served meals at 3 am in the morning or else i would have noticed:-)

rushfan · 20-10-2016 5:24pm

The flying mouse wrote:

Nope, we had mostly IRA,PLO,RED BRIGADES,Baader-Meinhof Group, and we hadn't global warming we had the opposite the COLD war.

And Haughey and his cronies, just that it hadn't been proven!

beauf · 20-10-2016 5:30pm

harr wrote: »

......I know we got to go to the galleon restaurant in Salthill ....

Me too. Its still there the last time I was there. Doing Family dinners etc.

beauf · 20-10-2016 5:32pm

ohnonotgmail wrote: »

aye, and you try telling that to kids these days.

TBH I don't think it was hard in the 80's. Not compared to say the 50's in Ireland. It was just normal not have all the stuff kids have today. You had a lot more freedom than kids today.

tricky D · 20-10-2016 5:53pm

GHOST MGG wrote: »

Well i was the chef in da vincenzoes from 88 to 92 and i can tell you it never served meals at 3 am in the morning or else i would have noticed:-)

I'm saying nothing about myself and TB (who lived across the road and up the lane) ending up in there after hours a few times.

stateofflux · 20-10-2016 6:46pm

Dubl07 wrote: »

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.

God i loved that place when i went as a kid. the burgers were at least a foot high

SafeSurfer · 20-10-2016 7:06pm

Anyone remember the infamous Green Tureen?

http://m.independent.ie/world-news/africa/politician-exposed-as-man-behind-grisly-irish-killing-26523040.html

Dubl07 · 20-10-2016 7:28pm

stateofflux wrote: »

God i loved that place when i went as a kid. the burgers were at least a foot high

The food was great, the booths were smashing for containing wrigglers and the staff were particularly nice, especially the tall dark head waiter and his eventual wife, the blond waitress. I always feel a pang when I drive past nowadays.

spurious · 20-10-2016 7:32pm

The American connection where 101 Talbot is now. Zachary Stingers on Abbey Street and a place called the Gasworks on Bachelor's walk. Murph"s in Baggot street, Captain America's in Grafton Street, the Berni Inn - lots of mid range places early 80s.

L1011 · 20-10-2016 7:42pm

humberklog wrote: »

Larry Gogan- Where's the Taj Mahal?

Caller- Nassau Street!

Pretty sure it was "opposite the dental hospital" (still Nassau Street, but somehow far funnier)

My family would have been relatively well off* and as a result I would have gone ot to (sit down, table service, linens, whatever random line in the sand you want to draw) restaurants more than the average for the time. And that wasn't common. But there were still quite a few of them. Lived in what was then a small provincial town and there was never less than two "proper" restaurants. Oldest one still going is from the 80s also.

I'm fairly sure the OPs mother is using that as a gross oversimplification of "there were some restaurants, but we never went to them and never had celebrations of that type". My mother would be older and is extremely prone to such oversimplifications. "Ah you know what I meant" is the usual backtrack if disproven.

*we had cable *AND SKY* at one point in the early 1990s, but my mother insisted the dish was put up on the shed so the neighbours wouldn't assume we were 'that kind of person' :pac:

SimonLynch · 20-10-2016 7:43pm

spurious wrote: »

The American connection where 101 Talbot is now. Zachary Stingers on Abbey Street and a place called the Gasworks on Bachelor's walk. Murph"s in Baggot street, Captain America's in Grafton Street, the Berni Inn - lots of mid range places early 80s.

The Gasworks was great, pretty sure it went back to the 70s, going outside the capital there was one opposite The Cock in Gormanston that is now a pub.

JupiterKid · 20-10-2016 8:41pm

beauf wrote: »

TBH I don't think it was hard in the 80's. Not compared to say the 50's in Ireland. It was just normal not have all the stuff kids have today. You had a lot more freedom than kids today.

The 80s were hard compared to today. Living standards constantly get better. I'm sure the 50s were hard compared to the 80s and the 1920s hard in comparison to the 50s etc.

But a lot of the whole people/families not going out to restaurants back in the 80s is down to spending priorities. Back in the 70s and 80s pubs were packed. A lot of people went out to the pub to drink after a home dinner instead of going to a restaurant. My parents didn't go to pubs and much preferred to eat out instead. Money was tight but many people were pretty well off and made decisions where to spend that money and restaurants just didnt feature big in most people's priorities. That has changed hugely in the past 20 years. As a country and society, we are much more interested in food and good dining and IMO that's a good thing.

Sure look at how many pubs now serve up restaurant quality food nowadays.

Grandeeod · 20-10-2016 8:49pm

spurious wrote: »

The American connection where 101 Talbot is now. Zachary Stingers on Abbey Street and a place called the Gasworks on Bachelor's walk. Murph"s in Baggot street, Captain America's in Grafton Street, the Berni Inn - lots of mid range places early 80s.

Yup. Remember the American Connection and the Carafe of wine. Is it still called the 101 Talbot?? That name goes back to at least late 80's.

JupiterKid · 20-10-2016 9:01pm

Grandeeod wrote: »

Yup. Remember the American Connection and the Carafe of wine. Is it still called the 101 Talbot?? That name goes back to at least late 80's.

Yep, 101 Talbot is still there and still going strong and it is also still serving up top quality grub.:)

Grandeeod · 20-10-2016 9:17pm

JupiterKid wrote: »

Yep, 101 Talbot is still there and still going strong and it is also still serving up top quality grub.:)

I was there too after the name change in the 80s. Can't believe its still trading under the name and in the same location. I bought my first camera down the street in Halls. Has it changed much? Is it still wood panelled and two tiered?

odyssey06 · 20-10-2016 9:41pm

Grandeeod wrote: »

Yup. Remember the American Connection and the Carafe of wine. Is it still called the 101 Talbot?? That name goes back to at least late 80's.

Where and what was "Carafe of Wine" ? Sounds like a place I would have liked to visit...

Grandeeod · 20-10-2016 10:04pm

odyssey06 wrote: »

Where and what was "Carafe of Wine" ? Sounds like a place I would have liked to visit...

Ah Come on!

Ben D Bus · 20-10-2016 11:18pm

I remember the 99p breakfasts in 18th Precinct when I was in College in the 80s

I also remember earlier in the 80s, a Chinese on O'Connell St called the Kin Wah. It was upstairs with a door between what's now Burger King and Peter Marks. It's a Japanese place now.

My graduation dinner was in Fans on Dame St but that was 1990.

spurious · 21-10-2016 6:35am

The 99p breakfasts were great fun.

Remember Wendy's on North Earl Street with their weird square burgers and their salad bar?

The flying mouse · 21-10-2016 6:50am

Everly Skinny Grapevine wrote: »

Mid 80's and I'd take the GF to Flanagans on O'Connell St or there was Gallagher's on Abbey St (beside the Oval pub).. There was a Chinese place on Abbey Street too, it was famously attacked by the Triades and a few staff members were chopped up.

Outside of that I don't remember much else.

I remember that incident

https://comeheretome.com/2012/08/29/triad-violence-in-dublin-july-1979/

Dublin in the early 80's

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