Where to Eat a Full Irish Breakfast in Dublin

Our food tour guests often ask us where to eat a Full Irish breakfast in Dublin. Truth be told, it’s not necessarily something locals would go looking for when eating out, a fry is often more of an at-home, weekend kind of breakfast, but if you’re visiting Ireland and want to tick a proper Irish breakfast off your food list, we’re always happy to recommend a few places.

If you’re staying in a B&B or hotel, you’ll often have the opportunity to try an Irish breakfast there. However, there are also some great cafés and pubs in Dublin serving their own versions of this Irish classic.

What is in a traditional Full Irish breakfast?

There’s no single strict recipe, but a traditional Irish breakfast usually includes:

Irish pork sausages
Rashers (Irish bacon)
A fried egg
Black pudding
White pudding
Grilled tomato
Mushrooms
Toast, soda bread or brown bread

Then things start to get controversial.

The addition of baked beans can divide opinion, some would argue they belong more firmly on an English breakfast, while other versions might include a hash brown, fried potatoes or another potato element.

Every café and household tends to have its own version.

From traditional cafés serving big, no-frills breakfasts to historic Dublin pubs and modern brunch spots putting their own twist on the classic, here are the best places to eat a Full Irish breakfast in Dublin.

1. Gallagher’s Boxty House – Temple Bar

We may be a little biased, but our friends at Gallagher’s Boxty House are a great place to try a quality Full Irish breakfast in the heart of Temple Bar.

Their breakfast menu is served every day until 12pm, and their Full Irish comes with sausages, bacon, free-range eggs, black and white pudding, tomato, mushrooms and, of course, boxty.

If you haven’t tried boxty before, this is a good opportunity to tick off two Irish foods in one meal. Boxty is a traditional Irish potato dish, and Gallagher’s has been making it a speciality in Temple Bar since the 1988.

Best for: Anyone who also wants to try traditional Irish boxty.

2. Keogh’s Cafe – Trinity Street

Keogh’s Cafe always seems to be busy. We regularly spot visitors tucking into a Full Irish at the tables outside.

Located on Trinity Street, it’s just a short walk from Temple Bar, Trinity College, the Molly Malone statue and Grafton Street, so it’s particularly convenient if you’re sightseeing around Dublin city centre.

Their current breakfast menu includes a Full Irish, as well as vegetarian and vegan breakfast options, with the Full Irish priced at €13.50.

Keogh’s has been baking and serving food in Dublin since 1994, and its location makes it an easy breakfast stop before starting a day of exploring.

Best for: A traditional Full Irish breakfast in a very central Dublin location.

3. Slattery’s – Capel Street

If there’s an Irish pub where we’d recommend trying a Full Irish breakfast, it has to be Slattery’s on Capel Street, on the north side of the River Liffey.

There’s plenty of history attached to this pub. A licence has existed at this location since the early 19th century, and Slattery’s acquired its famous early-house licence in 1892 to cater for workers from the nearby Dublin markets.

But there’s another reason food lovers might recognise it: Anthony Bourdain recommended Slattery’s for a Full Irish breakfast during his visit to Dublin in 2012.

The pub still proudly serves its Full Irish today, so if you’re a Bourdain fan, this one should probably be on your Dublin food list.

If it was good enough for Anthony, we think it’s worth a try!

Best for: Fans of the late Anthony Bourdain, and anyone who likes a bit of Dublin pub history with their breakfast.

4. Brother Hubbard North – Capel Street

For an Irish breakfast with a twist, head a little further along Capel Street to Brother Hubbard North.

Brother Hubbard has always had a strong Middle Eastern influence when it comes to flavour, so this isn’t your traditional greasy-spoon fry.

Their Full Hubbard takes the familiar idea of an Irish breakfast and gives it the Brother Hubbard treatment. Current sample menus feature Irish sausages, bacon, egg, pudding and gently spiced baked beans, served with their homemade colcannon-style potato bread.

It feels recognisably Irish while still being very much a Brother Hubbard dish, and we love their version.

Best for: A modern take on the traditional Irish breakfast.

Do Irish people eat a Full Irish breakfast every day?

Definitely not!

Despite its reputation abroad, a Full Irish isn’t an everyday breakfast for most people in Ireland. It’s filling, fairly heavy and usually something you’re more likely to have at the weekend, on holiday, after a big night out or occasionally as a treat.

And yes, a proper Full Irish is substantial. You probably won’t need lunch afterwards.

It also has a longstanding reputation as a cure for a hangover, whether it actually works is another question!

Don’t forget the Irish breakfast roll

There’s another version of the Irish breakfast that visitors might not be quite as familiar with: the breakfast roll.

Instead of being served on a plate, many of the same ingredients, sausages, rashers, pudding, egg, hash browns and whatever extras you fancy, are stuffed into a baguette or roll, usually with ketchup or brown sauce.

The breakfast roll became particularly associated with Ireland’s Celtic Tiger years and the construction boom of the late 1990s and 2000s. It was the ultimate breakfast on the go, especially for builders and other workers grabbing something substantial from a petrol station or convenience-store deli counter before work.

It even made its way into Irish popular culture thanks to comedian Pat Shortt’s Jumbo Breakfast Roll.

You’ll still find breakfast rolls at deli counters in shops such as Centra and Spar all over Ireland today.