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    McSwiggans Bar and Restaurant

    4.3 (88 reviews)
    ModerateBars

    McSwiggans Bar and Restaurant Photos

    MCSWIGGANS BAR AND RESTAURANT ATMOSPHERE

    What's the vibe?
    Moderate noise
    Casual
    Dogs allowed
    Good for groups

    Recommended Reviews - McSwiggans Bar and Restaurant

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    Reviews With Photos

    Thai Mink Fish dish with virtually no monk fish
    Peter M.

    This place is hit or miss, if you feel lucky tonight, go for it, if not, try someplace else. It's a beautiful restaurant, the service is mediocre , the food is the problem. Seasoning should always be applied, bland food never be an option in restaurants that charge what they charge. With that said, my wife's salmon was cooked to perfection, medium temperature with a great taste, my monk fish "stew" for lack of better comparison, lacked taste and monk fish, it had shrimp and mussels, but the tiny amount of fish was doubtfully "monk fish". This place is a one and done for me, they have issues in the kitchen and the customer should not be the one paying for it.

    Brena E.

    I came in looking for a solo table and the bartender seemed very annoyed. It was not a welcoming experience. Someone else came to wait on me and did get me a table. After that the service and food was good.

    Flame grilled oysters
    Yohei D.

    The food is great and delicious. It's reasonably priced. I got the lamb stew which was a large portion and tasty and the chargrilled oysters which was delicious. The service is also very good and the staff are very friendly. I have to lower the rating a bit because the restroom particularly the urinal in the men's restroom was very unsanitary and disgusting. It was one of the worst restrooms I've seen in my life.

    Banoffee Pie
    Angela M.

    My husband and I went on an EF tour of Scotland and Ireland for our anniversary McSwiggan's was our excursion dinner before the Trad on the Prom show. Unique interior, tree in the middle of stairs. Had the Connemara Irish Stew delicious and filling. My husband had the brownie and said it was great. I had the Banoffee Pie- banana, caramel, cream and toasted hazelnuts. Loved this local dessert. The staff was great and quick getting our meals out to our big group.

    1/2 dozen oysters
    Danielle B.

    I was in Galway on a day trip from Dublin and had some time to kill before heading back to the bus so I wandered around a bit before stumbling across McSwiggan's. I was craving seafood and saw there was a seafood platter on the menu so I decided to sit down for a meal. The restaurant was very dark inside so it took a bit for my eyes to adjust. It wasn't very busy inside but I hoped it wasn't an indication of poor quality food or service. I started out with some oysters since ... well, why not? The oysters were fresh and delicious but a bit rough-looking due to what looks like inexperience with the shucking process. They were torn up but still tasted great. The mignonette was very strong - almost tasted like straight vinegar. The seafood platter was very nice and a couple of items were new to me - for example the shrimp in marie rose sauce - I've never had this before and the sauce had a ketchup flavor, and unfortunately I really dislike ketchup, so I didn't really love this sauce. The shrimp tasted very fresh though. The poached salmon was probably my favorite item on the plate. It was perfectly poached and still quite moist in the middle. The crab was very nice as well. I couldn't finish the walnut bread so I had it wrapped up to have later. I really enjoyed it with my cup of tea. Service was very friendly and non-intrusive. I would definitely recommend trying McSwiggan's if you're in the area.

    Angela F.

    Classy restaurant in Galway for a perfect date night. After a stressful evening of driving we needed a place for dinner to treat ourselves. We were recommended to go to McSwiggans by a local, saying this is one of the go to spots for steak and seafood. We made a reservation in advance which allowed us to get seated immediately (no need to wait in the queue for a table). This restaurant was several floors and the decor around was quite interesting (spotted a boat and tree along the way as we made our way to our seat). Our server took us to our table which is a bit small for the both of us but it had a nice view of the street below. We started off with a couple cocktails and Caesar salad to share for appetizer. These were delicious. We then ordered the seafood plate and gnocchi pomodoro for mains. The seafood platter had so much variety from smoked salmon, oyster, crab, and prawns. They all tasted so fresh. The only downside was the soda bread that came along with it was very dry. The server was attentive and friendly, checking on us throughout our meal and refilling our water as needed. Had a great time at McSwiggans and would recommend!

    Christie S.

    Came here for lunch when my boyfriend and I were in Galway and food was great! For starters, we ordered 6 oysters and fried calamari. For entree, I ordered fish and chips and my boyfriend ordered a burger. Oysters were very fresh but we only ordered 6 since it was a little pricy. The calamari portion was a little smaller than expected but it was tasty! I loved the fish and chips a lot! The fish was perfectly fried--light and crispy. The fries were chunky and tasted great since it was made with Irish potato! I'm not a big fan of peas in general and didn't try the mashed peas but all fish and chips in Ireland comes with mashed peas! Highly recommend this place if you ever visit Galway!

    Seafood chowder, chicken caeser salad, salmon entree.
    Katelyn D.

    Delicious seafood!! Mussels were amazing as was the seafood chowder. A great spot for dinner.

    Menu
    Mackenzie C.

    Such a yummy place! The oysters were the best I've had and the mussels were so good too! The gnocchi was sooo yummy too full of peas and zucchini! The staff was so friendly and the ambiance was so welcoming and fancy feeling! One thing to note is there were a lot of Americans there like probably only Americans haha

    Food provided by the resturant

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    4 months ago

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    3 days ago

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    3 months ago

    I was on a group tour. Had very limited options. Had to choose the hamburger. It was cremated.

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    27 days ago

    A great place for local fish and chips. Staff was great and quick. Highly recommended if you are in Galway.

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    3 months ago

    This is an old world restaurant with excellent food and drink. The service was great too.

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    2 years ago

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    5 months ago

    Came here with a group. Very nice atmosphere just don't bother to try the Lamb Stew. I did and got a bowl of potatoes

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    3 years ago

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    1 year ago

    Amazing dinner. Our table ordered Chateaubriand , lamb, and petite filet. It was everything a tourist is expecting. Two thumbs up!

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    1 year ago

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    3 years ago

    Very good fish and chips and friendly service throughout our visit. Fun place on trivia night too!

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    2 years ago

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    2 years ago

    Excellent service, food, and atmosphere. Highly recommend if you're in Galway, you must stop in for a pint!!!

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    4 years ago

    Food and drinks were good but the service left a bit to be desired. Maybe we were just there at the wrong time of the day.....

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    Page 1 of 3

    McSwiggans Bar and Restaurant Reviews in Other Languages

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    Quays Bar

    Quays Bar

    3.8(152 reviews)
    0.5 km
    €€

    A fun place in the middle of the city. It has live trad music. It was very lively with the music…read moreand dancing. It can be crowded, but that just added to the fun. It has good selection of beer, cider and cocktails. The porn star cocktail was delicious. The staff work hard to keep up with getting drinks and keeping things clean. They do not have food upstairs, where the music was. There was a restaurant on the lower level where you could get something to eat. The space is pretty big with bar seating and tables. It has the whole world pub vibe.

    We stopped in for dinner but there were no tables available. We said we'd go to another restaurant…read moreand we started to return to our hotel. We're just about there when the manager comes up behind us and said he found a table. Pretty impressive service. The table was in a medium sized room away from the music which was great as you could hold a conversation. Our server came over quickly to take our drink orders and once we had the drinks be places our order, cottage pie and fish and chips. The cottage pie was served in a small, but not too small oval baking dish with a nicely browned top on the potatoes. It also came with a side of gravy which was a nice touch. Digging in there was a good amount of pulled well seasoned brisket with carrots mixed. Very tasty dish. The fish and chips arrived with a good portion chips and a moderately sized piece of well fried fish. The fish was very fresh and flaky and the breading was very light so it didn't over power the fish. We had a pleasant meal with two great servers, a manager that wouldn't give up on finding us a table and great music (acoustic guitar) to keep us enter. Definitely a great place for drinks and a good meal and one that we will gone back to.

    Photos
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    Interior stained glass

    Quays Bar - Madras chicken curry

    Madras chicken curry

    Quays Bar - Live music and baccanalia

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    Live music and baccanalia

    The Kings Head - Lovely mirror in the corner

    The Kings Head

    3.7(262 reviews)
    0.4 km
    €€

    We stopped by the historic Kings Head pub before dinner on a Monday right around 5 to listen to…read moresome live music. They, like many pubs in Galway feature an early show (for tourists mainly) as well as the more traditional 9 pm session. The two- person band we saw featured a fantastic guitarist with a nice voice and a flautist who played a variety of instruments. As we arrive a bit before 5, we had no problem finding a small low table with a couple of stools near the band. The pub is quite large and it was possible to hear the music throughout the place. We ordered drinks at the bar (a bit over priced) and enjoyed our sips for 90 minutes before we had to leave. The band played non-stop the whole time. By the time we left the place was quite full with lots of people standing-the crowd was dominated by Americans. This was a fun taste of Irish culture in one of the more historic pubs in the area dating to the 1600s.

    the service initially when grabbing food on the second floor was amazing. but then totally dropped…read moreoff we waiting 30 min for the bill. The fish and chips were quite delicious and worth every penny of purchasing them even though they're more more expensive than any other place on the strip we did get a beer and cider, which was also quite tasty but it's basic. Also they ask for a tip which hasn't happened to us yet... Ambiance is dark and very Irish but cool spot to check out

    Photos
    The Kings Head - Burger

    Burger

    The Kings Head - 9/2025

    9/2025

    The Kings Head - Bruchetta and the Executioner's Old Fashioned

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    Bruchetta and the Executioner's Old Fashioned

    McSwiggans Bar and Restaurant - bars - Updated September 2026

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