You just arrived in Galway, jump off the train - walk past JFK park - and go to the Skeff for the soup and brown bread. There is nothing like it and cannot wait to go back soon! read more

The ambiance is one of high school after partiers. Pass this one up for other quality local bars.

Great service and food! Their desert was amazing as well. Fair prices and the staff was very kind and helpful for us American tourists. The place is made up of various rooms. It is pretty dark inside, but thankfully my brother and I are both super pale, which illuminated the room we were in. read more

Cool location, nice pub atmosphere.. .but that is where it ends. We arrive and after a few minutes, a waitress comes up to take our order. I order one of their specialty bottled beers from their menu. She looks at me like I have two heads... I point to it on the menu and ask her, "you have this right?" She kind of nods and says yes... A few minutes later my beer arrives, and I'm given a HOT glass to put it in... It had obviously been just washed. I asked if they had a chilled glass, and she arrives a few minutes later with a DIRTY (still not cold) glass. When I say dirty, clearly dirty and had lipstick marks.... I then decide to drink my beer just from the bottle, but my bottle is hot. I again ask "Um... do you have this cold." She looks at me, very confused and takes the bottle away. A few minutes later, another waiter brings back the same warm beer and a glass of ice and mutters something about the refrigerator not working. Really?? We left shortly after.... I asked them to remove my beer from the tab and they did... however they looked confused as to why I wouldn't want to drink my hot beer in a dirty glass with ice. I would stay away.... Based on my dirty glass, we decided to eat elsewhere. read more

The Skeff is a lovely traditional Irish pub and restaurant with old world class and style. We stumbled upon the Skeff on a cold,wet afternoon and were charmed by the decor and warmed by the roaring fireplace as well as the vast array of delectable baked goodies they had on display.An Irish coffee and ginger cake was the perfect antidote for our shivering bodies. After reading the reviews, I only wish we had more time to go back for dinner there. read more

Wow, I thought this place would have much higher reviews. I got a taste of the real Irish craic experience being here and I loved it. We came here after the greyhound racetracks, and it was so, so much fun. I'm low-key obsessed with Irish men (their humor, their LOOKS) and the bartenders here do not disappoint. They're all super handsome and super friendly, even if you have to use sign language to order your drinks. Also, LIVE MUSIC. The band we had that night was actually really good. Everyone was hopping and dancing around, not to mention the lead singer was totes handsome. (He made eye contact with me and grinned when I cheered him on, swoon). My friends and I just had a blast rocking out to our pints and making a night of it all. Plus, there's always that way too drunk guy trying to score another encore and dance with way too many people. read more

We had 30 minutes to eat before we had to catch the last train to Dublin. We had Irish beef sandwiches and a pint of Guinness and left with 5 minutes to spare. Wish we hadn't been in such a hurry. But they sure took care of us quickly. Beautiful place. Next time we will spend a few hours there. read more

This large pub across the street from Eyre Square incorporates all kinds of decor yet it all works. It's a good place for conversation with many choices of where to sit or hang out. The place was packed on a Sunday afternoon with people watching the cricket match between Galway and Cork. Galway won by the way. I don't understand cricket at all so I just drank at the bar. One of these days I will read up on that sport. Right now it just looks like people running with clubs after some guy with a ball. Sorry! http://www.howcast.com/videos/399025-How-to-Play-Cricket read more

So The Skeff turns into a standard bar late at night... This place was PACKED with the ladies the night my husband and I went! It all seemed to be hen parties - the tiaras and tulle were really flying! All in all, it has great character from just being really old and well cared for. There are some funny parts like where the old victorian-or-earlier lamps and stained glass are covered over with fishing gear and nets for a faux-tikifeel, plus lots of hilarity because of the completely worked up crowd, make for a fun place for a drink! read more

When you are in Galway, this is the place to eat. It has the best seafood chowder I have tasted. The atmosphere is fun and traditional Irish with great service read more

Sat outside and had cappuccino and tea. Very pleasant service and wifi access. Right outside Eyre Park. read more

The Skeff Bar - Tea and cappuccino - Bars Near Me - Galway, G

Fabulous. Great in environment and great food. Took a little while to get our check, but that's pretty normal for Ireland restaurants. The waiters were great and only wish I could spend a lot more time in Galway then I have been able to. I would definitely go back again and again. I wish I was headed back to Galway this weekend! Also, this is where you start and get tickets for the Galway Pub Crawl It was a great time. Met some awesome people, and the guides were awesome as well. The only bad thing as that they end at a terrible night club. Most of the staff there (except the promotors) were not nice. read more

Just spent a couple of hours on a weekday afternoon eating lunch (potato leek soup -fuggedaboutit), having a few Smithwicks at the outdoor patio facing Eyre Square. There was a guy playing blues guitar, and the temperature was about 80 F. Perfect pub experience. read more

The Skeff Bar - Smithwicks, potato leek soup, and a panini. - Bars Near Me - Galway, G

As interesting as this bar is, it takes forever to get a drink from the many bartenders. While waiting once I was hit on by a 65 year old ex-carpenter... needless to say, I didn not enjoy the Irish-version of my father coming on to me... though it is a good story. The positives is that because it's so large the noise level is pretty low and the upstairs seating comes in handy if you want to actually talk to someone. Next time I'm in Galway I might stop in, maybe. read more

The absolute best seafood chowder I've ever had! Filled with fresh fish, mussels and crab! I would have paid 25 for it and it was less than 7 E. the staff is very friendly and they had live music that you could even watch from other rooms because they aired it on their tvs. The Goat cheese balls were fantastic as well. It's an upbeat atmosphere which is perfect for a night out on the town! Great prices because you get MORE than your money's worth. Definitely going back there! read more

The Skeff Bar - Best seafood chowder ever!!!! - Bars Near Me - Galway, G

Gets a bit crazy at times, but great decor and size. A labyrinth of drinking rooms and a fine selection of beers to follow suit.

Decent place, huge building and quite beautiful. Food was okay, I had the Irish burger and my boyfriend had the fish and chip. Quite pricey for the food and a pint. Employees weren't all that special for customer service. Go maybe for a pint but then move on to other places. This seems to be the main hit for younger groups to party. read more

Despite my affinity for this spot since it is my name-sake and all, it was a winner in full! The environment is perfectly fit for an Irish style bar, exactly what we were looking for during our stay in Galway. The food was delicious and HUGE portions, excellently priced. There is a great selection of drinks, with a full bar (of course!). My favorite part? They have beer taps on the tables in the bar, so you just tell the bar-tender you want the tap turned on and it's metered like a gas-pump. No waiting to order, no warm beer, and 100% good times literally on tap. Despite this convenient style of delivering beer, the staff at the bar was also awesome, so it was almost a little sad that we didn't get to interact as much with them. Our group of 10 had an excellent time here and went twice during our two night stay. Would highly recommend grabbing a bite and a pint here. read more

Some how the beer in Galway tastes so much better than usual, popped in for dinner and was not disappointed :) good food for a great price

Stayed at the Adare Manor and we traveled one night to galway and it was awesome. Great food both times. All in all the Chicken Curry is banging yummy read more

The interior is really cool and the staff was friendly however the sweet potatoe fries we ordered were mushy and soggy. We probably wouldn't come back. Would be the perfect bar to hang out with your frat bros. read more

The second floor for Residents is an ideal location to sit late (open up to 3 AM but food bar would be closed). Also could listen to live music from up there. Great ambiance. read more

On advice of Galway friends, I write this review. I came to the Skeff bar for Breakfast one morning prior to catching a bus to the Aran Islands. I asked the barman what was the difference between the full and mini breakfast and he explained it was double the portions, so I ordered the full breakfast. When it arrived, I was a little enthralled to see 2 half rounds of pudding; 1 black, 1 white placed on top of each other. Who goes to the trouble of cutting a round of pudding in 2? That's almost as sacrilegious as an american diner serving you half a burger. While the manager brought extra pudding when I drew his attention to it, he then proceeded to tell me what value for money I was getting with the breakfast. While the breakfast was perfectly cooked and delicious, please leave out renowned irish puddings intact! read more

Really cool looking place. It's big and has some amazing detail inside. Only went for dessert. Hot chocolate was good - very rich. And I had the chocolate fudge cake. Also very rich. Probably not the best idea to have them both together! definitely worth a go read more

Perfectly good in everyday, nothing special in terms of menu or service. More of a 3.5 then anything else, but if you just need a quick basic meal then it'll do nicely as it's also very nicely decorated throughout read more

Great atmosphere and the best chicken wings I have had since being in Ireland! Right on the square and near the busiest section of town. Great location! Would definitely recommend! read more

My family and traveled from Colorado, USA just prior to Christmas. We ate, drank and had a great time at The Skeff. One of my most memorable experiences in Ireland, and one of, if not the best pub I have ever patronized. The atmosphere is second to none...great food and drink to boot! Take advantage during the Christmas market....experience of a lifetime! read more

Came here on a pub crawl with my cousins while in Galway summer of 2012. Traditional and beautiful with it's old wooden floors, and ornate glass light fixtures and great decorations including portraits (my favorite of Arthur Guinness). The second floor is a great place to sit, have a beer and listen to the live band. read more

Dirty pint glasses and cutlery. Got our food order wrong and some meals cold. Very disappointed.

Worst food and service in Ireland over past 3 weeks of travel. Over priced, poor execution in the kitchen, server who says the beer was "four something". Don't bother coming thru the door. read more

there was nothing wrong with this place, but nothing that set it apart from many other places I've been to - it could have been in almost any city on the U.S., much less in Ireland. It actually reminded me most of a TFI Fridays. the music was not good, and the food just so-so. definitely better places to go to just 5 minutes walk away read more

Group of us went and it seemed good. Reminded most of us of weather spoons but slightly more expensive. My pint and food was great but others had to wait a while and said food was average. Would still visit again read more

Gone downhill recently, This used to be the place to go in galway. Instead now it just just has no atmosphere and serves terrible Heineken and i Mean Terrible! So i switched to Carlsberg which was equally bad and not fully cold even. So i departed quickly again and will be going somewhere more deserving next time....... read more

Where did this dance club come from? This is a question I ask myself time and time again when I think back on the Skeff. From its exterior, the Skeff looks like any other traditional Irish pub, ornate and tastefully lit. Those stereotypes fly out the window once you step inside, as the sound of Katy Perry and Rihanna fill the room. The bar smacks you in the face as you walk in, daring you to order a drink or two. The prices are decent, with mixed drinks costing €7 roughly. With this is mind, what turned out to be a "one last drink before home" situation ended up being a "close the bar with crazy bouncing off the wall dancing" night. The top 40 tracks faded out around midnight, only to be replaced with the most awesome band ever. This band of misfits, played everything from country to techno to Bryan Adams. As proud Canadians, my friend and I belted Summer of 69 at the top of our lungs. Is it really a successful dance party without it? This was a perfect ending to out week long tour of Ireland. If you are in Galway, you must go to this bar, just remember the dancing shoes. read more

Great staff, great location, good food but pricy, okay drink selection, slow cocktail service, and a bit hit or miss for atmosphere.

Loved the decor, ambiance, wait staff and mostly the food. We ordered the braised ribs and the beef lasagna, wings and veg soup. All were to our liking. Definitely would go back and highly recommend. read more