The Winding Stair

4.7

2478 Reviews

€31 to €50

Irish

Make a reservation

2 people

Mar 26, 2025

March 2025

7:00 PM

Booked 34 times today

About this restaurant

Charming
Good for special occasions
Great for scenic views

The Winding Stair Bookshop & Café became a famous Dublin landmark in the 1970s and 1980s. Named after the Yeats poem and in honour of its winding staircase, it is overlooking the river Liffey, with an iconic view of the Ha'penny bridge. As a popular meeting place for writers, musicians and artists, it was a well known hub for debate and creativity with many poems written, novels penned and movies shot within its walls. In 2006, Elaine Murphy brought this much-loved spot back to life as a restaurant, championing seasonal, Irish produce. The bookshop, located on the ground floor, was retained, as were many of the old bookshelves, photos and memories. The room retains its timeless charm with stripped wood tables and floors, and Bentwood café chairs.The view remains as quintessentially Dublin as ever.
The food is good, old-fashioned home cooking, with produce sourced from artisans within the island. Drink sare local and international craft beers & wines from stellar producers.

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Additional information

Dining style
Casual Dining
Price
€31 to €50
Cuisines
Irish, Seafood, Vegetarian
Hours of operation
Lunch Wed–Sun 12:00 pm–3:00 pm Dinner Mon, Tue, Sun 5:30 pm–9:00 pm Wed–Sat 5:30 pm–10:00 pm
Phone number
(01) 872 7320
Website
http://winding-stair.com/
Payment options
Mastercard, Visa
Dress code
Casual Dress

Location
40 Ormond Quay Lower, Dublin, Co. Dublin D01 R9Y5
Neighborhood
North City Centre
Parking details
Public Lot
Additional
Beer, View, Wine

Pigs on the green pork belly
mashed potato, apple & celeriac slaw, grilled spring onion, apple ketchup & cider jus
Doyle’s Irish white sole
burnt butter, capers, parsley, lemon, almonds & baby potato
Youngs 9oz Black Angus striploin
homemade chips, steamed greens & garlic herb butter
- €7 supplement€7.00
Irish potato boxty
Kearney Blue stuffed Portobello mushroom, wilted spinach, hazelnut & parsley pesto

Desserts

Almond chocolate tart
with honeycomb & raspberry sorbet
Panna cotta
with poached rhubarb & oat biscuits
The Winding Stair Bread & Butter pudding
with whiskey sauce

What 2,478 people are saying

The Winding Stair reviews from people who’ve dined at this restaurant. Based on recent rating.

Overall ratings and reviews

Reviews can only be made by diners who have eaten at this restaurant

4.7

4.7 based on recent ratings

4.7Food
4.7Service
4.6Ambience
4.3Value

Noise • Moderate

Loved For

Dublin
Great for scenic views
Dublin
Irish
Dublin 1
Best Overall
Dublin 1
Best Food
Dublin 1
Best Service
Dublin 1
Best Ambiance
Dublin 1
Best Value
Dublin 1
Innovative
Dublin 1
Healthy
Dublin 1
Neighborhood gem
Dublin 1
Great for fine wines
Dublin 1
Romantic
Dublin 1
Vegetarian-friendly
Dublin 1
Most Booked

Review summary

AI-generated from verified diner reviews

The Winding Stair in Dublin offers a "consistently wonderful dining experience" with its "amazing food" and "great atmosphere." Diners praise the "friendly and attentive" staff, the "extensive and well-priced wine list," and the "stunning views" over the Liffey River. It's a "fantastic place" for "authentic Irish food" and memorable occasions.

2,478 Reviews

OT
OpenTable Diner
New York City2 reviews
1.0
Dined 3 days ago
1. Overall 1
2. Food 3
3. Service 1
4. Ambience 1
Was here 10years ago, was great. Highly disappointed in our meal yesterday. The waiter tried to substitute wine without our knowledge and insisted we try it. It was awful. He then proceeded to tell me aggressively it was ok. I refused the wine. Then, he expected me to take it. The management removed him from our table. My pork belly was overcooked and terrible. Never going back. Off our recommendation list. Told our hotel too.
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D
Derek
Chicago3 reviews
4.0
Dined 3 days ago
1. Overall 4
2. Food 5
3. Service 4
4. Ambience 5
Loved the bookshop vibe and river overlook. Food was delicious, especially the crab, sole, and haddock. Our server was very friendly, experienced, and helpful. It was very busy with only a few servers so it was difficult to get their attention.
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p
paul
London2 reviews
5.0
Dined 4 days ago
1. Overall 5
2. Food 5
3. Service 5
4. Ambience 5
Great ambience and warm attentive service. Nice range of dishes on offer. Crab starter and duck main were wonderful. And the wine list is extensive, and crucially, well priced in these challenging times. A great evening all in all!!
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OT
OpenTable Diner
Chicago1 review
5.0
Dined 4 days ago
1. Overall 5
2. Food 5
3. Service 5
4. Ambience 5
Have been coming here regularly on visits to Dublin since 2008 and it is a consistently wonderful dining experience.
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F
Freya
Dublin1 review
5.0
Dined 5 days ago
1. Overall 5
2. Food 5
3. Service 5
4. Ambience 5
Excellent food, lovely service! Would highly recommend and will definitely be back!
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MG
MaryG
Dublin2 reviews
4.0
Dined 5 days ago
1. Overall 4
2. Food 5
3. Service 5
4. Ambience 4
Very interesting menu to cater for all tastes and wines recommended with each dish. Staff exceptional as alqays
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JS
JeremyS
New York City3 reviews
5.0
Dined 6 days ago
1. Overall 5
2. Food 5
3. Service 5
4. Ambience 5
Amazing food, great vibe, excellent service and wine recommendations.
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FB
FionaB
Dublin9 reviews
5.0
Dined 7 days ago
1. Overall 5
2. Food 5
3. Service 5
4. Ambience 5
We love the winding stairs. The ambience is good. The food is delicious and well presented. A perfect central spot for meeting friends halfway between north and Southside or meeting people heading to heuston station after a day in Dublin. My only one quibble was that the decaffeinated coffee was undrinkable.
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OT
OpenTable Diner
Dublin1 review
5.0
Dined on March 15, 2025
1. Overall 5
2. Food 5
3. Service 5
4. Ambience 5
Great experience, gorgeous food and the staff are so friendly and knowledgeable.
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R
Rebecca VIP
Greater Boston30 reviews
5.0
Dined on March 15, 2025
1. Overall 5
2. Food 5
3. Service 5
4. Ambience 5
The food was excellent and the restaurant was a cozy and welcoming atmosphere
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FAQs

The Winding Stair is rated 4.7 stars by 2478 OpenTable diners.

Yes, you can generally book this restaurant by choosing the date, time and party size on OpenTable.

Make a reservation

Booked 34 times today

40 Ormond Quay Lower, Dublin, Co. Dublin D01 R9Y5

Additional information

Neighborhood
North City Centre
Hours of operation
Lunch Wed–Sun 12:00 pm–3:00 pm Dinner Mon, Tue, Sun 5:30 pm–9:00 pm Wed–Sat 5:30 pm–10:00 pm
Price
€31 to €50
Cuisines
Irish, Seafood, Vegetarian
Dining style
Casual Dining
Dress code
Casual Dress
Parking details
Public Lot
Payment options
Mastercard, Visa
Additional
Beer, View, Wine

Website
http://winding-stair.com/
Phone number
(01) 872 7320

Sun	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri	Sat

The Winding Stair

Make a reservation

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Additional information

Starters

Soup of the day

Braised beef cheek bruschetta

Potted Dingle Bay crab

Macroom Dairies' buffalo burrata

Mains

Pigs on the green pork belly

Doyle’s Irish white sole

Youngs 9oz Black Angus striploin

Irish potato boxty

Desserts

Almond chocolate tart

Panna cotta

The Winding Stair Bread & Butter pudding

Overall ratings and reviews

Loved For

Review summary

FAQs

How is The Winding Stair restaurant rated?

Is The Winding Stair currently accepting reservations?

Make a reservation

Additional information