on the road less travelled in Ireland and france

No day of sight-seeing in Dublin is complete without a visit to Bewleys. Fran and Conal stopped in Grafton St to rest their feet and have lunch.

Tuesday, October 10, 2023 (Lunch): Bewleys is a Dublin institution. Has been for decades. For nearly 100 years, Bewley’s Café on bustling Grafton Street has been Dublin’s favourite “place for award-winning coffee, delicious food and timeless charm”.

“Bewley’s is more than a café – we are deeply intertwined with Ireland’s literary and artistic heritage. Famous writers like James Joyce, W.B. Yeats and Samuel Beckett once gathered here. Our historic building features stunning mosaics and stained glass that make us one of Dublin’s most iconic dining experiences” says their website.

Back in the 1970s (and into the 1980s), it was my view that Bewleys supplied cutlery to most of the students flats in Dublin. Yes, the unemployed, students availed of the five-finger discount scheme for their kitchens.

Me? I can remember spending, rainy afternoons in one of Bewleys many cafes (Grafton St, Westmoreland St and South Great Georges St) over an eventually-cold mug of tea discussing university subjects with uni-going mates.

It was rumoured that the daily Irish newspaper, the Irish Times had their morning conference in the Bewleys in Westmoreland St.

The company has operated a café on Dublin’s Grafton Street since 1927.

Sometimes described as a “Dublin landmark” the building shows influence from the Art Deco movement, with its façade decorated with an Egyptian Revival mosaic, a style rare in Dublin.

It was designed by the Dublin architectural firm, Millar & Symes.

 In the interior, there are stained glass windows by Harry Clarke showing orders of architecture.

The windows are on the ground floor towards the back of the building. A stained glass window by artist Jim Fitzpatrick from the Mary Street branch was stored after its closure and then transferred to the remaining Grafton Street branch.

A third stained glass artist’s work is included in the Grafton Street store, a window by Pauline Bewick entitled Cafe Society. The building was modified extensively in 1995.

This outlet was closed between November 2004 and May 2005 for refurbishment and restoration. In November 2017, Bewley’s Grafton Street was reopened after the “1000 day” multimillion-euro refurbishment.

A stop at Bewleys for lunch was on the card for Fran and I after our morning in Powerscourt Gardens.

We’d driven back to Cowper Road and got the LUAS (a light rail mass transport system) to St Stephen’s Green, walked around that historic park and ambled down Dublin’s upmarket Grafton Street to get to Bewleys.

We were shown to our seats, admired the modern stain-glass window beside and ordered (it is table service) a staple for us, “bowls of soup with brown bread”. The good thing about Irish soup is that it tastes good and combined with the Irish wholemeal bread and Irish butter … it is very filling. Just what you need for a walk around Dublin.

Bewleys is no longer the student haunt of the last century, it is now an upmarket tea/coffee restaurant where people come to enjoy the almost-genteel sophisticated elegance.

On one side of us, female office workers were in for lunch, on the other side an elderly couple seemed to be enjoying a romantic meal – and were oblivious to the bustling crowd around them. Across from us a young mother was nursing her young baby.

Bewleys is a place for everyone.

• OPENING HOURS
• Monday to Friday: 8:30am to 5:30pm
• Saturday: 8:30 am to 6:30pm
• Sunday: 9am to 6pm

Potted History

Established in 1840, Bewley’s is Ireland’s leading coffee and tea company. As an independent, family-owned business.

Bewley’s started life in a small shop on Sycamore Alley in Dublin, built on Quaker origins that guided Bewley’s philosophy and put people at the heart of everything we do.

What do you think?

Do you have a Bewleys story? Leave a comment.