Grogans: Dublin — A Girl's Guide to Drinking Alone

My first “post-pandemic” international travel was to Ireland for a week with my good friend Tom. Naturally I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to drink alone in a country known for drinking. Slàinte!

15 William St S, Dublin, Ireland

The Place: A classic Irish pub that my friend from Ireland, Peter, recommended. In fact, he said it was the “best pint of Guinness in Dublin” so I obviously have to go.

The Time: Monday May 16, 8pm. Tom and I took a redeye flight so we landed this morning. We walked around Dublin for like, 6 hours waiting to check-in to our AirBnB and once we did, we promptly passed out. I woke up a little antsy after my nap, which I often do, especially on vacation, but Tom was still asleep, so I decided to grab a pint before dinner.

*“The best pint of Guinness in Dublin” at Grogans*

The Vibe: There are tons of people sitting outside and it seems absolutely delightful but I’m here to sit at the bar! I walk in and the space feels like a traditional Irish pub but the bar itself looks kind of like a bar at a classic American diner, with its bright lights and linoleum tile. It takes a second for me to find a seat, not because they aren’t available but because I guess bars in Dublin put coasters down on tables and the bar top, just to identify where the seating is (???). But this makes it hard to tell what seats are actually taken, especially when some of the coasters are still occupied by half-consumed pints that have sadly been abandoned. I end up finding a spot at the corner, between an Irish couple and an older gent pounding Heinekens. It is STARTLINGLY light for 8pm, not just in the bar, but also outside. There’s lots of mish-mash art on the walls, including a big stained glass piece to my left. It’s pretty full in here but there seems to be no music? I will never understand bars without music.

The Bartender: I think I count a total of four people who get behind the bar at some point but the one who helps me just takes my order by asking “you ok?” several times until I realize she’s talking to me, which is befuddling as an American who works in hospitality where we’re trained to always greet the guest with at least a “hello.” I’m pretty far from the taps, which is where the bartenders spend all their time, but I see many, many pints of Guinness sitting on the bartop brewing. (Not actually brewing – is there a verb for when you pour half a Guinness then let it settle before you pour the other half, which I’ve been told you absolutely HAVE to do? Is that just called settling? Ok cool, good talk.)

The Drank: What else, a pint of Guinness. (No disrespect to Peter, but I don’t know how this pint of Guinness is different from all the other pints of Guinness in Dublin. Although my Guinness palate certainly isn’t as refined as his.) I also get a cheese toastie because Peter told me to. It’s a grilled cheese, basically, and once it’s in front of me, I realize that drinking Guinness on an empty stomach would’ve been a bad idea so I’m grateful. Thanks, Pete!

Was I Hit On?: No! The Heineken guy kept to himself, surprisingly. There’s a crowd of guys in the corner at the other end of the bar and one of them kind of keeps looking at me, but to be fair, I’m also looking at him because he’s in my line of vision. I listen to the Irish husband explain what a glass washer is to his Irish wife, for some reason. And I fully embarrass myself with a different bartender when I ask for change. He asks how much I want back and I have to say “oh I have no idea how much this is” and he tells me, but I still can’t do the fucking math and I sit there, mouth agape, until he’s like “do you just want to pay?” and now I just want to die but thankfully Tom is almost here so we can go to dinner and I can swallow my shame along with the last of my Guinness.

Should You Drink Here Alone?: Yeah I guess? Grogans seems like a fun place to hang out and what I experienced was definitely just dumb-jetlagged-tourist-in-a-country-for-the-first-time syndrome and was NOT the pub’s fault at all. And maybe they DO actually have the best pint of Guinness in all of Dublin. You’ll have to find out for yourself!