Dublin: Walking Food Tour with local chef, 7 stops or more!

About

This three-hour food walk was built around a straightforward idea: showing you where a Dublin chef with 15 years of experience actually chooses to eat. Clodagh Shortall owns and runs the tour herself, and every stop on the route is somewhere she genuinely rates - all small, independently owned Irish businesses, all well off the tourist trail.

You’ll hit at least seven venues across the city over the course of the morning or afternoon, working through a mix of sweet and savoury, hot and cold food as you go. Drinks are included too - and yes, that means a pint of Guinness at what Clodagh considers the best spot in town for one. The specific stops vary, but the thinking behind each one doesn’t: local, independent, and worth knowing about.

Groups are capped at ten people maximum, which keeps the whole thing personal throughout. You get a proper chance to ask questions, hear the stories behind each place, and take your time at each stop rather than being moved along as part of a crowd.

Good to Know

• A minimum of 7 venue stops are included, with food and drink tastings at each
• Groups are capped at 10 people maximum
• All stops are at small, independently owned Irish businesses
• The tour is owned and run by Dublin chef Clodagh Shortall, who has 15 years of culinary experience
• Come with an appetite - there’s a lot to get through over three hours

Local Tips

Clodagh built this tour around the places she actually cares about, and that comes through. These aren’t venues that paid to be on a food tour itinerary - they’re places she chose because she thinks they’re doing something genuinely good. That makes the conversation at each stop different from what you’d get on a larger, more generic tour. You’re hearing a chef’s honest opinion, not a script.

Seven stops over three hours sounds like a lot, but the pacing works. You’re not rushing between locations or standing at a counter eating while a guide talks at you. There’s time to settle in at each place, look around, ask questions, and actually taste what you’re eating. The mix of sweet, savoury, hot, and cold across the stops also means you never feel overloaded on any one thing.

The small group cap is one of the best things about this tour. Ten people is the maximum, which means you can actually hear what Clodagh is saying, join in the conversation, and get answers to specific questions you have. It’s much closer to eating out with a knowledgeable friend than joining a tour group.

Don’t eat a large meal beforehand. This is obvious advice but worth repeating - you’re covering a lot of food across seven-plus stops over three hours. A light breakfast or a small snack before you start is the right approach. The Guinness stop, wherever it lands in the itinerary, is much better enjoyed on a stomach that still has room for it.

The stops are all small Irish businesses, which means you’re spending your money in the right places. One of the things that makes this tour feel good beyond the food is that every euro you spend at each stop is going directly to local, independent operators. Clodagh chose them specifically for that reason, and the owners often know her - you get a warmer welcome than you would walking in off the street.

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