Overview
In May 2022 Capel Street became the longest traffic-free street in Dublin: a 400-metre stretch, from Parnell Street down to Strand Street, where cars once sat nose to tail. That’s the pedestrianised core – the street proper runs on, north-south, from Ormond Quay up to Bolton Street. The car ban stuck after a well-supported trial, and the space it freed up now goes to café tables, buskers and the odd pop-up market. Time Out has since named it one of the coolest streets in the world.
The one reason to make a trip is the food. Nowhere else in Dublin packs this many good, cheap, genuinely international kitchens into a few hundred metres. It’s not a polished street – vacant units and charity shops sit between the good spots – but that’s rather the point.
A street with layers of history
Capel Street was laid out around 1680 by Sir Humphrey Jervis, on abbey land he’d bought in 1674, as a grand residential boulevard lined with freestanding mansions and gardens. The name comes partly from the chapel of St Mary’s Abbey (Latin capella) and partly from political flattery of Arthur Capell, 1st Earl of Essex and then Lord Lieutenant of Ireland. In 1676 Jervis built Essex Bridge – now Grattan Bridge – to tie his new development straight into Dublin Castle and the old city.
By the 1700s the mansions had given way to commercial buildings and Capel Street became a trade route. Number 27 housed a royal mint that James II opened in 1689 to strike ‘gun money’ for the Williamite War; it kept going after the Battle of the Boyne. The actor Thomas Sheridan was born in that same building in 1719. The street had a Capel Street Theatre in the 18th century and the Torch Theatre from 1935 to 1941, and it was made an Architectural Conservation Area in 2009, which protects its patchwork of Georgian, Victorian and early-20th-century fronts. Look for the surviving ‘Dutch Billy’ gables and the 14-bay terrace at number 105, now the Outhouse LGBTQ+ centre.
Food and drink
The eastern side is a run of independent grocers that supply half the city’s kitchens. Super Asian Foods stocks things you won’t find elsewhere, with a small restaurant tucked around the back. Moldova carries Eastern European staples – and claims the city’s largest watermelon – while Ayla Foods does Turkish baklava and börek, and Real Brasil, on the corner of Great Strand Street, sells coxinha and brigadeiros.
For sitting down, Brother Hubbard built its name on scratch brunches and pastries, later a cookbook by Garrett Fitzgerald. The restaurant strip leans hard into Asian cooking: Aobaba for Vietnamese pho, Arisu for Korean barbecue, Musashi for sushi, Hilan for Chinese.
The pubs are as mixed. At the southern end, Pantibar is a cornerstone of gay Dublin, neon sign and all, and the source of the enormous post-Pride street party every summer. Across from it, Jack Nealon’s has been pulling pints since 1905, open fire and gilded ceiling intact. Midway up, J. McNeill’s runs trad sessions most nights. The Boar’s Head and Slattery’s keep the traditional end going with live music and food.
Independent shopping
Chains are conspicuously absent. Louis Copeland & Sons has cut bespoke suits here since 1908, now in its fourth generation. Lenehan’s Hardware has sold tools since 1890. Sounds Around still does specialist electronic gear, though Goodwins Music closed in July 2024 after five decades. There’s a hemp-products shop, a haberdashery, and Shauna’s Pet Shop, one of the last independent pet stores in the city, plus a run of charity and vintage shops.
The northern end has a student cast to it: SEDA College pulls in English-language learners from Brazil, Italy, Spain, France, Japan, China and Korea, which feeds the languages and cooking you hear and smell along the street.
Practical information
Capel Street is a public street – no admission, no set hours, and each shop, café and pub keeps its own.
- Vehicle access: deliveries run 6am–11am; after that, retractable bollards keep motor traffic out. Cyclists have priority and the full width of the street. Emergency services get through at all times.
- Public transport: the nearest Luas is Jervis on the Red Line, a four-minute walk; Smithfield is about ten minutes west. Plenty of Dublin Bus routes run along nearby O’Connell Street and Parnell Street.
- Parking: Smithfield car park and the Parkrite on Parnell Street are the handiest; check signage for rates.
- Accessibility: the pedestrianised surface is flat and step-free along its length.
The Abbey Theatre is a short walk off if you want a show at the national stage, and Smithfield Square and its market make an easy add-on. Come on a weekday evening rather than a weekend – the terraces are full, the food’s the same, and you’re not fighting the crowds. Start at the Pantibar end and work north; finish with a pint by the fire in Jack Nealon’s.