Where to find late night food in Dublin, and what's still open

Most of Dublin's late-night food is in and around the city centre, close to the streets with the most pubs and venues, and it runs later on Friday and Saturday than midweek. The quickest way to find somewhere still serving is to switch on Mosey's Open now filter where you are, then check the place's hours and photographs before you walk, because opening times shift from one night to the next.

Where in Dublin is food served late?

Late food follows the nightlife. Temple Bar and the streets around it, across to Dame Street, George's Street and down towards Camden Street, are where you will find the most places still feeding people after the pubs, because that is where the people are. Rathmines, with its large student population, has its own late takeaway trade.

Further out, in the suburbs and the quieter villages, places tend to close earlier, and what stays open is mostly local takeaways. If you are getting a late bus or a taxi home to somewhere outside the centre, it is usually better to eat in town than to hope something near your door is still open.

Mosey has pages for the city and its neighbourhoods. Temple Bar is a good one to save, and the Dublin takeaway page gathers places people have tagged for takeaway across the city.

What changes between a weeknight and a weekend?

Almost everything. A place trading well past midnight on a Saturday may close its kitchen at ten on a Tuesday. A few patterns hold across the city:

• Friday and Saturday run latest. If you are out midweek, assume earlier closing and check.
• Sundays and bank holidays are different. Shorter hours are common, and some places do not open.
• A pub's kitchen keeps its own hours. Last food orders often come long before last drinks. Ask about the kitchen, not the door.
• Last orders come before closing. A kitchen that closes at eleven may take its last order earlier.
• Big nights change the map. Match days, concerts and the run-up to Christmas bring longer hours in some places and big queues in others.

How do I check what is open right now?

Three quick checks stop the walk to a locked door.

1. Switch on Open now. On Mosey, the Open now filter shows places near you whose listed hours say they are open at this moment.
2. Check whose hours they are. Many listings on Mosey began as entries in public map data, and their hours can be out of date until the venue claims the listing. A claimed listing carries the venue's own hours, menu and photographs.
3. Ring for anything that matters. A late dinner for six deserves a phone call, not a hopeful walk.

What is Dublin's favourite late night food?

The classics are the chipper supper, curry chips, pizza by the slice, burgers, kebabs and fried chicken. And then there is the spice bag: chips, crispy strips of chicken, sliced peppers and onions, tossed together in a salty, spiced seasoning and served in a bag, usually from a Chinese takeaway. It is widely credited as a Dublin invention, it has spread across the country, and plenty of people order a tub of curry sauce alongside.

Every one of those is easy to make badly, which is why it is worth looking at the food before you choose. On Mosey you can search for the dish rather than the place, and each dish has a page with photographs from people who ordered it. Twelve photographs of twelve spice bags tell you which takeaway gets the chicken crisp and which one leaves it soggy. The cuisine filter also starts with the late-night staples (pizza, burgers, kebab, fried chicken) so you can go straight to them.

Can I get a proper sit-down meal late in Dublin?

Yes, but plan for it rather than hoping. Many kitchens that close around ten or eleven will happily seat you at nine, and a booking for a later sitting is far more reliable than arriving near closing time. Where a place takes bookings on Mosey, booking is free and you get a reminder. If the night is full, join the waitlist: when somebody cancels, the table goes to the list.

Places that serve a full menu late are far fewer than places doing late takeaway, so if a late dinner is the point of the night, decide where you are going before you go out.

Working late, or finishing a shift

If you finish work when kitchens are closing, order before they shut rather than after you clock off.

• Order ahead for collection. Where a place offers ordering ahead, order on your phone, pick a time and collect when you are told it is ready. Collection usually costs less than delivery, because there is no driver to pay.
• Keep a list of what is open after your shift. Note which nights each place stays open and what is good there. At half eleven, a list you trust beats any search.
• Collect rewards where you are a regular. If one place feeds you after most shifts, check whether it runs rewards on Mosey. Joining is free, and an order counts as a visit.

A few habits that make late food easier

• Decide what you want before you leave the pub, not on the street.
• Keep enough battery for getting home, not just for finding chips.
• If one queue is out the door, a place one street over may be quieter and just as good.
• Eat before you split up from the people you are going home with.

Heading south? Our guide to late night food in Cork covers the same ground there, and the best dishes in Dublin shows what people rate most across the city.

Try it on Mosey

Switch on Open now wherever you are in Dublin, compare the photographs, and save your reliable late options to a list.