Top 100 restaurants in Ireland ranked, showcasing best food, chefs and dining experiences

After months of careful planning and eating out, our food critics Joe McNamee and Leslie Williams reveal our inaugural list of the country’s finest restaurants

The 100 Best Places to Eat, 2026

Best of lists don’t happen overnight. They take months of planning, research, collaboration and, of course, eating out.

Over the last 12 months, the food team at the Irish Examiner has been busily working on our inaugural 100 Best Places to Eat list. Created in the fashion of Ireland’s 100 Best Places to Stay, which we launched in November, we have reviewed and eaten in every place that we recommend. With 100 entries, we’ve only ranked our Top 20, just as we did with our hotels.