Fade Street Social Restaurant & Cocktail Bar — Restaurant in Dublin

First off, I hate leaving a bad review. Especially on a restaurant when times are tough with staffing and food prices.. but here is the reason for the 1 star..

We were travelling to Dublin from Canada for our 20 year wedding anniversary. I searched for days looking for the best restaurant to enjoy our special day. Finally decided on Fade street based on the reviews, menu and atmosphere. What a huge mistake… I emailed the restaurant asking if we could get a reservation as online it showed the restaurant was closed. To my amaze, I received an email back saying they were able to book us a table for dinner,Amazing. I explained it was our 20 year wedding anniversary and was excited to be coming to the restaurant. We arrived on time for our 8pm reservation. The fellow at the front desk greeted us with nothing more than one word and took us to our table. He looked miserable..We were seated by the front door and noticed that we were not in the main dining room. No big deal. As we waited for our server, I walked over to the main dining area to see if we could move tables and noticed it was all closed. Again not a big deal. As we sat waiting for our server a fellow came over and dropped of some menus. The menu didn’t seem to be the one I was looking at online for the main ding area but still had some great options. After that we sat there and waited for about 15 mins.. no one came over to maybe give us some water or ask us if we would like to order some drinks. So I walked around and looked for our server.. no one would even look at me… so back to the table to wait another 15mins… at this point I was wondering why they even booked us a table. The couple beside us were looking at us and you could see the look at their faces.. we were all dressed up and sitting there like we were ghosts.. The guy at the front desk could see us and just sat there on his phone. So after total of 30 mins and we had enough. At this point we walked out and left. I was blown away and mad. I was the one who arranged this dinner and felt like a complete idiot.. So went back to our hotel and got changed to casual closes and went to a local pub and had an amazing Irish meal. So I guess it worked out.. lol . I have no idea why we were ignored. We are very chill people and not hard to please. We just wanted to order a bottle of wine and eat an amazing meal.. It would have been nice of the person from the restaurant that replied to my inquiry, would have told me that the man in restaurant was closed on Mondays. I understand sometimes staff are busy.. but this was brutal. An absolute waist of our “special evening”. There are Michelin star restaurants throughout Dublin and we decided on this restaurant. What a big mistake. This review is really for anyone who is thinking about going here. I’m sure it has great food, but if this helps at least one person or couple from making the Mistake we did.. well then It was worth writing this review. So to the owner … probably a good idea to speak with your staff about the importance of your customers… without us.. you have...

I was extremely disappointed with my experience in this restaurant and will not be returning.

We booked a table in the Woodfire bar, which we believed was the cocktail bar upstairs (from previous visits). At reception we were directed to the second floor but upon showing our reservation in the cocktail bar, we were told that the reservation was for another area but not offered any assistance with where to go. We went back downstairs to the front desk to show our reservation again and were then shown to the first table on the left hand side. The table was a little separated from the main restaurant and we were dissatisfied with the location as we had purposefully chosen the venue for the atmosphere. When the waitress brought us the food menus we asked if we could move to the indoor seating area upstairs on the second floor and asked if the menu was the same. The waitress agreed that this would be ok, confirmed the menu was the same and brought us to a table upstairs. After our friend arrived, we were hungry and ready to order food. When the waitress (working on this floor) came to take the order, I asked for a flatbread and was told that only "bar bites" were allowed to be ordered in that particular area. We explained the situation that we had asked to move and that the other waitress confirmed that the menu was the same but the waitress refused to let us order pizza. We tried to question as to why we couldn't order from the main menu but the waitress was completely inflexible and advised that we would need to move back downstairs to the main restaurant. At this point we had been moving and waiting around for 30 minutes and decided we would prefer to spend our money somewhere else with better customer service so we left.

This is my second bad experience in this restaurant and I will not be returning and will not be recommending it. I personally found the staff very unhelpful and I am dissatisfied with how they handled...

The hostess was welcoming and very kind, but clearly overwhelmed, especially during peak hours. The entrance area felt a bit chaotic, and having separate lines or signage for reservations, walk-ins, and guests going to the bar could really help streamline the experience.

When we were seated, no one came to offer water or check in with us for quite a while. It seemed the staff was overrun, especially by large groups, and service throughout the evening reflected that. Everyone was courteous, but clearly stretched thin.

The ambiance could use some adjustment. The lighting was very bright and the music barely noticeable, which made the space feel loud and a bit tense. In most restaurants, dimming the lights and raising the music just enough creates a warmer, more relaxed atmosphere. It also helps balance the overall noise level—when the music is too low, guests tend to speak louder, which creates noise pollution. A livelier background soundtrack can actually energize the staff and reduce the stress caused by excessive chatter.

The food itself was good. Our entrée arrived quickly and was lovely. However, it took about an hour to receive our main course because two large groups had placed orders before us. For a restaurant that often accommodates groups, offering set menus could help manage timing and ease pressure on the kitchen. One note: the fries with our meal seemed a bit stale or not quite hot enough.

Overall, the restaurant has potential, and with a few adjustments to the ambiance, entrance flow, and kitchen pacing, the guest experience could be...