The Crane Bar — Restaurant in Galway

Crane Bar is celebrated as the "quintessential irish pub". But in an ironic twist of fate, it has become the quintessential tourist trap.

A lot of great places face this fate in a world where everything is shared online. So be it. The real problem with Crane Bar is that staff does not seem particularly keen about this reality. And our impression is that they resent it.

Staff was immediately cold and dismissive when we walked in ahead of some scheduled trad music. There were dozens of bar flies hovering in our faces. And it didn't seem like staff knew how to, or cared enough to, properly clean a glass. The vibe was far beyond "we aren't here to cater to tourists". It was more accurately "we do not care about customers and the establishment".

It didnt take us long at all to find another pub with some great trad, friendly staff and locals, and much better service. There are plenty of options if you're looking for real charm in Galway....

Trad music in an intimate setting with musicians that have been playing here for years or even decades. Whenever a musician plays their solo, they shush everyone to total silence so full attention is on the artist. I appreciated that so much. I’m a tourist that doesn’t drink, came alone to enjoy the music and felt at home the whole 3 hours I was there. I laughed, cried, clapped along to the music and met some wonderful people, tourists and locals alike. It’s an experience I won’t soon forget.

Seating is a challenge on a Saturday night because the entire upstairs is packed. But if you stick around and have patience, you will find seating or at least comfortable standing space with a view of the musicians as folks leave.

If you stumble across this place during a pub crawl, excuse yourself from the group and stick around. You...

Have been in this bar twice. The first night I ordered 2 0.0 beers and the balding barman berated me. When I asked for lime for the beers he told me there were 100 other pubs in Galway and if I wanted lime to go elsewhere. I was here again tonight and the bar was good and lively. 2 old men sat at the bar singled out our table and told us to be quiet. We were a bit annoyed at this but got on with our night. 30 minutes later the bouncer came over and told us to be quiet. We got up at left. On the way out we questioned the bouncer and asked why he had singled us out and he told us the manager had requested for him to say it. Cowardly manager getting his lackey to handle his awkward conversations. If you want a quiet atmosphere maybe don’t own a...