The Merlin Bar — Restaurant in Galway

DO NOT GO HERE I am absolutely thrown away by the attitude of the female bar tender with the black hair as I had the very unlucky pleasure of ordering my drinks from last night. I've worked in hospitality for nearly 10 years working in many pubs around Galway city and I have never once come across someone like her. I have not been to Merlin a whole lot but any time I did, it's the same awful attitude problem from this same girl. Trying to order drinks then she proceeds to walk away before my order is finished, I then ordered off the other barman as she then returns to say why am I ordering off him, I said you walked away, she goes I should say please. Now bartenders are telling people what to say?! I am always thankful for service I always say please it's who I am, but how could I have said please when she just walked away mid order. She is a terrible hostess and if Merlin are hiring people like her to attract other customers well then good luck to them as me and my friends will not be back. Absolutely dive of a place. Owner would want to smile too he looks grumpy...

I’m from Croatia and have been living here for 10 years. Back home, I wasn’t much for pubs—off-licenses were more my thing. But one day, I decided to give a pub a try, thinking I’d experience that warm, welcoming atmosphere people always talk about.

When I walked in, the bartender was so kind, so charming. He smiled and said, “Take your time, enjoy your beer. I’ll get you another when you’re ready.” For a moment, I felt like I belonged, like I’d found a little corner of this place where kindness was still alive.

But then, as I finished my drink and ordered another, he tried to charge me for the same beer twice. I was stunned. Disappointed. That brief moment of warmth felt like it had been stolen from me. It wasn’t just the money—it was the feeling of trust, the hope of connection in a place so far from home.

I walked out and never went back. Sometimes, it’s not the big betrayals that hurt the most—it’s the small ones that catch you off guard. Never again in that place.....

Best Guinness in Galway city, by a country mile. Don't be put off by it's rough exterior, the inside is lovely and the pints, oh the creamy pints of Guinness are something to behold. If you see a fella in a Liverpool jersey smiling at you, his name is Binface and he will gladly buy you a pint. He is the most important part of furniture in the whole pub (apart from the...