The Oslo Bar — Restaurant in Galway

The building itself is great—modern, clean, and conveniently close to several hotels. It looks like the kind of place that has its act together. Unfortunately, once you walk in, the cracks start to show.

The biggest issue here? Communication. Or rather, the complete lack of it. There’s no host stand, no signage saying “Please wait to be seated,” no clear system whatsoever. You walk in and just… hope for the best. We wandered around awkwardly for a bit before deciding to just sit down and see what happened.

What happened was this: we were approached by multiple servers, all asking for our order like it was a group project nobody wanted to lead. We ordered starters. Twenty minutes later, a server returned—not with food, but to let us know the starters never got put in. They asked if we still wanted them, but by that point, we’d already ordered mains with a different waiter. We were told the mains would be out soon, so we just skipped the apps.

Well, “soon” turned out to be 30 more minutes. When the food did finally arrive, it was underwhelming at best. The pasta was bland, and the chicken had clearly been left unattended in a pan a little too long—dry on one side. Not exactly what you’d expect after a nearly hour-long wait.

To be fair, the staff were friendly, just not on the same page. It all felt unorganized, like a restaurant with potential that’s missing some basic structure and leadership.

If you’re in the area and just want a quick bite with the family, I’d think twice. There are better spots in Galway where you’ll get faster service, clearer communication, and a plate of food that doesn’t make you wish you skipped...

Very spacious and chill place to drop in for a pint if you are strolling along the Salthill Promenade.

They have 27 - yes, count them, 27 varieties of beer on tap to try from. Beers rotate in and out like most microbreweries, but they always have a good selection of brews from Galway Bay Brewing Company (they had 10 on the day I visited). I was told that even though the beer isn’t brewed here, they are owned by Galway Brewing.

They have everything from stouts, IPAs, malty red ales, lagers, cider, dunkels, weisse, helles, and even a sour that I saw on tap. If you can’t find a beer you like here, you need to move away from the keg and start drinking wine my friend. The selection is THAT awesome here!

I didn’t eat here, but their food menu sure looked tasty - a notch above your typical bar food. After all, this is billed as a gastro pub.

They have pool tables, and foosball tables in the back, with a large projector screen for watching the sports games. PLENTY of seating in the back area near the TV and pool tables.

Even an outdoor patio.

I would recommend this as your first stop on the...

I LOVE this place. We stopped for lunch - my wife and 2 little girls (3 & 5). First of all, the kids menu is huge and great! Both of the girls ate something, which is rare.

I had the small (haha) mussel bowl which was not small at all, and the buffalo chicken burger. Pro-tip: They use dark meat in this burger. At first, I thought my chicken was under-cooked, but the head chef reassured me that it was properly cooked - it's been quite a few hours, and I'm not yet ill. They also advised me that they get this concern quite often, and they were not afraid to talk it out or even swap it for a white meat cutlet. I don't suggest that though... The dark meat is delicious!

Our waitress was AMAZING! So prompt, friendly and jovial. She knew all about every beer on the list (and that's not an easy task here.). The beer list is absolutely massive. They have something for every taste, even local craft brews.

Stunning experience. This place is on my "Return here when in Ireland" list, and it should be...