Advertisements from various restaurants around the city included in the guide for the 1983 Dublin Theatre Festival.
Front cover showing a member of the Henan Acrobatic Troupe in their show ‘Barrell Game’:
Front cover. Scanned – Sam (CHTM!)
Solomon Grundy’s at 21 Suffolk Street opened in 1978 and closed in 1986. It offered middle-of-the-range American food fare like burgers and pizza. The premises later hosted Nude and now Tolteca (Mexican style grill).
Solomon Grundy’s. Scanned – Sam (CHTM!)
Blazes at 11/12 Lower Exchange Street in Temple Bar was a late night wine bar and restaurant. It opened (I think) in the early 1980s and closed in 1993. The building was demolished and the site today remains empty.
Blazes. Scanned by Sam (CHTM!).
18th Precinct at 18 Suffolk Street opened its doors in 1981 and closed in 1993. The building now hosts an Pacinos and their website notes that the restaurant:
…was developed and launched by then owner Sylvester Costello. Syl as he was better known planned and developed an all American themed restaurant serving steak, burgers, and salads like ranging in prices from 50p to £10. The 18th Precinct was twined and themed with a New York Police Department where all the waitresses and waiters dressed in police uniform and even had gun holsters on their person. It is rumoured that Syl even ran into trouble in JFK airport when he decided to bring lots of New York Police Memorabilia back from the states to Ireland including replica guns, nightsticks and handcuffs when stopped at customs. A plaque from the 18th Precinct New York Police department, having since been restored can be found on the wall in Pacino’s as recognition of that time.
18th Precinct. Scanned by Sam (CHTM!)
Bananas at 15 Upper Stephen’s Street was a self-service vegetarian restaurant opened by Muriel Goodwin and friends in late 1982. (More on the history of vegetarian restaurants in Dublin here). It now hosts the Restaurant Royale/The Snug Guesthouse which we reviewed a few years back.
Bananas. Scanned by Sam (CHTM!).
Captain America’s on Grafton Street is the only restaurant out of this list which is still open. Opened in 1971, it is still going strong after a staggering 43 years. We’ve featured Jim Fitzpatrick’s 1982 murals on the blog before.
Captain America’s. Scanned by Sam (CHTM!).
The Granary at 34-37 East Essex Street opened in the late 1970s and was then turned into Bad Bob’s in 1984. In 2006 it was bought over as the Purty Kitchen but was renamed Bad Bobs in March 2013. More on the building and Bad Bob’s recent claim that it is the oldest pub in Temple Bar can be found here.
The Granary. Scanned by Sam (CHTM!).
Le Parigot, a French restaurant, at 52 Lower o’Connell Street was based in the basement of Pizzaland. Little information is available online. It was certainly open by 1981 and I assume closed sometime in the mid to late 1980s. Eddie Rockets is now based in the premises.
Le Parigot. Scanned by Sam (CHTM!).
Finally, I thought it be worth sharing this list of theatres that were taking part in the festival.
Theatre list. Scanned by Sam (CHTM!).
