Butler & Barry

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#5 of 71 Restaurants in BrayIrish, Bar, €€ - €€€

What is Travellers’ Choice?

Tripadvisor gives a Travellers’ Choice award to accommodations, attractions and restaurants that consistently earn great reviews from travellers and are ranked within the top 10% of properties on Tripadvisor.

Butler & Barry

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About

Travellers' Choice

2024

A GASTROBAR unlike any other, - award winning Butler & Barry will leave you wanting more. From the most enviable location on the east coast, our guests enjoy exceptional food and drinks served with stunning ocean views. Voted best Gastro Pub and Best Restaurant Manager - Leinster - Restaurant’s Association of Ireland. We believe we can help you create moments to savour in an exquisite space and all you have to do is pay us a visit. Amazing sea views, great food, cocktails, live music and DJs. Have a great experience - as a family, a couple or a great girls night out. What is a Gastrobar I hear you say? For us, a gastrobar is a bar with exceptional taste in food. Whether it’s a tipple or a feast you’re looking for, you’ll find it at Butler & Barry. Come one, come all, you won’t be disappointed. And who are Butler & Barry? Mr. Butler & Mr.Barry are the men from a time gone by who inspired our gastrobar.

Features

CUISINES

Irish, Bar, European, Gastropub

Meal types

Lunch, Dinner, After-hours, Drinks

Special Diets

Vegetarian friendly, Vegan options, Gluten free options

FEATURES

Accepts Credit Cards

Free Wifi

Full Bar

Highchairs Available

Live Music

Outdoor Seating

Reservations

Seating

Serves Alcohol

Table Service

Television

Waterfront

Wheelchair Accessible

Location

Strand Rd, Bray A98 N8N3 Ireland

Does this restaurant have a full bar?

Yes

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Hours

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Closes in 1 min

Sunday

12:00 - 23:30

Monday

12:00 - 23:30

Tuesday

12:00 - 23:30

Wednesday

12:00 - 23:30

Thursday

12:00 - 23:30

Friday

12:00 - 21:30

Saturday

12:00 - 21:30

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4.2

471 reviews

Excellent

275

Very good

108

Average

Poor

Terrible

jennyh h

Dublin2 contributions

Brilliant

Nov 2024 • family

We had the most wonderful christening dinner celebration today @1pm. Our booking was for 12 adults & four little ones , noting was an issue we were able also to bring our own cake no extra cost. The three course menu catered for everyone & the food was delicious.Service was excellent & all staff were helpful & friendly. We would 100% recommend.

Written 16 November 2024

This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Elise P

Rathdrum15 contributions

Saved the day - Excellent customer service

Sept 2024 • family

You saved the day for us. My daughters graduation dinner for 7 people was derailed by a previously booked restaurant being a disaster. On a phone call we were booked with yourselves for a table with only 45 mins notice. The table you gave us was lovely right next to the window to look out over the view of the sea. Your service was attentive and the food was great. We were able to enjoy the celebration for my daughter. Thank you.

Written 5 September 2024

Ann

Ireland81 contributions

Great staff and views.

Mar 2024 • friends

I booked a table online for 2 for lunch last week and asked for a window table overlooking the sea if available. We arrived just before 1 pm on a miserable Tuesday. It’s not very clear where the entrance is but eventually we found our way in. A very friendly lady showed us to a window table and brought us a jug of water as we perused the menu. We chose cod and chips and the service was efficient. The food was tasty, battered cod and tartare sauce with double cooked chips in a little bucket. It seemed busy with all the window tables full. All staff we encountered were friendly.

Written 1 April 2024

CianW

5 contributions

Kitchen nightmares.

May 2024 • couples

Just to start, I would say this is one of my 3-5 views ever but this felt warranted to make the list. From the get go, we were left feeling unwelcome from start to finish it was an unpleasant experience to say the least. We arrived for our booking on time and were escorted to a table overlooking the sea, a lovely start to the dinner. The manager 10 minutes later came to our table with an aggressive approach asking if we sat in our seats ourselves, no welcome or pleasantries, after explaining the host had sat us here and having to confirm our name once again, the tone for the evening had been set. We ordered 10 minutes after being seated, the appetiser, drinks and mains. Another 20 minutes later we got our starters. 40 minutes from ordering we finally received our drinks, which were cocktails that were far from drinkable, syrup is the only explanation to fit, a margarita and a strawberry daiquiri (advise never ordering). In addition to this, we had to call 3 separate waiters to get water for the table which took about 35 minutes in total, would not want to be dying of thirst. 50 minutes after ordering I received my main (beef rib) with no sign of my partners. 15 minutes later I asked a waiter to please take my meal back to reheat and please bring out with my partners pizza. At this point I went up to the manager and explained my experience (and his part in welcoming) this fell on deaf ears, no acknowledgement nor accountability, a simple “I’m not superman” was the response he felt necessary. I cannot reiterate this enough, this has been the worst service I’ve ever experienced. Would never recommend.

Written 11 May 2024

Lea B

12 contributions

Stunning setting, Great Staff, Shame about the Food!!

Jan 2025 • family

I had the Beef nachos; the watery slop that was ‘beef’ was like what I imagine gruel to be, the guacamole & cheese tasted like they came from a plastic squeezy bottle, hugely disappointed. The staff were friendly and attentive. Other family members said the Duck carbonara was ‘ok’ & lukewarm; only the Chicken Supreme got a good rating. Such a shame as the setting is Stunning!

Written 1 January 2025

Michelle B

57 contributions

Average

Jul 2023 • family

Really nice atmosphere and views in the resturant ...clearly toilets and very friendly staff. Reasonably priced for the area. Extensive menu and choices. Had pizza costing nearly €20 looked great but very mediocre, no seasoning or taste cheap tomato sauce and cheese you'd get better in any take away. Mussels were beautiful very tasty and accompanying bread very tasty and fresh. Fabulous cocktails and good value. Was there at lunch around 2pm very friendly staff but very slow service considering it wasn't too busy but nice location to sit and chill out while waiting.

Written 4 August 2023

Edward K

2 contributions

Afternoon dinner

May 2022 • none

Attended an afternoon communion dinner celebration and I was very disappointed with service. Our table was booked for 3 o’clock and we arrived and were seated on time. Drinks were ordered but it took 20 mins before they came. Orders were then taken but by 4-30 pm some 1 and a half hours later we still only had only been served with our starers and we were still waiting for for our meal. The whole time we were getting excuses that there were delays in the kitchen , as if we did’nt know by now. Due to issues with parking outside I had to leave to feed parking meter as max time is 2 hours in the area during which time the meal arrived in my absence and my wife requested the server to keep my dinner warm in oven until I returned. The waiter was very rude and said he could not do this and wanted to leave my dinner on the table but after a bit of confrontation he took it back to the kitchen. When I returned and got my food the very simple order of cod & skinny chips was’nt even right. I was served a cod with fat chunky skinned chips which I did not want and the food was barely warm. I didn’t order a replacement as I did,nt want to wait another Hour and a haft for another meal to come. Never again, the whole experience was a disaster. Service was absolutely appalling

Written 28 May 2022

George J

Dublin75 contributions

Dinner at Butler and Barry

Aug 2022 • none

Myself and my wife visited this restaurant for dinner. We availed of the Early Bird which is excellent value with two courses for €23. My wife had the Goats cheese to start and I had the prawns both of which were very tasty. For mains, my wife had the Sea Bass (€3 supplement) and I had the Chicken. Both were very well cooked and very tasty. I also had a glass of Sauvignon Blanc as my wife was driving. There are lovely views of Bray beach and the Irish coast from the windows. The staff are generally friendly and helpful. The Manager quickly lost interest in us when he realized the person next to us was bringing in a party of 15 however apart from that I could not fault the place or the service.

Written 11 August 2022

RossiThe fluffyCat

County Wicklow138 contributions

Appealing service

Mar 2022 • family

We left the place really disgusted by the behaviour of Sorcha the dyed red haired waiting staff. We were trying to celebrate a birthday but Sorcha had other plans for us.We booked a table and everything was fine at arriving,the waiter that originally served us was really nice and helpful since we had a baby he was really accommodating . Starter and mains were ordered along with drinks, after the main course Sorcha came over with the bill,without us asking for it and prompting us to pay on the spot and saying that we need to leave because they needs the table, she didn’t even let us check the bill,wanted payment on the spot. Nobody mentioned when we called ahead to make the booking nor when arriving that we have limited time for our table. She rudely just told us that we have to leave, nobody asked us if we want deserts or coffee. We weren’t offered a different table, I’m sure something could have been arranged and we could have moved to a different area, then my review would be on a positive side😉. We wanted to order desserts and have coffee plus serve the cake that we brought, to celebrate our event.Clearing the table meanwhile we were still sitting left us feeling unwelcomed and they were avoiding us when we tried to get their attention.The disgusting behaviour reached a new level when we asked for a knife as to cut the cake in two since we weren’t allowed to stay, we wanted to cut it in two to give half to my guests.She rudely refused not even waiting for us to finish the sentence,cut in and said we need to leave immediately. No people skills at all, maybe she would be better off to serve monkeys and that would be an offence to the monkeys,strongly advising for a retraining.Never been in any place before that would kick customers out halfway through the dinner, ruining our celebration.It really looks like the wrong waiter can ruin a treasured celebration .We resolved to have coffee& desert& drinks in a popular place nearby.Thank you for your service we won’t come back here again.

Written 12 March 2022

DublinUn_happy

Dublin79 contributions

Dissapointing

Aug 2023 • family

Have been several times before and never any complaints. We came here tonight for early bird menu. Starters were good but on getting our main courses both my sister and I were served stone cold mashed potatoes. The brocoli that I got looked the worse for wear. Told young waitress who was very apologetic and got us 2 new dinners, Anyone food safety trained knows food has to be at least 63. leaving the kitchen , this certainly wasn't. Would put me off returning again

Written 23 August 2023

Michelle O

2 contributions

Fantastic 10/10

Oct 2024 • couples

Fantastic experience First visit! Booked online a few hours before arriving. From the minute we entered this Gastro bar we had the best experience! Sebastian, what a host 👌 looked after us so well. Booked online a few hours before arriving. Staff were so welcoming, prompt and so polite! Gave us a beautiful table by the window (we had not even requested) with unreal views, taking in the sea view and sunset! Food was excellent and prompt from beef rib to pizza to cheesecake followed by very well made cocktails. The cocktails were so good we continued to sit at the bar after our meal and had some more fantastic mojitos! 1st visit to bray and this experience will make me return to the area again. Well done everyone and thank you 👌

Written 20 October 2024

Bray21

1 contribution

Awful!

Aug 2021 • family

We visited this restaurant last week part of a large family group. When we arrived we were given a menu which consisted of pizzas & cocktails nothing like menu on their website. When we enquired about the other menu we were told by Staff due to covid it was a condensed menu. Great excuse for everything these days. In my opinion it was more about ripping people off the easiest way possible. The cocktails cost 11 eur & bad virtually no alcohol in them just full of ice. We waited 40 minutes to get our drinks. Left our seats to find out what was taking so long with been served to find 4 staff hovering around the bar area hiding like headless chickens. When we got our pizzas they were served in pizza boxes to the table which was so unpractical putting 6 pizza boxes on a table with kids. Chances that the pizza was going to fall off the table was very high. Overall service was woeful bad in this restaurant, menu was very similar to apache and our bill was ramped up by extortionate prices for cocktails which had a tiny amount of alcohol and we were given not even cutlery but pizza boxes to eat out of. What a joke! Rip off ireland at its best. Disgraceful.

Written 11 August 2021

Luigi

Dublin868 contributions

Central location and tasty menu!

Oct 2022 • family

With a lovely position on Bray seafront, Butler & Barry is the ideal place for a sea view meal. The mean is not unnecessarily huge and includes tempting dishes. Booking recommend over the weekend or bank holidays. Service was fast and attentive, food quality was good and overall we had a good experience. The burger was tasty, well cooked and with the bun gently toasted; kids chicken goujons were fine and the fried fish was a pleasant surprise with multiple taste and a bit of spicy.

Written 10 October 2022

Dave H

5 contributions

An ideal place for Friday gatherings)

Nov 2022 • friends

My girlfriend and I visited this place on November 25, in the evening, having booked a table in advance. As always, the staff was friendly, smiling and hard workers. We ordered mussels, shrimp for the main dish,two dessert and two cocktails each. Everything was delicious and delivered on time. A very pleasant bartender surprised us with a blue cocktail that was not on the menu. A separate plus for the New Year's decorations of the hall, and the Christmas tree! We'll definitely come back

Written 28 November 2022

Aine B

Dublin17 contributions

Left feel disaapointed and unimpressed

May 2022 • none

I booked a table for myself and my daughter and was looking forward to a nice Sunday afternoon treat, good food and nice cocktails. I was plonked at a very small table which should have had a nice view but for some reason, it is blocked by a monstrous plant that completely blocks a beautiful ocean view. Menus were left and eventually, we were asked if we would like to order. My daughter's meal came first and I had a 10-minute wait before my meal arrived at the table. After that, no one checked in to see if we needed anything, more drinks etc. and it was impossible to grab anyone's attention. The food was dispatched and that was it. Eventually, we asked for some dessert menus, they were delivered but again no one came back to see if we would like to order. So we gave up and asked for the bill. The service was really dismal. They were busy but not hopping busy, there were still empty tables so no real excuses. It appeared just very poorly organised and managed. The food was good but the overall experience was disappointing. You get the sense they are victims of their own success and taking it all a bit too much for granted. At this stage, I wouldn't personally be rebooking. In the current climate eating out is becoming more of a luxury, so hopefully, they will take the feedback and do better to win and keep repeat business.

Written 17 May 2022