Picaderos Restaurant

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#2 of 41 Restaurants in Maynooth€€ - €€€, Mediterranean, European, Vegetarian friendly

+353 1 629 2687+ Add website

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Hours

Sun

13:00 - 22:30

Mon

17:00 - 23:00

Wed

17:00 - 23:00

Thu

17:00 - 23:00

Fri

13:00 - 23:45

Sat

13:00 - 23:45

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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.

Ratings and reviews

4.0

823 reviews

#2 of 41 Restaurants in Maynooth

RATINGS

Food

Service

Value

Atmosphere

Details

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PRICE RANGE

€5.00 – €30.00

CUISINES

Mediterranean, European, Spanish

Special Diets

Vegetarian friendly, Vegan options, Gluten free options

meals, features

Location and contact

Main Street, Maynooth W23 Y8X6 Ireland

+353 1 629 2687

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Can a vegan person get a good meal at this restaurant?

Yes

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About

Spanish / South American / Latin food,slightly adjusted for Irish tastes / Palates.

PRICE RANGE

€5.00 – €30.00

CUISINES

Mediterranean, European, Spanish

Special Diets

Vegetarian friendly, Vegan options, Gluten free options

Meals

Lunch, Dinner, Brunch, After-hours

FEATURES

Reservations, Outdoor Seating, Seating, Highchairs Available, Wheelchair Accessible, Serves Alcohol, Full Bar, Free Wifi, Accepts Credit Cards, Table Service, Live Music

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4.0

823 reviews

Excellent

442

Very good

221

Average

Poor

Terrible

Jackie W

Naas6 contributions

Good food very expensive

Feb 2020 • family

Visited Saturday night large crowd of us for a birthday. the menu is lovely we had platters for starters and dessert which worked out very well and all tasted very good. Main courses very good too. It was a set menu at €30 per head but by the time all the supplements were added (steak 6.50, chicken paella €3.35, cod €5 and seafood paella €5) a long with the very expensive house wine the coffee which was offered at end (which we assumed was part of the set menu very clever money spinner) and the 10% service charge which I really don't understand penalizing customers for bringing a lot of custom to your restaurant, tips should be at the discretion of the customer the staff seemed to expect us to leave a tip on top of a €150 service charge bit cheeky. Overall we had a lovely evening and good food but what should have been early bird prices ended up costing us a lot of money. Shame.

Written 2 March 2020

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.

MartinM392

Hello Jackie, Many thanks for taking the time to share your recent experience with us and also for your custom; it is greatly appreciated. Our €30 Group Set Menu was designed with large Groups in mind, they are hassle free & very sociable. The Starters consist of sharing tapas platters consisting of a selection of some of our most popular tapas dishes. Then there is a wide selection of A La Carte style Main Courses to choose from (a total of 18 different main courses in fact) and for Dessert there is another sharing plate (Assiette) consisting of mini treats, sweets & tasty desserts to enjoy. It mixes the best of both our core food menus in our Tapas & A La Carte menus in a sociable & hassle-free way. This menu was chosen in advance by the party organiser; the main course dishes with the supplements are clearly marked and there is no hidden charges. For example it would not be possible to have a 10oz Striploin steak on a set menu without a supplement as this dish costs €23.00 alone on our a la carte menu. The dishes with the supplements offer more variety, choice and options on our set menus for customers. We believe that these set menus represent great value for money versus ordering directly from an a la carte menu. Our house wine start at €24.00 per bottle which we believe represents good value for money and unfortunately the coffees and teas were not included in the menu also as detailed on the set menu. As regards the service charge, this was always advised to the party organiser at the time of making the booking and when choosing the set menu. It is a completely discretionary charge (there is no obligation to pay it) which is 100% directly distributed to the floor staff and supporting kitchen staff. We are glad that you enjoyed your meal and had a memorable evening with us. Look forward to seeing you again in the near future. Kind regards, Martin McMahon General Manager

Written 4 March 2020

This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.

Alyson K

Maynooth907 contributions

An enjoyable meal

Feb 2020 • family

We live in Maynooth and decided to celebrate the birthday of my eldest son with a family meal. We arrived at 8pm to a busy, lively restaurant( definitely make a booking in advance especially towards the end of the week) with a musician playing Spanish guitar. Our server was friendly and efficient. We ordered a mix of Tapas and main courses. My Albondigas starter was delicious, my husband enjoyed his quesadilla starter and my 11 year old was very happy with the variety on the kids menu. The older boys had burgers and Tapas steak and had no complaints. We ordered a couple of beers, a glass of wine and a coke and a sparkling water. The El Tequita chicken burger I had was very good. Everyone enjoyed their meal. We didn't order dessert this visit but have on previous visits and they have been very good. The bill was quite steep especially for the Tapas but for a dinner for 5 people given that the food was very good we were happy to dine here and weren't disappointed and would recommend paying a visit for a special occasion.

Written 11 February 2020

David W

Dublin19 contributions

Excellent food and staff

Jul 2020 • couples

Four of us went there, it was our first time out since the Covid-19 restrictions. The restaurant was really well set up and all staff wearing masks, we felt very comfortable. The food was as good as ever, we all got different dishes and all really enjoyed them. Highly recommend.

Written 18 July 2020

Elisabetta R

Celbridge47 contributions

Overpriced poor food - Emperor's new clothes

Feb 2020 • none

Visited last Saturday with my daughter. We had not booked; I figured that at lunchtime on a Saturday lunchtime in January it wouldn't be necessary. Waiter was rather abrupt and was not impressed with the lack of reservation. Found us a table (as there were many available as predicted),and within minutes he was ready to take our order. On our request to give us a few more minutes his unimpressed attitude once again resurfaced. We ordered from the lunch menu – tapas lunch platters and one extra dish. What a disappointment. I had calamari, which was ok, then I ordered Chicken ‘Pollo’ Marbella, which was really of a poor quality. The chicken looked and tasted like the reconstituted chicken pieces you get in the packets in the low quality supermarkets and then…the “piece de resistence”: Catalan Tomato Bread. The description was: Catalan style toasted bread smothered with garlic, ripped basil, olive oil & grated plum tomatoes. What I was presented with was a minuscule piece of soggy stale bread with tomato passata on it (no sign of basil, garlic or olive oil). So disappointing it was insulting. I will not go back, nor would I recommend it to anybody. Place is dark and dingy. Really no redeeming feature at all. Emperor’s new clothes, as I said. Sounds fancy and cool to say “Tapas Restaurant”, but I can’t remember when I was last so disappointed. Has anybody who says this is good food ever eaten real good honest Mediterranean food?

Written 3 February 2020

MartinM392

Hello Elisabidetta, Normally when we receive a tripadvisor review, good, bad or indifferent, we see it as an opportunity to take a step back & reflect on our service offering, food quality and general overall performance. However, on this rare occasion we find this review very unfair and not a real reflection of the experience, food and service that we offer as echoed by many previous happy customer tripadvsior reviews. Our lunch tapas platter represents excellent value for money; this is an opinion shared by many of our customers - three tapas for €11.00 with a fantastic selection available. The tapas platter is designed as a substantial lunch time meal for one person, although it can be shared. Our chicken is delivered fresh daily by our local butchers Gahan Meats and is always cooked fresh to order. Our Catalan Tomato bread is prepared fresh daily by our team of chefs; we use fresh plum tomatoes which are hand grated to prepare the pulp for the topping; fresh chopped basil and garlic are added along with olive oil and a pinch of seasoning to create a simple but delicious classic. We are well renowned for one having the best atmosphere in Maynooth with customers often feeling like they have stepped into a Spanish holiday when dining with live flamenco music playing in the background complimenting the food and drinks available. I must apologise if you felt that the waiter was rude or abrupt but I can assure you this was not his intention as we value all of our customers with the high respect with the provision of excellent customer service at the forefront of our minds. We greatly welcome "walk-in" trade as well as advanced bookings and we always do our best to manage both kinds of demands to accommodate everybody. We often fill up very quickly from the afternoon onwards at the weekends in both low and high season alike even though it may seem quiet when you arrived we had a full restaurant by 4pm that afternoon with plenty of advanced reservations hence why we would have asked if you had made a booking with us. We are terribly sorry that you didn't enjoy your recent lunch experience with us and we wish you all the best. Warm regards, Martin McMahon General Manager

Written 3 February 2020

This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.

Yinters

Dublin5 contributions

Bland

Aug 2021 • couples

This place had been recommended and we were very disappointed. The food was bland at best. Beef was tough and prawns like rubber. We intended on trying a few bits from the menu but gave up half way through our first few samples. On getting the bill I stated my disappointment with the food but was met with a "everyone has their own opinions" from a female staff member which I thought was a bit much considering I was the customer. Plenty of other options in the town.

Written 1 September 2021

Martin M

Hello Yinters, Firstly many thanks for choosing Picaderos for your most recent meal out; secondly many thanks for taking the time to share your experience with us - we greatly value all customer feedback as it gives us a live gauge of our performance, services & quality of our offerings. We are very sorry that our most recent offering fell well short of your expectations; we are currently in the process of rebuilding our entire front of house and back of house teams after navigating the most challenging 18 months the industry has ever experienced due to the pandemic. We aim to reproduce the highest quality of food, service and customer satisfaction as we have set a very high bar in the recent past; but this will take a little bit of time as we train, develop and grow our teams over the next few weeks and months. I hope you will give Picaderos family run Restaurant another try in the near future so we can give you a great evening experience like we have done many times before. All the best, Martin McMahon

Written 6 September 2021

This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.

Jess G

1 contribution

Disappointing

Jun 2021 • friends

A couple of friends and I went here for tapas last week and the food was shockingly bad. My friend found a bone in her croquettes and her chicken quesadillas were cold & soggy. My croquettes were cold on the outside, ice cold on the inside and soggy aswell. Food had definitely been reheated or left sitting out. When we asked for a third round of drinks, the waitress said she’d see if we could have another one?? She then came back and said we had time for one more round before they needed the table back. We had over 30 minutes still left on our reservation and didn’t appreciate being told how many drinks we could have and the space of time we could have it in. We left unhappy with the service and the food but didn’t want to cause a fuss so left a decent tip and didn’t complain but we definitely expected better from this establishment so I had to leave this review.

Written 17 June 2021

Martin M

Dear JessGxoxo, Firstly many thanks for choosing Picaderos for your most recent meal out; secondly many thanks for taking the time to share your experience with us on tripadvisor - we greatly value all customer feedback as it gives us a live gauge of our performance, services & quality of our offerings. We are very sorry that our most recent offering fell well short of your expectations; we are currently in the process of rebuilding our entire front of house and back of house teams after navigating the most challenging 18 months the industry has ever experienced due to the pandemic. We aim to reproduce the highest quality of food, service and customer satisfaction as we have set a very high bar in the recent past; but this will take a little bit of time as we train, develop and grow our teams over the next few weeks and months. To my knowledge unfortunately no issues where raised on the evening in question as to the dissatisfaction of your meal & as such we were not in a position to immediately rectify the issues you have presented. Our chicken croquettes are made fresh from cooking whole chickens so unfortunately there is always a slim possibility that a chicken bone could be present; we do however, take ever precaution possible to prevent this. For this we do apologize. We always cook all of our dishes to order from fresh ingredients; we never reheat dishes. Given that the food is be served to an outdoor venue the dishes can become cold much quicker than if we where serving them indoors. We are working off a very limited capacity on our outdoor street terrace at present and with demand so high for tables we are only in a position to offer a maximum 2 hour window for all bookings; our junior staff are acutely aware of this and would always check with a manager if there is still time for additional drinks on a table as the last thing we would want is to serve additional drinks to a table that is required back to meet another reservation. We would not have meant any malice or upset by checking this. I would welcome you to contact us directly by phone or email as I would be more than happy to find an acceptable resolution to your recent complaint. All the best, Martin McMahon

Written 23 June 2021

This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.

orla

2 contributions

Disappointing, won’t be back

Feb 2023 • couples

Visited Picaderos on 12/02/23 having not been for a couple of years and found the experience to be really disappointing. The Mexican sharing platter seemed to be all store bought items thrown together on a plate. Asked for the steak to be cooked medium rare, it was raw and inedible for my liking. The ‘deep fried crispy wings’ were horrible - not fried & really slimy in texture. The honey chorizo dish was delicious and the only thing we actually finished. No waiting staff checked in to see how we were enjoying our meal and due to staff being so busy it was too difficult to notify anyone. When we were getting our bill I explained that we weren’t impressed with the standard of food, the waitress came back from the kitchen and told us she had passed on our concerns to the chefs ( who were glaring at us through the kitchen pass window) however there was no effort by staff to compensate the below average meal. €70 down the drain, unfortunately we won’t be rushing back to picaderos anytime soon :(

Written 13 February 2023

Martin M

Hello Daydream, Many thanks for all of your custom over the years and for taking the time to share your recent experience with us I can assure you that all of the ingredients for our Mexican platter are made from fresh ingredients and are all homemade by hand by our team in the kitchen. The serving staff asked you if you enjoyed your starter after clearing an empty plate before arranging your main courses. Our chicken wings are oven roasted pre service and the double cooked in the fryer to ensure that they are crispy, meaty and succulent. The tapas steak (which was 3/4s eaten) was cooked to order (medium rare); this was double checked as served correctly by the chefs after you advised you didn't enjoy it. All of the tapas dishes where almost completely finished when you asked for the table to be cleared. We passed on your feedback and comments to the kitchen team, apologised in person for any disappointment and thanked you in person for your constructive feedback. The bi was presented to your table as normal as we felt that the meal was eaten and no dishes sent back during your meal. We would have happily replaced any dishes for your during your meal had we been made aware. I hope you will recall more enjoyable experiences of Picaderos in the not so distant past and give us another opportunity to give you the best Picaderos experience that you have come to expect. All the best, Martin McMahon General Manager

Written 14 February 2023

This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.

Robert C

1 contribution

False menu advertisement

Jul 2022 • family

We went to this restaurant for my partners birthday dinner. While we were there we ordered the Spanish platter for 2 people as we have had this in other restaurants before and it was lovely. When we received our platter for 2 it was a paltry dish which would barely fill one person if even,never mind 2 people. When I asked the waiter was there a mistake and was this the actual size platter for 2 he rolled his eyes and said yep. I tried to explain to him that while it was nice the portion was minuscule and falsely advertised for the size and the price. He shrugged his shoulders and I just asked for the bill and left. I will not be going here again which is a pity as they have a nice ambiance setting with music, but the portion size of the platter we received and the rudeness of the waiter left unfortunately a bad taste to the evening.

Written 20 July 2022

Martin M

Hello Robert, Firstly many thanks for choosing Picaderos for your most recent meal out; secondly many thanks for taking the time to share your experience with us - we greatly value all customer feedback as it gives us a live gauge of our performance, services & quality of our offerings. As discussed directly over the phone on the night in question and subsequently through various emails I can clarify that you incorrectly ordered a STARTER Sharing Tapas Platter from our starter section of the menu (only priced at €18.50 / €9.25 per person) as your main course to be shared between two people. The contents of the platter are also cleary listed on the menu; being all tapas sized dishes consisting of meatballs, patatas bravas, chicken skewers on tomato bread, olives and nuts. I am also not aware of any other Spanish themed restaurant in Ireland offering a similar style tapas platter like ours. We have had this sharing tapas on our menu as sharing starter since we opened in 2011 and it has proven very popular. We are certainly not trying to trick anyone or falsely advertise on our menu and we find your review to be unfair and not a true reflection of our offering. Since the onset of the global Pandemic our industry had been badly hit with staffing levels and as such we are in the process of rebuilding and retraining staff. We are currently in the process of developing and training new staff members and we apologise for any inconvenience during this period. I'm sorry that our waiter Evan did not correctly explain that this was a starter dish to you when you placed your order or that he failed to raise your query to one of our managers on the night in question when you made your complaint. I recognise that Evan may have come across as rude; however that was never his intention, as he always has customers best interests in mind. I again apologise on behalf of our business for any upset caused. We are a family run business that has been serving the people of North Kildare and beyond for over 30 years and we greatly value our customers and offering an enjoyable value for money experience. I'm saddened that you agreed that there was honest confusion when you placed your food order but you have decided to insist on leaving your inaccurate review on-line. I hope you will give Picaderos family run Restaurant another try in the near future so we can give you a great evening experience like we have done many times before. Appreciate your custom! Many thanks, Martin McMahon

Written 23 July 2022

This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.

Rebecca

Dublin1 contribution

Best restaurant around

Mar 2022 • family

Myself , my partner and my 4 year old daughter have become regulars here, visiting twice a week for the last month. Everything about this place is incredible. Firstly the food. The choices are endless and cater for anyone's taste. Everything is cooked to a 5* standard and the staff couldn't do enough in regards to tweaking certain meals if needed. I have a different dish Everything I go and I haven't been disappointed yet. Even the little touches, such as drawing a smiley face in smarties on my daughters dessert are such lovely touches. The atmosphere is warm and cosy, candlelit and quaint and really makes you relax as soon as you enter the door. But most importantly I think is the way you are treated by the staff. You can tell every one that works here loves their job and it shines through with the service. You are always made to feel welcome and that nothing is too much to ask. Now when we go, they remember our names, our drinks and my daughter food. They chat to you like your old friends and even brought a few exotic items, such as new fruits out of the kitchen for us all to try. If my daughter is looking a little bored they will come over and entertain her, give her and order pad and pen to play with or just chat with her. Extra special thank you to Chloe, Becky and Peter for making every visit amazing!

Written 3 March 2022

Martin M

Many thanks for your kind words! I will be sure to let Khloie, Beckie, Pieter and the crew know! See you next time!!

Written 4 March 2022

This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.

shellsal

32 contributions

Thoroughly Enjoyable

Dec 2019 • none

Our experience begun when making the reservation, Martin (assuming this is the Matre Dei) was most pleasant and great at managing front of house. We have since returned a number of times, which is a testament to Picaderos in itself as usually we like to keep trying new places. Points for improvement: I do think that we were quite rushed, though it is a fast paced tapas bar I felt like we were hardly given the time to finish our food. Would also like to see a change up or more dessert options.

Written 31 January 2020

bmcloughlin1

Lucan76 contributions

Excellent Family Meal

Aug 2021 • none

We ate in Picaderos earlier this month. It was a birthday dinner and our first meal out since we got vaccinated. Upon arrival, our vaccination certs were checked and scanned....which gave us reassurance and made us more comfortable in the restaurant. We ate from the tapas menu and all of the food was delicious and brought to us very quickly. Even the kids were happy with the food. 2 rounds of tapas and everyone was stuffed....but just enough room for some churros. Make sure you leave room for the churros!!! The staff were very good and attentive and really made a special efforts with the kids. All in all, another excellent meal in Picaderos and we're already planning our next visit.

Written 31 August 2021

SquareOne

County Kildare4 contributions

Very poor food

Apr 2023 • couples

Decided to give it another chance, a few years after a disappointing meal , we regretted it immediately. The food was completely tasteless, not just the starter but the main courses too. Everything lacked authenticity, the steak was barely warm so wasn't cooked to order, the ribs were prepacked, not a patch on the ones that are served across the road. The "Ranchero Onion Lasso Rings" were clearly frozen and the chipper do far superior homemade ones. The lack of seasoning across all dishes was shocking. Never again.

Written 23 April 2023

Martin McMahon

Hello Squareone2018, Many thanks for taking the time to share your recent experience with us. We are very sorry to hear that our food offering fell very short of your expectations. I will certainly share your feedback with the kitchen team and we will definitely use it to immediately improve our offering. We use the same supplier for our baby back pork ribs from our Butcher Gahan Meats in both of our restaurants; Picaderos and Donatellos. Our butcher has changed the type of ribs supplied to use recently and I will definitely share this feedback with them. We make fresh san Miguel beer battered onion rings daily so I am surprised to hear this negative feedback. I will certainly look into this complaint further. Again thank you for taking the time to share your feedback with us. All the best, Martin McMahon General Manager

Written 23 April 2023

This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.

JohnM656612

Kildare6 contributions

Great atmosphere. Not so great food

Mar 2023 • couples

Atmosphere is very good, however food is not great. Mexican sharing platter very bland, certainly not authentic. Ordered scallops and nearly broke a tooth on one and prawns were overcooked At no point did the waiting staff check in with our table to see if everything was okay. Won’t be back anytime soon

Written 31 March 2023

Martin McMahon

Hello John M, Many thanks for all of your custom over the years and for taking the time to share your recent experience with us I am very sorry that your recent experience fell short of your expectations. I can assure you that all of the ingredients for our Mexican platter are made from fresh ingredients and are all homemade by hand by our team in the kitchen. I am sorry to hear that this extremely popular dish was bland and didn't satisfy your taste buds. I am also sorry to hear that our prawns and scallops also didn't hit the mark. I will be sure to discuss your valued feedback in detail with our kitchen team in advance of the weeks trade ahead. I hope that you will give Picaderos another opportunity again soon so we can get back to out best and give you a more memorable and enjoyable experience. Thanks once again for taking the time to reach out to us and share your experience and valued feedback with us. We will certainly use this feedback to help improve our performance and once again hit the high standards that we have set in years past. Many thanks, Martin McMahon General Manager Picaderos

Written 11 April 2023

This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.

AaronSlater

Dublin473 contributions

Tapas Done Right!

Mar 2023 • friends

From entry to exit, what an experience. The restaurant is well laid out and has snug type areas that break up the floor space and provide privacy and a sense that you are in a smaller restaurant which adds to the ambiance. The staff were so helpful and knew the menu and the wines backwards. The food is exceptional value, a rarity these days, for the size of it and we found ourselves full after two and half plates (but did manage to squeeze in a delicious dessert). There is something on the menu for all dietary requirements and plenty of selection. A must if you are in Maynooth. It is a busy spot and i recommend booking, especially towards the weekends, so that you are not disappointed.

Written 18 March 2023

Diapason10

4 contributions

Great meal with a group of friends

Nov 2019 • none

I want to say thanks for a lovely experience on my last visit to Picadero’s - it was a while ago, but what better time than now when we are waiting to go back. I won a facebook prize for dinner from the Mexican Fiesta Menu and a group of us had the most wonderful meal. The whole evening was lovely, food was delicious (as always), portions generous and staff were very attentive. Atmosphere was buzzing with the usual music and chatter. Discovered some new favourites from the Mexican menu too. All followed by coffee chosen from 2 full pages of a selection..! Can’t wait to visit again soon. Best of luck with reopening.

Written 22 June 2020

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