Reviews Bison Bar And Bbq

I'd been dying to try Bison Bar for ages. I gave my boyfriend the choice of tapas or BBQ and of course he chose BBQ so off we went to Bison on a Saturday evening before going to a show. When you first walk in you're not too sure what to do because it's essentially a dive bar inside. There was a waitress hanging around and she asked were we there for food or drinks. Answering food she told us to sit at one of the free tables in front of the window (which is grand for people watching) handed us menus and told us to order at the bar. I went for the pulled pork, chips and onion rings (I love beige food, me). Padraig had the half chicken, potatoe salad and chips. The barman who took our order was super friendly and food was quick to come out. The chips were lovely - really crispy and served with a Chipotle dip. The batter on the onion rings was amazing. The pulled pork, the bit I was most excited for, was good. It was super tender and it was a huge portion but for me was lacking a slight bit of flavour. This was helped by putting some of the BBQ sauce that's on the table on top. There's also a fab mustard-y BBQ sauce on the table which was right up my street! I had the Calamity Jack cocktail which was nice & strong and Padraig had a bottle of Orchard Thieves. Total cost was around €40 which I thought was alright. This place is super casual and would be a great place for a group to go. Would definitely return.

Only for the brave. Delicious huge portions with great sides! The beans are spicy enough and the onion rings the best I ever had! Finally the meat and specially the brisket is perfect. Definitely a must go for those who like these kind of flavours.

Update:
Downgraded slightly my review since during lunch time the same dish seems to have lower quality... Not the same smoked flavour...

An absolutely fave meeting haunt. The cubby at the back left by the window is the perfect spot to meet someone for a private, yet bustling chat. Alcohol prices are good and the food is always delicious.

Be wary of entering if you're only drinking though. The food is super pungent and many a time I've left with the smell of Texas in my nose all the way home.

Awesome BBQ & whiskey cocktails / craft beer at Bison Bar on Wellington Quay.
What can I say beyond the above?!
Eaten here twice
First visit (I don't count the time we couldn't get a table - it's THAT good!) after a touristy trip to the Guinness Storehouse. Choose your food / drink and order at the bar...
I couldn't choose what meat I wanted so I got the tasting plate. The Lynchburg lemonade and Calamity Jack cocktails went so v well with it! Everything that was on that silver tray was demolished after being smothered with their house bbq sauce. Knew it wouldn't be long before we visited a second time..
Second visit
Brought my fiancé's little brother when he came to stay with us a few weeks after our first visit... He wasn't too pleased we went here without him as he loves BBQ... We just HAD to go back (What better excuse for a return?!)
He got the tasting plate this time.
Fiancé went with the beef brisket & the sausage with sides of beans & potato salad.
I chose the beef brisket sandwich with a side of coleslaw.. The meat is so tender. Just amazing with their bbq sauce... I was tempted to bring the bottle home but I reckon my bag would have got destroyed!
Drinks... Craft beer - Roisin Tayberries (cross between blackberries and raspberries if you didn't know!) beer, Jameson caskmates & Calamity Jack. I have to say out of all the places I ate in during 2014 Bison is probably my favourite... For anyone looking for real deal BBQ you HAVE to visit here but if you're anyway prissy you might need to leave your table manners at the door and just make great use of the kitchen towel rolls they leave on the table...

I'm delighted more places like this are popping up in Dublin. Lovely staff. Fast service. Tasty food. Great portions. Very reasonable prices. Love the two-side options. Only reason not getting 5 is because I would have like a bigger serving of sauce with the meal, and the sauces on the table itself (apart from expected BBQ) were not typical ones I would want. Apart from that I really recommend it.

The original and the best. Bison is my go to place for some meat based comfort. It has become as much a tradition and starting spot as a dining experience and that's before we get to the food.
From what was once an auld fellas bar to a tongue in cheek "Western steakhouse" styled bar. With hipsters and Hardmen alike covered in BBQ sauce and tapping the foot to Johnny Cash. The staff are charming and engaging. They also do the utmost for their regulars.
The drinks selection and whiskey cocktails are impressive.
And the food.... Well wow...it rekindled my love affair with ribs. Hands down the best ribs in Dublin. I can't speak highly enough of the combo plate aka 2 meats and 2 sides. Imitation is a form of Flattery. So bison should be flattered and the host of imitators from Pitt bros and meat wagon to some other unmentionables. Bison sparked the meat based revolution. My only issue is that the menu whilst excellent has not seen any additions in years and with all the competition diversifying there'd be no harm in throwing up another few options or extras.

The Best BBQ in Dublin. Don't let better known establishments fool you, Bison is the real deal, meat always done to perfection, friendly staff and excellent drinks. Pulled Pork is super juicy and is a must, always.

This place is great, the original in Dublin, as far as I'm concerned, when it comes to BBQ. It has a great selection of beers and is perfect for a beer and some food with your friends. The saddle seats and smoking area are also a plus!

Huge portions and great prices! i've been hear plenty of times and the only time i'm disappointed is when they run out of some stuff on the menu. I'm a big fan of the pulled pork here! the coleslaw side is surprisingly good too! Can be a bit of a pain trying to get a seat if they're busy, but depends on the time of day you get there

I grew up here in Dublin, my whole family but me my wife and my kids live there. I just got back to Dublin after 17 years of not seeing it and I found this new fabulous BBQ place in a kinda bleak town I'm now moving back to Ireland for 6 months and then moving to Tomsk in Russia :/

Apologies for the spate of non-London posts - it just so happens I've had cause to travel about a bit recently, and being the hopeless restaurant spod that I am, even before I have a hotel and flights booked I have decided where I'm going to have dinner. In Paris, Septime and Chateaubriand were "must-visit" restaurants, internationally important and cutting-edge, which no self-respecting blogger could ignore. But for a weekend in Dublin arranged around a friend's wedding, I wanted something simpler, less likely to take up the short time I had there, and - let's face it - cheaper. In the end, the decision was more or less made for me. Full disclosure time - both the hotel I stayed in (The Clarence), the Liquor Rooms and the Bison Bar are all owned by the same people ( not Bono any more thank heavens ), who very generously offered to put me up and generally lavish me with the kind of hospitality that everyone in Dublin seems determined to give in spades. Key to my getting involved with t

Bison Bar is incredible!
If you are a fan of casual dining, with kitchen paper and plastic cutlery on the tables, this is your kind of place.

The meat is cooked for hours and hours in order to achieve the smoky, tender goodness which they serve! Definitely recommend getting the brisket or the pulled pork.

Suitable to all. I go in frequently enough and recently my 80 year old grandparents went in and had the same experience that I am so accustom to.

Bison Bar is also known primarily as a whiskey bar. They always have whiskey of the month and are very knowledgeable about their drink options.

Couldn't recommend it higher!

I have yet to hear a bad word against this place. As the name suggests, the menu is all about the meat. They slow cook all their meats and once they run out on a particular day, that’s it – you’ve missed the boat!

It’s a small and casual place based on Wellington Quay in Dublin. This isn’t an area I’d have been too familiar with until recently when I went to the Liquor Rooms which is just a few doors up. The interior at the front of Bison is like a small pub, dark and cosy. You can choose to eat your food here or else go through to the back where you’ll have the choice of sitting on one of the saddles – luckily for my backside that area was full when we visited so we sat in the bar area.

It’s a quirkey place and for some reason I really loved the trough style sink in the ladies!

The menu is plain and simple. For €13.95 you can chose your meat and pick 2 sides to go with it. The meat choices are half a chicken, pulled pork, sausage, brisket or pork ribs. If you’re extra hungry you can get the combo plate for €16.95 and get two meats along with your two sides. Choice of sides are coleslaw, burnt end beans, potato salad, onion rings with garlic mayo or French fries with chipotle mayo.

As per usual, we were HUNGRY and wanted a good taste of everything to share. We got a combo of brisket and pulled pork and then the half chicken. For sides we got chips, onion rings, burnt end beans and coleslaw. We placed the order at the bar, got some drinks and sat and waited for our mountain of food. It KILLED us watching everyone else getting their food and smelling the amazing meat while we waited – but it was 100% worth the wait.

Our trays arrived piled with food. I don’t actually think I’ve ever seen so much meat on one table! We got stuck in right away and barely spoke for a few minutes. The meat was unbelievable. Without a doubt my favourite was the pulled pork – it was so smokey and soft and I just wanted to scoff it all on poor E! I’d never tasted brisket before and was equally impressed… the chicken came third – I couldn’t fault it but I eat so much chicken at home that the other two meats were more special.

The sides were just as good. I’m not the biggest onion ring fan so I left most of those to E but all the rest were great. The coleslaw was chunkier than normal and had bits of apple throughout and the chipotle mayo that came with the chips was addictive.

For once in my life I drove so E could have a few drinks. Bison is well known for the whiskey sours and other hardcore cocktails so he had a few of the Bison Kick… at €5 each they were a total bargain.

I can’t remember exactly what was in them apart from tequila and ginger – I had a little taste and they were damn good!

We could barely move after our feed so there wasn’t a hope in hell of dessert – however the table beside us got a heap of the Peach Cobblers and they milled through them so they must’ve been good! The total bill for all that food, a soft drink, a beer and two cocktails was just €50 – that’s serious value for money in Dublin city. With more of these BBQ places popping up around town there is some competition for Bison but I’d have zero doubts that they’ll hold their own serving food like that!

For someone that lived in the states for 8 years the Bison Bar was a welcome trip down memory lane. Sweet and sticky barbecue ribs, sides of onion rings and fresh coleslaw along with tender beef brisket to go with a pint of my choice and plenty of napkins. If I was shot in the head whilst licking the last remains of sauce from my plate I would have died a happy man.  

This is definitely a pub first who just happen to serve the best barbecue in Dublin. The style of the pub and staff is that of the food, no nonsense (but in the best possible way).  

I'll be back with my sleeves rolled up!