Spar

This is one of my favourite places to grab a bite to eat in town. For those of us who can’t afford the deli in Fallon & Byrne, it’s our equivalent. There’s actually a wonderful deli in this Spar, and a lovely bright seating area: much nicer (and bigger) than the Centra across the road. In fact, you’re more likely to get a seat here than you would be in Fallon & Byrne either. I actually can’t remember a time that there was no seat available. Most importantly, the deli does virtually everything (including hot food), and it’s all available ²⁴⁄₇ (or as long as they are open). I can actually remember coming in here at the end of a night out, and it was just the ticket then too.

En Belgique, nous avons les Carrefour Express et les petits Delhaize. À Dublin, rien de tout ça! Un tas de Spar… à chaque coin de rue. Et certaines des enseignes ont un look doré, premium. On peut y manger un sandwich, un panini, le petit-​dejeuner, prendre une pause café et honnêtement, la qualité y est!
Sympa quand vous êtes sur Dublin plusieurs jours et que vous voulez éviter de vous ruiner pour le lunch!

I work three floors above this Spar. It’s 24 hours. It has plenty of seating for people watching. They have an insomnia coffee stand (although I have rated that pretty low in a past review due to the useless service). The service in the rest of the Spar is usually excellent although they can be a bit on the slow side to recognise a queue at the till. The four star pizza is gone, but the sandwich/​deli counter is excellent, as is the soup. They do freshly baked goods, and the range of breakfast and lunch foods is excellent. They also have an ATM hidden at the back by the booze. The staff are very friendly also.
Gripes? We take it in turns to get tea/​coffee/​milk for the kitchen with petty cash. In the past year the price of 2 litres of milk has gone up from € 1.49 to € 1.90. It’s still only € 1.49 around the corner in Dunnes. I go there instead for the tea break ingredients. The deli is good value though.

Good spot for quick lunch away from work, always get a table and seat somehow during peak time.
Deli is huge and cheap, shops layed out well too.
Haven’t seen a crêpe yet, I’m in here week days during lunch, are the myths true?

Cool in city supermarket concept. This place takes the concept of store in store to a new level. Inside you find a deli with fresh made food, a coffee shop, and a couple other sections that are all not part of the traditional Spar supermarket. There are a couple normal shelves with grocery store staples, but for the rest it’s pretty interesting.

I must say I never anticipated that I’d be sitting down to write a review on Spar. I’m debating whether I should give it four or five stars, (five just seems a tad excessive for a chain of convenience stores?!!) I guess I’ll know by the end. You will know already. This is confusing.
Ok, so first thing’s first. They sell umbrellas for a fiver. Remember that. You will need one some day.
Secondly, they have seats. Tables. Seats. To sit down. And eat. What genius came up with this plan?!! I can buy my chicken fillet roll, and sit down and eat it?! Brilliant.
Thirdly, they sell fresh pizzas. Four Star they’re called. (I don’t understand why they didn’t call them Five Star — surely that would have been a better name?!)
The layout of this place is brilliant as well. All circular and modern, everything has a place and everything is in it’s place.
They sell all the usual stuff that any Spar sells, just on a greater scale. They have like about five deli counters. (Ok not quite five, but definitely more than usual)
The staff in here are usually young enough, who don’t yet have that jaded «I work in a shop» glaze in their eyes. Every time I’ve been in here, they’re super friendly, helpful, and not afraid of a bit of banter.
Lastly, I hear they sell crepes. I can’t comment on this from personal experience, but I shall be in that direction in the next week, and I will be finding out the truth in the rumours. Stay tuned for updates…
(I think five stars should do it…)

Nearly perfect. If they still took US credit cards (yes, I know, we are behind the times), they’d be perfect. Chip and pin, laddie!

Late night wine? Crepes? Fried chicken baguettes? Looks like I missed out on some of the Spar’s fine features. I just staggered in looking for some coffee. There is a seating area up front where I nursed my Americano, and I didn’t even notice that there was a grocery store in the back until I got up to leave. It kind of surprised me, because the front felt like a real coffee shop. I didn’t even see that it was a Spar until I left.
I may have been a little woozy that morning.

This is such a great Spar! Open 24hours (so I hear) and does rolls all night :) Just got a chicken fillet roll for € 2.79! Can’t beat that! It’s usually € 2.19 but I got cheese as well. They do breakfast rolls for € 2.19 also! I shall be there at least once a week until exams are finished :)

Spar and I formed a really tight bond when I was in Dublin. I could seriously only eat SO many mashed potatoes before I would have rather eaten my fingernails. BUT, thanks to Spar, I was able to venture off the mashed potato marathon and onto something different… a SANDWICH. And not just any sandwich, a fried chicken baguette that only costs € 2,50. I think I had one EVERYDAY.
Let’s just say by trip’s end… the workers in there knew me :-) Be prepared, they require € 10,00 in order to take credit card. But if you flirt, they’ll take anything ;-)

two words: nutella.crepes.
€ 2. the crepery is open until 10 or 11pm, so although you can’t have a delicious crêpe after a night of drink, it’s still a great place for a cheap indulgence of yumminess. the sign says that you can have as much nutella as you like, but i’ve always felt a big piggish to ask for more.
they offer other flavors that are a couple € more, but i’ve never tried them. it’s hard to beat a crêpe for € 2, especially when the crepery down the street (HalfMoon, on Crown Alley) charges more than double for the same thing.

Ode to 24 hour Spar —
How I art in debt to thee;
I find myself at the wee hours of the eve’
Thirsting for a bottle of wine,
But aye I don’t want to by one from the news paper lad on O’Connell…
I come to thee.
seriously, 24 hour spar rocks my socks for late night drink (for bringing the party home!) as well as crisps and a bar of chocolate. Maybe some bacon to cure the morning after… but really that’s only if I have the foresight of morning (sober Jenni and drunk Jenni don’t like each other and aren’t considerate of eachother at all)