The Runner Bean

A crude little shop that sits awkwardly between O’Briens Sandwich shop and Club Nassau.
The staff are a little unwelcoming and I have seen the owner get into conflicts with customers.
I bought fruit here on my lunch break one time and it was severely rotted.

This is what independent shops are all about. You will meet the owner (Mark) when you shop here and get his advice on anything you are buying and will immediately see why it’s so important to support small locally owned independent shops. He always gives me a steer when picking my fruit which let’s face it can be a minefield — is there anything more disappointing then buying the perfect looking apple only to get back to your desk and bite into a floury tasteless apple ?? I know when I buy my fruit here I wont be disappointed. Mark also grows some of the veg in his own garden so you really can’t get fresher then that !
In addition to the fresh fruit and veg they do salads, sandwiches, coffee and lots of grocery goods like cereal and biscuits. Don’t pass by without popping your head in !

I love this place, part green grocers, part pantry, part sandwich/​salad bar. They make all their own sandwiches and salad bowls using lovely fresh ingredients and always have a beautiful display of seasonal fruit and veg outside.
You can either pick up wholesome pre-​made salads and sandwiches (quinoa, chicken and beetroot salad anyone? nom) or have them make up one of your own choosing for very decent prices and they make soup daily too. They also do coffee.
The owner grows his own vegetables and depending on the season there’s usually a few items of his for sale (I’ve been delighting in his fresh peas in the pod and delicious beef tomatoes this summer :))
This place is a gem of Dublin, and long may it remain so!

Without a doubt the best sandwich in Dublin. Fresh organic ingredients and bacon. What more could u ask for.

This is my go to place for fruit during the week. The owner grows a lot of his own and is very knowledgable and helpful. Gorgeous tomato and fennel bread for when you want a sandwich too and the soup is delicious too. Highly recommended!!!

Best cup of coffee I found in the Trinity College area. Very friendly owner. Highly recommend

I really like this place. I love that the fruit and veg for sale is grown by the shop’s owner. He’s a very amiable guy who seems to care a great deal about what he is doing.
The deli has a wonderful selection and is reasonably priced. Some of the staff make the sandwiches with a bit more love and care than others but I guess that’s always going to be the case.
They also have a nice selection of lemonades and ginger beers which are about as well priced as you’re going to get for such items.

Great sandwiches and cool staff and owner who genuinely appreciate your custom. Well worth the extra money, and you feel like you are really contributing to a Dublin institution. Long live the Runner Bean

Great place. I’d go so far as to call it a little institution. Very friendly staff and owner (and consistently so). Good banter in the shop. Handmade sandwiches, lot of organic everything, and killer, killer coffee that comes with a free Irish Chocolate (Emily’s). Brilliant.

Small but perfectly formed –isn’t that how we’re always describing little places like this?
Runner Bean really has the market cornered on perfection when it comes to their organic soups, green grocery and coffees. As the very VERY lengthy reading material on the sign boards out front will tell you, nothing tastes as good as organic feels. (Er, something like that anyway)
Pick up the lunch special of sambo and soup (or coffee) for just € 5 and get that full, socially concious feeling only had in genuine places like this.

The Runner Bean is a friendly little spot on Nassau Street. There is a lovely buzz about the place and you can get some really great coffee here. It’s also a great place for lunch, with homemade soups and sandwiches on offer. Like Cathal and John said, the Runner Bean is also a greengrocers and they have a great selection of organic fruit and vegetables on offer. The best part is that unlike some other shops, they don’t associate a huge price with the organic tag so you can get good quality food for less money.

Ah, the Runner Bean! This place brings back such memories of when I was a kid, it was one of the only places that my Mam used to bring us for lunch, as the Runner Bean was held very high in her esteem, what with it’s organic credentials. I’m pretty sure that there was a restaurant upstairs in those days, as I remember looking out at the playing fields of Trinity and wondering what they were for. Ah, gone be the days.
I don’t know if the restaurant upstairs is still there as, what with this mile a minute world of ours, whenever I’ve been into the Runner Bean recently it’s to grab a cup of coffee and optional piece of fruit on the run.
Still, they make a damn fine coffee and I can only hazard a guess that they don’t grow the bananas themselves but nonetheless I have never felt that this in any way diminished their organic/​natural credentials.

The runner bean is a nice little coffee shop, greengrocers and deli in the middle of the tourist strip of Nassau street. As well as being thoroughly organic and offering local produce as much as possible.
Mark, the owner even grows some of the veg available in the shop in his own allotment in North Dublin, not many green grocers can boast that anymore.
With a cappuccino at € 2.70 with a free chocolate its a pretty good deal. They also offer sambo’s, homemade soups, wraps and will deliver fresh fruit to offices in a different take on corporate catering.

I LOVE the runner bean. It is a healthy alternitive shop, with loads of fresh fruit and really nice sandwiches and organic coffee. Unlike most healthy food places, they dont charge you loads, and their fruit is always really ripe and yummy! Its great for when your on the go as its a small shop and dosnt usually have much of a que but it definatly should! The staff are super friendly too and you can feel a bit better knowing you have looked after your health, at least for one meal :)