Burgeoning Café Culture

After having lived a few years in an English town completely bereft of good coffee shops, I've been quite pleased with the number of cafés here in Dublin. In fact, according to an article in this month's edition of The Dubliner magazine, cafés are on the rise in Ireland's capital city by 25% in the last five years. The reason for this growth is likely the amount of disposable income in the pockets of Dubliners (ie., The Celtic Tiger).

The Dubliner article also argues that pubs are a fading cultural quirk of the past and lists the stereotypical elements of Dublin's public houses: loud music, bad food (if any), and uncomfortable seating. Personally, I've been to plenty of great Irish pubs with decent food and an environment quite conducive to socializing, but for some reason I don't think The Dubliner is known for looking at the good things in Irish tradition.

So, what are the necessary ingredients to a great café? Ambiance, comfortable seating, quality food/drink, and friendly staff. This last ingredient is my own preference and is probably reinforced by a bad experience I had recently. (I realize the price for a take-away coffee is often lower, but I never thought I'd get kicked out of an empty café for taking a seat with my paper cup!)

The Dubliner brings up some other pertinent issues in a very balanced way, like the influence of globalization (hello, Starbucks!), and the efforts of pub owners to adapt to the café culture demand. Interestingly enough, in regards to globalization, the magazine article is quick to point out that, while Starbucks gets a bad rap for its obnoxious saturation marketing, they're not the only company with an eye on world domination. Ireland's own O'Brien's sandwich shops boast 300 outlets in 12 countries.

Ireland is known around the world for friendly people and good conversation, among other things. Seems to me that a thriving café scene only serves to uphold that reputation!