The Galway Foodie Scene

Ever since a local hotelier created Galway’s oyster festival more than 50 years ago to celebrate the region's legacy of producing the world-famous delicacy, the city has become one of Ireland’s leading food hubs. Major annual food events have helped to create a citywide culinary environment that connects to the wider region. Each year Galway kicks off the season with its Food Festival at Easter, followed by the oyster festival in September and the Food On the Edge Festival a month later. By the end of the year, Eyre Square turns into a maze of timber kiosks selling artisanal food at Galway’s Christmas market.

More recently, the city has placed itself firmly on the international culinary map with top-notch restaurants like Loam, Aniar, and Kai, and by becoming a European Region of Gastronomy for 2018, an award that recognizes the region’s integration of gastronomy into tourism, culture, and economy.

Good food has also become part of everyday Galway life. The Saturday food market brings in the best of local food producers into the city center to set up their stalls behind the Collegiate Church of St. Nicholas as far as Sheridan’s Cheesemongers. It attracts locals into the city in the early morning. New restaurants look to local food producers using age-old cooking methods to draw out indigenous flavors in inventive ways, giving the city more than its fair share of Michelin-starred restaurants. www.galwaymarket.com.