10 of the best places to go food shopping in Galway, Clare and Sligo

Neighbourhood grocers and delis have been one of the good things to come out of the pandemic – we’re always looking for a silver lining here – with restaurants adapting to include them as part of their business, and many opening in the suburbs, doing their own part to bring us closer to the 15-minute city where everything is on our doorstep.

So we've put together this guide to new and long-established grocers and delis where you can browse, shop and buy great food. (In many cases these businesses also sell online, so it is well worth checking out their websites.) Earlier this week, we explored food shops in south Dublin, north Dublin and Cork. We now move on to Galway, Clare and Sligo. In the days ahead we'll reveal more of our favourites across the rest of Ireland.

CO GALWAY

McCambridge's
38-39 Shop Street, Galway city; mccambridges.com
Very much part of Galway city, this store opened as a "high-class grocery, provision, wine and spirit establishment" in 1925, and although it has evolved into more of a food hall it has all the elements it started out with all those years ago. There's a full grocery, with organic fruit and vegetables, a good range of local artisan food, and a well-stocked selection of wine, Irish whiskey, single malt Scotch and other spirits.

Morton's of Galway
148 Salthill Road Lower, Galway; instagram.com
Old-school values and great produce are the cornerstones of this deli and grocer, which has been operating for 30 years. It has the usual supermarket pantry items, as well as organic vegetables from the local growers An Garraí Glas and Uncle Matt's Farm, plus a butcher's and fish counter, freshly baked bread, cakes and savoury items, and a good selection of wines.

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Sixteen of the best places to go food shopping in north Dublin

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Sheridans
Churchyard Street, Galway city; sheridanscheesemongers.com
Brothers Kevin and Seamus Sheridan started out selling Irish farmhouse cheese and olives in the Saturday market in Galway in 1995. They soon opened a shop nearby, with cheeses stacked from the floor to the ceiling. The shop is now a deli as well as a cheese shop, with international as well as Irish cheeses, plus a huge range of charcuterie, olive oils, condiments and pasta. There's a wine shop upstairs, and a very cosy wine bar. Sheridans also has a shop on South Anne Street, in Dublin, and in Kells, Co Meath.

Sullivan's Country Grocer
Main Street, Oughterard, Co Galway; sullivanscountryliving.com
Among the many things we love about this wonderful grocer and bakery is the fact that, on the way out, you can pick up yesterday's baking free of charge. It sums up the approach here, where it's all about good-quality organic produce and sustainability. This is as charming as food shops get, with delicious cakes and pastries as well as sourdough bread. The wooden shelves are piled with goods from small artisan producers and hand-crafted homeware items.

CO CLARE

Burren Smokehouse
Lisdoonvarna, Co Clare; burrensmokehouse.ie
The small smokehouse that Birgitta and Peter Curtin opened in 1989 has grown into something considerably bigger, with a visitor centre dedicated to the art of smoking fish. Burren Smokehouse stocks its own cold-smoked and hot-smoked Irish organic salmon, as well as award-winning cheeses, including St Tola goat's cheese, Aillwee Caves Burren Gold Gouda, Gubbeen and Cooleeney.

Cheese Press
Main Street, Ennistymon, Co Clare; cheesepressennistymon.ie
Sinéad Ní Gháirbhith started out selling Irish farmhouse cheeses at farmers' markets and decided to go for a bricks-and-mortar home for her business in Ennistymon, in 2017. Having learned the craft of cheese-making with her sister Siobhán, of St Tola goat's cheese, it seemed like a natural progression. She also stocks a number of small artisan food brands – and makes formidable cheese toasties.

CO SLIGO

Cosgrove & Son
32 Market Street, Abbeyquarter North, Sligo; cosgroveandson.ie
Cheeses, cured meats, duck confit, Portuguese olive oil, Italian artichokes, Spanish haricot beans, dried pasta and chutneys are just some of the specialities you will find on the tightly packed shelves in this fine-food shop, which dates back to 1898. Michael Cosgrove now runs the shop, which still has its traditional storefront, plus wooden-faced countertops and slightly leaning shelves that add to its charm and character. Many of the dry goods are sold loose, including dried-fruit products, cereals, flour, nuts and fresh fruit. Meats are cooked in-house and sliced fresh for each customer, and nothing from the cold counter is prepackaged.

From the Ground Up
Tobercurry, Co Sligo; instagram.com
Jenny French started out in the food business by putting an honesty box and some of her hen's eggs at the bottom of her lane. Soon she was selling produce from her smallholding at Anchrony farmers' market, and in 2020 she opened a food shop. With sustainability at its core, it has Sligo's first refill station, where people bring their own containers to buy just the amount of dry goods they need. She also stocks a range of artisan food products, including Sheridans cheeses, bread from Shells in Strandhill and bottles of raw milk.

Kate's Kitchen
3 Castle Street, Abbeyquarter North, Sligo; kateskitchen.ie
Kate, Beth and Jane O'Hara run this independent grocery, which also specialises in gifts and homewares. Cheeses are from Sheridans, meat is from Clarke's Butchers in Sligo, their free-range eggs are local, and the milk and butter are from Connacht Gold. They carry gluten-free, dairy-free and vegan products, and offer heat-and-eat dinners that you can order each week.

Pudding Row
Main Street, Easkey, Co Sligo; puddingrow.ie
The oven goes on early each morning at Dervla James and Johny Conlon's adorable deli, where they make white and brown loaves, focaccia, bagels, baps and gluten-free bread for their phenomenal sandwiches, as well as croissants, pains au chocolat, sausage rolls, tarts and a range of homemade cakes. Before the pandemic they ran a cafe with a small retail shelf by the till. Now they have a totally separate retail space and are selling online and shipping nationwide. They buy directly from local farmers and growers and other small Irish suppliers, so you'll get all the top names, such as White Mausu, Harry's Nut Butter, Nutshed, Chimac, Savage Sauces, Achill Island Sea Salt, All About Kombucha, Ballyhoura Mushrooms and Kilbeggan oats.

Jump to: 
25 of the best places to go food shopping in south Dublin
16 of the best places to go food shopping in north Dublin 
11 of the best places to go food shopping in Cork