We were walking down the Quay looking for a good restaurant. We kept running into pubs and such that we considered too "American" for our Irish vacation. (A pub that serves nachos? Do they have Irish beef on them? geesh). We veered off a bit onto Cross Street, and came upon Kirby's. The menu was posted outside, and after reading it, we agreed that this was our spot. (It was the filet mignon that caught my eye and pulled me in.)
I had grown quite fond of Irish beef at this point, so, as I mentioned, it was the filet for me -- which was served with boiled Irish potatoes. Mmm. Quite yummy. My travel buddy ordered a Salmon filet, and allowed me a taste. Also quite good. The bill for both of us came out to about 43 euros.
Kirby's serves dinner from 5pm-10pm, and lunch from 12:30-2pm, and we made it just in time to catch them opening for dinner. We pretty much had the place all to ourselves, and the full attention of our waiter. This may sound a little wacky, but the highlight of my meal there was my hot chocolate. I guess it was that he had no one else to wait on, but he even offered us special marshmallows for our hot chocolate - one pink and one white, which made them taste even more lovely.
The atmosphere in Kirby's is upscale, but not stuffy. There are beautiful paintings on the wall which show various parts of the Quay in Galway and scenes from within the restaurant. The bathrooms are very nice (not that I usually judge the bathrooms in restaurants, but these caught my attention) and make you feel like a queen!
On a scale of 1-10, I'd say Kirby's was a 7 or 8. The food was good, the service staff was very attentive (again, we were the only ones there), and the atmosphere was Irish - exactly what we wanted.