The Belfast Pint Protocol: 4 Pub Crawls Ranked by Budget | Cask Theory

The Bridge House (Wetherspoons) £4.40

We start on Bedford Street because the price is unbeatable and the building has better stories than most. Yes, it’s Spoons. No, we’re not apologising.

Before it started warehousing people looking for a pint under a fiver, this was two separate buildings: a funeral furnisher’s warehouse (1865) where they kept the horse-drawn hearses, and a ‘fancy box manufacturer’ next door (1868). The fancy box building was designed by Sir Charles Lanyon.. Belfast’s most celebrated architect, the man who gave us Belfast Castle, Queen’s University, and the Palm House at Botanic Gardens. All that heritage, and now you can get a curry for £8.49.

The name comes from the Old Dublin Bridge over the Blackstaff river, which once ran through here before the Victorians sensibly put it underground. Toilets are upstairs except for the accessible one at ground level. Won Loo of the Year once, which is apparently a thing.

Hercules Bar £5.00

Walk north to Castle Street. Founded in 1875, this is one of Belfast’s proper old boozers.. no frills, no nonsense, just liquid and conversation. The kind of place where nobody’s going to ask you about mouthfeel.

The name comes from Hercules Street, the original name for Royal Avenue. In the 18th century, this street housed 47 butchers and slaughterhouses.. a local writer described it as “a hive of odoriferous activity.” They concentrated all the flesh markets here to protect the rest of town from the smell. The street’s been cleaned up since, but the Hercules has kept its character. There’s a bookies next door if you fancy a flutter between pints.

Nancy Mulligans £5.50

Continue west along Castle Street. High energy, usually packed. The carpet has witnessed things that would make a priest weep, but the craic is reliable and the pints are sound.

Maddens £5.60

Duck down Berry Street, just off Castle Street. Traditional music most nights, and if you don’t find yourself tapping your foot at some point, you might want to check your pulse. This is the real thing.. not trad music as performance, but trad music as furniture. It’s just there, and it’s brilliant.

Haymarket £5.85

Head to Royal Avenue, Belfast’s main shopping street. The Haymarket’s been pulling pints since 1870, back when this corner of Belfast was exactly what the name suggests.. a market for hay and animal feed. The farmers are long gone but the pub remains, now surrounded by shoppers and students from nearby Ulster University.

Traditional interior, no nonsense, reliable Guinness. The kind of place where nobody’s filming content for TikTok. That’s a feature, not a bug.

Sunflower £4.90

Union Street. The finish line, and what a finish.

The security cage on the door is from the Troubles.. originally installed to stop people coming in unannounced. It’s the last one left on any city centre pub in Belfast. They’ve painted it green and hung flowers on it, which tells you everything about how this city processes its history. Little did the men who erected it think it would become a tourist attraction.

The pub itself opened in 2012, but the name comes from a demolished pub in Sailortown. Older regulars still call it The Avenue, its name before that. Scenes from the film Good Vibrations were shot upstairs, and Terri Hooley himself is still a regular at the bar. They don’t serve Guinness.. deliberately. It’s Beamish and local craft or nothing. Controversial opinion: the Beamish is better anyway. The wood-fired pizzas from The Boxing Hare out the back are excellent. Won Pub of the Year 2015.

Pug Uglies £6.30

Bedford Street. The bright orange exterior is impossible to miss. It’s loud, it’s modern, it wakes you up. Used to be Morrison’s before the makeover, and the locals have opinions about that, but the pints are well-kept and the island bar is a good spot to start the night. Dog friendly, if that matters to you.

Fountain Lane £5.70

Been here since 1901, though they’ve polished it up a bit since then. The name comes from the two fountains that once stood on Fountain Street. Historic bones, modern comfort.

The Garrick £6.20

Chichester Street. Named after the 18th-century actor David Garrick, this place has been serving Belfast since the 1870s. The interior is proper Victorian.. dark wood, etched glass, the works. It survived the Blitz, survived the Troubles, survived the smoking ban. It’ll survive whatever you throw at it on a Friday night.

The upstairs function room hosted everyone from trade unionists to wedding receptions. Downstairs, the snug is small enough that you’ll be making friends whether you planned to or not. One of those pubs that makes you wonder why anyone bothers with anywhere else.

The Kitchen Bar £5.80

Victoria Square. This pub used to sit where the shopping centre dome is now. When Victoria Square was being built, they moved the Kitchen Bar brick by brick rather than lose it. That tells you something about Belfast’s priorities, and rightly so. The Steak and Guinness pie survived the relocation.

Bittles Bar £6.20

Belfast’s answer to the Flatiron Building, if the Flatiron Building was a pub and considerably smaller. It’s triangular.. the sharp end faces the street like the prow of a ship. If the walls feel like they’re closing in after pint four, that’s the architecture, not the alcohol. Probably.

McHugh’s Bar £5.80

Queen’s Square, in the oldest building in Belfast. And we mean oldest.. 1711. You’re drinking inside a structure that predates the American Revolution. It’s been a pub, a bordello, a newspaper office, and a few things in between. The building’s old enough that it probably doesn’t remember most of it.

Crown Liquor Saloon £6.80

Yes, it’s £6.80. You’re paying for the Victorian tiles and the snugs. But here’s the thing: you’re also paying to drink in the only pub owned by the National Trust.

The tilework was done by Italian craftsmen who came to Belfast to build churches. The owner, Patrick Flanagan, persuaded them to work on the pub after hours. The elaborate mosaics, the stained glass depicting fairies and clowns and pineapples, the carved mahogany.. all of it done by men who spent their days on sacred buildings. The gas lamps are original and still lit. The gun metal plates in the snugs are from the Crimean War, for striking matches. The bell system still works, though they don’t use it for service anymore.

Here’s the best bit: Flanagan was Catholic. His Protestant wife insisted the pub be called the Crown, in honour of the monarchy. Flanagan agreed.. then put the crown mosaic on the floor of the entrance, so every customer would walk on it. Petty? Absolutely. Brilliant? Also yes.

Sir John Betjeman campaigned to save this place from demolition in 1978. Ring the bell in your snug, order a pint, and silently thank him.

Kelly’s Cellars £5.80

Bank Street. Built in 1720. The United Irishmen met here to plan the 1798 rebellion. The rebellion didn’t go well, but the stout’s still excellent, so swings and roundabouts. Low ceilings, open fire, proper trad sessions. This is what people mean when they say “authentic.”

Whites Tavern £6.90

Into the Entries. Claims to be Belfast’s oldest tavern (1630), and nobody’s successfully argued otherwise. The low ceilings are great for atmosphere, less great if you’re over six foot. Named for the wine and spirit merchants who called Winecellar Entry their home.

The Morning Star £6.50

Wedged into Pottinger’s Entry since 1810, making it one of Belfast’s oldest family-owned pubs that hasn’t been turned into a vape shop. Started as a coaching stop, now famous for steaks roughly the size of a steering wheel. Even if you’re not eating, the pint’s solid and the Entry itself is worth the visit.

Duke of York £7.00

The most photographed alleyway in Belfast. You will take a photo. Everyone takes a photo. Resistance is futile.

But here’s what the photos don’t tell you: in the late 1960s, a 17-year-old Gerry Adams worked behind this bar, pulling pints for journalists, trade unionists, writers and republicans who rubbed shoulders here. Thirty years later, Snow Patrol played their first gig in the same room. There’s a PRS Heritage Award plaque on the wall now. From a teenage Adams serving hot Coleraines to Gary Lightbody.. that’s quite a range.

Willie Jack owns the place now, along with The Dark Horse across the street and The Harp Bar. The walls are crammed with mirrors and memorabilia. The craic is reliable. The pint is excellent.. it should be, at seven quid.

John Hewitt £6.20

Donegall Street. Named after the Belfast poet, which is fitting, but here’s what makes it special: it’s run by the Belfast Unemployed Resource Centre. A workers’ cooperative. Every pint you buy puts money into unemployment support, advice services, and community programmes.

That’s not a gimmick.. they’ve been doing this since 1999. The beer’s excellent, the food’s good, and your money goes somewhere useful instead of into a landlord’s pocket. Traditional music sessions, poetry nights, the works. John Hewitt himself would’ve approved. Probably would’ve had opinions about the pricing, mind, but he’d have approved.

Robinsons £6.85

Great Victoria Street. Established 1895, and it shows.. this is five different venues under one roof spread across three floors. Saloon, Fibbers, Bistro, Pool Loft, Lounge. You could spend an entire evening here and never visit the same room twice.

The Titanic memorabilia in the Saloon is the real draw. This isn’t tourist tat.. they have the Philomena Doll, recovered from the wreckage. Letters and postcards written onboard. First and second class china from the White Star Line. In Belfast, we’re genuinely proud of the ship we built that sank. It left here in perfect working order, etc.

Grand Central (The Observatory) £7.50

Technically a cocktail lounge, but they pour pints. 23rd floor. You’re paying for the altitude.. and the view is arguably worth it. On a clear day you can allegedly see Scotland, though after enough drinks at these prices you can see whatever you want.

Amelia Hall £6.60

Royal Avenue. Named after Amelia Earhart, who landed in a field in Derry in 1932 after becoming the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic. The connection to Belfast is tenuous at best, but the building’s lovely and the drinks are well-made, so we’ll let it slide.

This is the old Bank Buildings site, or at least adjacent to where it stood before the fire. High ceilings, big windows, that particular brand of elegance that comes from converting financial institutions into drinking establishments. Belfast does this well. Probably says something about us.

The Watson £6.70

Little Donegall Street. The new kid on the block (used to be Frames). Polished, pool tables, positioned perfectly between the new Ulster University and Cathedral Quarter. It’s trying hard, and seems to be succeeding. Give it another few years and it’ll be an institution.. maybe.

The National £6.70

High Street. This was the National Bank from 1893 until Bank of Ireland moved out in 2002, leaving a gorgeous Grade B+ listed building sitting empty for a decade. Now it’s a bar with Belfast’s biggest beer garden and a retractable roof.

The building survived the Belfast Blitz of 1941.. there’s a photograph somewhere showing it standing tall among the ruins. That’s quite a pedigree for a place that now serves brunch.

Bullitt Hotel £6.75

Church Lane. Named after the Steve McQueen film. The courtyard is effortlessly cool, which makes it the ideal place to end the night and quietly contemplate your bank balance. You’ve earned this.