Yeah I know its a Tesco's and hardly a local independent business but shush! It's my Tesco's. This…read morestore seems to have quite a student feel to it. Unlike a lot of the other Tesco's, it always feels like they started to make it look nice then decided to cover the bits they didn't do with food. It does provide a very cheap weeks shopping, I get all I need for my belly for around £20 a week which is cracking value. Whilst you need to be careful with some of their own brand stuff, a lot of it is as good as the big names, just in plain packaging.

I live next to Tesco so for me that in itself is reason to go. It is cheaper than any of the other…read moreindependent stores (but not necessarily better quality food) but it is one of the smaller ones in Northern Ireland. Thus the store does not often have everything you need, and if you happen to find yourself stuck in it anytime between 5 and half 6, you are likely to be stuck in a massive queue. I work in a shop so I have a certain affinity with what these people have to go through, but some of the staff look desperately unhappy in their job and as we are beaten with the customer service stick so much, I think this particular Tesco store should have a retraining too because the staff do not seem to care at all with what they are doing. On the plus side, it is probably the cheapest place for groceries on the Lisburn Road and the alcohol offers are incredible compared to pub prices.

Stopped in to pick up something particular, and only had a minute to chat. This is a tremendous…read morestore. Excellent selection, knowledgeable staff. Wish I had been able to spend more time.

I can and do drink pretty much anything - Father Jack on the Toilet Duck has nothing on my house on…read morea Friday night - so while I do occasionally splash out on a nice bottle of red wine, I am more often to be found with a bottle of rose at a maximum price of £5.99. And considering myself quite cultured among my Buckfast-swilling friends too. As such, the Vineyard isn't an offy I go out of my way to, specialising in proper wines and drinks for those who drink for taste and actually keep the cork of a bottle of wine to put it in the bottle and keep it for later. I do call in fairly often as it's on my way home, and no doubt embarrass myself terribly by going for the £5.99 or £4.99 rose, but I care not. The Vineyard is about the best place on the Ormeau Road to go if you want to buy someone a nice bottle of wine as a pressie, or to bring to someone's house if they're making you dinner. But I call in mainly for convenience rather than choice, although clearly that's my fault for being such a pleb.

Direct Wine Shipments are an independent, family run wine importers and distributors. This…read moreAladdin's Cave of wine is an absolute delight to visit. Prices range from bottles under £10 to bottles worth hundreds of pounds - so be careful you don't accidentally knock one over as you explore the shop! All wines are grouped by country of origin and the selection is vast. They also stock some gins, whiskies, liquors and spirits. Staff are exceptionally helpful, knowledgable and pleasant. Direct Wine Shipments run wine tasting events, classes and evenings all year round. I'd highly recommend the Christmas Wine Tasting, which at £20 makes for a lovely afternoon on a cold, wet, windy November or December day. These book up extremely quickly though, so you need to book tickets immediately when you see the events appear on Direct Wines Shipments website. I recently attended the late November Christmas Wine Tasting Event which was brilliant. Hosted by wine expert Peter Morris Wilson, we sampled ten wines and heard all about them in proper wine speak. An informative and fun day. Our wines were five whites including Champagne, Alvarinho, Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc, four reds and a dessert wine served with Ditty's Mince Pies. There was plenty of crusty white bread on the tables and our wine glasses were quickly filled, which I was amazed at as approximately 100 people attended the event. It was superbly well organised. There was also a 15% discount on all wines on the day of the Christmas Wine Tasting, so a lot of people took advantage of this and purchased bottles and boxes of wine. An excellent day and an excellent store.

This is a fantastic spot for all things wine and sometimes the odd spirit or two!! The range of…read morewines are very extensive from a modestly priced bottle right up to the expensive ones. The sommelier is great and will guide you. They run wine tasting evenings also. Well worth a visit.

Wine Flair is in a handy location on Amelia Street just across the road from gorgeous BYOB…read morerestaurant Byblos and not far from BYOB restaurants The Lantern on Wellington Place and The Allotment on Upper Queen Street. Very, very convenient. It's a small off licence so doesn't have a huge range of wines and drink. However you'll find some decent enough wine here at a variety of prices. They could display the prices of all wines more clearly as I noticed some bottles clearly marked and others not. Staff are friendly, chatty and helpful. Great if you're heading to a BYOB restaurant in town and have forgotten your wine!

I live attached to this building. It has, for that reason become my last bastion of booze if a walk…read moreto Tesco is considered too far. Wineflair is just beside the bookies on Cromac Street and is really the usual sort of place you tend to find around Belfast, there is nothing particularly outstanding. The beer, although bland and macro in every sense is reasonably priced however the hilariously small wine selection is unbelievable. You're talking maybe eight types of red, ranging from £4.50 (for utter dyed alcoholic water) to £8 or 9 for utter guff at that price, I mean we're talking £7 for a bottle of Hardy's standard mediocre Shiraz... not good. One of the guys I've dealt with is sound, spoken to him a few times and 'shot the shit' as the phrase goes. That aside it's a little pricey and limited range wise. However, if you are looking for booze in the area and there's nowhere else,... have at it.

Great selection of wine, beer and spirits from around the world. The Wine Company is an independent…read moreoff licence located on the Ormeau Road. Often has wine tastings on Saturdays from 1pm to 9pm. Helpful and friendly staff too.

A gem of an off licence with the focus firmly on the wine. The staff are knowledgeable, helpful…read moreand entertaining in their very strong opinions and it's great to catch the free tastings they have on Saturdays - invariably it's something lovely and tempting which they ply you with and you end up spending more than you intended! The selection is vast with a huge selection from the various regions of France. I haven't had a bad bottle of wine from the place yet and there have been many!

This Dr:nk is a student magnet, and it is clear why: it is the most convenient off-licence to the…read morestudent housing at Elms! Dr:nk does a good job of what it does though, as it always has a wide range of special offers on to placate the masses, with a personal recent favourite 5 cans of Kopparberg for a fiver, which is phenomenal value! The best thing about Dr:nk compared to cheaper supermarket outlets is that the vast majority of goods are chilled which means you can pick up stuff from here on short notice and it is good to go straight away rather than having to chill it yourself for ages or diluting your sweet booze with ice, the natural enemy of all beverages!(some may disagree but my view is that drinks should already be cold, they shouldn't have to be watered down!) Dr:nk will continue to thrive as long as students of the area love booze, and I can confidently say that trend will not be stopping any time soon!

Rarely do people actually make an effort with their off-sales businesses. Procure the premises,…read morestock and staff, maybe put up some generic brand signage, start flogging stuff. Dr:nk is different. I like this place on the Malone Road in student land. It's bright and nifty, and I happen to have fallen in love with some of the wines that I can't get my hands on anywhere else. If you ever come across a wine called Heartland (an Aussie shiraz), buy all of it. There's always a big advertising board outside, detailing all of their monthly specials. The management seem to trust the staff to play their own music too, which is pretty cool... I know they're ubiquitous now, but the first time I heard Mumford & Sons was in Dr:nk. Not to be sniffed at.

Sainsbury's Off Sales is the best in Belfast. It has a vast range of wines, beers, spirits and any…read moreother beverage you could possibly want. In my opinion it sells the best wine of all the supermarket chains. I rate it even more highly than some of the smaller independent off licences. The reason for this is that Sainsbury's wines are definitely, by far, the best quality, selection and price. It's also a lovely large, well designed off licence with a bright, clean feel and exceptionally helpful staff. Top marks.

Not the cheapest but by far the best range of everything and best selection of gifts and craft…read morebeers of any big chain . Easy to find well organised store and knowledgeable staff.

great off licence for good offers - wine selection is small but great for beer offers.read more