Caption: EMBARGOED TO 1500 THURSDAY JUNE 18Undated handout photo issued by Lidl of bar manager Samantha Hill and regional manager Gordon Cruikshanks, Regional Managing Director for Lidl Northern Ireland outside Lidl Northern Ireland’s pub, The Middle Ale, in Dundonald, Belfast. The 60-seater pub is next door to Lidl Dundonald store and will operate independently, with a separate entrance, as a public house with off-sales. Issue date: Thursday June 18, 2026. PA Photo. The pub’s wine list has been chosen by Lidl’s Master of Wine Richard
Bampfield, and the spirits and liqueurs includes Lidl’s own-brand Dundalgan whiskey and Wild Burrow Gin, as well as range of pre-mixed cocktails and soft drinks, including their own-brand Freeway cola. Photo credit should read: Lidl/PA Wire NOTE TO EDITORS: This handout photo may only be used for editorial reporting purposes for the contemporaneous illustration of events, things or the people in the image or facts mentioned in the caption. Reuse of the picture may require further permission from the copyright holder.Photographer: LidlProvider: Lidl/PA WireSource: PA
Lidl Northern Ireland, The Middle Ale, Dundonald, Belfast, pub opening, Master of Wine Richard Bampfield, Samantha Hill, Gordon Cruikshanks, Dundalgan whiskey, Wild Burrow Gin, Freeway cola, off-sales
So it’s like… a pub inside/next to Lidl? wild.
I don’t get why people are acting like this is exciting. It’s literally next to a store, so you’re just grabbing drinks and groceries together lol. Also “off-sales” sounds like the whole place is gonna be chaos after 8.
Wait so does that mean the pub is run by Lidl but “independently”?? Sounds like corporate trying to make it sound local. If the wine list is picked by a “Master of Wine” then why is it next to a discount supermarket, shouldn’t it be somewhere posh?
Next to Lidl in Dundonald… I swear every town is getting one of these. If they got their own-brand whiskey (Dundalgan?) and “Freeway cola” then it’s basically all house brands, right? Not saying it’s bad but it feels like a way to force people to buy stuff instead of a real pub vibe.