The Belfast Empire in Belfast

Set an old church and over two floors, with a bar downstairs and the music hall upstairs. This is a nice venue for live music and comedy.

Ken Haddocks Sunday Supper Club is always great on a Sunday night

Was nice enough for burger and chips but it's not worth driving to belfast just for the food here. Staff are nice and friendly.

I attended here with one of my best friends, for a 90's night event. Staff were very accommodating and helpful. Unfortunately I had my drink spiked here and ended up in hospital.

Great spot for comedy, can get quite crowed

I enjoy going as it is a great live music venue.

Great bar for watching sports.. watched the Ireland Wales Rugby..good atmosphere but Guinness is £6.10 a pint!

This is an amazing venue for some of the best entertainment to hit this city. The only downside is that they don't serve 0.0 upstairs.

As always, the empire provides wonderful vibes and lovely staff

A good music venue for artists but not so good for the audience. Mostly standing and looking queues to get in. If you are in the know you can get in early to get a seat.

Always have a great night when go here. Staff are very friendly.

Fantastic venue for concerts. Sound is great, atmosphere is amazing. Love this place.

Nit staffs fault but just not enough staff

I'd you want somewhere for music and sports this is a place to go. Especially on a comedy night upstairs on Tuesdays

Nice bar for a drink 🍺 Nothing much else on tonight.

Great if you love loud music I was just to old for this place

Great night at The Empire watching one of the greatest bands to come out of Belfast, The Adventures. What a performance the band put on!

Fabulous atmosphere, music and company 👌

Visited the music hall upstairs for a gig. Great venue and atmosphere and very good acoustics for any type of music

Great live band venue Guinness 4/10🤮

Raised on rock always a great night out. Didn't have any food was late getting there, bus strike hazard

Really nice, great comidans, the entrance included a pint of Harp.

Love the Empire, never change. It's a beautiful spot, EXCEPT please lose the plastic glasses! Why would you do this, it really disturbs that you're using single use plastic for every drink served night after night. Got to rethink this one???

We went to see the Bon Jovi experience. AND WHAT AN EXPERIENCE IT WAS , ABSOLUTELY AWFUL. Doors opened at 8.30pm, my partner and I went to the upper balcony where we got a seat. Within 30 minutes the place was overcrowded. I had to push my way down the stairs, as people were standing shoulder to shoulder on the stairs. The bars on the ground floor and the upper balcony had people standing shoulder to shoulder and about ten deep. Where we were seated just infront of the bar, there was no space whatsoever, with people standing shoulder to shoulder. We kept wondering when would a band come on stage and at 1030pm still no band had arrived. At this point we left the venue as it was totally overcrowded and possibly over the limit for fire safety regulations. At no point did I see any staff clearing exit points or the stairs. To me the whole thing was a great big SCAM. Get as many people as possible ramed in and rip them off for two hours or more, before the band started to play. Had I known before hand this was going to happen, I would never have bought the tickets. I complained to Ticketmaster where I bought the tickets and they just said not their responsibility, take it up with the venue. To top it off, I bought a pint at the ground floor bar, handed over a £20 pound note,bar man gave me £4 change. Nearly pulled him over the bar, no apology nothing, just thought he would try his luck. PLACE IS A RIP OFF, A refund for my tickets would be appreciated. I sent them an email asking for a refund, over a week ago , still had no reply two weeks later, speaks volumes about their customer service

This is the best place in Belfast for live music. Friendly staff and great crowd

Excellent setting for concerts.

Great live music on Thursdays, Fridays, Saturday and Sunday downstairs for free. Wish they would start a bit earlier and not have it excessively loud though. Staff are always very friendly and atmosphere is great.

Brilliant venue for concert Had fish and chips in bar before Concert Great friendly venue

Staff can be hit or miss and its a bit pricey but good gigs and atmosphere,good door staff

Busy venue but served quickly at the bar. Great night listening to Dom Martin.

Great spot for gigs really enjoyed it

Great place for comedy on Tuesdays

First time back in a while. Love this place. Great atmosphere.

Waiting staff very slow to come to tables unless it's a big party.

We went to a comedy nite on a Tuesday it was very good. Get early to get a good seat . You get a free pint of Harp with each ticket for the comedy club

Great place for a pint when watching football.

Good bar. But they allow vaping. So won’t be back

Staff are friendly and efficient but tables downstairs need cleaning and the floor upstairs needs a serious deep clean, you just get stuck to it straight away which takes away from how great the venue is.

Great bar. Great entertainment.

A spare of the moment gig booking while we were over in Belfast. A most excellent choice. Music was fantastic. Atmosphere was better. A relatively small venue for a gig. Which makes it perfect to have one.

Absolutely loved the soldout gig! Amazing venue, outstanding hospitality!! Guns N’ Roses Experience UK wanna thank you guys and seeya next time!!!!

When it's good, it's electric in the Empire. Pricey for drinks though.

Fantastic find, live music the guiness was superb and staff all friendly. Great ambience. Would definitely recommend

We saw live music on Sunday night. Great band, people dancing and good drinks. Highly recommend 👌

We entered spontaneously for advertised live music. Great atmosphere, prompt service, friendly staff, delicious beer, and most importantly: Awesome live music and great crowd!

Great atmosphere and sound with great options to sit and stand on the ground or balcony. Drink prices are relatively reasonable.

Solid spot for some pints and music. Nothing crazy either way but the aesthetic pushes it to four stars. Service was quick before it got busy and the pint came from a can so I can't speak to the quality. Haven't had the food.

Always a brilliant night, such musical talent. ROCK ON!! 👌😎

Great night out on a Tuesday. Always a good laugh.

Went to see The Rolling Clones gig . Great tribute band. Good atmosphere Basement bar after for pint and live music.

Attended a small wedding upstairs. Friendly staff. Decent Pint.

Great bar service. Friendly staff. Brilliant live music.

Attended the emo isn't dead dj night, really cool venue

Super entertainment,staff excellant.

I was there for a wedding reception what a place to go for any special celebration staff were exceptional lots of room even if you need the extra room in the gallery I couldn't speak highly of the way we were treated

Excellent, good friendly staff.

Really love this place. Was a private function so we had outside caterers which was lovely. Great atmosphere and beautiful building. One of my favourite places. Train station right next door too!

Good night out. Reasonable priced drinks

First time in it fantastic venue 👌

Attended the 00's Emo Anthem night, was a decent night, but two men, fairly drunk, tried getting in, which they were turned away, fair enough, but one refused to walk down the stairs, to which one of the doormen pushed him down the stairs while holding one arm behind his back, so the man fell to the ground, bit excessive, but then 3/4 doormen proceded to hold this man, who was bleeding, breathing heavily and asking if he could just go home down for about 15/20 minutes until the police arrived and arrested him. Excessive force, abuse of power and no need to get the police involved, could have just sent the man on his way.

I visited for a post wedding celebration. I loved the place, atmosphere and friendliness.

Great music venue and great Guinness! 🍻

Probably the best live venue in Belfast, fantastic sound and great views

A beautiful venue, very lucky to have been invited!

A cracking venue, intimate and yet it holds quite a few. The drinks are ridiculously expensive

Status Quo tribute band. Excellent! Fab night and music far exceeded my expectations...I'd go so far as to state that they are even better than the originals! Brilliant group of people! Check them out and don't miss the next gig-I won't! 5* all round!

We booked two tickets to watch a comedy show called the Empire laughs back. However we were highly disappointed that we arrived 45 minutes ahead of the show and there were no tables or chairs to sit on. It seems that they have sold tickets more than what they offered chairs! The ticket or website did not specify that people would have to stand up for the whole duration of the show and that seating options were limited. We were truly disappointed.

Nice terrace and nice interiors. A nice surprise was the live music on the second night. I recommend visiting 👍

The bartender was so sweet. The nachos were delicious.

£6 for a pint of Guinness and it's not even poured properly. Prices have went through the roof post COVID. Save your money and go to Parlour nearby, better pint for less money

A couple of my friends and I went to the 90s night in May. Having went to uni in Belfast, worked in Belfast for years and now live just outside Belfast I have questioned myself why this was only my first time here?!? The building itself is Fab, not massive so you don't lose people but big enough with plenty of room to dance the night away. And interesting internal set up. The drinks were normal Belfast prices, no cocktails (sad times). The door staff, cloak room staff, bar staff were all very pleasant. The music was amazing a real flash back. The stage set up was very entertaining. Even the crowd at the Empire... They were brilliant, all just out for a good night's craic. Usually you have the posey clan or judge and jury in the ladies toilets but there was as much joking and dancing and pleasantries as there was on the dance floor. All in all was a fab night and we're booked to go back for another entertaining night in the future. 5 stars and didn't even sample the downstairs bar or food.

Great night out here at Swiftogedon. Downstairs bar is nice too for a drink and usually has live music.

What an amazing venue. The atmosphere is off the scale and felt so privileged to play with my band there, we felt like we were walking in the shadows of some amazing music greats!

We had a great time at the evening party . Staff were very mannerly and couldn't do enough for us . The only regret we had there wasn't a stair lift . PW.

Great wee night out... So handy for the train service too 👍🏻

Went to an 80s night at the Empire, great music by The Pleasuredome. Danced all night. Fab atmosphere. 👩‍🎤

Fantastic old school music hall.

The best night we went to one of the comedy shows. 🤣 never laughed so much ever. It was brilliant. Really lovely venue and not too pricey considering it's belfast and 2023🙄🤣I would advise if your going on a Tuesday to any of the empire laughs back shows to turn up early to get a seat.

Great looking cellar bar, with food, live music, live football and bar menu. I didn't go upstairs but heard the sounds of live music later on. Highly recommended.

Relaxed music joint for the never aging crowd……

Nice venue, sound a bit iffy. Good small venue.

Yeah I saw Otoboke Beaver here and they were ecstatically good

Empire lovely place ,music and friendly staff ,

The venue was nice. Staff were nice. Event was fantastic. Only complaint is that in some areas there was a sewage smell that was of putting.

It was quite expensive, but the vibes are on standard

The Empire is a very beautiful place and has a great selection of free live music downstairs in the evenings. They also show sport (I hate that, but the screens disappear when the music starts- good!) Upstairs there is a varied selection of live paid gigs- their comedy nights are legendary. The drink is expensive and you cannot take drink from the downstairs to up, or vice versa. The staff are generally lovely.

Great gig seeing King King. Particularly enjoyed their little tribute to Danny Bowes from Thunder.

Good meal, wondeful music, fantastic place for football fans and Good service. I'll be back again!

Dreadful experience. Management, a male seems to think he owns the place. Along with members of his family who drink in the bar. Door staff will take their word against yours. Disgusting attitudes

The Empire is a rustic looking bar that looks a little like a speakeasy, the drinks are good. They have a good selection of spirits, nothing overwhelming but some jewels inbetween, although the Guinness is not as rich in taste as it could be. That being said, I had worse. The live music was what brought the crowd in, everyone was vibin and dancing infront of the stage, yet the pub was not crowded. It was Saturday and I honestly expected more people. The tables were all taken still and the outside area is unique. Pub closed at 1 am. The bar staff was friendly and attentive, which is a great plus and why I give it a star extra. The downsides: there are no booths, only tables. So it's not ideal for dates. The upsides: there are no booths. So good for mingling and bigger groups who are out for a good time.

Great live music venue, the best in my opinion. Love having a cloakroom too.

Was at the 80's indie pleasuredome night, fantastic night all round and the band were superb 🥳😎🤩

Jackie Rainey on a Friday night is worth having to pay £5-70 for a pint of Guinness...

Pretty cold, the air conditioning was running the whole time.

Quiet, warm, comfortable, good spot to catch up. Pleasant bar staff

Thursday night: Blues night: Fantastic. It's been a while but good to see that the Rab McCullough tradition lives on. The new band has a bit of a Rory Gallagher vibe about them and lead towards the blues rock end of the spectrum. The lead guitarist is "tastey" and sets the scene. The saxophone cameo was unexpected and leaned towards a funk rhythm(?), but was warmly received. As ever, the best part of the set is after midnight. Glad to see some things remain the same. Bar staff: stellar as ever.

Absolutely brilliant night, great atmosphere and very funny comedians loved it will definitely be back 👍😃

Brilliant night club, great atmosphere.

Great venue. Fabulous interior. A place filled with gig history. Arrive early for fabulous balcony seats with bar.

Long time patron of the Music Hall.. was here for Hats off to Zeppelin last week - all good - my only criticism would be that the bar staff seemed overwhelmed at busy times.. certainly a technology and organisational upgrade for big events might help - other than that, still a great venue!