Hello, I’ve always wanted to open a restaurant in Brussels, but I get the impression that three-quarters of them go bust after three years. I’ve come here because I’m a bit nervous about taking the plunge, and I was wondering what’s important to you when you choose a restaurant, and how to attract as many customers as possible?

It’s never easy to get started, so I’m trying to gather as much feedback as possible... Thank you !!

/r/Brussels Tourist Info/New Resident Megathread

Welcome to Brussels!

Whether you're here for a trip, an internship, or you've decided to make Brussels your home permanently, there's something for everyone.

Tourist Info

The official Brussels tourism site is visit.brussels. Look here to plan your trip.

The official events calendar is agenda.brussels. Look here to see what's going on.

Restaurant and Activity Recommendations

Want some local recommendations for restaurants, things to do, and groups to join? Use the Search Function in this sub to look for places off the beaten path, or leave a comment below!

New Resident Info

Looking for a place?

• Immoweb
• SpotAHome
• UpKot
• Facebook

These links are provided as a reference: use them at your own risk!

Need some general info about living in Belgium?

Our friends at r/Belgium have made a Survival Guide that should answer your question! Look in the sidebar on that sub.

Other Questions

If a search through this subreddit or our suggested websites don't answer your question, please feel free to leave a comment below!

Hi everyone,

I’ve been wondering about this for a while.

My boyfriend and I really enjoy going out and eating at good restaurants, and we love the whole idea of food and wine pairing.

The problem is that we’re both over 30 now, and my boyfriend sleeps really badly whenever he drinks alcohol. So we’re trying to cut back, but we find it a bit disappointing to simply finish a meal with a soda or a mocktail (which are often too sweet).

So I’m curious to know how you deal with this. What do you usually have instead of wine, and do you have any nice places to recommend?

Thanks :)

I'm researching Europe's pivot away from visa and mastercard and I'm looking for some examples of places that don't use them

Hello😊would you have any suggestions for a restaurant in Brussels to celebrate my 30th birthday? I can also go outside Brussels if really worth it . Thank you !

Hey ! I Saw that the last post on the subject has almost 3 years, so I figured it was time to update it !

I love to dine in the favourite restaurant of people and I want to try new ones.

What is your favourite restaurant in Brussels ?

Mine is osteria bolognese closely followed by Oldboy ( under renovation at this moment)

Just curious: RTBF writes there are more and more restaurants where kids are not allowed. I haven't encountered this myself and find the concept a bit weird (tho my neurospicy bff may like it), does anyone know of some? (And what do you think about it?)

https://www.rtbf.be/article/la-region-bruxelloise-se-penche-sur-le-phenomene-no-kids-qui-pese-en-particulier-sur-les-meres-11763297

Is that even legal in Belgium? I travel a lot in Europe, and I know that some touristic places (like in Italy or Greece, etc..) sometimes accept only cash, but the reason is simple... they don't want to pay taxes so they are criminals, hence I just avoid those places.

Here in Brussels everywhere I go, expecially in the center, they accept only cash and they are quite angry when I try to pay by card XD

What should I do when this happens? Call the police? XD

Hi everybody, I'm not from Belgium, and in my countries, restaurants provide us with free water but I recently disvovered that it's not the case here. Now that I'm in Belgium for studies I wonder if it's okay to drink water from my own bottle (I always have water on me, in my backpack ) in a restaurant instead of buying a bottle. What are your thoughts and experiences ?

I´m looking for a kids friendly restaurant in Brussels that is NOT pizza and fries! Ideally with a little play area and nice food for all the family.
As a low key activity I highly recommend the Fashion & Lace Museum , my girls enjoyed it and there´s a little are to play dressing up little figurines and after that a break at the book store across the street. It´s perfect for slowing down after visiting the busy area!

there is no record of this question being recently asked in this channel !

do you have any suggest?

also happy to hear about your best soup experience in Brussels

-> next step, i’ll go to Au Bon Bowl! 🥣

(YES, I <3 SOUPS)

Spotted on the corner of Bvd Anspach/Rue Gretry. This cannot be allowed?

Hello,

I wanted to gift a friend of mine who recently got married a voucher for her and her husband for a nice dinner. around 250 Euros to 300 Euros. I do not live in Belgium so have no idea about the restaurants there. Chat gpt recommended this restaurant. Is this a good restaurant. If not can you please recommend something, She is vegetarian.

Has anyone else noticed that recently there is quite a number of restaurants and bars getting closed permanently? Some that I really liked which have closed over the last couple of months are (in no particular order): Flip, Fils a Maman, Verigoud, Bain de Dames, Le Rossini. It almost feels like every place I start to like shuts down. Have I been unlucky, or are we in a recession that nobody talks about?

Personally, I have yet to find a decent poutine so I'll happily take recommendations ! :)

Hello hello
I searched and I mostly see recommendations to loiter in the frozen section of Colyrut or Lloyd’s cafe. But my pregnant friend is in town and after being forced to share an Airbnb with her colleagues, she’s desperate for some comfort. She wants me to take her to a restaurant with AC tomorrow evening… any recommendations please?
-she is taking the Eurostar home at 9pm, so ideally it’s near the metro for a stress free departure
-we have from 5-9pm so ideally somewhere we can linger (not fast food)

I live near Place Saint Boniface, which I would have loved to show her, and I’ve walked around tonight looking for somewhere cute to take her, but so far no aircon. The Malatang has ok AC but it’s not really a 3 hrs long place and the Knees to Chin has a huge line so I’m assuming they have AC too, but I wasnt really picturing those for our evening together.

Thank you in advance from me and her unborn baby!

Update: I just came across and IG post listing restaurants with AC! Hope this helps someone else

https://www.instagram.com/p/DaAXylmDNjs/?igsh=cmRzdmIxM2t5MmNq

Thanks to user u/isowon and his original post Best "blank" restaurant in Brussels I discovered some nice new food places. But I want MORE!!! Please give your best "blank" recommendations for 2023, while considering the below list taken from the original post, to which I added some personal comments. Feel free to add new categories or disagree with listed choices (but then come up with better restaurants).

1. Best Ramen: Takumi (runner up: Yamoto)
   
2. Best mushroom restaurant: Café des Spores
   
3. Croquettes crevettes / garnaalkroketten: Fernand Obb
   
4. Indian street food: Ganesh (tried this myself and it is really quite good)
   
5. Pizza: La Piola (my personal favorite La bottega della pizza, but La Piola is in my top 5)
   
6. Korean: Hana
   
7. Gourmets Everyday (tried it myself, wasn't bowled over, although I ADORE the name)
   
8. Smoked meat: Holy Smoke
   
9. Best food truck (Turkish): Aslan Börek (their schedule is here)
   
10. Best Turkish: Tekince
    
11. Burger joints: Green Mango (I concur, quite expensive though)
    
12. Bánh xèo: Le Cocotier, Schaerbeek
    
13. Vegan: Liu Lin (agreed, fantastic stuff)
    14: Frites: contested (personally, Frites Flagey is my go to place, but also mentioned are Fritland, Maison Antoine, Barrière and La Chapelle. Tabora I have never tried and I'm curious about it)
    
14. Macarons: Marcolini
    
15. Sushi: Nonbe Daigaku
    
16. Meat: La Meute
    
17. Thai: Thai Talks
    

18. South-American: Sabor Latino (also, Peruvian food truck: Los Cubas)
    And I'll add one personal choice:

19. Best American deli sandwiches: Elbow

​

"Skeer" as in: cheap places that may look a bit unappealing to the average Flamand clientele, but serve extremely tasteful food. Best bang for your buck. These four are my favs that signify true Brussels food culture for me, but I wanna discover more so give me your favorites!

1. Sindibad

No brainer to put the Lebanase food of Sindibad up first. The 14 euros assietes are clearly an amazing deal, even though the portions seem to be shrinking a bit since inflation last year. The smell of their wood fired grill sometimes tends to spread out to the entirety of the Kiekenmarkt to counter the discouraging effect of the harsh fluoresecent light and the glass door that they fixed with tape. Their humus and baba ganoush are great, as is their cauliflower sprinkled with the pomegranate dressing. The meat really captures the taste of the wood fire grill. The serving isn't friendly though and often you'll get lost in translation, but even if you speak Arabic my guess is these guys just do what they feel like that day. When you order the assietes - which you should - you'll never know if you'll get tomatoed rice, white rice with peas and carrots or the bulgur. That's part of the charm imo.

Bonus: If you can spare ten minutes of your time arguing, they'll even let you pay with card. Quite the service!

2. Mr Falafel

I'm talking about the one near Fontainas and not the one in the Ravenstein Gallery. 7 euros and you can go to the vegetable counter all you want to accompany your five fried falafels stuffed inside a whole grain bread. Their sauces are great, as are the different cabbages with dressing. In the one near Fontainas you get a bowl you can fill with vegetables, while at the Ravenstein one, you can only fill up your bread (at least in my last two experiences). The serving near Fontainas is also friendlier so I'm assuming he's the OG mister Falafel. He also knows how to speak Dutch since he lived in Amsterdam for years, which is nice.

3. Pure Veg India

To put the Ravenstein Gallery in a better light: please go to Pure Veg India. Around noon there'll be a queue going outside the store, but in the evening it's very calm. The fluorescent light might shy you away, but the 15 euro all you can eat tray is amazing. The owner is extremely friendly and will advice you which dishes are vegan and which are just vegetarian. The samosas they offer are not super, but the Paneer, the chana masala and the other Indian curry dishes are amazing. I avoid bread mostly, but I heard the naan was not the best, but still tasty. Doesn't matter though, it's the hot stews with rice that really make this place worthwhile. I wish they served Aloo Goby more often though!

Warning: When you leave, the owner will ask you to give him five stars, but you will probably already have done that after the first bite of the Aloo curry.

4. Dar Lwalida

Just across the canal in Molenbeek is Dar Lwalida. I've only had them on take away, but on the pictures the place looks pretty "skeer" so I'll add them here to give them some promo. Their couscous is amazing, especially the chicken one. So sweet, so savory, so juicy. The chicken simply falls of the bone and the couscous is prepared perfectly. You'll feel stuffed after eating the entire bowl, but the sugar in the chickpea and onion topping is sure to leave you with a buzz. My go to takeaway when hangover to also get some veggies in while having a comforting cheat meal.

Surprising: If you order the vegetable curry, they'll add in about a handful of Brussels sprouts, which is odd but surprisingly tasteful together with the caramelized chickpeas.

Hi I am in Brussels this weekend and I am surprised how comeall the shops on high street are closed today and a lot of restaurants as well. What am I missing? Thanks

There’s a fast food restaurant that just moved into the building close by and first they left all their trash from moving in on the street corner and did not have it properly disposed… it kind of just blew around the street for awhile. Boxes, construction material, foam, nothing sorted. Now when I come home late in the evenings I see their workers dumping the used grease straight onto the street because there’s a drain nearby… in the photo where it looks wet, it’s actually old grease. It smells terrible and must be so bad for the sewage system. Who can I report this to? This is Brussels 1000. Thanks!

...and it seems no one is surprised.

I have noticed that tables, especially outside ones, from bars and all day restaurants are incredibly dirty. They have sticky stains from alcoholic drinks that smell and breadcrumbs more often than not. Of course this doesn't happen to a la carte restaurants, I am referring mostly to all day and fast food ones.

What surprises me is that not many people from my peers seem to care that much. We once sat with colleagues in a bistro and when I made a comment, my colleague was like naah it's fine, and another one was embarrassed for me to ask to clean it.

Another time, I was with a friend in a neighborhood café, and three tables where not only dirty, but there were empty glasses being abandoned. The café was not full and there was a lot stuff to take care of it, and this was in a high end "bobo café". When I mentioned to my friend, she was immediately embarrassed and told me they have probably a lot of work. It was clearly not the case. Anyway, I did ask them to clean, and for the record, I always ask politely something like "is it possible to clean the table please?". I don't make any derogatory face but I say it pretty firmly.

Everyone seems embarrassed from this, and it makes me so surprised and honestly a bit frustrated. We overpay all drinks, like 5.5 for a latte, I do believe is the minimum to have clean tables and respectful service. I also believe this happens to fancy cafes where service becomes less and less present, I feel if I go to an old school local café, service is immaculate. Also, I am coming from a Mediterranean country where you wouldn't even get sitted if the table is not dressed.

Seriously, what are your thoughts on this?

Tldr: I am becoming frustrated that tables are not being properly cleaned when clients are sitted in may bars and cafes, and I feel I am the only one noticing it.

Beware, on deliveroo there is a fake restaurant that doesn't actually exist, and doesn't deliver anything. It's called 'OG Tacos' with an address in Schaerbeek and a phone number that doesn't exist. They are supposed to deliver the food themselves, so you can't track the delivery. After an hour of waiting, eventually deliveroo will refund you, but you will be hungry, and you will have waited for nothing.

Hellooo, I am taking my grandma out for lunch and trying to find a nice restaurant in, or around, Brussels. She is 90 years old so it comes with a few conditions:

- bathroom must be on the ground floor, so easily accessible

- must be easy to park close by, or drop her off at the entrance then I go park

She likes Italian food and Belgian food typically.

So if you've got any nice recommendations, let me know!

She lives outside of Brussels so bonus points if it's by a nice church, building, or whatever :)

Hey everyone, I was wondering why reviews are so different for this restaurant called Barracuda in Flagey. On Google it has 4.7 and then 3 on tripadvisor. I wonder why they are so different? Has anyone been? Thanks :))