53 Best Restaurants in Brussels, Belgium

With superb cuisine, excellent wines, and attentive service, this two-star Michelin restaurant remains a regal choice, with an interior (and prices) to match. Lionel Rigolet, who took over the reins as chef from his father-in-law Pierre Wynants in 2006, is a ceaselessly inventive character with one foot in tradition, dishing up elegant racks of veal dashed with sweetbreads or cockerel breasts crowned with crayfish. Earlier creations have been relegated to the back of the menu, but one favorite remains—fillet of sole with a white wine mousseline and shrimp. Book weeks in advance to guarantee a table.

What was once just a friendly fishmongers has evolved into one of the city's best, and most unexpected, street-food stops. It's set on place Ste-Catherine, which has been revitalized as the home of all things seafood, and visitors queue up at the counter outside, place an order, then grab it from the window when called. You eat at tables standing in the square, prodding with your fingers at sumptuous salt 'n' pepper calamari, scampi drenched in garlic butter, and fresh North Sea crab. A true gem rightly lorded by those in the know. It closes at 6:30 pm, though, so get there early. 

The city isn't short of good street food markets, not since Wolf opened in the center, but out in Laeken, where the options are not nearly as interesting, this new addition was a godsend when it opened in the Tour & Taxis center in 2021. The choice here is a mix of slightly more upmarket and downright crowd-pleasing, ranging from the frites of "140" (the perfect temperature for cooking fries) to the Ayurvedic veggies of Xgreen. The space is huge and you're not short of options. 

There are a cluster of bars and restaurants around the Cirque Royal. This "brassonomie" experiment is a cut above the rest, taking the usual brasserie fare and elevating it to a fine-dining bistro experience, and throwing in its own brewery for good measure. A beef-cheek carbonnade arrives drizzled in a silken gravy made from its house Santana beer; even the buerre blanc smothering the plaice and grey shrimps is jazzed up with its own brews. 

This cozy café is the epitome of Brussels decor: bicycles hang from the ceiling, there are Tintin statues everywhere, and shelves overflow with books. It's sculpted chaos and part of a chain of cafés that is slowly taking over the city. This was the first branch, and is still the best. The bagels and ready-made sandwiches are always tasty, plus it stays open until 8 every day, by which time it's filled with busy students. 

The Maison Antoine frites stand sells the best fries in the capital, say some people, accompanied by a dizzying range of condiments; try either local fave "Bicky" or the indulgent vol-au-vent sauce. 

This tiny, modest, well-executed Flemish restaurant with a superb beer menu was quite the hit when it opened. The brasserie is named after the Dutch phrase for those who "can't get enough," and the city voted with its feet. Back then, diners lined up dutifully alongside its Art Nouveau facade, clutching beers from the bar for warmth; now there's finally online booking (one crumb of comfort from COVID). The food leans into the best of Belgian comfort food: stews slow-cooked in fruity beers, meat flaking off in gravy-soaked, hop-flavored chunks onto crisp frites and chicory. It's simple food executed well, and its selection of local lambic beers is a connoisseur's dream.

A short walk from place Jourdan reveals this elegant, modern French restaurant, its pared-down, neat decor broken up with colorful prints of animals and the bustle of the open kitchen. The choice of food is equally sparse but to the point: four-course set menus deliver with imagination and no little amount of skill, letting you mix and match from your pick of cold, warm, hot, and sweet dishes on the blackboard. Lunch is a great deal at €25 for a starter and main.   

There's plenty of debate as to Brussels's best ramen. This cozy little joint on rue St. Boniface is undoubtedly in with a claim. Diners cluster around the countertop as chefs boil up their stock, chop up the meat, and prepare each dish. The scents and aromas are reward enough, though the gyoza aren't bad either. That's your only choice really—the menu is tiny—but you don't come for anything more. No booking, just walk in and pray there's space. There's also a street terrace on warmer days. 

Head down into this 17th-century vaulted cellar restaurant (watch out for the low door frame) for traditional Belgian cuisine served at plain wooden tables. Mussels are the house specialty, but the stoemp et saucisses (mashed potatoes and sausages) are equally tasty. It's a popular place with locals and tourists, as it's open noon to midnight—but anything on the Grand Place is always going to be heaving with people. Like many restaurants in the center, Covid forced them to adopt a reservation system, so it's easier to grab a table than it used to be on busy nights. 

In a city of students, it's no surprise that something so simple as a "chicken and bread" restaurant would take off. But it is also a thing of beauty. It has been going since the 1960s but closed for several years, reopening to much nostalgia and a hipper new look (think cocktails and decent beer) among the boutiques of Mechelsestraat. At its heart, it's just a hunk of delicious marinated roast chicken with a selection of sides (salads, veggies, apple sauce, hummus), but to locals, it's so much more than that. 

Even when neighboring restaurants on Grand Sablon are empty, this one is always full. It's run by the Niels family, who have been restaurateurs in Brussels since 1915, and its short menu emphasizes local specialties; portions are substantial. Its iconic filet Americain—a popular local take on steak tartare and frites—was even invented by grandfather Joseph Niels. Ownership has passed to the next generation, but standards remain high and it still serves unusually good wine (the family also has a wine import business) for the price, by the glass, or bottle. It also has a sister restaurant, Au Savoy, is located in Ixelles.

This elegant dining spot has a charming terrace surrounded by a grassy lawn and trees. The menu is grandiose but not afraid of the more interesting rural delights of French cooking, from saddle of hare to fillet of fawn via a number of interesting pheasant dishes. Just as exciting is its new food-sharing menu, as it tries to capture the postgarden walk-in crowd, where baked sweetbreads, caviar, and Duroc pork belly offer a more classically French take on the format. 

A couple of miles west of Gaasbeek is the rather bijou little town of Lennik, home to a fair number of high-priced dining options. One of the finer is August, a wine shop-cum-restaurant that oozes class and is set in an 18th-century wine merchant's premises. Paired set menus aren't cheap, but they pack a lot of flavor in, arriving immaculately presented. 

Meatballs (or ballekes) are Belgium's current fast-food obsession. This restaurant chain is everywhere now but began here in Saint-Gilles, even if it's looking its age these days. The meatballs are offered with a choice of sauces, from classic tomato to a range of beery takes, all served up in cast-iron dishes. To this you add a choice of sides, ranging from frites to chicory salad. There's a definite Ikea vibe to the decor, but it's quick, delicious, and Ballekes even has its own craft beer—you don't get that in McDonalds! There's another branch in the Grand Place as well.

Moules (mussels) and steaks, along with a small handful of the usual standbys, set the pace at this much-adored brasserie. Breakfast, lunch, dinner, drinks—it's pretty much all things to the large contingent of expats who have made this a popular local spot. There are plenty of burgers to keep the kids happy, too. 

A much-revered Italian restaurant that has been remodeled in recent years to be more of a meal out. There's a nice garden terrace, the wine selection is proficient, and the cooking is never less than spot on. It's been a local favorite for years, and you can see why: a good choice of seafood (particularly lobster) accompanies pasta that reliably conjures the scents and tastes of Italy. 

Even in Belgium, where meat tends to feature pretty high on the agenda of most menus, Colonel is something different. It's all about the steak here—marbled, aged, and kept on display like a treasured memory in a cabinet by the bar counter. Choose your own cut of traceable and personally sourced French beef, typically served with thick beef-fat frites on the side. There's more than just meat here, with a well-finessed bistro menu, but why fight it?

This beautiful mid-18th-century town house was redone in the Art Nouveau style in 1904, adding an elegant bow window and balcony. It's been a brasserie since the early '80s, but remained empty for years after the previous owners went bankrupt. Mercifully, it's been resurrected and restored to its former glory. The menu is solidly Belgian, with not an ounce of desire to add anything to the classics. Well-made beer stews, moules, américains, and Liège-style meatballs accompany the one international caveat: an array of tagliatelle dishes. 

This cheap, satisfying neighborhood café-restaurant never fails to please. Slightly removed from the center, on Hogeschoolplein, it's as much a lunch spot as a restaurant, but its cheap pastas and salads make for a good, filling meal on the go. Given the prices, it's no surprise that it's a student hot spot with a large terrace that fills up fast on warm days. The fact you can get its desserts from a vending machine seems to delight many a local customer.

This sprawling brewpub-restaurant is pretty much the city's old standby for when you've run out of ideas. It's particularly good for families, it's always packed, the menu is littered with Flemish favorites (carbonnade, meatballs, vol-au-vent), and the service is impossibly quick no matter how full it is. A lot of the food is slathered in the house beer (typically Con Domus and Nostra Domus), which funnels directly from the neighboring brewery into the restaurant. You can even get guided tours and tastings for €11. If you're there for the food, stick to the Flemish classics for a solid meal. 

It divides opinion (as this hotly debated topic often does), but this is an outside shout for one of the best frites kiosks in the city. Locals who know tout it as such, and who are we to disagree? Certainly, the long queues at this historic crossroads between Chaussée de Waterloo and Chaussée d'Alsemberg (at one time a medieval toll point on the road out of Brussels) is proof enough, and the taste or sauce selection is not in doubt. 

While tours of the Grimbergen Abbey brewery aren't possible, you can taste the fruits of its labor at its brasserie in town, which is slightly more upmarket than you'd imagine. A pretty terrace overlooks the abbey, while the food served is unrepentantly Flemish: beery stews, gray-shrimp croquettes, Ostend-style fish stew. Everything on the menu, unsurprisingly, has a suggested beer pairing, as if you needed an excuse to try its trio of Grimbergen specials on draft: the pale ale, opus, and quadruple. The latter weighs in at a hefty 10% ABV, so it may be a sleepy bus journey back. 

With its all-day brunch ricocheting between healthier options (acai and Buddha bowls) and more indulgent offerings, including a guacamole, bacon, and cheddar toast, this is a good spot to bag a late-morning or early-afternoon pick-me-up (until 3 weekdays; 3:30 on weekends). 

A large, hip coffee shop with art and design books strewn around its cozy lounging area. There are bagels, salads, and the juices are particularly good. Wi-Fi is best nearer the counter, though. 

A bustling little coffee shop that's usually packed with gossiping, bitching politicos—which is always entertaining to overhear—because it just edges the European district. The bagels are fresh and rightfully celebrated, while the coffee is first-rate. 

Spring rolls are the specialty at this über-popular fast-food café beloved by local office workers, though the fillings are hardly traditional: meat loaf, crispy bacon and avocado, caramelized tofu. There are a few locations in the city now (the original opened in Saint-Gilles), but this is the perfect snack stop for shoppers on rue Antoine Dansaert. 

Located just above the place de Jeu de Balle in the heart of the Marolles area, this café is a local institution—legend has it that residents would come to fill their buckets full of hot water in times of need, hence the name. In 2014, its closure was imminent, but locals stepped in and reopened it as a social cooperative with an organic canteen dishing up hearty lunches and a dish of the day (11–4). It also boasts a well-curated list of bottled beers (many of them organic) from lesser-known artisanal Belgian breweries.

This split-level restaurant, on a side alley off the Galeries Royales Saint-Hubert, has all the trappings of an old-time bistro: green-shaded lamps over marble-top tables, a forest's worth of dark wood paneling, and laid-back waiters. There's nothing casual about the French-style cuisine, however: grilled sweetbreads with baked courgettes, mille-feuille of crayfish and salmon with a puree of langoustines, and saddle of lamb with spring vegetables and potato gratin. The selection of Beaujolais is particularly good.