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We've compiled the best of the best in Lower Town - browse our top choices for the top things to see or do during your stay.
This small, two-floor bar manages to be both laid-back and achingly hip with good beer and cocktails, a vintage Photomatique machine, chandeliers, free live jazz and electronica, and DJs on most nights. And the nights go long here—until 8 am on some days!
An accomplished cocktail bar whose setting, within a 19th-century tailoring shop, lends it an added dash of ambience. The speakeasy chic might be de rigueur for most cocktail bars these days, but its vintage decor certainly carries it off with style, and the gin-heavy cocktail menu aims for the stars.
A slightly scruffy interior belies what is essentially a delightful old-school café-bar with a terrace on the street outside. It's popular with locals, who fill the tables in the evening. Just grab a beer and a croque monsieur and watch the world go by.
The café-bar Monk was something of a local institution until it shut down in early 2024. Billie is its likeable second coming, having kept the infamous dark "brown bar" interior, legendary giant plates of spaghetti, and decent beer selection (now including its own Billie beer).
This cozy café-bar has a good lineup of free jazz (mostly) concerts on Sunday night at 8 pm. At any other time though, it's typical of most Belgian bars in the city: lively and friendly, with a good selection of beers.
Having marked its 30th anniversary in 2024, this bastion of drag remains a city stalwart. Maman herself presides over this disco with a drag show (in French) every Friday and Saturday.
Yes, it's horrifically touristy, but the beer selection at this bar-cum-village now tops 3,000 brews, and that deserves sampling, even if most are only available at the tiny bar downstairs. Over the years, it's expanded to more than three floors, with a taproom and the quieter "Hoppy Loft" offering respite from the barrel tables, tourists, and clutter on the first floor. Floris Bar, which is owned by the same people and specializes in absinthe, tequila, and a Dutch-style gin known as jenever, sits across the alleyway, and offshoot Little Delirium lies a short walk away at 9 Rue du Marche aux Fromages.
Goupil Le Fol skirts a fine line between curiosity shop and bar, complete with jukebox, comfy old sofas, and no beer for once. The drinks menu consists of an array of fruit wines and punches, while its owner is often sprawled spiderlike in a corner cubbyhole watching TV. If the conversation ever drags, there's always something weird to look at.
The Art Deco design of L'Archiduc attracts a thirtyish, fashionable crowd, which is hardly surprising given the upmarket shopping area in which it resides. Add to the mix live jazz on weekends and fine cocktails, and it makes for one of the more polished entries in the city's bar scene.
A Brussels institution named after a card game called "Sudden Death," À la Mort Subite is practically unchanged since its 1920s heyday; and with its distinctive high ceilings, wooden tables, and mirrored walls, it remains a favorite of beer lovers from all over the world. It still brews its own traditional Brussels beers (lambik, gueuze, and faro). These sour, potent drafts may be an acquired taste, but, like singer Jacques Brel, who came here often, you'll find it hard to resist their (and the staff's) gruff charm.
This sparse-looking cooperative-run bar in the Marolles area is branching in a number of directions, with brunch on weekends and dinner served Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Saturdays. But it's a brewpub at heart, with a handful of its own beers on tap and a real neighborhood vibe.
The cozy, dimly lit Music Village hosts a plethora of international jazz musicians, with nightly concerts usually starting around 8:30 pm. You don't need a ticket, but it's usually best to make a reservation (pay on-site).
