4 Best Restaurants in Haarlem, The Randstad

The spacious and high-ceilinged Grand Café Brinkmann offers baguettes, pancakes, and other light snacks. Windows edged with stained glass overlook the Grote Markt and Sint Bavo's church across the square.

One of Haarlem's best eetlokaals (dining spots), which attracts locals with its long bar, cozy tables, and lovely sun trap of a garden, is also extremely popular—get here early or book ahead to snag a table. The menu offers standards but with a twist: try the Popeye Blues Salad—a wild spinach, blue cheese, and bacon number, with creamy mustard dressing.

The café/restaurant of the Jopen brewery enjoys a magnificent setting in the lovingly restored interior of the former Jacobskerk; the ecclesiastical feel has been maintained thanks to the high ceilings and stained-glass windows. The restaurant on the mezzanine (evenings only) serves a variety of meat, fish, and veggie mains; a simpler lunch menu is available in the grand café below.

A very funky restaurant-bar, XO has a general floral theme running from the wallpapered ceiling to the legion of hanging baskets—an alluring setting. The menu contains a wide array of mouthwatering and exquisitely presented burgers and sandwiches, joined by a few more substantial mains available evenings only.