The difference between a brasserie and a restaurant is in the tone. At a brasserie, you order à la carte, come in at your convenience and stay as long as you want. The best ones are open from breakfast until late, have a good bar and know that the shrimp croquette is as important as the main course. Here's the selection.
Café Luxembourg
Café Luxembourg on the Spui is one of the city's most trusted brasseries, and has been for over thirty years. The interior is inspired by Parisian art deco cafes, with a reading table n the middle of the room and a conservatory for those who want to see and be seen. The cuisine is French and Dutch at the same time. Holtkamp's shrimp croquette was introduced to the Amsterdam hospitality industry here and is still on the menu. Good for breakfast, lunch and dinner, seven days a week. - Spui 24, Center
Brasserie Marie
Marie sits in the elegant Hotel De l'Europe, on the Amstel River. The kitchen runs on classic French dishes with contemporary precision: langoustines with bagna cauda, millefeuille for dessert, côte de boeuf with béarnaise. In summer, the waterfront terrace, Marie sur l'Eau, opens where you can also dock by boat for a glass and a snack. Gault-Millau recognized. Well-trained service, nice wine list from the sommelier. - Nieuwe Doelenstraat 2-14, Center
“On the Amstel River, in the elegant Hotel L'Europe, Brasserie Marie serves refined French cuisine in a stylish and relaxed setting. The service is young, well-trained and remarkably hospitable.” - Gault-Millau Netherlands (2025)
Brasserie Embassy
Brasserie Embassy sits in the eponymous hotel on Herengracht, in ten canal houses brought together from the seventeenth century. The walls are full of original CoBrA work, the wine list has more than fifty labels and the kitchen cooks French with modern influences. The library bar with more than five thousand signed books is a world apart. Open for breakfast, lunch and dinner, canal-side terrace for walk-ins. - Herengracht 339, Center
George W.P.A.
George W.P.A. combines the elegance of a French brasserie with the relaxed tone of a neighborhood restaurant, on one of the city's most beautiful streets. Large terrace, white subway tiles, marble bar, classic brasserie menu with influences from New York and the Côte d'Azur. Grilled lobster, fruits de mer, blackened tuna, juicy burgers. Open from morning until late, seven days a week. A regular spot for anyone who lives or works in this part of town. - Willemsparkweg 74 (South).
“If we can so embrace these eating habits in Paris or southern France, why not normalize them in Amsterdam?” - Dylan Ramses Sturm, co-owner Brasserie Margaux (The Restaurant Newspaper, 2023)
Brasserie Margaux
Margaux is the big sister of Café Garçon, set up by Dylan Ramses Sturm and Thom Lammerts. The interior is hand-laid on 22,000 marble tiles; the antique furniture is sourced from bric-a-brac in France. The menu goes uncompromisingly classic French: tournedos Rossini, magret de canard, escargots, sole meunière. The wine cellar holds rare vintages, including a Château Margaux that can be ordered by the glass. Amsterdam Now has its own article on Brasserie Margaux. - Beethoven Street 27A, South.
Brasserie van Baerle - Museum Quarter
Van Baerle has been around for years and has a reputation as the most reliable all-day restaurant in the Museum Quarter. The kitchen calls itself nouveau classique: French in base, with contemporary influences and great attention to seasonal produce. Always oysters, lobster and asparagus when in season. The wine list has received several awards and focuses on quality French wines. Pleasant garden with terrace, not a terrace that happens to be in a garden. - Van Baerlestraat 158, South
“Van Baerle distinguishes itself with a high quality but uncluttered wine list of ‘Old World’ wines, primarily French. The menu has received multiple awards for quality and accessibility.” - Brasserie van Baerle, own description (brasserievanbaerle.nl, 2024)
Café Schiller
Café Schiller opened in 1913 and is one of Amsterdam's few genuine art deco brasseries still intact. The interior was designed in 1933 by M.J.E. Lippits together with Frits Schiller himself, who was also a painter. Stained-glass mosaic by artist Joop Sjollema on the wall. Classic brasserie fare, open from four in the afternoon, dinner from 5:30. Not a tourist trap but a place with character and history. - Rembrandtplein 24A, Center
The brasseries in this list have in common that they don't go with every new trend. A good brasserie changes slowly, keeps the menu recognizable and makes sure you know what you're getting. That's exactly why people keep coming back to it. For a weekday lunch, choose Luxembourg or George W.P.A., for a big evening go to Marie or Margaux, and for the canal-side terrace, Embassy is just right.