Historic Estaminets and Beer

The dark wood paneling and weathered mirrors of À La Mort Subite carry the heavy scent of spilled geuze and floor wax. This café began when Théophile Vossen won a beer-serving game in nineteen ten, calling his new tavern Sudden Death after…

The Royal Puppet Theater Toone hides behind a narrow, dark alleyway off the Grand Place. A small, faded sign above a heavy wooden door marks the entrance to this seventeenth century attic space. Inside, hundreds of wooden marionettes hang…

The house at number forty on the Grand Place carries the name A l’Imaige Nostre-Dame. It is easily picked out by the stone statue of the Virgin Mary nestled in a niche between the second-floor windows. While the guildhalls surrounding the…

The facade of À la Bécasse features a pair of carved wooden woodcocks, or bécasses, mounted high above the entrance. This narrow, tile-walled tavern dates back to eighteen seventy-six, though the building itself occupies a much older…

The entrance of Café Le Cirio features a distinctive mosaic floor and dark, carved wood paneling that dates back to the eighteen eighties. Francesco Cirio, an Italian immigrant, opened this establishment to introduce his signature…

The entrance to Poechenellekelder is marked by a life-sized, wooden marionette of a puppet dangling above the doorway, a nod to the building's history as a puppet theater. Tucked into the brick, the heavy wooden door leads down into a…

The faded, cream-colored facade of La Fleur en Papier Doré is hidden behind a simple brown door on Rue des Alexiens. Inside, the walls are covered in thousands of yellowing business cards, framed sketches, and erratic scribbles left by…