15 Best Nightlife in Brussels, Belgium

A slightly scruffy interior (complete with resident cat) 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 outside in the evening. Just grab a beer and a croque monsieur and watch the world go by.

One of the best beer pubs in the city is Bier Circus, out by the Cirque Royale, which has a huge list of obscure, small-batch Belgian beers, including some excellent organic brews. Part of the bar has now also become a shop, with some 250 bottles to choose from. 

Set in an ocean-liner-like Art Deco building, this is a favorite among Brussels’s beautiful people. It's the kind of place you'd spot a local TV star sipping a cocktail or mint tea at the zinc bar or outside gazing at the swans on the Ixelles ponds. DJs play until late; it's also a popular brunch spot for hungover locals on Sunday. 

A charming bar set on the corner of Ladeuzeplein. Old wooden floors, high ceilings, and a stash of board games you can play while having a beer make it a laid-back escape. There's also always a pot of soup on the go if you're hungry. 

The hipster-dense Parvis de Saint-Gilles area is stuffed with great bars, but this popular joint is among the more pristine. It does a great brunch, and late-night DJs often go on until late on weekends. It's named after a demolished Victor Horta--designed building, the loss of which is often used as one of the worst examples of Brussels's gentrification.

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: noisy, friendly, and pretty lively, with a good selection of beers.

On Parijsstraat, this aging but very cozy bar heaves with both young and old. It's unpretentious, has a really good choice of local beers, and there's just nothing else to it—no elaborate effort to make it more than it is. That in itself makes it special. Plus you can bring your own food. 

Yes, it's horrifically touristy, but the beer selection at the city's most popular bar 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.

This likable craft beer bar usually has at least 15 draft beers on tap and an ace in its pocket. The selection is huge, the staff are friendly and knowledgeable, but you can also order Japanese food from the rather fine restaurant across the street (Tokidori). A definite winner. 

Jane’s has the air of a chill afterparty, with guests from the city's art world occasionally invited to soundtrack the evening by their genial host (the bar's own Jane Haesen, a veteran of the city's party scene). A good selection of natural wines, cocktails, and beers make the evening swim. 

A specialist food shop that doubles as a fine apéro bar as the sun sets. Locals spill onto the pavement terrace, where a good choice of small tapas bites, cocktails, and lesser-seen wines keeps out the cold in winter. 

A popular option, this lively, dimly lighted cellar bar is all brick, benches, and radio-friendly rock music. It does a good line in beers and (more unusually for Brussels) whiskies, though there's a certain Logan's Run vibe to the joint, and anyone over 30 might want to look elsewhere.

A great little local beer bar with an excellent selection of bottled and draft (usually around 20) brews, all typically from the smaller breweries that don't find their way onto most bar menus. 

A favorite with the artsy crowd and lovers of a quiet afternoon with a board game, this former schoolhouse is now a bar that draws crowds late into the night with live music, a central location, and good beers. Its spaghetti isn't bad, either.