14 Best Nightlife in Brussels, Belgium

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. 

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.

You might have thought that U.S.-style craft beer would go down like a lead balloon in the notoriously old-fashioned world of Belgian beer, but that's rather the point of this iconoclastic project. BBP's 24-tap taproom has quickly become an essential stop for any hop lovers in the city and was the first step to world domination---they're now even in Paris and Tokyo. A new taproom also recently opened in Ixelles on rue de Bailli. 

Set within a late 19th-century brick-and-iron covered market, Halles St-Géry was originally built to house the old meat market. The building itself was abandoned by traders in the 1970s though, and it lay derelict until the turn of the millennium, when it was renovated into an exhibition space (upper floor) and a bustling café-bar with a fine line in leather sofas and cocktails. Down in the vaulted cellar, you'll also find Club des Halles, which dishes up oodles of classic house music on weekends. Bring 50 cents for the toilet, though. 

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.

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 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.

Groupil 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 usually sprawls 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 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.

Rather out of place in the otherwise refined Ste-Catherine area, this buzzing, vaudeville-theme after-hours bar/club is trashy, fun, and does good cocktails and theme nights. It's not a secret, though, so be prepared to queue after midnight—and bring change for the bathroom. 

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.

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).