Because the Best Bars in Amsterdam Also Know How to Feed You Properly
Let’s be honest, you didn’t come to Amsterdam to sip overpriced cocktails in a hotel lobby while a DJ named Lars spins deep house at 4 p.m. You came for real Dutch gezelligheid, a beer that was brewed closer than your Airbnb, and a plate of something fried, brown, and delicious next to it. That’s what a proper Dutch bar does.
This list isn’t about trendy speakeasies or mixology wizardry. We’re digging into the best Amsterdam bars that understand one thing deeply: if the beer’s cold and the bitterballen are hot, you’re already winning. These are bars in Amsterdam city centre where locals drink, laugh, argue about football, and eat food that reminds them of their grandmother’s Sunday table.
Pull up a stool. These are the cool bars in Amsterdam central, the ones where Dutch food and drink go hand-in-hand like bikes and potholes. And if the old, dark, candlelit kind is your thing, we wrote a whole love letter to those in our guide to Amsterdam’s brown cafes.
1. Café Hoppe - History, Heineken, and Herring
Where: Spui 18-20
Why locals love it: Been pouring since 1670 and hasn’t messed it up since.
Café Hoppe is a damn monument that happens to pour beer. Locals drink here, visitors in the know drink here, and the whole place runs on beer foam and unapologetic Dutch attitude.
The bar is split in two, one side for standing drinkers (yes, the sawdust on the floor is on purpose), the other for full meals and conversations that last until the candles burn out.
Order the bitterballen with mustard and a kopstootje, a shot of jenever next to a beer. That is what our guides order on their own night off. Add a Dutch cheese board if you are settling in for the afternoon.
Among the best bars in Amsterdam central, this one is practically required reading.
2. Café de Reiger - Jordaan’s Hidden Neighborhood Classic
Where: Nieuwe Leliestraat 34
Vibe: Understated, cozy, and deeply local
This is one of those bars in central Amsterdam where you’ll walk past three times before realizing it’s exactly what you were looking for. No neon signs. No fuss. Just wood-panel walls, real conversation, and a cozy Jordaan crowd of locals.
New owners now run a small seasonal kitchen here, so the menu changes with what is good that week rather than sticking to the old fixed list. Come for the atmosphere, order off the chalkboard, ask what is fresh. Good local beers on the taps too.
If you’re after one of those great bars in Amsterdam where you can drink and dine like a local without being squashed between bachelor parties, this is it.
3. De Druif - Where Time (and Wine) Stands Still
Where: Rapenburgerplein 83
Established: Let’s just say Rembrandt could’ve walked in here
De Druif is one of the oldest surviving taverns in the city, and you can feel it the second you walk in. The name means “The Grape,” and while the wine’s still flowing, it’s the beer and borrel culture that shines.
Keep it simple: a local draft, a plate of bitterballen, then a backroom chat with the bartender about Dutch weather, football, or politics. Sometimes all three before the second round. This is a proper old neighborhood kroeg near the maritime museum, so treat it like one and settle in.
Definitely one of the most fun bars Amsterdam has if your idea of fun includes history, character, and enough Dutch pride to fill a canal.
4. In de Wildeman - Beers Galore, Bitterballen Required
Where: Kolksteeg 3
Vibe: Beer geek heaven, Dutch food staple hideout
With over 250 bottled beers and 18 rotating taps, In de Wildeman is one of the best bars in Amsterdam city centre for serious beer lovers. Ask any of our guides to name the best beer bar in town and this one comes up first. The staff actually know their list, all 250 of it.
Tell the bartender what you like, let them pick, and order a plate of Dutch cheese cubes to go with the beer. That pairing does the heavy lifting. Bar snacks are there too if you want more.
If you want cool bars in Amsterdam central with serious brews, this is your holy grail. Or let a local line up the rounds on our Red Light District beer tour.
5. Café Chris - The OG Brown Bar With Food to Match
Where: Bloemstraat 42
Opened: 1624, yes, really
Known for: Low ceilings, dark wood, and top-tier Dutch simplicity
Located in the Jordaan, Café Chris is the kind of bar where time slows down and the clientele is loyal. It is a drinks-first brown bar, one of the oldest in the city, so come for the beer and the room, not a full dinner.
A perfect pour of Amstel or Grolsch and a spot by the window. That is the whole plan here, and after 400 years nobody has come up with a better one.
Among the best bars in central Amsterdam, this one keeps its soul.
Final Sip: If It Comes With Mustard and a Story, It’s Dutch Enough
Amsterdam’s best bars sell you a beer and throw in the rest for free. The locals arguing about Ajax while dipping their bitterballen. The tourists who stumble in and discover real Dutch food goes way past pancakes and cheese, a discovery a small-group food tour through the centre speeds up nicely. The barkeep who pours you something strong, then teaches you how to drink it.
Rather have it done for you? When guests ask, we build bars like these into a private food tour, your route, your pace, our stories.
Quiet night or a long evening of rounds, there’s a bar on this list for it, and every one of them serves something warm, salty, and very Dutch.
Order a beer, ask the bartender for a snack, and you have got the whole thing figured out.
