20 tables near the museums, rankedBest restaurants in Amsterdam
Where to eat in Amsterdam before or after a museum: the 20 tables with a history within reach of them, the brown cafés of the canals and the Jordaan, the old tasting rooms of jenever, the fries and croquettes, and the restaurant of the Rijksmuseum, in the order their customers rate them.
- 20
- Tables near the museums, ranked
- 1606
- The oldest: Café Karpershoek
- 8
- Within 500 metres of a museum
- 4.8
- The highest rating: De Drie Fleschjes
The ranking for Amsterdam
Show
All 20
14.8
De Drie Fleschjes
Tasting room, Nieuwe Kerk
A tasting room of the seventeenth century in the lane behind the Nieuwe Kerk, with a wall of fifty casks and a cabinet of flasks painted for the city's mayors.
4.8
746 Google ratings
- Opened
- 1650, the year Dutch Wikipedia gives: the house itself gives 1619
- Nearest museum
- Our Lord in the Attic, 500 m
24.8
Café De Dokter
Brown café, Spui
A brown café of 1798 in a lane off the Spui, said to be the smallest in Amsterdam, opened by a surgeon of the hospital that stood nearby.
34.7
Park Frankendael, beside the restaurant.. Picture: Ceescamel, CC BY-SA 4.0
De Kas
Restaurant, Park Frankendael
A restaurant in a city greenhouse of 1927 in Park Frankendael, cooking since 2001 from what it grows in its own glasshouse and fields.
4.7
3,749 Google ratings
- Opened
- 2001, with its plant-to-plate kitchen: the greenhouse was turned into a restaurant in 2000
- Nearest museum
- National Maritime Museum, 2.4 km
44.7
Wynand Fockink
Tasting room, Dam Square
A liqueur distillery founded in 1679 in a lane behind Dam Square, with its old tasting room where jenever and liqueurs are poured into small tulip glasses.
54.7
Café Chris
Brown café, Jordaan
A brown café in the Jordaan said to date from 1624, when the builders of the Westerkerk round the corner came to collect their wages here.
4.7
1,276 Google ratings
- Opened
- 1624, by tradition: no document confirms it
- Nearest museum
- Our Lord in the Attic, 1.2 km
64.6
Café 't Smalle
Brown café, Jordaan
A tiny brown café on the Egelantiersgracht in the old tasting room of a jenever distillery, with a terrace on the water's edge.
4.6
1,594 Google ratings
- Opened
- 1978, as a café, in the tasting room of Pieter Hoppe's distillery of about 1780
- Nearest museum
- Our Lord in the Attic, 1.0 km
74.6
Patisserie Holtkamp
Pastry shop, Vijzelgracht
A pastry shop of 1886 on the Vijzelgracht, with an Art Deco interior of 1928 behind a wooden shopfront in the style of the Amsterdam School.
4.6
1,153 Google ratings
- Opened
- 1886, as Van Nie's bakery: the Holtkamp family has run it since 1969
- Nearest museum
- Heineken Experience, 450 m
84.5
The lane of the shop.. Picture: Txllxt TxllxT, CC BY-SA 4.0
Vleminckx de Sausmeester
Fries counter, Spui
A hatch in the Voetboogstraat that has sold Flemish fries in paper cones since 1957, with a wall of more than twenty sauces.
94.5
An old photograph of the street.. Picture: Unknown photographer, Rijksmuseum, CC0
Moeders
Restaurant, Rozengracht
A restaurant of Dutch home cooking on the Rozengracht, opened in 1990, whose walls are covered with hundreds of photographs of its guests' mothers.
104.5
Café 't Papeneiland
Brown café, Prinsengracht
A corner house of 1642 where the Prinsengracht meets the Brouwersgracht, a brown café known for its apple pie and for the tunnel its cellar is said to hide.
4.5
2,856 Google ratings
- Opened
- 1642, the year of the house: it has been a café since at least 1896
- Nearest museum
- Our Lord in the Attic, 1.0 km
114.5
Café 't Mandje
Bar, Zeedijk
The bar on the Zeedijk that Bet van Beeren ran from 1927 to 1967, open to all, a place where gay men and women could be themselves.
124.4
The street of the restaurant.. Picture: Kagra, CC BY-SA 3.0 nl
Eetsalon Van Dobben
Sandwich shop, Rembrandtplein
A sandwich shop off the Rembrandtplein since June 1945, famous for its croquettes, eaten at the counter or in a soft white roll.
134.4
Café Hoppe
Brown café, Spui
A brown café on the Spui that dates itself to 1670, with old jenever casks behind the bar and two rooms, one for standing and one for sitting.
4.4
2,280 Google ratings
- Opened
- 1670, by its own account
- Nearest museum
- Rembrandt House Museum, 850 m
144.4
Café De Sluyswacht
Café, Oudeschans
The leaning lock keeper's house of 1695 beside the Sint Antoniessluis, a few steps from the Rembrandt House, now a café with a terrace on the water.
4.4
1,966 Google ratings
- Opened
- 1695, the year of the house, built for the lock keeper; it is a café today
- Nearest museum
- Rembrandt House Museum, 50 m
154.4
RIJKS
Restaurant, Museumplein
The Rijksmuseum's restaurant, opened in 2014 in its Philips wing, cooking Dutch produce with the flavours trade brought to the Netherlands over the centuries.
164.4
A photograph of 1947.. Picture: Harry Sagers / Anefo, CC0
d'Vijff Vlieghen
Restaurant, Spuistraat
A restaurant of 1939 in five houses of the seventeenth century on the Spuistraat, its dining rooms panelled, hung with old leather and prints of the city.
174.4
Lucius
Fish restaurant, Spuistraat
A fish restaurant on the Spuistraat since 1975, which calls itself the oldest in Amsterdam, with fish chosen every morning.
184.3
The Pancake Bakery
Pancake house, Prinsengracht
A pancake house opened in 1973 in a seventeenth-century warehouse of the East India Company on the Prinsengracht, a few minutes from the Anne Frank House.
194.0
Café Américain
Grand café, Leidseplein
The grand café of the American Hotel on the Leidseplein, built in 1902 in the Dutch Art Nouveau, with what is said to be the oldest reading table in Amsterdam.
204.0
Café Karpershoek
Brown café, Centraal Station
A brown café opposite Central Station that dates itself to 1606, when it says it began as a lodging house for the sailors of the East India Company.
4.0
1,506 Google ratings
- Opened
- 1606, by its own account
- Nearest museum
- Our Lord in the Attic, 400 m
How long they have been open
Each bar runs from the year a restaurant opened to today. The oldest on the list opened 420 years ago, and 9 of the 20 were already open in 1900.
- Café Karpershoek1606, by its own account
- Café Chris1624, by tradition: no document confirms it
- Café 't Papeneiland1642, the year of the house: it has been a café since at least 1896
- De Drie Fleschjes1650, the year Dutch Wikipedia gives: the house itself gives 1619
- Café Hoppe1670, by its own account
- Wynand Fockink1679
- Café De Sluyswacht1695, the year of the house, built for the lock keeper; it is a café today
- Café De Dokter1798
- Patisserie Holtkamp1886, as Van Nie's bakery: the Holtkamp family has run it since 1969
- Café Américain1902
- Café 't Mandje1927
- d'Vijff Vlieghen1939
- Eetsalon Van Dobben1945
- Vleminckx de Sausmeester1957
- The Pancake Bakery1973
- Lucius1975
- Café 't Smalle1978, as a café, in the tasting room of Pieter Hoppe's distillery of about 1780
- Moeders1990
- De Kas2001, with its plant-to-plate kitchen: the greenhouse was turned into a restaurant in 2000
- RIJKS2014
How near they are to a museum
For each restaurant, the museum or sight it is nearest to, and how far it is in a straight line. Nearest first: the top of the list is where to go when you come out hungry.
- RIJKSRijksmuseum, 50 m
- Café De SluyswachtRembrandt House Museum, 50 m
- Café 't MandjeOur Lord in the Attic, 100 m
- Café KarpershoekOur Lord in the Attic, 400 m
- Wynand FockinkOur Lord in the Attic, 400 m
- Patisserie HoltkampHeineken Experience, 450 m
- De Drie FleschjesOur Lord in the Attic, 500 m
- Café AméricainRijksmuseum, 500 m
- Eetsalon Van DobbenRembrandt House Museum, 550 m
- Café De DokterRembrandt House Museum, 700 m
- Vleminckx de SausmeesterRembrandt House Museum, 700 m
- LuciusRembrandt House Museum, 800 m
- Café HoppeRembrandt House Museum, 850 m
- d'Vijff VlieghenRembrandt House Museum, 900 m
- The Pancake BakeryOur Lord in the Attic, 950 m
- Café 't PapeneilandOur Lord in the Attic, 1.0 km
- Café 't SmalleOur Lord in the Attic, 1.0 km
- Café ChrisOur Lord in the Attic, 1.2 km
- MoedersRijksmuseum, 1.5 km
- De KasNational Maritime Museum, 2.4 km
The track is 3 kilometres long. A restaurant inside a museum or a monument has almost no bar at all.
What diners say
Each restaurant's overall rating on Google, and how many people have given one. The longer the bar, the more people have eaten there and said so.
- The Pancake Bakery4.310,493 Google ratings
- Vleminckx de Sausmeester4.55,990 Google ratings
- Moeders4.55,985 Google ratings
- De Kas4.73,749 Google ratings
- Café 't Papeneiland4.52,856 Google ratings
- Eetsalon Van Dobben4.42,511 Google ratings
- Wynand Fockink4.72,282 Google ratings
- Café Hoppe4.42,280 Google ratings
- Café Américain4.02,192 Google ratings
- Café De Sluyswacht4.41,966 Google ratings
- RIJKS4.41,833 Google ratings
- d'Vijff Vlieghen4.41,719 Google ratings
- Café 't Smalle4.61,594 Google ratings
- Café Karpershoek4.01,506 Google ratings
- Café Chris4.71,276 Google ratings
- Patisserie Holtkamp4.61,153 Google ratings
- Lucius4.4921 Google ratings
- De Drie Fleschjes4.8746 Google ratings
- Café De Dokter4.8606 Google ratings
- Café 't Mandje4.5580 Google ratings
Read on Google Maps. A famous café is rated by a great many visitors who came for the name, which is why the best known are not the best rated. Ratings change, and so will this.
Where they are
Each number is a restaurant, by its place in the ranking. The yellow squares are the museums and sights this site has a guide to. The blue is the IJ, the Amstel and the harbour, the green blocks the parks, and each square of the grid is one kilometre.
- 1De Drie Fleschjes
- 2Café De Dokter
- 3De Kas
- 4Wynand Fockink
- 5Café Chris
- 6Café 't Smalle
- 7Patisserie Holtkamp
- 8Vleminckx de Sausmeester
- 9Moeders
- 10Café 't Papeneiland
- 11Café 't Mandje
- 12Eetsalon Van Dobben
- 13Café Hoppe
- 14Café De Sluyswacht
- 15RIJKS
- 16d'Vijff Vlieghen
- 17Lucius
- 18The Pancake Bakery
- 19Café Américain
- 20Café Karpershoek
River and green areas: © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Where to eat in Amsterdam: common questions
- Which is the best restaurant in Amsterdam?
- Of the 20 on this list, De Drie Fleschjes: 4.8 out of 5 from 746 ratings on Google. Café De Dokter and De Kas come next. The order on this page follows that rating and nothing else.
- Where can you eat near the Rijksmuseum?
- RIJKS, 50 m away; Café Américain, 500 m away; Patisserie Holtkamp, 500 m away; Eetsalon Van Dobben, 1.0 km away. Distances are in a straight line.
- Which restaurants are inside a museum or a monument in Amsterdam?
- RIJKS (Museumplein).
- Which is the oldest restaurant in Amsterdam?
- Of those on this list, Café Karpershoek, which dates itself to 1606, by its own account.
- Which are the famous cafés of Amsterdam?
- Café De Dokter, Café Chris, Café 't Smalle, Patisserie Holtkamp, Café 't Papeneiland, Café 't Mandje, Café Hoppe, Café De Sluyswacht and Café Karpershoek are the cafés and tea rooms on this list.
- How is the list made?
- The restaurants are chosen by this site: famous tables with a history, within reach of the museums. Their order is not chosen. It follows each one's overall rating on Google, and where two are level, the one more people have rated comes first. No restaurant pays to be listed or to be higher.
Things to do in Amsterdam
- 1See the Night Watch and the Milkmaid at the RijksmuseumMuseumpleinMuseum, 2.5 to 5 hours, ticket with a start time
- 2Follow Vincent from the Potato Eaters to the SunflowersMuseumpleinMuseum, 2 to 3 hours, ticket with a start time, sold online only
- 3Climb to the Secret Annex at the Anne Frank HousePrinsengrachtMuseum, 1 to 1.5 hours, ticket sold only on the museum's own site
- 4Cruise the canal ring by boatCanal ringOn the water, 1 to 1.5 hours, ticket for the boat
Where to stay in Amsterdam
- Pillows Grand Boutique Hotel Maurits at the Park4.8Five-star hotel, Oosterpark
- Sofitel Legend The Grand Amsterdam4.7Five-star hotel, Oudezijds Voorburgwal
- Andaz Amsterdam Prinsengracht4.7Five-star hotel, Prinsengracht
- Grand Hotel Krasnapolsky4.6Five-star hotel, Dam Square
How the ranking is made
Which restaurants are on the list is this site's choice: famous tables with a history, within reach of the museums. Their order is not. It follows each one's overall rating on Google, highest first, and where two are level, the one more people have rated comes first. No restaurant has paid to be here or to be higher.
No prices are given, because they change, and no stars, for the same reason. The button on each restaurant's page leads to its own site, where the menu and the bookings are.