It's opposite the Town Hall, and there's a fine view of this and other buildings from the upper rooms. One of the best of the Grand Place bars. 11.30am-3am Fri, Sat. Dark old bar in a seventeenth-century building. It was the local of Magritte and the Belgian surrealists and Dadaists in the 1920s, and the walls are covered with pictures, clippings, writings and graffiti by them.
Customers are a mixture of gnarled old men, putative intellectuals and tourists.
The Belgian revolution of 1830 started in this square, when opera-goers were inflamed with patriotic fervour. La Rose Blanche is another famous Grand Place bar and restaurant with a terrace in front. There's a long list of beers, which might prove tempting if you've just worked up a thirst in the beer museum next door, and there is also traditional Belgian food. Open 10am-11pm daily. There's a large, vine-covered terrace in front, although its location on a busy junction means it can be noisy.