Brussels Travel Forum

I've recently moved to Brussels from the US and really miss Starbucks Cafe's. Its not so much the coffee, its the experience. I miss having a large chai to takeaway to keep me warm while I stroll the streets or alternatively, sitting in one of their cozy overstuffed chairs for hours while I chat with friends or read a book. I know the closest Starbucks is in Aachen, but I was hoping to find something in Brussels that provided this type of "coffee experience" and flexibility. Could any of you help?

new places, new habbits :)

I'm completely open to suggestions! :)

You will not find a Starbucks-type "coffee experience" in Brussels but the closest would probably be The Coffee Club in rue du Bailli (on the left as you come from Avenue Louise, a couple of blocks up the street) and the two Foodmaker branches, one at Porte de Namur (almost next to Hector Chicken) and one at the top of rue des Tongres - Mérode - opposite the entrance to the Linthout Gallery, which both have armchairs upstairs. Also the Aroma in the Grand' Place (http://users.skynet.be/fa889460/index.htm), and for the leather armchairs and colonial atmosphere, Le Cercle des Voyageurs in the rue des Grands Carmes, between the rue du Midi and the Manneken Pis.
I would suggest you get used to ordinary local cafés which you can find all over the place - if you can't find one you aren't looking! - and local chains like the Pain Quotidien (of which there is also one at the top of rue des Tongres). Especially on a Sunday, you might like Cook and Book www.cookandbook.be near Roodebeek metro station, follow signs for the Wolubilis cultural centre on the opposite side of the road from the Woluwe Shopping Center.

For me it is just the opposite. Since I first had coffee Europe decades ago I'm never satisfied with coffee in the US. How I wish somebody here could make me a cortado like in Spain, where coffee tastes like coffee and isn't doctored up with overly sweet flavors. And I like cafes that are unique and reflect the atmosphere of a given place, unlike the US chains that are the same whether you are in Seattle, Boston or anyplace in between.
Not to bash Starbucks too much, but I refuse to order by their tall, vente, or whatever names they have. How about small, medium & large. In Italy I'll try Italian words, but at a US coffee shop...

What's wrong with strolling the streets and finding a cafe for coffee by yourself? I think that's also the way to discover the city where you are.
For good coffee you can try 'Het dagelijks brood' near the Zavel/Sablon. Breakfast and lunches are also very well.

Peter

For those who aren't bilingual FR/NL, Het Dagelijks Brood IS Le Pain Quotidien - you don't want to be like one of those puzzled foreigners looking for Mons and finding signs only for Bergen..... (same place!).

Ah- that was near where we stayed last week.
Yes-- try whatever you find.They're hardly short of coffee places in Brussels.Find a unique Belgian one rather than an American chain.

The best Cortado was at the Mercato Santa Caterina in Barcelona..........I have confused many a Starbucks/Peets Coffee employee in the U.S. by ordering a "Cortado".