A coffee and cake crawl through Brussels

This is a coffee and cake crawl through Brussels, starting near the Grand Place and working north through the Galeries Royales and the Brouckère area, then west to Sainte-Catherine and the Dansaert strip, before finishing south in the Châtelain neighbourhood of Ixelles. Six independent stops, with the roaster and the machine noted at each one where it is publicly known.

1. Café Capitale

Start at Rue du Midi 45, a five-minute walk south of the Grand Place. Café Capitale was founded in 2001 by François Lafontaine and redirected toward third-wave sourcing after Lafontaine visited Melbourne's St. Ali, making it one of the oldest specialty roasters in Brussels. The cafe serves espresso and filter from Lafontaine's own roasted lots alongside pastries and cakes; it is a good, low-key way to begin the crawl before the rest of the city wakes up.

2. AKSUM Coffee

Walk five minutes northeast and turn into the Galeries Royales Saint-Hubert, the vaulted glass-roofed arcade completed in 1847. AKSUM Coffee at Galerie du Roi 3 roasts its own East African and Ethiopian specialty lots in small batches and pours them as espresso, filter and Chemex at the counter. The combination of the roastery's focused sourcing and the Galeries' extraordinary Victorian-era interior makes this the most visually memorable stop on the crawl.

3. OR Coffee Roasters

Head north from the Galeries toward Place de Brouckère and on to Rue Auguste Orts 9, a ten-minute walk. OR Coffee Roasters was founded in Ghent and has made transparency and direct producer relationships the core of its approach, sourcing seasonal single-origin lots from Ethiopia, Brazil and Honduras and making the full supply chain visible to the customer. Espresso and single-origin filter are both served alongside a vegan and vegetarian lunch menu.

4. Wide Awake Coffee Roasters

A short walk west brings you to Rue Sainte Catherine 2, the flagship bar of Wide Awake, which Rutger Callewier and Senina Cojocari founded during Brussels Coffee Week in October 2019. The company slow-roasts seasonal lots at the roastery on Rue de Flandre 185 and builds long-term relationships with the same producers across multiple harvests, releasing its coffees in named Series. The Sainte-Catherine bar is a calm, light room and the right place to order a filter.

5. MOK Coffee

Continue west along the canal and turn onto Rue Antoine Dansaert, Brussels' main independent fashion and design strip. MOK Coffee at number 196 is the Brussels outpost of the Leuven roastery founded in 2012 by Jens Crabbé, a two-time Belgian Cup Tasters Champion. MOK roasts its own seasonal single-origin lots in Leuven on a Probat UG22, applying a single omni-roast profile for both espresso and filter. The open industrial room also runs a vegetarian breakfast and lunch menu, making it a practical mid-crawl rest stop.

6. Belga & Co

Finish in the Châtelain neighbourhood of Ixelles, a twenty-minute walk south or a short ride on tram 81 or 97. Belga & Co at Rue du Bailli 7A was opened in 2016 by founders Loïc and Charly, who had already been roasting and supplying other Brussels businesses before opening the bar. The espresso is extracted on a La Marzocco with the house blend Le Petit Noir or a rotating single origin; filter runs to Kalita, Aeropress, Chemex and French press. A small walled garden at the rear is one of the better outdoor spots in Brussels for a warm afternoon.

All six are independently owned and the route runs roughly south to north from the Grand Place, northwest to Sainte-Catherine and Dansaert, then south into Ixelles. The first five stops are within a steady walk of each other; the tram makes the Châtelain leg easier if you want to save your legs.

Common questions

Which Brussels cafe is the oldest specialty roaster?

Café Capitale on Rue du Midi 45, founded in 2001 by François Lafontaine, is among the oldest specialty coffee operations in Brussels. Lafontaine redirected the business toward third-wave sourcing after a visit to Melbourne's St. Ali, and the roastery has been operating continuously since.

Which Brussels cafes roast their own coffee?

Several on this crawl roast in house or for their own label. Café Capitale, AKSUM Coffee, OR Coffee Roasters and Wide Awake all roast their own beans, and MOK Coffee roasts its seasonal lots in Leuven on a Probat UG22. Belga & Co in Ixelles also roasts its own blend.

Is the Brussels coffee crawl walkable?

Mostly. The first five stops, from Café Capitale at the Grand Place through to MOK Coffee on Dansaert, are all within a twenty-minute walk of each other. The final stop at Belga & Co in the Châtelain neighbourhood of Ixelles is a further twenty-minute walk south or about ten minutes on tram 81 or 97.

Where can I find the most architecturally striking cafe on the Brussels crawl?

AKSUM Coffee sits inside the Galeries Royales Saint-Hubert, a vaulted glass-roofed shopping arcade completed in 1847 and one of the oldest covered arcades in Europe. It is the most architecturally distinctive stop on the crawl and a good reason to order a Chemex rather than rush through.