Are you looking for art cafes in Amsterdam? The Dutch capital is the city of art, home to many fantastic museums, lovely galleries, and cultural venues. Many of Amsterdam’s museums have beautiful cafes. But you’ll also find some wonderful art cafes in Amsterdam where you can enjoy a cup of coffee surrounded by beautiful artwork. After visiting many of them over the last ten years, here is the Culture Tourist selection of the best art cafes in Amsterdam.
Art Cafes in Amsterdam
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This blog post about the best art cafes in Amsterdam contains a combination of museum and gallery cafes, combining exhibition venues, events spaces, and restaurant areas. You can enter most of them free of charge; however, to visit some museum cafes, you must pay for museum admission. If that’s the case, I mentioned it next to that spot. However, if you have a Museumkaart (for the Netherlands residents) or an IAmsterdam Card (for visitors, you can get one on this link), you can enter all of them for free.
⤷ Read more: Most beautiful museum cafes in Europe
Mina Gallery Cafe
Address: Wateringschans 69, 1017 RZ Amsterdam
MINA Gallery Cafe in Amsterdam is a new hotspot in the Dutch capital, aiming to become a meeting place for art lovers visiting, moving to, or living in Amsterdam. Located just a few steps from Museumplein and famous cultural institutions like the Rijksmuseum, Van Gogh Museum, or MOCO Museum, it makes a beautiful place to relax after a visit to some of these venues. However, it’s more than just a place to have a tasty cup of coffee. It’s also a contemporary art gallery and a meeting point for artists, designers, and anyone interested in art.
⤷ Read more: Mina Gallery Cafe
H’ART Museum Cafe
Address: Amstel 51, 1018 DR Amsterdam
H’ART Museum, a former Hermitage Museum in Amsterdam, is home to one of Amsterdam’s most spacious art cafes. Located on the museum’s first floor, it is a great brunch place in Amsterdam. The location is currently home to the Amsterdam Museum, as well. So, it’s a great place to relax after exploring these two museums’ collections and temporary exhibitions.
⤷ Read more: Best museums in Amsterdam
Expocafe Zamen
Address: Zamenhofstraat 150, 1022 AG Amsterdam
The Expocafe Zamen describes themselves like this on their website: “We like to think of ourselves as an extension of your living room or office. A place to relax, work, dine and meet friends.” Located in the Amsterdam Noord neighbourhood, Expocafe Zamen is strongly focused on supporting local suppliers. Hence, all of their food and drinks are from the local businesses.
This Amsterdam art cafe also organises regular exhibitions showing the work of inspiring contemporary artists. You can find the exhibitions and cultural events agenda on their website.
Rijksmuseum cafe
Address: Museumstraat 1, 1071 XX Amsterdam
Rijksmuseum Cafe in Amsterdam is a place with a unique story. It’s located in one of the former museum courtyards, closed with a glass roof during the last renovation. So, while sitting at it, you can enjoy incredible wall decorations, mosaics, paintings, and statues that were once on the museum’s outer wall. Its glass roof gives this beautiful museum cafe lots of light and a fantastic view of the always interesting Dutch cloudy sky.
The cafe serves small bites, like typical Dutch cheese platter or smaller meals. However, my favourite food there is an apple pie, a beloved dessert in Amsterdam. It also has more elaborate meals, making it one of the best art cafes in Amsterdam regarding food selection. Taking a break there before continuing to explore all the Rembrandts and Vermeers at this fantastic museum will make your visit to that great museum even more enjoyable.
⤷ Read more: Rijksmuseum highlights
⤷ TIP: You can only visit the Rijksmuseum cafe if you purchase a museum entrance ticket. However, you can still get there free of charge with your Museumkaart or IAmsterdam Card.
No Man’s Art Gallery Cafe
Address: Bos en Lommerweg 90, 1055 EC Amsterdam
Combining an exhibition space and a cafe, No Man’s Art Gallery is one of Amsterdam’s art hotspots. They have a fantastic program with exhibitions by local and international artists. No Man’s Art Gallery has two venues in Amsterdam and multiple pop-up galleries around the world.
Their restaurant is one of the best art cafes in Amsterdam. They serve salads, soups, and small bites for lunch. And more elaborate meals for dinner. Having one of the best drinks lists among the Amsterdam art cafes, I’ll recommend it more as a place to visit in the evening.
Cloud
Address: Prinsengracht 276, 1016 HJ Amsterdam
Cloud is a cafe, art gallery, and shop showcasing works of contemporary artists, designers, and brands. You can enjoy different specialty coffees, matcha drinks, and delicious pastries at their cafe. They host temporary exhibitions of international contemporary artists. Cloud also organises fantastic creative art workshops during which you can learn more about unique art expressions.
Their shop is also where you can buy some great art books and products from sustainable brands.
Eye Film Museum Cafe
Address: IJpromenade 1, 1031 KT Amsterdam
The Eye Film Museum Cafe has the most beautiful view among the museum cafes in Amsterdam. Overlooking the massive IJ canal and Amsterdam Central Station, the Eye Filmmuseum is located in Amsterdam’s up-and-coming Noord neighbourhood. You can easily reach it from the Central Station by hopping on one of the free ferries. The journey lasts for around five minutes.
You can enjoy a cup of coffee, small bites, or have a larger meal during dinner time. This Amsterdam art cafe’s unique design will make you feel like you’re at the cinema with its large windows as a screen. After relaxing at its cafe, you can visit the Eye Film Museum permanent display or some of its temporary exhibitions.
Droog Cafe
Address: Staalstraat 7B, 1011 JJ Amsterdam
Droog Cafe is one of my favourite art cafes in Amsterdam and the one with the most fascinating history. Located in the oldest Amsterdam neighbourhood, De Wallen, the 17th-century building in which it is located is an important landmark itself. It was a home to the drapers guild 400 years ago. This was when they commissioned a group portrait from Rembrandt. He visited them in this house, and the painting used to be displayed there. The painting ‘Syndics of the Drapers’ Guild’ is displayed at the Rijksmuseum today, making it one of the most famous Dutch Golden Age artworks.
Today, the building is home to the Droog, a beautiful venue dedicated to Dutch design. It consists of a gallery space on the ground floor and a nice restaurant on the first floor. A contemporary artist, Berend Strik, made his interpretation of a famous Rembrandt painting that used to hang there, which you can see at the restaurant.
⤷ Read more: Rembrandt in Amsterdam
TEN Good Food Cafe
Address: Museumplein 10, 1071 DJ Amsterdam
TEN Good Food Cafe is Amsterdam’s meeting place for contemporary art and design enthusiasts. Located at the Stedelijk Museum it makes a perfect stop after visiting that fantastic museum. You can enter it through a separate entrance from the museum, so you don’t need to pay a museum ticket to get inside.
Bursting with colours, this art cafe in Amsterdam has a vibrant interior design. It has quite an extensive menu list with different food and drink options, including soups, salads, bites to share, a children’s menu, and even some cocktails. If you are searching for a great art cafe in Amsterdam, be sure to visit TEN Good Food Cafe.
Cobra Cafe
Address: Hobbemastraat 18, 1071 ZB Amsterdam
Located in the heart of the most artistic Amsterdam squares, Museumplein, Cobra Cafe is dedicated to one of the most famous Dutch modern art movements, Cobra. Formed shortly after the Second World War, the Cobra Art Movement was active between 1948 and 1951. To break away with existing contemporary art movements, its members started experimenting with the complete freedom of colours and forms.
Not only is the name of this cafe an homage to that art movement but the walls of Cobra Cafe in Amsterdam are covered with Cobra members’ artworks, creating an excellent overview of that style. The cafe looks like a glass pavilion located on a large square, providing a fantastic view of nearby museums, like the Rijksmuseum or Van Gogh Museum. This art cafe in Amsterdam makes a great stop for a coffee, small snacks, or a traditional Dutch apple pie.
⤷ Read more: What to see at the Museumplein in Amsterdam
Visiting Amsterdam art cafes is a must for any cultural tourist or art enthusiasts visiting or living in Amsterdam. Have you been to any of these places? Would you add any to this list? Let me know in the comments!
⤷ TIP: Would you like to visit some other Dutch cities filled with art and culture? Check out Haarlem, Maastricht or Rotterdam.