Restaurant Café de Belgische Keizer in Wijk 10 Binnenstad

The mojito mocktail wasn't tasty. We pointed this out to the waiter, who told us there was nothing wrong with it (without even smelling or tasting it) and that half of it had already been consumed. However, only one sip had been taken; the glasses were simply only half full. No "sorry," "too bad it didn't taste good," or any other option was offered. Normally, I wouldn't mind this; it happens. However, the unprofessional attitude and rude tone of this lady were particularly inappropriate. It has nothing to do with hospitality; it's a real shame.

A real pub with a wide selection of craft beers. A great team of staff.

Nice place to eat and have a drink.

Somewhat disorganised service, however the food was good, and good portions.

We were here for a company function. Food was some of the best I had in Netherlands. I really recommend them.

Cozy, light-brown cafe. The service was friendly and incredibly fast. The chicken satay is the best I've had in years. Nice, large pieces on a generous skewer: well-seasoned and juicy. A little more salad would be nice, otherwise, it was perfect. Perfect for solo diners, couples, or groups.

Nice and well heated terrace, fast service.

Basic menu, well-prepared and tasty food. Service is attentive and fast. Inexpensive.

We had a great meal at a beer café yesterday!

After the movie we went into town.

A really nice and cozy restaurant. Cozy and atmospheric. The food was also excellent! Highly recommended.

A three-course meal combined with a package at the Great Escape. A great meal, good food, and plenty of delicious beer to drink.

Lukewarm coffee. We reported this too. We received the same lukewarm response...the coffee machine must be broken. Nachos are delicious. It's a cozy place, though.

We drank a Belgian beer there 🍺, although it was quite expensive.

Wonderful Flemish atmosphere! The stew is highly recommended.

Glasses remain empty for a short time

A real pub that's fun! It was loud for our kids at first, but after a while they got used to it.

Had a great dinner through work. We definitely had enough food, and the salmon was well-prepared and flavorful.

Enjoyed the surf and turf well cooked and presented, with great beer

We sat outside. It's a very nice setting surrounded by terraces. The food was good, and the service was excellent. De Belgische Keizer is doing well and remains a well-known name in Zwolle.

Good for a quick bite, tasty and good

Had a fantastic party last weekend. Friendly staff and everything was perfectly organized. Great location right in the city center, near a parking garage (which is expensive, though). We also had dinner there, which was also fantastic. So, highly recommended.

Great food, I've been there many times with both my partner and friends. Good value for money. Always a great choice to pop in for a bite. You can't go wrong here. Reservations are recommended.

Lang wachten op eten en het eten was ook gewoon matig. De serveerster zorgt nog voor 3 sterren in plaats van 2 maar het is echt matig

Very tasty food after a day of shopping...atmospheric location

The staff was excellent. The food was delicious, and the service was fast and efficient.

My second home, that says it all.

Last visited August 2025 Good selection on beers. Good comfort food.

Just like it used to be. Good beer and delicious bitterballen.

After shopping, we had a nice time with our son. Great beer menu, delicious Belgian beers. Enjoyed a bittergarnituur (a Dutch snack) with it, delicious! Fast and friendly service.

Sat on the terrace, it was lovely. The service was great.

Excellent food and great beer. Nice atmosphere on the edge of the market square in Zwolle.

We had a wonderful lunch on the cozy terrace. The hamburgers were delicious, and the fries were also delicious. My girlfriend also said the salmon on bread was delicious.

Long waits for drinks and then they're forgotten. But honestly, it was also very busy. We were with a large group.

Had a nice time sitting and drinking with my brother, uncle and aunt from Ridderkerk.

Delicious food and good service, service

A rustic vibe in the restaurant we sat outside the restaurant, food was good , Belgian beers were awsm good service too

There was a piece of glass/hard plastic in the food. I reported this to the staff, but I didn't get anything back, not even an apology.

Nice pub to have a drink before/during/after shopping! Knowledge of the many beers, relaxed atmosphere and good snacks!

Cozy café with an extensive beer menu, the staff comes a little too often and too quickly to ask if you want something else to drink, to the point of being annoying, that could be a little less

Inside it smells of cat urine. Hamburger looked like a shoe sole and I think the fries had been put back in the grease 4 times. It was rock hard. Stairs I had to climb inside were pitch black. You really couldn't see anything. Luckily my neck wasn't broken.

Had a team outing, it was very enjoyable and well done

Good food. Friendly staff. Good atmosphere.

Every week at about the same time, I visit this restaurant (after regular volunteer work on Mon-O); the weather has been so good the last few weeks, that I have been making this visit to the outside terrace for weeks. The level and quality of the lunch I ordered (uitsmijter) remains excellent.

Nice brown pub next to the market, with an excellent beer selection

Every time we had a delicious meal and drinks.

Nice place with many types of beer. Terrace is on busy market square which creates a lot of atmosphere

Had a nice lunch with a beer and a snack board. More than enough for 2. Friendly service and the price is okay. Come by for some very tasty sandwiches.

Always fun and has a good vibe. Definitely worth it.

The food was fine. Even though the top floor was half empty, the tables were very close together. Very noisy. Service fine.

Old style and cozy bar. The chicken saté was great and beer selections is amazing.

With the reference to Belgium in the name, they live up to their name, as many beers as there are to drink. Both on tap and in the bottle.

Had a delicious meal with a group of nine A reserved table on time. It was busy and a bit noisy in the upstairs room. But the food: starter, main course and dessert and the service is good and pleasant. Friendly staff And for a very reasonable price Definitely worth repeating.

The restaurant is a cozy pub to have a drink and something to eat with friends and acquaintances. Very friendly service and quick service. The prices are local and OK. The selection of food is sufficient and everything from snacks to burgers is available. Thanks for the pleasant evening!

Like almost everywhere in the catering industry, the whining of the people in the service does not do me any good. When I'm having a good conversation, they keep nagging whether everything is going well. It was very bad at The Belgian Emperor! Gosh, breaking in again and again. I know they should do this but it has the opposite effect on me.

Great restaurant to eat. The waitresses make it pleasant and have a good time. Food is fine and plenty of choice.

Went for a business meeting. Very friendly staff and delicious lunch provided

Great food. Great menu. Space a bit tight. You shouldn't have difficulty walking there given the space and the stairs. Also quite noisy when there are many people. Friendly service

Noisy but a nice cafe, lots of beers

Food was ok, but not very special. It was cold inside every time the door opened. Furthermore, the service asked a little too often if they wanted something to drink.

Excellent service but a bit cold inside due to an outside door that opens and closes all the time. The food was ok.

Nice student tent. Nothing special, the food is acceptable. Very good service.

Nice cafe, a bit boring upstairs. Super cozy downstairs. Food reasonable/good, portions slightly too large. Service good.

Ate here yesterday with my husband and adult son. When I entered I was shocked by the noise and crowds. Fortunately this was the bar area, the restaurant was on the first floor. It was pleasantly busy here. It is a beautiful old building. The carpaccio was delicious. As a main course I had the simmering pot with stew. The taste was nice, but there was a lot of fat in it. This gave me the chills. For dessert I had the waffle with chocolate sauce and whipped cream. Actually the waffle was drowned in the sauce, oh well...it's chocolate sauce so tasty. The service is good and friendly.

The soup dumplings were delicious, but the broth inside was too salty—balancing the seasoning would enhance the dish.

Today I had a delicious meal upstairs in the restaurant with my team. The chicken satay, salmon and stew were very popular! Thank you!

Very good and affordable food, albeit noisy due to poor acoustics and sometimes strange ventilation. Service can be more personal and commercial.

Belgische Keizer icm het dinerspel geboekt. Het spel en de spelleidster van Dinerspel was goed geregeld, echter de bediening van de Belgische Keizer liet te wensen over. Voorgerecht duurde lang, waardoor het avondprogramma icm het diner niet soepel verliep. Voorgerecht was zogezegd laat in relatie tot het programma van het spel. Vervolgens was het voorgerecht nog niet afgehaald waarna de hoofdgerechten op tafels naast ons noodgedwongen waren afgekoeld. De sfeer onderling bij het personeel was ook niet prettig. We hadden het erbij gelaten als de klantenservice/mail contact voor een correcte afhandeling had gezorgd. Echter sturen zij alleen veelvuldig facturen en reageren zij niet op inhoudelijk op e-mail. Ook niet na een herinnering, maar wel facturen blijven sturen. Zonde! Had wat ons betreft niet zo afgehandeld hoeven te worden.

Blonde dame die werkte op 06-12 keek erg chagrijnig, noemde een tafelgenoot een varken naar een andere collega terwijl ze aan het werk was, en liet de deur vallen tegen een vriendin die duidelijk net naar buiten wilde lopen, erg onbeleefd aan tafel en niet geïnteresseerd. We komen hier absoluut nooit meer terug.....

A very nice bar with some good beers.

We had beer and snacks. It is good for afternoon happy hour

Customer friendliness not possible even in a quiet business? Not tasty, did not come by themselves or did not see that glasses were empty.. Not great. Fortunately the food was tasty.

cozy tent, good staff, good food and good drinks! We come here often and it is always pleasant. In the winter, enjoy being outside with heaters and blankets!

We had a delicious lunch here (including really tasty fries (the heating was on nicely). Friendly service.

Nice and cozy Café in the center of Zwolle The name "The Belgian Emperor"! Has a large list of specialty beers on the drinks menu, which in my opinion you can expect from the name, definitely recommended for beer lovers to stop here during your journey through Zwolle (Another thing for me to try is the specialty beer evening on Tuesday evenings where every specialty beer on the menu costs €4) In the evening (on Fridays or Saturdays when I'm there sometimes) you could pay a little more attention to the terrace part of the café, it can sometimes take a long time before someone comes to you. , but given how busy it usually is, this is understandable. I have never tried the food here, but I have seen that once a week (don't know which day) there is a "burgers & beers" promotion, I will try that again soon All in all a very nice place to sit with friends and/or your family

Han is a fantastic waiter Top top top 😉

Very bad service. We had made a reservation with a group of 15 people. Dogs were welcome when booking. Suddenly dogs are not allowed upon arrival. As a group we were able to look for another location on Saturday evening. NOT nice Belgian Emperor.

We zouden vanavond hier met 17 pers eten. Ruim van te voren gereserveerd en gevraagd of een hondje welkom was, dit was geen probleem. Eenmaal voor de deur mocht de hond er niet in. Erg teleurstellend! Nog geprobeerd of het echt njet kon, maar het mocht echt niet. Erg jammer.

Made a reservation for a large group and clearly stated that 1 small dog is coming. Wasn't a problem! Upon arrival, the sweet, quiet dog was not allowed inside. Terribly customer unfriendly. Absolutely not recommended.

Super cozy café restaurant. Type of brown pub. Friendly staff. Extensive beer list with many specialty beers. Delicious food and drinks.

Wasn't my first choice for lunch in Zwolle but ended up here anyway. Positively surprised. Delicious lunch! Unfortunately, at that moment colleagues were more important than customers and I literally had to wave for attention... that was a shame, but the food was delicious!

Perfect place for an afternoon of drinking specialty beers because of the very extensive menu. Food is not necessarily what you should come here for.

Very tasty food and beer, nice atmosphere

Vooruit op een eetafspraak in de omgeving hadden wij hier op het royale, verwarmde terras afgesproken voor een biertje. Veel personeel in de tussentijd zien langs lopen, maar toch duurde het lang voordat iemand onze lege tafel zag en de bestelling kwam opnemen. Ook na het verzoek om de rekening moesten wij weer geruime tijd wachten, dus daar hebben wij maar op geanticipeerd, zodat wij weer op tijd konden vertrekken. Vriendelijk personeel, maar qua scherpte en snelheid mag er een tandje bij.

Asked twice if we could order something, once briefly referred to a colleague, second time with clear eye contact and then staff looking away. We were given red wine and a brief apology was dismissed. If it was busy now I would have some understanding. Not at all now. Inexperienced and not friendly staff

Ordered steak, I have never eaten such a bad and almost raw piece of meat. 1 star is still too much

Nice 😀, until you are sent away from your table

Relatively expensive, no nice seating areas, chaotic and bartender dropped beer on me.

It really disappointed me. With large groups you cannot order a la cart, but they have a package with 5 starters, 5 main courses, 3 desserts and 2 hours of "unlimited" drinks. The starters are tasty and varied. For the main courses you can choose from a hamburger, cheeseburger (hamburger with a slice of cheese), fish, stew and a vegetarian dish. Why 2 burgers and not a REAL piece of meat? And for desserts you only have the choice of something with hazelnuts, chocolate cake and coffee. No fruit, no ice cream.... Then drink "unlimitedly". After more than an hour we had had two drinks. The two ladies serving had to serve not only the drinks, but also the food. So there was little time left to provide the guests with "unlimited" drinks. And if you approached them for an extra drink, you were ignored. When you asked a second time, because you thought they had not heard you, you were told that they could not do everything at the same time, but only had 2 pairs of hands, etc. I have worked in the catering industry for years and I was taught to nodding to your guests to show that you heard them. Then you prevent the same guest from asking something 2 or 3 times. Finally, the atmosphere. The 1st floor looked like a food shed. You sat back to back and side to side. Fortunately, that prevented you from having to quickly go to the toilet between the starter and dessert, because... that toilet was so disgusting. I can still imagine it in a café, just before closing time. But if you pretend to be a cafe, then the toilet could be cleaned more often. You were literally standing in the piss. No... I will never come here again. Was there nothing good then? Yes. The mustard soup was perfect.

This was the start of the '3-course menu' organized by De Girls van Plezier. That meant a drink and an appetizer. Chosen for 'Mushrooms fried in garlic on toasted primeval bread'. The bread was nice and crunchy and the mushroom/garlic combination tasted more than fine 😋

Delicious food and quality was good. Friendly service. It was very busy when we were there.

Been coming here once a year for 15 years to have a bite to eat and a drink with ex-colleagues.

Always one or two special beers on tap.

Nice & busy bar. Always the spot where we go for our Friday night drinks

Ate here with six of us. The restaurant is located on the top floor. Excellent food, tasty drinks and all for a very reasonable price, if you consider the location and the quality of the food, drinks and atmosphere. Today I was there again and ordered the Emperor Karelburger, but unfortunately Google does not recognize that somewhat unruly sandwich with 2 burgers.

We had seen this restaurant and decided we wanted to go there to have some of their 'Vlaams stoofvlees'....the reviews were somewhat decent so....I don't think any of the people who reviewed have eaten here, either that or they have no tastebuds. My wife had 'Nachos Biefstuk'....the corn chips tasted stale, had absolutely no salsa and only a very little bit of cheese on them, served with a large tablespoon of sour cream and same amount of guacamole. Not really what one would call Nachos by any stretch of the imagination, especially for the price of €19. I, on the other hand, ordered the 'Vlaams Stoofpot' (stoofvlees with fries). The dark beer that the recipe requires was the only flavor discernible, no hint of any other spicing or herbs such as the required Laurier (bay) leaves, and multiple other unknown ingredients added to the very fatty meat. To top it off and make it likely one of the worst meals I've ever eaten, and SURELY THE worst example of stoofvlees, it was swimming in what appeared to be added (olive) oil??? I would hazard a guess that NOBODY in my Flemish family would have even paid for this meal, especially at the exorbitant price of €21. And to top it off, they don't even attempt to make proper fries, instead choosing to serve about €0.30 of frozen McCain Dipper fries.

Good place to have a nice meal and drink tasty beers

Nacho bowl with chicken is par excellence the best nacho bowl ever. Lots of nacho, lots of cheese, lots of guacamole, lots of sauce and lots of joy. (We would like to know what the brown sauce is😉) Value for money!

Good hamburger, fresh, friendly staff recommended!

The Flemish stew is tastier here than at our southern neighbors!!! Absolutely recommended!