Stadscafé Het Refter in Wijk 10 Binnenstad

The meat was dry. The fries weren't crispy. The cappuccino was (too) lukewarm. The halved Bastogne biscuit with the coffee was nice, though. The salad with the main course was meager.

Yesterday we thought we'd have a nice drink at the refectory. Well, we didn't. Open until 2:00 AM on Saturday evening. Well, at 12:45 AM we were already being asked to order our last drink, and at 1:15 AM, a military woman asked us to leave because the doors close at 1:30 AM and the building had to be evacuated, as she explained. Less than 10 minutes later, she was yelling at everyone to leave again and started taking all the glasses off the tables. This is absolutely not what I'm used to at the refectory. When we got downstairs, everyone was still happily sitting there. It was clear that the woman upstairs just wanted to go home but wasn't passionate about the business.

A really nice café with a very extensive beer menu, a charming decor in a historic building, and friendly and attentive staff. The drinks platter is also more than adequate, especially for the low price. Definitely worth the detour, and I'll definitely go back to try the dinner menu.

Always cozy in the beautiful historic building and wide selection of special beers

This was really a perfect spot for a bite to eat and a drink.

The food was good, but not fantastic. It lacked a bit more flavor. The service was good; we were constantly offered drinks. It's a large and dark restaurant, and that diminished the atmosphere somewhat for my taste.

The food was mediocre. It's a very nice restaurant, though. I wouldn't go there for the food, but I would go for drinks.

I'm writing this review more than a year after the fact, but I still remember it like it was yesterday. That damned Thursday evening, I was looking for a place to eat where we could enjoy a drink. Het Refter caught our attention because of its location in the historic building. After arriving, we took a seat at the long table on the first floor. We started by ordering some drinks and two appetizer platters. The composition of the platter was a bit unusual, but the flavors weren't bad. The first problem arose when I ordered my first beer. It was served without a glass. I told the server I'd like a glass to drink it from. No problem, a glass was provided. After 10 minutes, no glass had been brought to me. I decided to walk to the bar to check with another server again. I was then told arrogantly that not every beer should be drunk from a glass. That was new information for me, and immediately contradicted my own policy, as a colleague had ordered the same beer and received a glass with it. After insisting again that I really preferred a 7-euro beer from a glass, it finally happened. After fifteen minutes, a glass was on the table. The beer they serve is, of course, excellent, and the prices are what you'd expect from such a place. The beer menu is also quite extensive. The food, on the other hand, was anything but excellent that evening. The beef stew was tasteless and runny. Unfortunately, that beef stew was also served that same evening. It turns out I wasn't unique in this regard, as three other colleagues suffered the same fate, despite two of them having ordered different dishes. In retrospect, that wasn't so surprising, considering we saw a mouse running around on the first floor that same evening. In short, the only person I would recommend a visit to Het Refter to is Mr. Rob Geus.

Beautiful building and good staff. The food was a bit subpar.

Coffee and cheesecake per person €12.00. The cheesecake wasn't good/wasn't a success? I reported it to the staff, but they said there was nothing wrong with it. The interior was also filthy.

Nice place with a great selection of beers. Cozy indoor atmosphere. Spare ribs came in a big portion, sauce could be better but overall a good experience.

The food was sparse and bland, and then we weren't served again even though we weren't bothering anyone. Such a shame. We planned to have a nice evening there, but we ended up being thrown out.

Extremely expensive, glasses aren't full. Service is very clumsy. Such a shame; it used to be a good place. Avoid now.

What a disappointment. For a tasty salad for 15 euros, you literally get a piece of smoked chicken, sliced ​​into slices, I think from the supermarket, on a bit of lettuce with a few slivers of cucumber and fennel. Really cheap lettuce, not crispy at all. Sorry, but I won't be back. It's a shame, because it's a nice place. But charging so much for such a simple plate when a sandwich is half the price is just not right. Or maybe make it something really nice with a bit more substance, like tomatoes or corn or whatever.

Nice atmosphere, friendly staff, always busy, finding a spot (especially outside when the weather is nice) is almost impossible

Plenty of beer selection, but the food is a bit too average. The high ceiling echoes. Especially when it's crowded, it's almost impossible to make yourself heard in a group.

Fantastic place, both inside and out, with a huge and extensive beer menu. The food is also excellent. Unfortunately, the service is a bit lackluster; I've often gotten the wrong orders, and they rarely seem genuinely interested. It's noisy inside, making it difficult to hear each other. Fortunately, the atmosphere makes up for it.

Delicious food and friendly service! Clean restrooms!

Extreme nice selection of beers. Nice venue, very pittoresk.

We had to wait over 1 hour till we thought the food was coming, but then the staff told us there was a problem in the kitchen and it would take less than 10 minutes. After 20 minutes we got our food and the chicken burger was awful, as they put a sauce in it that made it taste like mint toothpaste, and the rest of the food was a little cold. Overall, I don’t recommend eating at this place, as even if you don’t have a long wait, the food is still not the best.

Beautiful place! A must for craft beer lovers. We received excellent service, and the staff clearly enjoys helping us. We'd love to come back!

For the good service and Suze and Sofia!! Grazie had a very good evening.

A must-see and do when in Zwolle! A cozy terrace shared on the square with Dublin House, among others. An impressive two-story cafe with countless specialty beers. And don't forget the delicious cocktail bar in the attic.

As a conclusion of a team outing ended with an unlimited drinks buffet together with ham sandwiches, in short excellent! The ratio of sandwiches to ham was perhaps not entirely correct, I would therefore advise to fill the sandwiches well. Furthermore a rich assortment of beers with bartenders who can also tell something about it

Special beer on tap "Upside Down Henry" with bitterballen

Great place to drink lots of different beers. Eaten there several times, but that's really not special. Tip: enjoy the specialty beer with a bitterbal or a snack platter

Very nice place in a beautiful building, many types of (special) beer. The cocktail area on the second floor is beautiful, but not always open. The acoustics in this building are hopeless, but that is part of the experience.

Great terrace with the best beers in Zwolle. Great location!

Brugse Zot + very friendly staff = 5 stars

My salade nicoise was meager and cold. Too few ingredients. Not as I know and am used to

Cozy cafe, nice staff. They chat with you. Recommend

We were helped by a very friendly waiter named Falko, was very spontaneous and could also chat nicely. Made a lot of nice jokes and made the good atmosphere we already had even better

Great Café for a good beer, wide choice. A bit noisy, but that is to be expected in a large café like this.

Very nice place in the center of Zwolle. You can sit inside and outside very comfortably. For a drink or a dinner, it's all possible. Very relaxed place.

Super cozy place. Varied menu with a huge amount of choice. Staff is always super friendly and cheerful. Sit there with friends or on my own with a book and a beer.

Beautiful local, beautiful building, very extensive beer list, food is mediocre in quality, acoustics are quite dramatic. Great for having a drink with a group, but for dinner I would look elsewhere.

Heerlijk op zolder gezeten genoten van de hapjes en de drankjes. Wat een toffe cocktail maker en de cocktails smaakten Heerlijk. Bediening chagrijnig en geen uitstraling. Geen enthousiasme jammer van zo'n mooie tent. Voor ons als grote groep toch een reden om de volgende keer verder te kijken.

Nice place, friendly and pleasant staff. Delicious drinks.

Cosy, wide choice of drinks and especially beers. Excellent service. Especially suitable for a drink. In terms of food, the quality is not good. Cold bitterballen, drink chat is quite simple and a varying quality of chicken satay. One piece was tender and juicy, the other did not taste fresh and dry.

Good beer, good service and the sun, what more could you want?

I love old buildings, and there is no better place to stay than in this beautiful historic building! The food is delicious and the service is good, definitely recommended. Especially for the beer tasting, because I think they have 99 types of beer!

Have had a drink here before. Cozy place. The only disadvantage is that the acoustics are very poor. Maybe do something with wall panels or rugs? I would leave it at a drink and a snack. I wouldn't recommend eating here.

Cozy place with tasty bitterballen!

Niet oplettend personeel. Drankjes duurde lang, bierfusten moesten open gemaakt worden en ergens anders vandaan komen. Helft van de (drank)- bestelling werd geserveerd. Buiten stond de jongeman achter de bbq grill met een sigaret. En het eten was matig van smaak. Weinig friet, 1 bakje met 4 personen.

Beautiful location. Very noisy though. Some more soundproofing measures or the tables further apart would improve the atmosphere. Nice beers, also non-alcoholic. The food is below average. The sweet potato curry with matching vegetables consists of sweet potato with a lot of garam masala and a hidden sliver of matching vegetables. The tempura starter was a lump of fried vegetables stuck together. Whereby the celery stalk was poorly cleaned. The rendang was tasty. The accompanying fries were not cooked through enough. In addition, it all took a very long time. We did not dare to have dessert and we drink the coffee at home.

I came there for the drinks, so I can't rate the food. According to the menu, more than 200 types of beer. Plus there is a cocktail bar. What more could you want? It's in an old church, so the space of it makes it very noisy acoustically. But you just have to take that for granted. It is very pleasant there.

A quaint restaurant in Zwolle's city center. It offers a wide selection of beers and hearty food. Fast and friendly service also deserves a positive mention, despite the restaurant's busy schedule.

Amazing bar for specialty beers. Service is excellent and some tasty/simple food. Recommended!

The acoustics are terrible inside. Even if you didn't know you could get overstimulated, you will after an hour inside. The food is far from adequate. Clearly people in the kitchen who don't know what they are doing or don't care. Dried out and dry stuff that is (literally) no longer edible. The staff is friendly, that's true. But they should work for one of the neighbors. It looks like a business run by a run-of-the-mill entrepreneur without much eye for quality. The terrace is full anyway, so why would you care... That level.

8 euros for a panini with fries, mayo and salad is amazing. And the location is a 10/10.

A very wide range of specialty beers. Location, building and service are top notch

Gisteren gegeten met vrienden, porties leken wel gehalveerd. De spareribs waren meer bot dan vlees. Was waarschijnlijk de laatste keer dat we daar gaan eten. Ook aangegeven bij de bediening, werd niks mee gedaan helaas.

Beautiful café with a wide selection from the tap (28 pieces)

Nice location, good, friendly and competent staff. Mega tasty range of special beers. With a delicious lunch!

nice employee, just a little extra attention, had a great evening, location looks cool

Good variety of beers for a reasonable price. Unfortunately, dinner was disappointing: the spare ribs were barely seasoned and/or marinated and were too tough. One of the burgers was also almost cold, which was a shame.

Zeer uitgebreide bierkaart voor de echte bierliefhebber. Goed advies aan tafel en helemaal compleet met een enorme borrelplank!

I cant.say about food, but it's a good place for grab a drink or a coffee. Armosphere is so so, but good coctails :)

A classic among Zwolle cafés. An enormous number of choices in terms of beer, including a wide range of 0.0 beers. Drink boards also great. Large café but enough corners and alcoves to make it cozy and not too big.

Beautiful location with incredibly friendly staff who care about their customers. Had a nice lunch here. Tastes differ and I would go for a different pesto for the panini, but otherwise it tasted good with a fresh salad and a nice glass of wine.

A beautiful building with a relaxing atmosphere, interesting wine list and efficient service. A nice place to chill out on a lazy Sunday.

Nice place to eat , the food was tasty and good price. Staff were also helpful and friendly

Lots of different types of beer and good snacks. It's a shame that beers are regularly no longer in stock.

Great atmospheric place to have a beer

Well, we had a total of 3 waitresses, 2 of them were very good and really enjoyed their work, one of the waitresses walked around as if everything could be stolen from her and she also responded to very simple questions and requests (she served the alcohol variant of a non-alcoholic beer to an obviously pregnant woman). The food is mediocre, but I have had worse in Zwolle. The rendang is mainly salty. The drinks board was well stocked! The beer is delicious! Lots of choice and styles. (Just make sure you get the correct version)

Lots of specialty beers, many of which are on tap! That's great. The food was fine, but salty and not fantastically tasty. Most of the service is very nice, cooperative and fast. The noise level is very high, so you cannot hear each other and can go crazy from all the noise. Light is not really present here, I could hardly see what was on my plate or read the menu. Prices are great!

It takes quite a while before you are noticed, some people just walk past you even if you signal. No heating on and quite a draught.

Helaas een teleurstelling… De muntthee was lauw, de hamburger een droge hap (veel te weinig saus, bijna niet terug te vinden), de mayonaise bij de frietjes was smakeloze fritessaus, er werd niet meer gevraagd of we nog wat wilden drinken en ook bij het afrekenen (waar ik érg lang op moest wachten, staand bij de kassa) werd niet gevraagd of alles naar wens was. Toen ik aangaf dat de burger meer saus had verdiend was het antwoord ‘oh’. Het was echt niet zo druk dat dit gebrek aan service geoorloofd was. Kortom, hier komen we niet weer terug.

Special location 🍀 tasty beer 🍺 menu 🍀 really a must to drink a beer 🍻 here

Had room for a large group (13 people), had drinks and small snacks, good price

Lots of choice and a very nice location. It can just be a bit on the busy side, making it difficult to understand each other.

If you are a real beer lover, you must visit this city pub at least once. They have about 25 (I didn't count exactly) types of beer on tap! This also changes over the seasons. Terrace with heaters.

There is no better place for beer than in the refectory. In this case we opted for a Maredsous when seeing old acquaintances again. The appetizers were substandard. Weak bite that fell apart when dipping it in the sauce.

The most extensive beer list in the region. Tasty food.

Nice location to come to, but very noisy, but a good sign that it has always been this busy 😉

Beautiful location and lovely staff

Cold. March. Busy. Noise. Old frying fat. Nice wine and good steak. Brownie rock hard. We were not asked if we wanted to order food, nor afterwards whether we had tasted it. Impersonal. A single nice waitress. There were too many different people running around, causing a lack of continuity.

Nice to have a drink with a snack board

Beautiful large café with many tasty beers on tap and in bottles. Highly recommended for a drink. You can also sit here with larger groups. The hamburger was very tasty

Had a nice cocktail there with a friend, I have an egg/protein allergy/intolerance, I immediately indicated that and asked with the cocktails if it was included. Then we went home and I got a huge stomach ache. I then called the cafe and asked what was in the cocktails and found out that one contained egg even though I had indicated that I couldn't handle it. The girl on the phone apologized and promised to send me a voucher with the hope that I will come back again (given my address details for this). Now a few weeks later I still haven't received anything. I probably won't go back there again. In addition to the poor handling of allergies, promising something and then not delivering is also very bad. And on top of that, the music is very loud and you can hardly hear the person you are with. Not a good thing.

It was very noisy. This is due to high ceilings. There is also little that can be done about it.

I was here a while back with some friends. It is a very pleasant place to eat and drink. The service was nice and the price-quality ratio is also good. One more point: when we were there, the music was quite loud. We often couldn't hear each other 😅. Maybe something to take more into account.

Nice place to sit and enjoy one of the many different beers and/or drinks. Extensive beer list and tasty food, with nice and good waiting staff on top of that. Great 👍🏻

Ordered something with white bread and received sourdough bread. Combination of capacity and sourdough is not tasty. Waitress had to offer to exchange it so I will not go there again for food. For the price you can expect better service.

A nice location for a specialty beer or something else to drink. The property and atmosphere were fantastic. The menu was a little less.

Delicious lunch, beautiful terrace.

They have a good beer collection and I also like the interiors. I was a little disappointed that their loaded fries were not really loaded, you know 😂 I hope they make it better :)

Nice place for a beer, but I certainly wouldn't come here for dinner. Not recommended!

Food was always taken away if we had not yet finished eating, a plate with a piece missing, aioli/tapenade containers without a spoon/knife, so we went to the front to ask for more, but then we had to come by numerous times to see if we wanted more drinks while we were still eating. glasses were half full. Food nothing special. Dirty toilets. We were not asked if we had enjoyed it. Now then, here it is. Too bad because it's a beautiful location. Be nicer to your guests.

Beautiful place, nice atmosphere in such an old Monastery. Good beer and pleasant service

Very nice location, atmospheric but terrible acoustics. Always busy and good choices! Unfortunately, it takes too long to receive simple orders. And then wrong too. Explicitly draft beer: you get a bottle After waiting 20 minutes for a regular beer….

Beautiful place, large beer list, excellent service!

Ik zit aan een heerlijk gekoeld biertje en luister naar het toeristische geroezemoes op weer zo’n zonnige september zondagmiddag in hartje Zwolle. Er klinkt muziek, er wordt gelachen en het is goed op dit bruisende plein. Het personeel van Het Refter serveert alles uit met een glimlach. Hoezo het ‘bourgondische zuiden’? …..Zwolle heeft het.

Had a great lunch for a large group.

Nice place to eat and a very extensive beer collection

Atmosphere, food and service top! Enjoyed the club!

I visited this restaurant for a business lunch so unfortunately I wasn't able to get the full experience. It is a beautiful old building with an extensive beer list. I hope to come back here again in the future.

Good place for a good drink and delicious Nachos

Fantastic ancient refectory with traditional surroundings. Very good for a drink and a bite to eat. Rather expensive, but the surroundings are worth it. If in doubt, just have a coffee or beer, but do not skip this place when you have never been to Zwolle!

Nice place outside and inside, brown cafe idea. Delicious food, warm welcome. The downside is the toilets, which need to be renovated.