Café 't Smalle

Probably my favorite bar in the Jordaan. Absolutely pleasant and accommodating staff, warm interior (we were there in late November), the sausage and picklenaise sandwich was killer, and their beer selection was great - the bartender turned me on to Kasteel Rouge, the most delicious kriek of our trip. 10/10 - would visit over and over again! (Maybe even tonight)

Great experience! Bartender and service we're out of this world, even when busy. Would suggest this bar for the real feel of an Amsterdam brown bar experience, did I mention the food? Everydish we tried was really good, especially the smoked sausage with the pickanaise sauce. I would give it ten stars if I could. Got a handshake and a thank you for coming in.

We had a short day in Amsterdam on what may have been the busiest the city has ever been- during sail 2025, which had not happened for 10 years. It was chaotic and crowded, but this cafe was a welcome bit of solice. Nice little outdoor tables, good beer selection, and the sausage with bread and kraut was the tasty snack I didn't know I needed. This cafe was absolutely the highlight of our day in Amsterdam.

Incredible brown cafe with great espresso and a great selection of good local beers on rotation. Bike rack nearby and the best service in the city, Stefan was tending bar and went very out of his way to be welcoming and helpful.

Charming cafe with canal views and most delicious bites. I was told by many not to miss this spot on my visit and was so glad I chose to lunch here. I got the best advice from the bartender on what to order and left satisfied af. Will return every time I’m in town.

It’s located on one of the most beautiful corners in Amsterdam. The place gets busy quickly, so it can be hard to find a seat. It’s quite small inside with limited seating. Service was okay.

Great food and an amazing beer selection. I love a brown bar and this one was so comfy and welcoming. The staff was so friendly.

Delicious homemade chicken. Cozy small little bar for glasses of beer 🍻 like the place very much 🥰🥰

Everything is amazing. This review needs 85 characters. So I'll add synonyms of the word, "amazing." Incredible, extraordinary, marvelous, spectacular, fantastic, outstanding, exceptional, phenomenal, remarkable. I visited this place three times during my four days there.

This place is fabulous! Cute and cool! The tip of the stairs is small ( this the name) but worth getting up the stairs!

Start to finish this place was great. They are a community restaurant so you just join others at their table of there is room. That was fun. Their food was tasty and their beer menu was small but on point.

Great little bar tucked away in the backstreets behind the Anne Frank museum. We wandered by by accident and decided to pop in for drinks and snacks. Both were excellent. Cosy and welcoming is how I would describe this bar and by Amsterdam standards the service was pretty good too. I will definitely go back if I found myself in this neck of the again.

Lovely local pub. Got the bitterballen and it felt like this place did it the best. Coupled with a little Genever like a true Dutch tradition.

Food was amazing, Sardines to die for the service was great very attentive and the over all ambiance was better than any other restaurants around. loved the experience so much we went twice in 2 days

Avery nice place to enjoy a quick lunch after visiting the Anne Frank House. There are a few tables outside and some small tables both inside in the bar area and upstairs in the loft. They have a nice variety of snack food as well as healthy salad choices. I ordered the salad with a meatball on it but it was more of a mini meatloaf and it was delicious. The meat and cheese plate we ordered was more of an acquired taste that was pretty unfamiliar. It had a pate of something like bologna and a few raw patties of meat. The cheeses were a much better taste and there was plenty of it. The ham and cheese tosti sandwich was also nice as a light snack meal. The service was good and I would recommend it for a small group as there are not many tables and they are very small and close together.

As one of the oldest cafe's of Amsterdam, this is a place that must be visited by tourists. But it is obvious that it is the locals that provide the ambiance.

Yes yes we all want to see the Anne Frank house but what after that? Walk couple of blocks to this so old so good pub! Interior sets the time instantly and they serve food until 5pm as well. They have a full bar and big selection of beer. The service is efficient and professional.

Found this cafe and came here each night we were in Amsterdam. It's in a quaint, beautiful old building that used to produce jenever. Staff if great and the people who frequent the cafe seem to be mostly locals.

A MUST STOP FOR A QUICK BITE OR EVEN JUST A DRINK IN AMSTERDAM! The fact that this place was built in 1780 and still going strong is awesome! I am always about visiting places around the world that not only have some cool stories, but also great food and/or atmosphere for drinks. We found this little spot which is literally only about 15ft. away from a canal and wasn't too packed, service was quick, friendly and helpful with describing the menu to us Americans. I chose the liverwurst sandwich because I wanted something authentic that I couldn't find anywhere else or back in the US. Obviously an EXTRA cold Heineken helped out as well, OK maybe the extra 4 Heineken's helped out. LOL! Bottom line it's a great part of historic Amsterdam, good food and great atmosphere! It's a true must see if you're ever in Amsterdam! ENJOY!

Typical Amsterdam café in a historical building with large stained glass windows. They have all kinds of beer and gin and a small selection of quality wine. They also order some good quality small dishes to accompany your drink. It is typical a bar where you meet with some friends for a good conversation. It has the character of a neighborhood bar with some regulars who might just easily join your conversation, but it also provides space for more intimate conversation. The people visiting this place are on average around 40-50+ in winter. In the summer it has a nice little terrace on the water and then you see all kinds of people and ages here. A real nice place to stop for a drink if you are walking along the canals.

Great little pub, with outdoor seating, wonderful staff and an atmosphere that makes you feel like a local

Come for the atmosphere, stay for a cappuccino and some apple cake! We had a great chat with Amber behind the bar and a gentleman from the neighborhood. This a must visit when in Amsterdam.

Cozy atmosphere, warm, friendly, gezzelig. Exactly what is needed on a cold wintry day in Amsterdam. It's a small, quiet neighborhood bar on a canal at the intersection of another canal on a quiet side street. The hustle and bustle is walking by or on the other side of the Prinsengracht at Anne Frank standing and waiting ever so patiently in the long queue.. They have several of my favorite beers on tap along with a full bar just waiting to be served up. They don't serve full meals but they do have snacks and apple pie if you want something to eat.The staff is attentive, warm and friendly and when it comes time to settle up your bill you can pay with your PIN card. I met a friend of mine here on her suggestion for a place to meet up and catch up and to have a beer or three. Well, I did have about three beers along with a few glasses of Jack Daniels over the course of a few hours.The conversation flowed as freely as the drink and I can even remember what we talked about. It's a great place to chill and your dog is welcome too.

I would go back here more often if I didn't have to get on a plane to do so! This is a simple, quaint restaurant/bar near the Anne Frank House. We took full advantage of the outdoor seating along the canal. We split a sandwich (I can't remember the name) and the Dutch Apple Pie, which was more like an apple cake, but still delicious. I would highly, highly recommend!

Just a simple, chill spot to have a few beers with friends along a quiet interior canal. I'm surprised that this bar is not more crowded given it's proximity to Anne Frank, but I'm just glad we can always get a seat here! Especially in the summer when they set up tables on their dock (in fact, my friends and I have just taken to calling it the dock bar). I'd only go here for the beer though - one time I made the mistake of ordering the "small" meat and cheese plate for myself and one friend: there was absolutely nothing small about it and I'm pretty sure there were enough bites for 6 people on there! And the meat and cheese was very meh in my book too.

I've wanted to eat here for years and I was fortunate enough to be walking by as my stomach growled. I stepped into a wonderful little bit of Amsterdam. It's nice and comfortable with very nice people running it. I immediately felt at home. I had a nice bowl of vegetable beef soup and a couple of beers. It was perfect for a chilly afternoon. The bread was fantastic which is typical for the Netherlands. It was simple meal in a wonderful little place and I couldn't have been happier. Well maybe a slice of of the fantastic Apple Pie on the counter, but that will be for another trip.

Lovely little spot right on the canal but the food and service at this cafe were mediocre. We were starving and I had heard good things about this restaurant but the menu is tiny and is mainly comprised of a few sandwich options, with some snacks and salads sprinkled in. The toasted sandwich and smoked salmon sandwich were just okay and it was incredibly hard to get the server's attention. I would recommend this cafe solely for a beer or coffee while sitting outside to people watch.

You want to visit a charming brown cafe on a canal on a beautiful, sunny day, don't you? This is the place. They will even give you "beer guidance". My sandwich was very yum..

cozy cozy cozy cozy cozy. I found this little gem on one of my first trips to Amsterdam and fell in love. Ample seating on the canal offering a phenomenal view. If its a bit too cold, no problem- inside is one of the, you guessed it, coziest cafes in Amsterdam. I dont like to leave such short reviews, but really, I think this bout sums it up.

This place has a really cool vibe- the interior is really neat, and it feels really old school. We got Doritos with sauce, beef sausage, Spanish sausage, new cheese, meatballs with sauce. It was all pretty good.

I don't get it. This place was recommended by previous visitors to the VRBO where we were staying. It was certainly very quaint and authentic for the area - just the kind of place you want to eat at in visiting Amsterdam, BUT I did not think much of the food. Only the soup was home made and was very good(Vegetable with meatballs). We also had a cheese and meat plate and of course the younger cheese was farm made and tasted goo, but the liverwurst tasted processed and we did not care for the "Fresh" sausage. Maybe we were expecting something more original, but we were disappointed with the food.

The cafe is located in the Jordaan part of Amsterdam - the city's equivalent to New York's Greenwich Village. What makes the cafe worth visiting isn't the food (which sucks) or the service (which is ridiculously slow), it's purely the ambiance. It has seating right on the canal which is perfect during one of Amsterdam's few and far in between summer days. And the canal-side seating is absolutely gorgeous, one of the best in the city. The inside is just as nice. Frankly - and this is the nerd in me - it makes you feel like you're having a drink in one of those classic European pubs that you dream about when you think "Europe". So again, don't for the food. Don't go for the service. Go there for the experience and for a drink or two.

We were only in Amsterdam for 4 nights and we went here for three of them. The ideal, quiet and simple brown cafe. Polite and attentive staff.

Quaint, small, friendly with a welcoming atmosphere! We ducked in here out of a cold rain, to spend a memorable having a great lunch. About as "neighborhood" as a cafe can be !

Get a glass of the old Jenever - and sit out by the quiet canal. Perfect way to take in Amsterdam

If the weather is decent, sit outside for one of the prettiest canal-view patios we experienced in Amsterdam!

This brown cafe is adorable and cozy in the winter. It was freezing outside and we ducked inside and sat at a table with candlelight and immediately felt warm and toasty. We had mulled wine and talked about our favorite books - it's the kind of place that gets you talking about books because you'd want to curl up with one here.

Great ambiance and fair prices. Unfortunately the service fell way short. Had to practically beg for the server to take our order and then the food never came after 45 minutes of waiting. The servers seemed completely unconcerned. To their credit, they were very apologetic when we decided to leave and knocked a few euro off the bill.

We came here thanks to a good old Lonely Planet recommendation (the writers claimed it was their very favorite brown cafe) and it was indeed wonderful! It is very close to the Ann Frank Huis. We went during the day and enjoyed piping hot bowls of soup and bread. There are also plenty of drinks to choose feom, of course. The space is small but with two floors and is cozy as a brown cafe should be. Highly recommended!

Cafe t'Smalle offers some of the best canal side drinking in all of Amsterdam. Unfortunately we were there on a cold morning and ended up inside but were still impressed by the charming interior, the friendly staff and the tasty drinks (I loved my hot chocolate with rum!)

Get out of the tourist hustle and bustle and see local life. This is one great place to have a drink, people watch and see the world go by right in the edge of a canal!

gorgeous cafe with a dock/terrace on a canal in the jordaan. my husband and i grabbed a drink inside and sat outside and people/puppy watched. locals were inside eating - but we just wanted to enjoy the scenery on our day out and about. vibe is so perfect that i remember taking a video on my phone to remember how wonderful it was.

A old-style pub, perfect for snacks everyone will eat. They do nachos and cheese, toasties, and general good food. When we went, the milk machine wasn't working for coffees but it was fine as their hot chocolate made up for it.

There are not enough superlatives to describe this great "brown bar". Within a few minutes from the Damn square, off the canal near Anne Franks house you are somehow in the middle of it but in a quiet suburb at the same time. The menu is primarily snack & sandwich based but you will find something to suit all tastes. The drinks are very much the same as in most bars in Amsterdam, but I would recommend trying the "wieckse witte" which is great in the summer. The winning point for me is sitting outside, not only are you on a small cobbled street but t'Smalle has it's own decking over the canal, getting a table on the decking is very difficult as it is also a great sun trap in the summer. I have been to t'Smalle many times (sometimes twice in one day), and I always make a point of going at least once when I am in Amsterdam! Highly recommended!

We were jetlagged and tired, and we needed somewhere we could traipse to before we stumbled back to our hotel to get properly comatose. We wanted to be out in the fresh air and sunshine, to start our body clocks back to Europe time. We were still unfolding ourselves from the cramped plane. This was a great spot to sit by a canal and people watch. (We watched birds and dogs too.) It's at the corner of a moderately busy thoroughfare and a canal, so there's plenty of traffic coming through. I would note that they observe the Dutch attitude toward service, which is to say that they aren't your slaves, and stop waving your arms, and they'll bring a bill when they're good and bored and it crosses their mind to. You have to frame it in the Dutch mode of politeness, not the U.S. attitude. They don't want to rush you out. And they probably wonder why Americans are always so cross and in such a hurry. The food we got wasn't exactly what we had ordered. They left it with us, brought out what we ordered, and only billed us for one, I think whatever they brought first. We were waited on by several waitresses, who seemed happy to fill in for one another. And, as I said, we were a bit dazed from travel, so my impressions may be less than 100% fair or accurate. But we enjoyed ourselves very much. First spot we stopped for food on this trip, and it went fine.

Came here for a light lunch and to take a break after the Anne Frank House. We were following the Rick Steve's walking tour of the area and this was the suggested spot. It's a small pub on a nice canal that is great for people watching. We sat at one of the tables on the sidewalk and enjoyed the people watching. Shared a chicken soup that was tasty and had lots of good chunks of chicken and a salon salad that was satisfactory. Also had a glass of red wine that was quite good. Overall a nice light meal in a great setting. Not a total tourist trap spot as it may seem.

We stumbled upon the bar on a casual stroll in the Jordaan. Fantastic place to grab a drink. Really chill, and the locals were super friendly. They recommended a great place for us to have dinner around the corner. This is now a must stop on my trips to Amsterdam.

Has the feel of a local institution (not like the kind where crazies go, but the kind that remains as great as it has for many many years). The canal side location is central and quaint. The inside is cozy. They have board games, and the upstairs is a cool spot to hang as well. Didn't try the food, so just awarding starts based on atmosphere and vibe.

Old, atmospheric brown cafe with good drinks and decent if simple food. Come for a beer and an order of cheese and bitterballen. Cozy, wood, candles, friendly service. This place is a gem and a glimpse into the fragments of old Amsterdam bar culture still remaining.

Reviewing this as a bar since I didn't eat here. Besides, a bar is what it is. Nice canalside tables but, really, the charm is inside. Very small, like so many Amsterdam spots, but somehow cozier and more inviting. Bartenders were nice but not overbearing, attentive but never intrusive, and always at the ready when you had two sips left in the glass. Small upstairs dining area is cute and a nice change of pace. Basically, this is just a great little place to be. In fact, I could hang out here every day.