Le Cirio

Wow what a time capsule! This restaurant is absolutely beautiful and is a treasure trove from the 1800s well preserved and well loved. A local recommended this place to us , we took his advice and I am sure glad we did! It was a lovely place to eat. The staff was very nice and the food was great. I had the Flemish stew and it was soooo good! We were stuffed so didnt stay for dessert, but im sure it was delicious. Definitely recommended this spot!

Very nice place dating back to the lat 1800s, they open the bar at 10:00 am but the restaurant at 11:00 am. Try the Half & Half drink it is awesome. As far as food I was not able to try it, was too hyngry fo wait for 11 am. Oh! To me it was new. After they serve your first time, they automatically give you your ticket, thats how they keep tabs, you keep on ordering and you keep on getting a ticket for every single thing you order afterwards.

Food was delicious. We ordered the Waterzooi of chicken, totally recommended, great taste, light and comfort food. The shrimp salad was also delicious with many other ingredients. Attention was friendly.

The waiter was very kind and accommodating, truly knowledgeable – we need more service like this. The food was fantastic! We tried typical Belgian specialties, specifically Flemish carbonades and vol-au-vent. Personally, I’m not a fan of béchamel sauce, but my partner loves it, so it was his clear favorite. My braised beef, however, was absolutely excellent—a truly wonderful experience. For dessert, we had Tarte Tatin – the perfect sweet ending to the evening. I highly recommend this place if you’re looking for quality Belgian cuisine in the city center. Great atmosphere, professional staff, and dishes that won’t disappoint. Bonus points for the authentic backdrop — the sounds of protesters from the streets added a unique vibe to the experience.

Great service, very busy, good food. The cheese croquettes were amazing.

Truly an excellent experience. The carbonade flamande I ordered for €20 with fries was superb. The ambience of the restaurant is beautiful too! Definitely recommend it!

This is a very old establishment. You come here for the atmosphere. The food is mediocre, but the interiors are historically preserved. The service is quick. Everything is aimed at making you order, eat, drink, and leave quickly.

Fantastic Traditional Belgium cuisine. Food serving took slightly longer wait. Classic interior, nice atmosphere.

Wow! This place is so cool and looks like it did 100 years ago. We sat inside and had drinks and food. We had the Carbonnades Flamande and it was delicious. Frites were cooked perfectly and could not have been happier. For a place in the tourist zone, there were so many locals and the prices were great. Would come back again tomorrow if I could!

I was excited to eat mussels in Brussels. I saw the decent reviews for this place and was informed that there was seating right away, so I sat down and went straight to placing an order for my mussels entree. On first impression, it seemed quite busy. I'm not sure if it's always super busy, but the servers seemed very busy & overwhelmed with amount of tasks that they had to fulfill. It didn't really affect me, but just something I noticed. What disappointed & affected me the most however was the mussels that I was so anticipating. The presentation was nice, but the taste was not... The soup that was on the bottom was coating the mussels and it was way too salty for my taste! It tasted a lot like sea water. There were a decent amount of mussels to eat, but the saltiness really made it hard for me to eat each piece. It didnt have much flavor other than salt. The only saving grace was the fries. Overall, I would not recommend getting an order of mussels here...

Great food! Great service! The server was very helpful with answering all of the questions that we had and helping us make a decision on what to order for both our drinks and dinner

Dined here on December 6th. Perfection in the busy tourist area around the grand place. The mussels portion was enormous - at least 4 dozen. Good beer selection and you have to get the croquettes! Definitely would recommend.

Le Cirio is styled as an old-time brassiere with decor that could easily be from the early 20th century. We came on a rainy night for dinner and were quickly seated. For food, we ordered the pot of mussels and beef stew. Mussels came in a huge portion and they were good and plump. Flavor wise it was fairly standard and you get fries on the side which were alright. The beef stew however was a letdown. The sauce lacked flavor and depth and the beef was just far too tough.

This is a very historic restaurant. The furniture is old and the doorways looked very old. Kind of fun!! We started with a simple plate of cheese and salami. Good cheese and lots to start. I ordered the Vol Au Vent (Belgium style chicken pot pie). It also came with fries much like everything does in Brussels. This was super creamy and has mushrooms in it. I did like the pastry pie - helped with adding texture. Huge portion and a lot of food. It also had a salad which as just ehh.

The staff are really nice and the place was hopping. However while the portion of mussels is large and they are plump, they're old and not at all good. The other dishes we got were a bit gloppy. Really disappointing overall.

Walking around and saw this restaurant, Outside didn't look too special,Once you walk You can feel the historic ambience of the restaurant. The service was great, Friendly for tourists

This is a classic Belgian bistro in the old town ofBrussels. It is located next to the old stock market. Currently this is a very fashionable and touristic area. However, the original intention of this bistro was just a classic Belgian bistro. States back to a previous century. it is a local favorite of my family members that live in Brussels and I tend to visit there every time I come to Brussels. As for the one star reviews, the food here is actually pretty decent, the service is traditional service with the waiter not pestering the Guest, but rather waiting for the guest to call his attention if anything is needed. The building is just beautiful. The bathrooms are clean. I have read several of the one star reviews, and my impression is these are people who went to a tourist spot expecting to be treated as they would be in the US. This is not the case. This is a classic Belgian bistro. My visits to Brussels are not complete at least , one visit here.

The Ambiance was just right for a bar/restaurant close to the Grand Place in Brussels, Belgium. The beer selection was fantastic for Belgium Style Ales and the service provided by Anthony was spot on. He was score to interact with my for children while also making my wife and I feel special with our Belgian experience. The Carbanades Flamandes & Mussels were very good.

Was originally seated on the inside, but they don't have great ventilation here whatsoever. It's an oven in there! Luckily was able to sit outside by the entrance- great dining experience with the cool air and much better atmosphere. With the dishes we ordered, I enjoyed everything but the beef carpaccio. Wasn't anticipating a salad type appetizer and with olive oil overkill. Too salty for for my liking and anticipation. Staff is so sweet! Reasonably priced

This place has been around for decades. The reviews were mixed, but I got a couple of recommendations to try Le Cirio, and it was conveniently located near both our hotel and the touristy sites. Reservations weren't hard to get online, and they had plenty of outdoor tables on a Sunday night, though it seems most people sit outside to smoke/drink rather than eat. I was just on a mission to get waterzooi, the classic Belgian chicken stew. It's like thin cream based chowder with potatoes, vegetables, and chicken breast. It was piping hot, which was great on a chilly evening outdoors. It's a dish worth trying if you're ever in Belgium. They also have lots of beers (most commercially readily available), and we went with a Westmalle Trappist beer. Servers were friendly and spoke English. All in all, it was pretty reasonable at about €18 for a stew and a beer in a touristy area.

We actually ended up going to Le Cirio two times on our trip: once on accident and once on purpose. The first time, we had some time to kill and our kid was hangry in the afternoon, so we stopped by here for beers and a snack (it's spitting distance from our hotel and we had noticed it walking by the other night). The space is beyond charming: you feel like you're sitting in a Flemish painting with the gilding and old tables and lights. Adorable. The on-tap beer selection is limited but they do have several bottled choices and they make a killer salami sandwich. Last night, we came for dinner since we got back super late from Antwerp and didn't want to wander far from the hotel. Our daughter got their spaghetti with tomato sauce (surprisingly quite tasty) and we shared the carbonnade which came with frites. It's not that that dish wasn't good, but it was a shadow stew compared to the one that we had at Le Zinneke. Cirio's is more brothy and the meat wasn't nearly as tender. Still, it was good. Beers again, and we made sure to squeeze in a lambic. Funnily enough, we had the same server both times and he was very sweet. They at least seem committed to the concept of service here, which is more than you can say about a lot of other places. (FYI, there is no A/C in there, so it can get pretty toasty on a hot day.) We would definitely recommend this place to anyone visiting Brussels.

We had a cocktail at Le Cirio, thanks to Yelp! It's a nice change of pace and not as touristy feeling as other places in the area. It's beautiful, with a historical feel and friendly waiters who cater to visitors and regulars equally. It was rather dreary and cold, so we sat inside, which is just beautiful. It'd be nice to sit outside when the weather is nicer because there is a music store next to Le Cirio that plays jazz loud enough you can hear it outside next door. Very cool! They have cozy little corner booths that are nice, for couples or friends to sit close and talk. A must visit while in downtown Brussels.

Keep in mind folks, you are in Europe where servers aren't working for tips. I suggest flagging down your server when you are ready and order everything at once, that way you aren't waiting too long. This restaurant is also right next to the Christmas market, so keep that in mind as well. Order the mussels!!! They are so good and the portion size is huge! You can split between 3 people if you wanted. I also ordered the tasting size of the croque monsieur. It was a normal sized sandwich cut into 4 triangles. It was delicious. I would have loved to enjoy mussels another time at this restaurant while visiting. Maybe next time!

Good beer; nice decor. I only got one dish here one night but it was not good (Belgian beef stew); the meat was stringy and tough and flavor was not good. Place seems affordable and historic and the service was actually pretty attentive. I really like the decor in the men's room here.

Le Cirio is a cute bar/restaurant with an old-fashioned, fancy but run down vibe, like a lot of places in Brussels. They had a good drink selection. The food looked good, with obscenely large portions, though I didn't try any of it. They were severely understaffed for how crowded it was, but when the server finally got to us (after we'd been there about 20 minutes), he was very nice and fast about getting us our drinks. The bathrooms were kind of gross. I'd go back if someone else really wanted to try it, but I probably wouldn't go back on my own accord.

Good decor and beer in a 1886 building, but that's it. Horribly slow and unfriendly service. Our server said no wifi on weekends, what's up with that?! I got the code from another server though so obviously it's not a consistent policy. Food was mediocre. Special sandwich soup combo just had meat between a slice of bread. Carbonnades flamandes was on the sweet side and a lot of the fries were small hard pieces.

Another bar, this one across the road from the Borse, that I visited one night for a beer. Like the others that I visited, this one was reasonably close to the hotel, and while the inside was absolutely gorgeous, there wasn't all that much about the place that really made it stand out. Okay, it probably has something to do with me having visited countless numbers of beer bars while I was in Brussels, but at the time I was not really all that keen on wandering too far from my hotel and basically jumped into the nearest place that I could find. As I said, the place was okay, not hugely fantastic, but at least it had a lovely interior.

A nice little pub that serves non alcoholic beer. I'm sure no one else enjoys that, but it was nice to see. They serve all kinds of dishes and drinks but this was only a pit stop for us. Five stars for our brief visit. The inside was nice and the restaurant has a cat! Fun perks haha

If I could give this place zero stars, I would. The place is gorgeous and ambiance is lovely. However, the waiter told us where to sit, vanished for 20 mins without giving us menus and expected us to know the menu beforehand I guess. He was very annoyed when we asked for the english menus. When he finally came back to the table, he was rude and annoyed that we didn't know what we wanted - since we didn't have a menu. 10 mins later, he came back and had us move tables to accommodate someone else and he was really rude about it. Who does that?? Later, when we finally got a English menu and my husband ordered a drink, the waiter just assumed we would not order food (which we had planned on doing) and just brought the check with him along with the beer he served. We had the worst experience with this place in a beautiful city like Brussels!! Please do not go there!!

Decent dinner. Good staff unfortunately there is a huge construction site outside the restaurant so it makes it hard to enjoy the restaurant.

Family of five strolling around Brussels. Stopped here to eat supper, and it was a pleasant time dining and people watching away from the touristy areas. Spouse and I ordered Leffe Blonde Ale, kids had sparkiling ice teas. One order of classic steamed mussels, an order of carpaccio, croquettes du fromage, and some sort of Flemish stew. Enjoyable dinner and would recommend.

Dinner at Le Cirio was probably the highlight of my trip to Brussels, perhaps even the highlight of my whole trip to Belgium! Not only did it have some of the best mussels I've ever had, but it also featured a glorious interior that felt like a snazzy step back in time. What's more, I loved the house cat, which my waiter said was named Musti (don't quote me on that spelling!). Aw, Musti. As for the mussels, there was a good bit of black pepper that was unexpected, but I liked the play of the gentle heat against the salty broth. The mussels were very fresh and pretty big, too. The fries on the side were very good, as well.

Great beer selection, awesome location, good prices. The place itself was very old school classy but we didn't feel out of place in jean and tshirts. There is even a little restaurant cat running around inside! Highly Recommended if you are in the area.

Server looked at us and saw that we had a baby. He pretends to look around and said 'sorry we can't serve you. There are no tables.'. He didn't even have the guts to look me in the eye because he was full of sh*t. There were literally empty tables here and there. Anyway, they are discriminatory against parents with young kids and (hate to play the race card but) possibly Asians. NOT kid friendly.

Yelp 100 challenge 2020 #20 Probably my favorite restaurant that we ate at in Brussels. We got the vol-au-vent, Flemish stew, fish and chips and the croquettes. I can say vol-au-vent was not my cup of tea, but it tasted fine. Everything else was so amazing. If I were to go again, I would get the Flemish stew. And the shrimp croquettes. I highly recommend going here when you're in Brussels. Such a cute restaurant!

This place is the bomb! 1. It has Westvleteren 12. Pricey, but less than the drive to Vleteren. 2. The best chicken stew I've ever had (Waterzooi) 3. The best beef stew I've ever had (carbonnades flamandes)

I love this place although up to this point I usually duck in for a beer and a snack (frites or cheese or a light sandwich) and not a full meal. I enjoy reading here in the afternoon. The interior is beautiful, probably one of the more attractive restaurants in the city in terms of atmosphere and decor. It's the perfect place to sit, have a beer or a glass of wine, and read or people-watch. It's in a prime location off the Bourse square but it usually manages to avoid being completely slammed. Every time I've been it's had a healthy-sized crowd inside but nothing overwhelming and I've never had trouble getting a table. The menu has a great selection of Belgium beers (I recommend Orval) and specialties, including stews and sandwiches. The drinks all come with a little cracker/pretzel snack, which is cute. It's one of the less tourist-trappy places in that area and the waitstaff are polite and friendly even if it sometimes takes a while for them to get around to you. It's worth visiting just to experience the interior, an oasis from the cacophony probably going on outside on the square.

Went for drinks since our guidebooks both pointed this place out. It is over 100 years old but looks it and not in a good way. Wallpaper peeling, stain coming off the tables and spotty service. Not the art nouveau temple I expected but more a down on its heel bar. The cute cat made me bump it up yo 2 stars.

Our group came for the muscles. We also ordered lasagna, white wine and a salad. The muscles were mediocre, the lasagne was terrible and the wine tasted like dirty water. I took one bite of the lasagne and it was so bad I sent it back and I was still charged for it and the waiter refused to remove the charge. My advice. Don't let the outside facade fool you. Skip this place.

My experience at Le Cirio couldn't have been better. I had the carbonnade (Flemish stew) which I've come to love in all my visits to Belgium. It was amazing, so rich and tender and perfect. I also had the frites which gave the palate a nice break from the richness of the stew. The server was always prompt to take my order, to bring my beverage and food and he left the check promptly so I wasn't waiting around for him when I was done dining. It was a bit after the lunch hour and they weren't terribly busy so I can't speak for how the service is during peak hours. Nice patio for people watching.This is a good choice to get away from the touristy places that try to lure you in but don't offer an authentic experience.

I rate this restaurant 4 stars for the food and service. . We ordered a bucket of mussels it was so flavorful only $21 very large amount n can share with three people. We also order the lasagna. The cheese was so crusty n so tasty.

This review centers on the listing of this restaurant under the "kid friendly" category listing it presently has on yelp. My family (2 adults, 2 young children) and I ate here on a Saturday night after arriving in Brussels a week into a trip through several European cities. We had been walking around the Grand Palace area taking in the scenery when we decided to stop and get some dinner. Being general unfamiliar with the restaurants in the area, we did a quick search for kids friendly establishments close to our location and this paved came up when we decided to eat there. Now while neither my wife nor I speak French, we know basic phrases and are polite enough to try and initiate the conversion in the local tongue before politely asking (in french) if they speak English. After getting a table outside, a waiter came to see us and provide menus and we followed this protocol. While our waiter did speak perfectly understandable English, both my wife and I immediately picked up in his irritation (my wife: "did you just see his eye roll?"). Now, perhaps this was because we asked to converse in English but we both suspected it had something to do with the fact that we had children. As the meal went on, we had to deal with more eye rolls, generally curt/rude attitude (such as a request for extra silverware), what could at best be described as slow service, one attempt to prematurily end our meal (we order a couple of starter dishes with our drinks when we were served the bill and after asking to order more food got another eye roll along with an "is that all?" comment), and general inattentiveness. There were other tables outside (both parties eating a well as those just there for a drink, including at least one other english speaking table) who were receiving regular visits from our waiter which only further added to our sense that it was our kids who were the cause of our servers ire. But poor service aside, the food was solidily very good - both my wife and I enjoyed our dishes of waterzooi and vol a vent and would certainty way them again. That's why there are getting two stars here - the food alone was worth a 100% star bump over the raising I would have given has it not been for the tasty dishes. Bottom line, maybe our guy was having a bad night, or maybe we just got the grump who didn't like families who might require and extra thing or two, but I cannot recommend going here with children. There are other, better options in the area (we've already now found several) so move on from this place if that's what you're looking for.

Although the service was a bit slow, I thoroughly enjoyed my meal here, including the old world decor and ambiance. I ordered the carbonnade, which was rich, heavy, satisfying, and delicious. It was while dining here that I came to the realization that Belgian cuisine has a vendetta specifically against my colon. Seriously, would it kill you to throw a carrot in there or something? It was literally like eating a big bowl of gravy with a side of fries. Which is not necessarily bad--I think this was my dream meal when I was 8, before I had to worry about things like watching my weight, monitoring my sodium intake, and generally eating like an adult, aka hating my life. This type of cuisine does get old after a couple days, especially when paired with excessive chocolate tasting and waffle sampling. The weather was kind of cold and wet so this was a fitting meal, but it's not an everyday type of thing. I recommend splitting it, or pairing it with an entire head of lettuce. Oh, and I can't speak for the ladies' room, but the men's bathroom has the most regal, fancy, old-timey urinals you will ever piss in. I highly recommend using the restroom here if you're a dude.

Atmosphere, historic, great food and staff, what's not to like? I've been stopping by for years, Le Cirio just last year went though a renovation but it didn't destroy the original feel. Not to many tourists, a huge bonus, it attracts mostly long time local patrons leading to good conversations. Never had a mediocre meal there. Great place to people watch while enjoying a refreshment and/or dinner. Highly recommended but remember the staff will not be in a hurry to serve you so be patient and enjoy the Belgium way to enjoy a evening.

Similar to someone else's experience, I was great Ed and asked to sit. 15 mins later I still had not been asked if I wanted something to drink or a menu. I got up and left, letting the bartender know of the poor service on my way out. He didn't seem to care.

Right next to the Bourse is a fine restaurant called Le Cirio. Immediately as I stepped through the first door, I was mesmerized by my surroundings. It's gorgeous inside, sorta like some royal family just asked you to have dinner with them. We entered and were greeted in French... I was taken aback for a second since it was my first time out of London and this was my first encounter with a language that wasn't English. It was awesome! We definitely felt like we were in Europe now... We sat is a quiet little corner in the middle of the restaurant and attempted to look through the French menu. I ordered the Vol-au-vent which was almost like a chicken pot pie, and it was amazing! The Chicken was in a creamy sort of gravy and was poured over a fluffy croissant type thing. I realize that is a poor description but let me just say that it was gooooooooooood. I thoroughly enjoyed this dish and in case you were wondering, the portion was very generous. The servers were also very friendly and didn't mind the fact that we spent hours in there escaping the rain. Always a plus when people aren't trying to rush you out the door.

This cafe is a great place to stop for a beer and light snack while strolling around Grand Place. Inside, everything has an old fashioned and established feel, and outside there is seating along the street to watch the passers by. There is a decent selection of affordable beers and food. We enjoyed a Croque Cirio for 7,85 euros which was essentially a grilled cheese with tomatoes and pancetta with a side salad. We each had a beer for 3-4 euros each. It is important to note this place does not accept credit card. I would definitely stop here again, although the beer and food selection were nothing unique. It's best quality is the ambiance.

Interior is very nice and seems very old! Like a typical old brasserie! Prices are ok for this location. We had croque bruxellois and they were generously filled! Just find it weird that a big place like that doesn't accept payments by card... Strange...

One of the oldest bar in the city centre, typically art nouveau with garçons de café. The right beer goes with the right glass!;-) highly recommended if you are vsisiting Bxl for a WE or if you wanna go back to the Brussels roots!;-) It was featured in one of Jamie Oliver's show( food fight if I am right) and is regularly featured in documentaries about bxl!

We loved the atmosphere and the food but our waiter was extremely rude and appeared to have an attitude. It could be that we are Americans that do not speak French but it seemed to really irritate him when my friend and I asked to split spaghetti. He brought her a place mat and silverware and brought my glass of wine along with the check. My husband ordered the soup of the day which the waiter said was tomato. He brought the soup that was vegetable and never brought the sandwich. When the spaghetti and soup arrived, my husband asked for silverware for me which the waiter brought with no plate or placemat and he was upset by the request. I used the bread plate to eat my dinner. Our waiter, in the back room of the restaurant, took care of other tables promptly while we waited a long time for our drinks and for the food we ordered. Unfortunately, I can not recommend this restaurant for Americans or anyone that wants to share food.

We loved this old bar, it is in the city center not far from the palace square. This bar has a wonderful beer selection the prices are reasonable and it is old school wit the restaurant sleeping on a chair and lots of locals. They had lots of Trappist beers, even Westvleteren 12. 17 euro. Good Belgian food the chicken stew waterzooi Vol-Austin-vent and beef stew carbonnades flamandes were good.

We only stopped in to try their famous "half and half" half champagne and half white wine. The decor here is great! Feels like we went back in time- very classic and I found myself staring at the walls and ceiling instead of actually talking to my partner who was sitting right across from me. Once we ordered, the drink was poured right in front of us and the drink also came with a tiny little bowl of pretzels and other crackers. The service we had was superb and I would recommend popping by to try the drink out and to even check out the decor!

If you want the Belgian experience, you must try Le Cirio! It carries the original Belgian dishes and also has half and half (I think it actually originated here!) A great place for a nice meal, or for casual drinks! Just make sure that you don't look like a hobo when entering.

The bread is hard and the chicken is tough. I think this place was once great but it's clear they are cutting corners and the product is failing. Would not come here again nor would I recommend this place to ANYONE

For that city that has no real cafés like Vienna, Le Cirio is the only place with historic charm and style to go! Since 1886, this place welcomes for a little break and having a coffee, tea, beer, wine or "half en half", a glass filled to the top with 50% champagne and 50% wine. I found it always cosy and the waiters professional (also not common in Brussels), although a face-lifting renovation would surely not harm a place of this age.

Another phenomenal old place that you have to have a drink at just to soak up the ambiance. very nice upscale bar looking out over the stock-market. And head to the bathrooms, they are interesting with the great old fixtures

A great place for the atmosphere. The food is good, but not great. But nor is it very expensive either. Nb. Cash only!