The best places to eat near the Rijksmuseum and the Van Gogh Museum are all a short walk away, in Museumkwartier, Oud-Zuid, Centrum and De Pijp. Our list starts with Rijks, two minutes from the Rijksmuseum, and also covers a Surinamese Javanese kitchen, a herring cart, a rib joint, a Dutch stamppot room and a family pasta place. Each is between two and fourteen minutes on foot, close enough for before or after your visit.
The short list
6 places, in the order they appear below.
- 1RijksLunch between galleries, tasting dinnerWalk from Rijksmuseum: about 2 minMuseumkwartier
- 2Warung Spang MakandraFast roti and saotoWalk from Rijksmuseum: about 10 minDe Pijp
- 3Frens HaringhandelHerring standing upWalk from Rijksmuseum: about 14 minCentrum
- 4PantryStamppot and Dutch home cookingWalk from Rijksmuseum: about 7 minCentrum
- 5Café de KlosSpare ribs, walk-in dinnerWalk from Rijksmuseum: about 10 minCentrum
- 6Rufus AmsterdamPasta dinnerWalk from Rijksmuseum: about 14 minOud-Zuid
Where can I eat right next to the Rijksmuseum?
Rijks is the closest table to the museum, about two minutes on foot. It runs along the flank of the national museum, and its tall windows look onto the garden. You don’t need a museum ticket to eat there. The kitchen reads Dutch history through modern technique, so Indonesian spice and North Sea fish share the menu with home grown vegetables.
Lunch brings in gallery visitors. In the evening a smartly dressed local crowd arrives for the tasting menu. The weekday lunch menu is the easier way in before the evening tasting.
Rijks
Hours: Mon closed · Tue–Sun 12:00–14:00, 18:00–20:00
Address: Museumstraat 2, 1071 XX Amsterdam, Netherlands
Where can I get a quick lunch near the Rijksmuseum?
For something fast between museums, walk ten minutes to Warung Spang Makandra in De Pijp, or fourteen minutes into Centrum for herring from Frens Haringhandel. When it’s busy, the warung serves full plates at shared tables. The herring cart has no seats at all, just a ledge to lean on while you eat.
The warung is a tiny Surinamese Javanese kitchen that has fed the neighbourhood for decades. Roti, saoto soup and heaped rice plates come out fast, and the portions are big. Its regulars come from every background, and they keep the place packed. Order the chicken roti or the saoto, and bring cash. Seating is tight, so at busy times expect to share a table.
Warung Spang Makandra
Hours: Mon–Thu 11:00–22:00 · Fri–Sat 11:00–00:00 · Sun 13:00–22:00
Address: Gerard Doustraat 33, 1072 VK Amsterdam, Netherlands
Frens is a small herring cart near the flower market. When regulars argue about the city’s best herring, its name comes up. In early summer the new season Hollandse Nieuwe is sweet and soft: take it with onion and skip the bun. There’s nowhere to sit, so treat it as a short stop between sights.
Frens Haringhandel
Hours: Mon–Sun 11:00–17:00
Address: Singel 470, 1017 BB Amsterdam, Netherlands
Where can I try Dutch food near the Rijksmuseum?
Pantry is about seven minutes away in Centrum. It cooks the hearty traditional Dutch dishes that are hard to find elsewhere: stamppot, stew and other winter classics, served in generous portions. The wooden room is small and warm, and it draws locals and visitors alike.
The stamppot sampler puts several of the mashed potato classics on the table at once, handy if you can’t pick one. It’s a small place, so book ahead on colder evenings.
Pantry
Hours: Mon–Sun 10:30–22:30
Address: Leidsekruisstraat 21, 1017 RE Amsterdam, Netherlands
Where should I go for dinner after the museums?
Two more places suit an evening after the museums, and they have little in common. Café de Klos, ten minutes away near the canals, is a dark, cramped rib joint with a queue on the pavement. Rufus Amsterdam is fourteen minutes away in Oud-Zuid, a quiet neighbourhood spot built around handmade pasta and wines from Italy and Albania.
Café de Klos has barely changed in decades. Spare ribs arrive in slabs with garlic bread, and that’s most of the menu decision made. The crowd is loud: locals, plus visitors who already know about it. It’s walk-in only, so turn up at opening to skip the queue. Order extra garlic bread.
Café de Klos
Hours: Mon–Thu 16:00–23:00 · Fri–Sun 14:00–23:00
Address: Kerkstraat 41, 1017 GB Amsterdam, Netherlands
Rufus is run by an Italian and Albanian family and named after their dog. They spent ten years in Tirana before moving to Amsterdam. The cooking starts from Puglia, with Albanian flavours mixed in, and the handmade pasta is why you come for dinner. By day it’s a café for coffee and something sweet. The family treats its house tea blends as seriously as the wine list.
Rufus Amsterdam
Hours: Mon–Thu 17:30–22:00 · Fri 17:30–22:30 · Sat 12:30–22:30 · Sun 12:30–22:00
Address: Roelof Hartstraat 26H, 1071 VJ Amsterdam, Netherlands
Which place fits which part of a museum day?
Pick the place by the gap in your day. Rijks and Pantry are the shortest walks, at two and seven minutes. Frens works for a snack standing up, the warung for a fast full plate, and Café de Klos and Rufus for a proper evening meal. The table below lists each pick’s neighbourhood, approximate walking time from the Rijksmuseum and best fit.
Rijks serves in separate lunch and dinner sittings and Café de Klos is built around the evening, so look at each card for the days and hours its kitchen is open. For dinner, book where a place takes reservations. Where it doesn’t, arrive early.
