Café de Klos

Serving meat to the masses since 1971: charcoal-grilled spareribs, no reservations, no exceptions.

De Klos has been grilling on the Kerkstraat since 1971 and its website still says what the sign says: serving meat to the masses. It is a small dark café with a bar, a grill you can smell from the Leidsestraat, and a menu that has barely moved in decades. The classic spareribs come as two racks for 24.70 with garlic sauce, the smoked version at 29.75, and around them a 300 gram entrecôte, a 600 gram T-bone, a smoked half chicken and a shoulder of lamb for the table. The rule that defines the place is the door policy: no reservations, only walk-ins, and if it is full you wait across the street in the sister café with a beer until a table clears. Your Little Black Book's spareribs guide calls the ribs waanzinnig, and most Amsterdammers who grew up here would agree that this is the reference rib in the city, even if the room is loud, the tables tight and the tourists have found it. Prices have crept up with the meat, and this is a place for a group and a big appetite rather than a quiet dinner. Bring cash-era patience.

Open Monday to Thursday from 16:00, Friday to Sunday from 14:00, until 23:00. Arrive before 18:00 or after 21:00 to skip the wait; the sister bar opposite holds you. Order the classic ribs with garlic sauce and share a lamb shoulder if you are four.

Photo: Café de Klos