Recyclart is an arts centre with a bar attached, run out of a former industrial site in Molenbeek. It puts on concerts and club nights, keeps an all-vegetarian kitchen, and trains people back into work in the same building. It is the most useful bar in Brussels, in the plainest sense of the word.
Recyclart sits on Rue de Manchester in Molenbeek, the canal-side district west of the centre, after the project moved here from its old home in the Brussels-Chapelle railway station. The Allianz Foundation, which backs it as a community hub, frames it as a place that pairs culture with social purpose rather than just another late-night room. The space keeps the raw bones of the warehouse it took over.
The model is unusual and worth knowing before you go. The bar and kitchen sit alongside metal and wood workshops that offer job experience to people facing barriers to employment. The food is entirely vegetarian, with the kitchen working under the motto that veggie, vegan or halal, everyone sits at the same table.
For where this fits, see our Brussels live music and nightlife guide, the wider Brussels bar guide, and our roundup of Brussels hidden gems. It sits among the city's other independent rooms in our Brussels craft beer guide.
What to order
- 01
A Local Draught Beer
The bar pours Belgian beer at sane prices. Start with whatever is on tap from a nearby brewery.
€4 - 02
The Veggie Plate of the Day
The kitchen is fully vegetarian and seasonal. The daily plate is the honest, cheap way to eat here.
€12 - 03
A Glass of Natural Wine
The short wine list leans toward small producers. A glass suits a slow afternoon in the courtyard.
€6 - 04
Coffee in the Daytime
The bar runs as a daytime cafe too. A coffee buys you a seat in one of the city's most interesting rooms.
€3
The room and the crowd
The space is industrial and unpolished, all concrete and salvaged material, opening onto a concert hall that holds a few hundred for the bigger shows. There is nothing precious about it, which is the appeal.
The crowd is a Molenbeek and canal-district mix of artists, students, neighbours, and whoever the night's gig pulls in. The everyday bar is daytime and early evening, Tuesday to Friday, with the room shifting into a venue when there is a concert or a club night, so check the programme before you make the trip.
What regulars say
- 01
Check the calendar
Reviewers stress that the bar keeps daytime hours, with the big nights tied to events. Look up the programme first.
- 02
Go for the mission
The social project behind it gets repeated praise. People come back because the place means something.
- 03
Cheap and unpretentious
Maps reviews note fair prices and a come-as-you-are room. No dress code, no attitude.
Who it is for
- 01
The culture-first night
A gig, a club night, and a drink in the same building, west of the tourist centre.
- 02
The vegetarian crowd
A fully meat-free kitchen with a vegan and halal lean, rare for a venue bar.
- 03
Avoid if you want a late central bar
It is in Molenbeek and built around its calendar. Plan around an event, not a casual drop-in.
Pair this bar with
Stay in the canal district with the taproom at Brasserie de la Senne in Brussels, catch a set at Sounds Jazz Club in Brussels, or end the night in the Art Deco rooms of L'Archiduc in Brussels.
Sources: Recyclart's official site (recyclart.be, 2026); Allianz Foundation; Live the World; Yelp reviews; Google Maps reviews.