Menyu

Local guide · West Flanders, Flanders

Your restaurant in Bruges: the menu board outside, the whole menu online

In 2024 the historic city of Bruges welcomed about eight million visitors, 27,000 a day on average. Outside your door, the city allows, on application, a menu board parallel to the façade, but never an easel or a panel advertising mussels or waffles.

See my menu on a phonePrint my allergen chart

Winter terrace table on a cobbled Bruges street by a canal, with a red table stand holding a QR code, fries, tarragon sauce and a glass of white wine
AI-generated illustration

Key facts

Bruges in figures

day and overnight visitors to the historic city in 2024 (rounded)1
8 million
visitors a day on average in 20241
27,000
of overnight stays in the historic city were by foreign visitors in 20232
84%
spent on food and drink, on average, per day visitor (2023)2
€15.79

Visitors and languages

Overnight stays, mostly by foreign guests

In 2024 the historic city received about eight million visitors, day-trippers and overnight guests, or 27,000 a day on average. Mobile phone counts show that four people in ten in town are visitors.1

In 2023 the historic city counted 1,827,792 overnight stays, only 290,448 of them by Belgians. The United Kingdom led the foreign countries (286,661), ahead of the Netherlands, France, the United States and Germany. Among day visitors, France was the largest foreign country, with 487,534 visits.2

Boat trips on the reien, the canals, carried 1,275,335 passengers in 2023, and Toerisme Vlaanderen ranks them third among the most visited attractions in Flanders in 2025. Visit Bruges’s press site comes in six languages.123

For your menu

A Dutch-only menu does not speak to most tourists who stay the night in Bruges. English first, then French, German and Spanish.

Economy

What a visitor spends at the table

According to the 2023 art cities survey quoted by Visit Bruges, a day visitor spends €37.07 on average, €15.79 of it on food and drink. A tourist staying the night spends €153.97 a night, €47.99 of it on food and drink.2

For 2024 Visit Bruges puts tourism turnover at €542 million. Overnight stays account for only 14% of visitors but 53% of that turnover, and hotel occupancy was 70%, as in 2023.1

For your menu

To win a share of that €15.79, the menu has to make sense in seconds, in the visitor’s language and with its prices.

Local rules

Terrace and menu board: the city’s rules

In Bruges a terrace of loose tables and chairs on public ground needs a permit, and the building must have a horeca use. There are two periods: period 1 runs from the first Saturday of the Easter holidays to the last Sunday of the Christmas holidays, period 2 from the first Monday after the Christmas holidays to the last Friday before the Easter ones.4

You apply online at least two months ahead, one month for a takeover with no changes, with photos of the spot and a plan with measurements, hand-drawn if need be. The city weighs the space available, room on the pavement and Bruges’s UNESCO World Heritage status. In period 2 only loose tables and chairs are allowed, 4 m deep at most, and terraces on squares are removed.4

At the door, a menu board is allowed free of charge, with a permit, if it stands parallel to the façade, against it or against the terrace barrier. Panels advertising a product (mussels, waffles and the like), open A-boards and easels never are. The terrace tax follows the city’s regulation on the use of the public road, and questions go to [email protected].4

For your menu

The menu board gives passers-by your prices; dish details, translations and allergens can live in the online menu.

Local food

Tables that say where the food comes from

In the 2026 MICHELIN Guide selection, De Jonkman in Sint-Kruis holds two stars, and its menu always names the boats that caught the fish. Zet’Joe, where Geert Van Hecke cooks after twenty years with three stars at the Karmeliet, has one. Jacobin, Quatre Vins, Tou.Gou and Onslow appear with a Bib Gourmand.5678

For your menu

Naming the boat or the grower takes space; an online menu has room for it.

Neighbourhoods

A municipality larger than the historic city

On 1 January 2026 Statbel counted 120,458 residents in Bruges. The municipality brings together Brugge, Koolkerke, Sint-Andries, Sint-Michiels, Assebroek, Sint-Kruis, Dudzele, Lissewege and Zeebrugge; Brugge Centrum remains its most populous part, with 20,113 residents.910

For your menu

The same menu serves the regular from Assebroek and the day visitor: translation doesn’t bother the first and helps the second.

With Menyu

What Menyu adds to the menu board

The menu board shows your prices outside; Menyu puts the rest of the menu on your guests’ phones, behind a QR code. Here is what that changes in Bruges, and what Menyu does not do for a Belgian venue.

  • The board outside, the full menu online

    Your QR code, in your colours, always leads to the same address: change a dish or a price and the online menu follows as soon as you publish, with nothing to reprint. Prices must still be posted outside.

    • QR code in your own coloursIncluded
    • A fixed address, a menu you keep up to dateIncluded
    Create the menu QR code

  • English, French, German, Spanish: the visitors’ menu

    Your dishes translate into 25 languages, including English, French, German, Spanish, Italian and Dutch. Read the machine translation through before you publish it. The menu’s buttons stay in French or English.

    • 25 languages for menu contentIncluded
    What the menu does

  • Allergens shown dish by dish

    Each dish lists its allergens from the EU list of 14, and guests can filter the menu, for example vegetarian or gluten-free. A passing guest no longer has to ask the staff.

    • 14 allergens indicated for each dishIncluded
    • Vegetarian and gluten-free filters, among othersIncluded

  • Order from the menu, pay at the counter

    With Premium, guests order from the menu, to eat in or take away. For a Belgian venue, payment happens at the counter: online payment is only open to accounts created in France.

    • Orders from the menu, paid at the counterPremium
    See what Premium includes

Limits

What Menyu does not do

  • The public menu keeps its buttons (filters, basket, hours) in French or English whatever the language of the dishes, and so does the dashboard. There is no Dutch version.
  • Online payment is not possible for a Bruges restaurant: only accounts opened in France have it.
  • Sign-up offers an optional phone field in the French format; a Belgian number entered there takes the +33 prefix.
  • Bookings (Premium) are confirmed by e-mail; Menyu sends no text message and no reminder before the visit.

Questions

Questions and answers

What can I put outside my restaurant in Bruges?

A menu board, parallel to the façade, leaning against it or against the terrace barrier: it is free but needs a permit. Panels advertising a product, open A-boards and easels are banned.

Anywhere in Belgium, prices must stay readable from outside, and a QR code only comes on top. Menyu takes over for dish details and translations.411

Belgian price display rules
When should I apply for a terrace in Bruges?

At least two months ahead, online, for a new permit; one month ahead for a takeover with no changes. Attach photos of the spot and a plan with measurements.

Period 1 runs from the first Saturday of the Easter holidays to the last Sunday of the Christmas holidays; in period 2 only loose tables and chairs remain, 4 m deep at most. Questions: [email protected].4

Which languages should my Bruges menu be in?

Look at who stays the night: in 2023 the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, France, the United States and Germany supplied the most foreign overnight stays, and France the most day visitors. So English comes first, then French and German.

Menyu translates menu content into 25 languages; the buttons stay in French or English.2

Will guests be able to pay online from the menu?

No, not for a Belgian venue: online payment needs an account opened in France. With Premium, guests can order from the menu and pay at the counter.

What does Menyu cost for a Bruges restaurant?

€49 a month with Essentiel, for the menu and its QR code; €79 with Premium, which adds bookings and orders; €149 with Beyond. The 7-day trial is on Essentiel, and everything is billed in euros.

See the plans
What must I tell guests about allergens?

The AFSCA requires allergens in restaurant food to be shown clearly and in a way that is immediately accessible on site. On the Menyu menu, each dish shows its allergens from the EU list of 14.

For a paper version, the Allergen chart tool puts the 14 allergens of your menu in a chart you can print.12

Make my allergen chart
Do these restaurants use Menyu?

No. They are here because the MICHELIN Guide picks them in 2026; none is a Menyu customer. Each entry links to its source.58

According to the guides

Five Bruges tables in the 2026 MICHELIN Guide

From the two-star table in Sint-Kruis to the lunch spot on Smedenstraat, these places are in the 2026 MICHELIN Guide selection. Several serve a seasonal or market menu.

These places are not Menyu customers and were not contacted. They come from the MICHELIN Guide; on 21 October 2026 each one’s website showed its hours or its current menus.

  1. De Jonkman

    Sint-Kruis610 · Creative cuisine · €€€€

    • 2 MICHELIN Stars 202656

    A fisherman’s grandson, Filip Claeys founded North Sea Chefs, which encourages eating lesser-known fish; his menu always names the boats the fish came from.6

    Guide MICHELIN listingRestaurant website13

  2. Zet’Joe by Geert Van Hecke

    Langestraat7 · Creative French cuisine · €€€€

    • 1 MICHELIN Star 202657

    Geert Van Hecke held three stars for twenty years at the Karmeliet; here the mood is that of a living room, and Mireille serves the cheese from a trolley.7

    Guide MICHELIN listingRestaurant website14

  3. Refter

    Molenmeers15 · Flemish cuisine, regional cuisine · €€€

    • MICHELIN Guide selection 202658

    Louis Van Hecke serves bistro classics such as spit-roast spring chicken with fresh fries and tarragon sauce; in fine weather the Guide prefers the terrace.15

    Guide MICHELIN listingRestaurant website16

  5. Tou.Gou

    Smedenstraat, a shopping street19 · Market cuisine, creative French cuisine · €€

    • Bib Gourmand 2026520

    Thibault and Jade serve French, produce-led cooking, ideally at the counter, and you can take dishes home from the chilled display.20

    Guide MICHELIN listingRestaurant website19

Method

How this page was made

This page was written by the team behind Menyu, software published in Montpellier, France. Its figures, rules and addresses come from the pages cited, consulted on 21 October 2026; the City of Bruges and Visit Bruges pages are in Dutch and quoted in Dutch. The restaurants mentioned are not Menyu customers. The illustration is an AI-generated image that shows no real place.

Sources

  1. Visit Bruges, Bezoekerscijfers Brugge voor 2024 voorgesteldpress.visitbruges.be · accessed 21 October 2026

  2. Visit Bruges, Kerncijfers Visit Bruges 2019-2023press.visitbruges.be · accessed 21 October 2026

  3. Toerisme Vlaanderen, Vlaanderen groeit verder als toeristische bestemming: meer dan 15 miljoen bezoekers in 2025toerismevlaanderen.be · accessed 21 October 2026

  4. Stad Brugge, Vergunning terras en uitstallingenbrugge.be · accessed 21 October 2026

  5. Guide MICHELIN, The Jane, Antwerpenguide.michelin.com · accessed 21 October 2026

  6. Guide MICHELIN, De Jonkman, Bruggeguide.michelin.com · accessed 21 October 2026

  7. Guide MICHELIN, Zet'Joe by Geert Van Hecke, Bruggeguide.michelin.com · accessed 21 October 2026

  8. Guide MICHELIN, Bruges et ses environs : restaurantsguide.michelin.com · accessed 21 October 2026

  9. Statbel, Population par commune au 1 janvier (1992-2026)statbel.fgov.be · accessed 21 October 2026

  10. Visit Bruges, Feiten en cijfers over Bruggepress.visitbruges.be · accessed 21 October 2026

  11. SPF Economie, Guidelines : indication des prix dans l’horecaeconomie.fgov.be · accessed 21 October 2026

  12. AFSCA, Allergènesfavv-afsca.be · accessed 21 October 2026

  13. De Jonkman, De Jonkmandejonkman.be · accessed 21 October 2026

  14. Zet’Joe, Zet’Joezetjoe.be · accessed 21 October 2026

  15. Guide MICHELIN, Refter, Bruggeguide.michelin.com · accessed 21 October 2026

  16. Refter, Refterbistrorefter.be · accessed 21 October 2026

  17. Guide MICHELIN, Jacobin, Bruggeguide.michelin.com · accessed 21 October 2026

  18. Jacobin, Jacobinjacobin-brugge.be · accessed 21 October 2026

  19. Tou.Gou, Tou.Goutougou.be · accessed 21 October 2026

  20. Guide MICHELIN, Tou.Gou, Bruggeguide.michelin.com · accessed 21 October 2026