Wollestraat – A Yummy Street in Bruges

WOLLESTRAAT IN BRUGES HAS AMAZING CHOCOLATE AND BEER SHOPS, CAFES AND MORE:

Wollestraat is a main street in Bruges which runs from the Grote Markt to the Dijver canal where it crosses Bruges’ famous Rozenhoedkaai. Our local Bruges guide calls it Yummy Street because she regularly stops at a few food shops here to indulge in delicious biscuits, waffles, beer and other treats. So when we finished our city tour with her, we headed to Wollestraat and we weren’t disappointed.

Food and Shopping Street

Wollestraat is off the Grote Markt, just around the corner from the Belfort. The street got its name from the Wolhuis (wool storehouse) that once existed here. Wool was a very important commodity in Bruges, a city that’s famous for its sought after tapestries.

Walking down from Grote Markt, we found the left side of Wollestraat full of chocolate and beer shops, as well as souvenir and tapestry shops and cafes. The Olive Tree, a popular Greek-Mediterranean restaurant, is one of the first eateries you’ll see at Wollestraat 3.

Beer and Chocolate

An interesting discovery for us was The Bottle Shop at Wollestraat 13. If you’re interested in Belgian beers, you’ll most certainly want to call into this specialist beer shop.

Its shelves are stacked with over 600 Belgian classic and Trappist beers, beer glasses, gift hampers, etc. In this shop Tony saw all his favourite Belgian beers and hundreds more that we never knew existed.

Just next to The Bottle Shop is Chocoladehuisje, an artisan chocolate shop. There are many chocolate shops in Wollestraat, but what made us, and many other passers-by, stop in our tracks here are the very kitsch chocolate boobs. We had a good chuckle here, as did the other guys taking snaps, however the sales assistant said that it was one of their bestsellers. €25 gets you a pair of these maxi chocolate breasts and you can have them in dark chocolate, milk chocolate or a blend of the two. Chocoladehuisje makes chocolates in all shapes and sizes and if you have a special chocolate gift that you wanted made up, I’m pretty sure they’ll come to the challenge.

Yummy Biscuits

Juliette’s was recommended as a very nice biscuit shop and so I went in there to buy some. The owner was a very friendly and helpful lady and if you can’t decide what to buy she’ll advice you on your choice. The biscuits were very yummy – I’m still salivating over them. You’ll find Juliette’s at 31A Wollestraat under the shop name of Biscuiterie Artisanale Koekenbakkerij.

A couple of doors from the biscuit shop there is a cafe that does waffles which our guide swears is the best waffle in Bruges. We didn’t check it out, suspecting that one of those lethal Belgian waffles, loaded with cream and chocolate sauce, would render us incapable of any further sightseeing.

Mille Fleurs at Wollestraat 33 has a huge collection of the tapestries that Belgium is famous for. They have wall tapestries depicting all kinds of scenes, including the Bayeaux tapestry, medieval knights, Van Gogh art, etc. They also have smaller items like handbags, cushions, throws, all done in tapestry fabric.

The Beer Wall

The next shop at Wollestraat 53 you’ll recognize from their shop scooter. 2be is better known as The Beer Wall and when you see the walls of beer, the shop name becomes obvious. This trendy place has a beer shop, bar and terrace where you can enjoy your favourite Belgian beers as well as views of Bruges. We had planned to come back for a drink that evening, but our plans were foiled by football! Belgium was playing that night in the FIFA World Cup and the establishment closed early!

More Shops on the Right

Walking down from Grote Markt, most of the interesting shops above are on the left side of the street, but the right side has some souvenir shops and restaurants as well. We only wanted a sandwich for lunch and were glad to have found the sandwich shop at Wollestraat 30.

We didn’t have time to check out each and every shop, so if you’ve been down Wollestraat and found an interesting shop or eatery you can share your discoveries here.

For more photos of Wollestraat shops and cafes, see Here.

Bruges Map: