Taverne Hollywood

No Longer In Business

Now here’s an odd one. Until recently it was just another dirty Brussels dive with chain-smoking regulars quaffing large quantities of Jupiler and Maes. But a few months ago, it became a dirty Brussels dive with chain-smoking regulars quaffing large quantities of Jupiler and Maes, PLUS it claimed to have more than 300 other Belgian beers available. So we investigated. It seems the owner had been running a shop in the tiny tourist town of Durbuy called the Palais de la Biere Belge. The tourists weren’t all that interested. So he decided to take all those beers and sell them from his bar in Brussels instead. Now, you can visit this hole-in-the-wall and browse from the beers in the back cooler, which he built to house and display them. The claims of 300+ beers are exaggerated, frankly. We counted about 200 on the menu, but only 100+ have actually been in the cooler at any given time. Still, that’s a lot, and there are some good choices. We’ve seen Cantillon, Girardin, De Dolle, Abbaye Des Rocs, and some others that are hard to find. There are gambling machines and Elvis pictures on the wall next to the Oerbier signs. You’re bound to rouse the curiosity of the lager-swilling locals.