Café Old Wembley

Café Old Wembley is a small, no-frills sports bar in Amsterdam’s Burgwallen-Oude Zijde, a short walk from Nieuwmarkt at Monnikenstraat 15. It trades on football, beer, and a tight, loud room rather than food or design, and it holds a 4.5-star average from 238 Google reviews. Doors open in the afternoon, not the morning, so plan around a match rather than around breakfast.

Quick facts

• Address: Monnikenstraat 15, 1012 BP Amsterdam
• Type: Sports café and pub
• Typical spend: about €10–20 per person
• Opens: 15:00 on weekdays, 13:00 on Saturday and Sunday
• Closes: 01:00 Monday to Thursday, 03:00 Friday and Saturday, midnight Sunday
• Good for: live football, Ajax and Eredivisie fixtures, small groups, a drink after wandering De Wallen
• Not the place for: a quiet work session, a full sit-down meal, or a smoke-free room

What the bar is actually like

Monnikenstraat is a narrow side street inside the old red-light district, which sets the tone. Old Wembley is a compact street-corner pub with screens angled so most of the room can see them, a bar that fills shoulder-to-shoulder on match days, and a crowd that mixes neighbourhood regulars with visitors who wandered in from the surrounding lanes.

Public data logs the atmosphere as lively, and reviewers consistently describe a bar that is small and busy for much of its opening window. Expect conversation volume over ambience, standing room during big fixtures, and a service style that is quick rather than ceremonial. Tripadvisor reviewers single out the beer and spirits selection and the sport-on-TV setup as the reasons to come.

One practical warning that rarely appears in tourist write-ups: at least one local sports-bar guide describes Old Wembley as a bar where people smoke indoors. If that matters to you, look through the window before committing to a seat.

Drinks, prices, and what to expect on the bill

The published price band is €€, working out to roughly €10–20 per person, which in central Amsterdam terms means a couple of beers rather than a meal with wine. Beer and wine are both confirmed on offer, and reviewers describe a reasonable spirits range for a bar this size.

Food is the open question. Old Wembley appears in some directories under a restaurant category, but its kitchen offering is not documented in any verified source, and attributes such as breakfast, brunch, and vegetarian options are explicitly listed as unchecked. Treat it as a drinks-first sports bar and eat elsewhere on Zeedijk or around Nieuwmarkt if you want a proper meal.

Opening hours

Day	Hours
Monday	15:00–01:00
Tuesday	15:00–01:00
Wednesday	15:00–01:00
Thursday	15:00–01:00
Friday	15:00–03:00
Saturday	13:00–03:00
Sunday	13:00–00:00

Best time to visit

• Right at opening (15:00 weekdays, 13:00 weekends) is the only reliable window for a seat and a conversation you can hear.
• Match kick-off is the point of the place. Arrive 30 to 45 minutes early for an Ajax or Eredivisie fixture, because the room is small and fills fast.
• Friday and Saturday late runs to 03:00, when the crowd shifts from football-watching to general nightlife spilling through De Wallen.
• Sunday afternoon from 13:00 is the calmest weekend option, with a midnight close rather than a 03:00 one.
• Peak tourist months of June to August compound the crush in this part of the centre, so the opening-hour trick matters more then.

How to get there

Monnikenstraat is a short pedestrian street in the Burgwallen-Oude Zijde grid, tucked between the Nieuwmarkt end of the old centre and the canals of De Wallen. It is genuinely easy to walk past, so navigate to the street name rather than looking for signage from a distance.

• On foot from Amsterdam Centraal: roughly 10 to 15 minutes south through the old centre, the simplest option for most visitors.
• By metro: Nieuwmarkt is the closest station, a few minutes’ walk away; check current line numbers in the GVB app, since Amsterdam’s metro routing has been reworked in recent years.
• By tram: no tram stops directly on Monnikenstraat, so plan a stop near Nieuwmarkt or the Damrak side and walk in.
• By bike: practical, but use a guarded rack rather than a canal railing in this neighbourhood.
• By car: avoid it. Central Amsterdam parking is expensive and heavily restricted, and much of the surrounding area is pedestrianised or one-way.

Who this bar suits

Come if you want to watch football with locals in a cramped, unpolished bar in the oldest part of Amsterdam, and if free Wi-Fi, dog-friendliness, and a €10–20 tab cover your needs. Skip it if you are travelling with children, need a smoke-free room, want documented accessibility, or are hunting the vintage coffee-and-apple-pie experience that Amsterdam’s brown cafés and specialty roasters do far better.

Frequently asked questions