Updated October 10, 2023 by pierre

The carafes of free water in the restaurants of Brussels? Yes but where?

This must have shocked most French or Italian people arriving in Brussels… In Belgium, a priori free water at the restaurant in Brussels…. It does not exist. What is often more difficult to admit is that beer is often cheaper than a bottle of water. If you are not yet familiar with the initiative Free Tap Water“, you will rejoice because they are fighting for free jugs of water in the HORECA (restaurant)… little by little it is working, the number of restaurants offering free water in Brussels is growing.

The origin of the application Free Tap Water – “Free tap water”

This is an application that managed to get people talking about it quite quickly. “Logic” some will say, the concept is quite attractive. You quickly save 10€ on your bill.

This initiative joins another European one which pleads to make free water compulsory in restaurants. For the moment, Belgium is holding back because it is a significant source of income for the hotel and catering industry. On the other hand, it would relieve consumers' bills as well as their conscience by consuming less plastic. The Facebook page was launched in 2019 and already has 12.000 members.

Free water in restaurants in Europe

In France and Italy, it's already a tradition to receive a free carafe of tap water while eating. In Japan, water and tea are totally free in restaurants. The Japanese must be completely shocked when they come to eat with us. It may become reality one day in Belgium, but it's not for now. The carafe of water offered remains an exception. However, with the growth of ecological awareness, more and more restaurateurs have decided to offer tap water in Brussels. The Free tap water application aims precisely to identify them.

Restaurant owners faced with the free water initiative

For the time being, more than 500 restaurants are listed in the app. This indicates that they give free water in their restaurant. Among these, there are more than 300 in the capital alone. The app Free Tap Water is quite easy, the customer can either type the name of the restaurant directly in the search bar or simply search via an interactive map.

Among these, we count for example: the daily bread, The Coach, The Wild Geese… there are too many to mention them all. You can consult yourself the map of Brussels restaurants offering a glass of tap water (or possibly a carafe of free water) at the table.

Tap Free Water Android IOS app