Café Loetje — Restaurant in Amsterdam

Exceedingly disappointing and disgusting service

I visited Loetje, specifically this one next to Museumplein on 29/09/25 for dinner. Unfortunately, what began as a pleasant evening quickly turned into a frustrating experience due to the behavior of our waitress and her unprovoked disrespect. To start with, we were seated promptly, and I spoke in Dutch with our waitress. While she wasn't exactly warm, she also wasn’t rude—at first. However, as the restaurant began to fill up (though it never got particularly busy), her attitude noticeably shifted, especially when we began to speak English with her instead of Dutch as my friends don’t speak Dutch. She became increasingly rude, dismissive and impatient, interrupting us repeatedly while we tried to order. For example, instead of allowing us to speak, she cut us off mid-sentence with, “So one portion fries for the table?”—deciding for us rather than letting us tell her what we want, so much so that we couldn’t even let her know how we wanted our steaks cooked (she had already walked away and snatched the menus from us- literally!). After we flagged her down to clarify, she responded sarcastically with, “You tell me now, huh?” as though it was an inconvenience to do her job properly. Later, when we asked to split the bill by item, she threw a pen on the table and told us to calculate it ourselves. We didn’t mind, but the way she handled it was unnecessarily rude and unprofessional. To top it off, when we had the exact payment ready, not only was she busy with chatting to another table while taking our payment, she also insisted on rounding up—claiming that the card machine couldn’t process 1–4 cents. As someone who has lived in the Netherlands for over three years, I’m well aware that while low-denomination coins aren’t typically used, digital payments however can still be charged to the cent. Her excuse felt like a thinly veiled attempt to demand a tip for service that certainly didn’t warrant one. We proceeded to raised our concerns with the manager, who again, tried to tell us that 1-4 cents are not used in the Netherlands on a card machine!!!! - a ridiculous explanation and outright lie. While she looked understanding and willing to listen, it didn’t seem like she was taking us seriously, given that she called us tourists multiple times just because we spoke English and also despite the fact that I spoke Dutch multiple times in the beginning. It was clear to us that the level of service and treatment varied based on the language spoken, which is absolutely unacceptable. The final straw came after we left the restaurant: our waitress actually followed us outside, cursed at us with very abusive language and gave us the middle finger for raising a complaint against her rude behaviour. Completely unprovoked, highly unprofessional, and shockingly disrespectful. I never leave negative reviews, but this experience was truly unacceptable. No customer should be treated this way, and I hope the management takes this feedback seriously and trains their staff to treat all guests—local or not—with...

We had the worst dining experience we’ve ever had at this restaurant, which is truly disappointing considering the quality and reputation it seems to aim for.

Our waitress was shockingly impatient from the very beginning. She didn’t even allow us to give our full order, constantly talking over us and then rushing away before we could finish. Because of this, instead of the multiple sides we wanted, she simply decided that one portion of fries and roasted vegetables would be “enough” for four people. Unsurprisingly, we left the restaurant still hungry.

When we tried to tell her how we wanted our steaks cooked, she dismissed us with sarcastic laughter and made a snide comment about how we should have told her “earlier,” despite the fact that she never gave us the chance. Even the basics of service were missing; cutlery was dropped on the table without care, food was basically thrown at us and the overall attitude was unprofessional at every step.

We also noticed this wasn’t only directed at us. The table next to us tried to order dessert, and when they asked if they have lemon flavour as well the waitress sarcastically snapped “Why, did I say that?!” Again, completely unnecessary and rude. The difference in treatment was impossible to miss, especially in an international city like Amsterdam.

When we asked to split the bill she threw her pen on the table, complained that she “didn’t have time,” and then went back to chat with the Dutch table. We calculated it ourselves, but she tried to round up the total anyway. When we insisted on paying the exact amount, as is perfectly possible with a PIN machine (we work in hospitality in the Netherlands ourselves), she made another snarky remark before letting us do so.

We calmly told our experience to the manager, who assured us she would talk to her after. But as soon as we stepped outside the waitress came after us, shouted, gave us the middle finger, and stormed back inside. When we confronted her about her behavior, she just shouted over us, causing a scene instead of showing even the smallest bit of professionalism.

What we experienced was unacceptable on every level, and sadly, we cannot recommend this...

TERRIBLE SERVICE. THEY MADE US CHECK THE TRASH BIN FOR RECEIPT. We went there with a reservation on 21.04.2024 for dinner. We ate and drank. There was a very nice lady waitress (with amazing glasses and middle-aged), and she was very attentive and nice. Later she was gone and a young and blond woman replaced her. She apparently took over our table after the nice lady’s shift, however she was so rude towards us. Once we asked for something and it was not there, she said “s**t” and went inside to get it. She seemed very discontent with our presence there although we were a nice and decent group of 5 people (4 people 56 years old and 1 person 28). When we decided to ask for the check, she was super busy showing her tattoo on her chest to the two men in the other table, therefore we had to wait for her to be done so that we could ask for the check. Based on our experience with her, we decided not to leave her a tip. When we were paying, she said that the tip was not included and we said we knew. Then she suddenly said to one of us “you are very rude” and then she left without giving us the receipt although we asked for a receipt. She threw the receipt to the trash bin while leaving. Then we left the table and asked her colleague for the receipt. The colleague gave us only part of the receipt which she found from the trash bin of the restaurant. When we asked for the rest of it, she said she could not give it to us and that we could check the trash bin ourselves. Only when the latter learned that I am a lawyer, did she bring newly printed copies of receipts after we left and brought them to us to the street. This was the second most disrespectful behaviour I have experienced in Amsterdam. That blond woman better sees a therapist before making more customers leave...