The Chicken Bar — Restaurant in Amsterdam

Turned Away Because We Are Black

My family and I (party of 8 Black people) attempted to eat at The Chicken Bar on Monday, August 12th around 8:45p/20:45. The restaurant wasn’t crowded and we could see from the outside that there would be enough space for us to eat. Unfortunately, we were informed by a female employee, at the door, that their kitchen was closed. Online it states the restaurant doesn’t close until 10p, we accepted the kitchen may be closed due to the lack of patrons and continued to look elsewhere. As we were searching for an alternative, we happened to walk back by The Chicken Bar where they were sitting a large party of customers after 9pm, none of whom were Black. The same employee who told us the kitchen was closed looked extremely shocked to see us walking by again. Without saying anything to her, she began to try and explain herself saying that they had a reservation and stumbling over her words. We didn’t ask her for an explanation, but her own need to try and defend her actions confirmed to us that we were denied seating based on race. If the kitchen is closed, the kitchen is closed. No one should be able to eat and reservations shouldn’t be taken at that point. Very disappointing experience and shame on that employee for denying paying customers off appearances alone. I would recommend other potential Black customers to avoid this restaurant as they clearly don’t want us there.

As can be seen in the attached picture the kitchen does not close at the time we were informed due to the restaurant still taking reservations at 9pm/21:00, I guess as long as you...

I was very disappointed. When a restaurant has such a short drink and food menu I usually get excited- it means there is less room for error and they can concentrate on making those few dishes/drinks excellent. However, after multiple attempts of getting the server’s attention, parched, I finally ordered an Aperol Spritz and watched, with horror, as they opened a ready-made bottle of Aperol Spritz mix and filled my glass - and charged €8,50 for it. Next, you‘re probably wondering, “well? How was the chicken?” I wish I could tell you, but my spicy chicken sandwich barely had any chicken on it but was instead drenched in sauce and whatever else came with it. Although I was sitting at the bar I was hopeful to get serviced quickly, but instead servers joked around with each other and watched videos on their phones. It took forever to get another drink (this time a beer- I wasn’t going to order another overcharged bottle of mix drink). The beer was good and fresh. I had fries on the side (which were good) and slaw (also good), but the chicken I came for might have as well been from a fast food chain. My friend had a half-roast chicken (they said it was great) which I will try next time. I always like to try and give a place a second chance. I hope this experience was an exception.

**I forgot to add that they tried to brown the grilled whole chickens with a blow torch before serving, since they didn’t brown right...

Went here with the whole family during a day trip to Amsterdam. The three kids shared a whole chicken, I had half a chicken and my wife had a burger. We shared two bowls of fries with five. The food was excellent, the chicken tender and juicy, well-spiced but not too salty, and the burger was also very good. The fries were good, but not €4.50 good, and 21€/11€ for whole/half chicken are indeed on the expensive side but this is Amsterdam, the quality was really good and feeding a whole family of five for €80 including drinks and tip is no reason to complain in a country where main dishes usually start around €20.

The staff was really nice and friendly, explained the menu well to us and was really attentive. This is top-level service, thanks for making us feel welcome!

The interior is also nice and cozy, with the chickens being stage and center and filling the air with that nice chicken smell already as you come in, but not to a point where you feel like you need to change clothes immediately after leaving.

The minor tidbit is that the water tap in the toilets was broken so you couldn’t wash your hands before and after eating (essential for eating chicken!), but the staff handled this beautifully as well, handing out good wet tissues that got the job done.

Thanks for a nice meal, we’ll make sure to check back in next time we’re...