free_phil_spector wrote: Tue 12th Aug 2025 03:25 pm
Nice thread. I can add two I visited in the late 90s, both on Nieuwendijk...
Blues Brothers. Bar on ground floor serving drinks (almost certain this included alcohol but distant memories and all that). We spent an afternoon chilling in here and it was very nice. We bought hash from the budtender located upstairs and then plotted up on some bar stools downstairs where we spent an enjoyable couple of hours drinking (beers?), smoking hash, chatting with the bartender and listening to some excellent 60s/70s rock. A fine time. The bar itself wasn't Blues Brothers themed but I'm damn certain (with no evidence other than my dodgy memory) that the toilet was decked out in the graffiti advertising the Blues Brothers show which you see in a toilet in the movie (if that makes sense).
La Canna. Polar opposite of BB. Large, loud, brash and just all a bit too 'America pool hall' for me. It was three storeys! Don't think I ever bought weed in there but it was so stand-out noticeable on that street that we popped in a couple of times to rest our aching legs, grab a beer and smoke some pot. A nothing place really, but I guess kind of handy in its own way.
Blues Brothers
https://www.coffeeshopdirect.com/BluesBrother.html
I loved Blues Brothers Coffeeshop. Could smoke your own stash very easily if you could get a seat downstairs.
I remember sitting downstairs at the back of the shop one morning watching cartoons on the telly on my first trip. I also liked sitting at the front window on the stools, people watching. It was a great location.
I was gutted when I found it closed as it wasn't on the school closure list or the red light closure list, so I presume the council just didn't renew their licence so they could get rid of another coffeeshop on Nieuwendijk. It turned into a crappy pasta place. No idea what it is now.
Here’s a photo of a very run down looking Blues Brothers Coffeeshop in the mid 90s
IMG_0431.jpeg
La Canna
https://www.coffeeshopdirect.com/Canna.html
Here's some old pics for you @free_phil_spector
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They even advertised on the trams back in the day!
Screenshot_20250712_142633_Chrome.jpg
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Betty boop...Rockerij....La Canna...Baba's when it was on the corner at warmostraat...coffeeshop Anyday....
