Restaurant in Saint-Gilles, Belgium
Two Michelin Plates. Grills worth the €€€.
Colonel Louise holds two consecutive Michelin Plates (2024–2025) and a 4.5-star Google rating across more than 1,500 reviews, making it the clearest Michelin-backed address for meats-and-grills cooking in Saint-Gilles. At €€€, it rewards a deliberate weekend lunch or brunch visit rather than a casual drop-in. Booking is easy, so a few days' notice is usually enough — even on weekends.
Colonel Louise earns its two consecutive Michelin Plates (2024 and 2025) with a focused meats-and-grills menu that holds up well at the €€€ price point for Saint-Gilles. If you are in the neighbourhood looking for a serious carnivore-forward weekend meal — particularly a brunch or weekend lunch where the kitchen's fire-driven cooking is at its most compelling — this is the address to book. It is not the cheapest option on the street, but the Michelin recognition and a 4.5-star Google rating across more than 1,500 reviews signal consistent execution rather than a one-off reputation.
Colonel Louise sits on Rue Jean Stas 24 in Saint-Gilles, one of Brussels' most food-saturated inner communes, where the density of credible restaurants per block is genuinely high. In that context, holding a Michelin Plate two years running in a cuisine category , meats and grills , that rewards technique over trendiness says something about the kitchen's discipline. Grill-focused cooking lives or dies on sourcing and fire management, and the sustained critical acknowledgement suggests both are treated seriously here.
For the explorer-type diner visiting Saint-Gilles, the weekend service at Colonel Louise is the moment to prioritise. A brunch or weekend lunch format at a grill-driven restaurant tends to show the kitchen at a different register than dinner: the pacing is slower, the service less pressured, and the smoke and char aromas that define the cuisine are if anything more pronounced when you're arriving with fresh appetite rather than at the end of a long evening. If the smell of a live-fire kitchen is something that orients you toward a meal rather than away from it, this is the address that delivers that experience in Saint-Gilles.
The price tier is €€€, which in Brussels inner-commune terms typically lands between €60 and €90 per person with wine. That positions Colonel Louise as a considered spend rather than a casual drop-in, and the format rewards treating it as the main event of a weekend afternoon rather than a quick bite between other plans. Compared to the broader field of Michelin-recognised restaurants in Belgium , including heavier-investment options like Hof van Cleve - Floris Van Der Veken in Kruishoutem, Boury in Roeselare, or Zilte in Antwerp , Colonel Louise represents a more accessible entry point into Michelin-acknowledged quality without requiring a cross-country trip or a multi-course dinner commitment.
If you want to benchmark this kind of focused grill cooking against other Belgian specialists in the category, Carcasse in Sint-Idesbald and Damini Macelleria & Affini in Arzignano offer useful comparison points , though neither is local to Saint-Gilles. Within the commune, Colonel Louise is currently the clearest destination address for meat-focused cooking with external validation behind it.
For context on the Brussels fine-dining register more broadly, Bozar Restaurant in Brussels operates at a different cuisine register but sits in the same city-centre conversation. Further afield in Belgium, Willem Hiele in Oudenburg and Bartholomeus in Heist represent coastal fine-dining poles that attract a different travel calculus altogether.
The Google rating of 4.5 across 1,526 reviews is particularly useful here. At that volume, the score is not inflatable by a handful of enthusiastic regulars , it reflects a wide base of diners whose aggregate experience is consistently positive. That kind of score at a €€€ price point in a competitive urban food district is a stronger signal than a handful of press quotes.
Address: Rue Jean Stas 24, 1060 Saint-Gilles, Belgium. Cuisine: Meats and Grills. Price range: €€€ (expect €60–€90 per person with wine, based on category norms). Reservations: Booking is rated Easy , you do not need weeks of lead time, but weekend brunch and lunch slots fill faster than weekday dinner, so book a few days ahead for weekend visits. Booking method: Not specified in available data , check the venue directly or via a standard reservation platform. Dress code: Not specified; Saint-Gilles casual-smart is a safe call for a €€€ grill restaurant. Hours: Not confirmed in available data , verify before travelling.
If you are building a Saint-Gilles itinerary around this meal, Pearl has full guides to help: our full Saint-Gilles restaurants guide, Saint-Gilles hotels, Saint-Gilles bars, Saint-Gilles wineries, and Saint-Gilles experiences. Other Saint-Gilles restaurants worth considering depending on your mood: ANJU (Korean Contemporary), Dolce Amaro (Italian), Flamme (Country cooking), iOda (Vegetarian), and Atelier Acqua e Sale.
Bar seating availability is not confirmed in the available data. Call ahead or check directly with the venue if counter or bar dining is important to your plan , it is worth asking, given that grill-focused restaurants frequently have some form of counter access near the kitchen.
Booking is rated Easy, so you are unlikely to need more than a week's notice for most slots. That said, weekend brunch and lunch at a Michelin Plate restaurant in a popular inner-Brussels commune will fill faster than midweek dinner. Book 3–5 days ahead for weekend visits to be safe, especially if you have a fixed group size or time preference.
Specific menu format and pricing are not confirmed in the available data, so a direct verdict on a tasting menu is not possible here. What the Michelin Plate recognition and 4.5 Google score across 1,500-plus reviews does suggest is that the kitchen delivers consistent quality at the €€€ tier. If a tasting format is available, the grills-focused cuisine means it will likely emphasise fire technique and sourcing over multi-element composed plates , worth knowing before you commit if that is or is not what you are after.
Yes, with the right expectations. Two consecutive Michelin Plates and a high-volume Google rating make it a credible choice for a celebratory meal , the external validation is there to back up the spend. The €€€ price point means it reads as a deliberate occasion dinner rather than a casual eat. For a special occasion that calls for more theatrical service depth or a longer tasting format, you might weigh it against Bozar Restaurant in Brussels or make a day of it at a regional destination like Boury in Roeselare. For a Saint-Gilles-based special occasion dinner without the travel, Colonel Louise is the clearest Michelin-backed option in the meats and grills category.
At the same €€€ tier, Dolce Amaro gives you Italian rather than grill-focused cooking , useful if your group has mixed preferences on meat. For something more casual and lower spend, ANJU (Korean Contemporary) and iOda (Vegetarian) both operate at €€, which makes them easier on a group budget. Flamme offers country cooking if you want fire-adjacent comfort without the Michelin positioning. See our full Saint-Gilles restaurants guide for the complete picture.
| Venue | Price | Booking Difficulty | Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Colonel Louise | €€€ | Easy | — |
| La Buvette | €€€ | Unknown | — |
| La Charcuterie | €€ | Unknown | — |
| Nénu | €€ | Unknown | — |
| ANJU | €€ | Unknown | — |
| Dolce Amaro | €€€ | Unknown | — |
Comparing your options in Saint-Gilles for this tier.
Bar seating details are not confirmed in available venue data for Colonel Louise. At a Michelin Plate-recognised meats-and-grills format at the €€€ price point, most comparable Brussels restaurants of this calibre operate primarily table service. Contact them directly at Rue Jean Stas 24 to confirm counter or bar availability before assuming walk-in bar dining is an option.
Book at least two to three weeks ahead for weekends. Colonel Louise holds consecutive Michelin Plates for 2024 and 2025, which drives steady demand in an already food-dense Saint-Gilles neighbourhood. Midweek tables are more accessible, but at €€€ pricing, this is not a restaurant where last-minute availability is reliable. Booking ahead is the safer call.
Tasting menu availability and pricing are not confirmed in the venue data, so a direct verdict on format value is not possible here. What the data does support: Colonel Louise carries two consecutive Michelin Plates (2024–2025) for a meats-and-grills concept at €€€, suggesting the core offering holds up at that price tier. Check current menu format when booking.
Yes, with the right expectations. Two consecutive Michelin Plates (2024 and 2025) and a €€€ price point make it a credible choice for a celebratory dinner in Saint-Gilles, provided the occasion suits a focused meats-and-grills format rather than a multi-course tasting experience. If you need more format flexibility or a broader menu, look at other Saint-Gilles options first.
La Buvette is the go-to if you want a more wine-forward, neighbourhood bistro feel at a lower price point. La Charcuterie suits those prioritising charcuterie and casual sharing plates. For a departure from meat-led menus, Nénu, ANJU, and Dolce Amaro each cover different cuisines within easy reach in Saint-Gilles and inner Brussels. Colonel Louise is the stronger call specifically for grills at a Michelin-recognised level.
Keep this venue in your Pearl passport, rate it after you visit, and track it alongside every other place you collect.
