Is the car park at Chez Clément free?
By Lorenzo Eeman, Brasserie Chez Clément · Updated 2026-05-21
Quick answer
Yes, the car park directly opposite Brasserie Chez Clément is entirely free. There is no ticket machine, no parking disc obligation and no time limit during opening hours, which is an unusual convenience this close to Brussels.
For visitors arriving from cities where every kerb seems to require a contactless payment, the free car park at Chez Clément is a genuine relief. There is no ticket machine to find, no smartphone app to install, no parking disc to display. You simply park, cross the road, and walk the ten metres to the brasserie's front door. The car park is open during the brasserie's opening hours, which, given that the bar runs continuously from noon until 1 a.m., effectively covers the whole day and most of the night.
The free, unlimited nature of the car park is a deliberate part of the brasserie's identity. Marie and Gilles Verleyen, the fifth-generation owners of the family business since 2021, have inherited a tradition that values frictionless hospitality. Henri and Sidonie Clément opened the original inn in 1858 with the same philosophy: travellers stopping at “Bruyère à la Croix” expected to leave their horses and carriages without worrying about extra fees on top of the meal.
From a practical perspective, the car park is large enough to absorb the brasserie's typical weekly volume, more than 1,400 covers a week across two services per day, with up to 250 guests for a private event. Even on the busiest evenings (the famous “Thursday disco nights” with DJ, the annual September Pétanque tournament, autumn Raclette nights with invited Swiss cheese-makers), the car park has enough capacity that most guests find a spot without hunting.
One British-friendly note: there is no obligation to validate parking by spending a minimum amount in the restaurant, no “parking voucher” system, and no surveillance camera to check whether you are an actual customer. The car park is run as a service to the brasserie's guests and the neighbourhood, in the relaxed Walloon countryside style.
- Cost: entirely free, all day and all evening.
- Ticket or disc required: no, nothing to display in your windscreen.
- Time limit: none during brasserie opening hours.
- Validation system: none, you do not need to be a customer of the brasserie to use it, though it is intended primarily for guests.
- Surface: open-air tarmac car park, well lit in the evening.
- Access at night: open as long as the bar is serving (until approximately 1 a.m.).
- Distance to brasserie entrance: ten metres, one short crossing of Rue de la Bruyère.
Park for free, walk ten metres, sit down to a proper Belgian brasserie lunch, book your table on brasseriechezclement.be/reservation.