Soundgarden

I was travelling alone, asked around for where might suit me, was recomended sound garden. Great place. I was taken in by a group as honarar friend...met loads of people. Lovely outdoor area by the canal. Friendly staff. The bouncer was was the highlight of my night, top guy!!! I'll be recommending this place to everyone.

You know you’re in the right place when everybody in there is under 30 and they’ve run out of Jägermeister! Cheap drinks and chill vibe is what we were after and is what we got. Making some friends along the way since they had a Foosball Table.

absolutely horrible experience . if i could give a zero i would. If you want the staff to take your drink from your hand walk away, verbally ASSAULT you, then come at you again, call you all kinds of names while you are just trying to communicate, and be absolutely patronized by the RUDEST and most unacceptable behavior possible, feel free to come i guess. we actually thought the staff were going to throw hands with us??? what is this? this behavior was absolutely unacceptable and disappointing. horrible place. extremely dirty and unwelcoming anyway. god knows whats going on in the bathrooms. would NOT recommend to my worst . do not even come close to this place if you dont want your night to be ruined. will not recommend to anybody. who do you think you are honestly? inhumane behavior yelling at a customers face when you are not in the right ONE BIT. if you dont want something to be done in your bar, you SAY IT. you warn people, ONCE!!!. you dont call them names that i am not allowed to type here, but pretty bad if you can imagine. you dont TAKE their drinks from their hand, you dont come and YELL at their face. they deserve the worst of the worst customers at your door for those two people working there. thats what you’re asking for. The drunk old man, and the younger guy with glasses. Buy a punching bag. And mouse traps for gods sake.

Nice Bar, very busy. One of the few bars in Amsterdam with an alternative touch, but still the same music as every rock/grunge bar in Europe, very predictable. Bonus point for the very nice terrace facing the canal and the comparable cheap beer (still at least 6 Euros for half litre).

Fun and energetic bar, good music. The pool table/foosball give it a social and open atmosphere, makes it easy to connect with other people around you. Special shoutout to the door guard Doc, she made me feel safe and welcome… we need more people like her in the nightscene!

Really cool place to hangout, nice terrace right next to the canal you smoke a joint and relax

This place was pretty darn nice. They do have a patio overlooking one of many canals, but I stayed inside at the bar. There is a very wide drink selection there aside from beers, but you should give a few of the beers a taste. I was told the Tripel (included in photos) was a local brew that is regularly delivered by the brewer. Tried it and wasn't disappointed!

Terrible experience. I’ve been to sound garden 4 or 5 times before, but the old feeble bartender and short Dutch waiter with glasses completely ruined the experience for the night. My friends unknowingly put their glass on the pool table because it was their first time there at the bar, and the old guy came and took it away which is fair, but then returned and swore and verbally abused my friends, while the ill-sighted waiter stood behind him nodding his head for some sort of validation. The act of putting the glass on the table is wrong, but escalating the situation and calling customers “— stupid” and “— crazy” is extremely unprofessional, and inhumane. A conversation followed up with the short waiter where he repeated himself 86 times without understanding that there was no need to swear at or insult a customer. Not to mention how dirty and poorly maintained the place— and the staff— is, broken glass in about every corner of the bar (which is pretty ironic considering how the bar cares so deeply about their precious property). If you come to sound garden and see either of the staff members with behavioral issues— or neither and you just come near this decrepit cesspit of an establishment if you can even call it that— leave or you might get called “stupid” for walking through the door wrong. Never coming back here again.

Heard about this place from an Anthony Bourdain recommendation, and made it a must-stop on my short visit to Amsterdam. Came on a Monday afternoon in October. Bartender was amazing - played a ton of his own music, which was off the charts. My new husband and I had an amazing time. Patio on the canal was as fantastic as other reviews mention. Beer selection was solid, regionally representative and decently priced. We drank mostly beer, but the shot pours were generous. Spent the better part of my one day in Amsterdam shooting the shit with the bartender or watching the boats go by on the patio: couldn't be happier with my choice. Side note: Bathroom reminded me of home in New York City: clean, well serviced and absolutely floor to ceiling graffiti. Which I love.

Seriously - my new favorite dive bar in Amsterdam - bar games (pool, pinball, table football) and it looks like they have an incredible patio for summer. Favorite time to go - lazy Saturday afternoon to drink the day away with friends, crushing them in foosball.

One of the few real rock and roll bars left in Amsterdam!! This place was a total mystery to me until someone decided to take me there very recently. It has a lovely back garden overlooking the gracht and inside is very spacious. They have a good beer selection, with brands away from mainstream breweries. As this place is very rock and roll the ambiance goes accordingly, and it could get messy towards the end of the evening. If that is not your kind of thing, Amsterdam has plenty of other choice for you. However if that is what you like, I cannot think of a better place for you in Amsterdam!

I've been visiting Cafe Soundgarden for at least 6 years and I have to say it's one of my favourite places in town - a proper no frills rock bar with no hint of pretentiousness at all. To the uninitiated it's very scruffy, scuzzy and a bit of a shit-hole but that's the actual charm of it. If I'm listening to kick ass rock, punk and everything in between, I don't want to be in a wine bar or somewhere that doesn't suit the vibe. The beer and booze selection is pretty decent and the tunes are always quality. There's a pool table in the side room to the back as well. Probably 15 mins walk from Dam Square, it's a nice area to get out of the main Dam Square/Red light area. The Funky Munky coffeeshop is across the road too if you need to get your chillaxing on!

Came here with a group of friends to grab a beer. This is a great divey place, and very relaxing atmosphere with pool tables as well as foostables. It reminded me a lot of college with the arcade games and the pool tables. Everyone seemed very friendly which is nice because I don't appreciate it when locals are standoffish. We also met locals to give us tips on where to go next. I even Facebook friended one of them so we could get tips from them while we were exploring the area. It was very handy to have the internet on our cell phones to reach out to them. The locals gave us tips on the night life, what pubs to hit up next, where some people could buy smokes and what areas to avoid. I will definitely be back next time since everyone is co there!

A very nice place with a warm and friendly staff, good drinks and great company. I found myself going there every evening for a pint, and pleasant company to wind down my day. There are live DJ events and popular music played, and the places out back where you can sit and watch the canal go by and relax. This place was AWESOME!! I will return every time I'm on holiday in Amsterdam.

Straight up dive bar with a Brooklyn feel. The back patio was a nice place to get some fresh air.

Love the vibe - reminds me of a bar I would see in Williamsburg. Chill vibe with a couple of tables in the front, there's a patio in the back with some tables as well. Juke box, pool tables and some arcade video game inside. Great place to hang out with friends - would come back again.

This is a bit of a hipster bar, if you feel like being in a grittier part of the scene. DJ (reggae, blues) and live music on the deck sometimes. Oh, the deck: Great, big, open space, for smoking or just sitting with a drink or a dog, watching the canal boats putter by. Inside the furniture is worn, probably on purpose; it's supposed to feel a little bit punk. I had beer there, not coffee, but they have a good espresso machine, so I'm optimistic.

If you've always wanted to go to a pub straight out from a Richard Linkeater's movie then this is the place you want to hang in. Great rock music (had a stereophonics album on), pinballs billiards and fusball. No smoking inside which is a plus and kind of new for a dive bar. I got a german weiss pint (7.1%) for 4.50E. Enjoy.

Like it here overall. Terrace overlooking the water in summer, indoor seating w good band paintings inside. Could be a grest space... its a bit downmarket. Pretentious? Well, staff a bit rude which I consider tryhard. Dont they realise alternative people can be friendly, and should be to their own! Dutch service overall still finding its feet... opportunity. Good music and cheap, so overlook the bollocks.

We call this place budels and honestly it is a better name than soundgarden. The Stimulo beer is excellent. Big deck in the back and has a pool table.