Leadership1 publisher3 min readPublished
Fabel Friet's TikTok queue puts a compliant chip shop's licence before an Amsterdam court
Amsterdam residents have taken the city to court over its licence for Fabel Friet, a TikTok-famous chip shop that 19 neighbours formally protested. A ruling due 12 November will test whether a shop that meets its queue and litter rules can still lose its licence.
The Board Room · Leadership desk
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What happened
- On busy days the queue for the Runstraat shop stretches across a bridge on the Keizersgracht, and the narrow street is crowded with waiting tourists seven days a week.
- Lead plaintiff Niek van der Heijden blames the takeaway's small size and wants the business moved to premises with enough room for customers inside.
- Christian Democratic Appeal councillor Rogier Havelaar said the shop should probably be offered a "flagship store" licence in a more suitable location.
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Why it matters
- precedent A ruling for the residents would mean a takeaway can meet its queue and litter conditions and still lose its licence over the effect its crowd has on neighbours.
- contradiction The owners cite a 23% fall in August visitors while the city's lawyer calls the impact severe, so the court has to decide whether smaller crowds are enough.
- decision The owners can move the Runstraat shop to larger premises on their own schedule before 12 November, or wait and risk a verdict that leaves the timing to the city.
The most difficult evidence for the owners came from the city's own lawyer. She told the court that Fabel Friet sticks to its licence obligations to manage the queue and clear litter, and then said: "it has been going on for a long time, the impact remains severe, and you have to ask: how long can we tolerate this?" [8] The power she cited lets the mayor refuse a licence when a business harms the "residential and living environment" [7]. That test is about the effect on the street. By the city's account, the shop has met its conditions and the effect has continued [8].
The owners' lawyer, Gertjan Teeuwen, made the case for the shop. "A few neighbours have experienced nuisance, but other people enjoy eating chips," he said. "It can be busy, but there are peaks and troughs." [11] The numbers give his point some support: 19 neighbours have formally protested the licence [4]. The plaintiffs' complaint is about where the customers wait. "What we call the 'TikTok queue' for Fabel Friet causes the most nuisance," said Niek van der Heijden, the lead plaintiff [6]. On busy days that queue crosses a bridge over the Keizersgracht [2].
The owners have already spent money on the problem. They say they employ a cleaning service four times a day, seven days a week [9], which comes to 28 visits a week [1]. They opened four new locations and say August visitor numbers fell 23% year on year afterwards [10]. Spreading demand across sites is the operator's version of what the plaintiffs want. Van der Heijden said: "We want Fabel to go to a place where there is enough room to have clients inside." [5] Rogier Havelaar, a Christian Democratic Appeal councillor, said the shop should probably be offered a "flagship store" licence somewhere more suitable [14]. The 23% is the owners' own figure. The city's lawyer still described the impact as severe [8].
So the owners face a choice about timing, and each option has a cost. Moving the Runstraat shop means giving up the street where the queue formed and paying for premises big enough to seat customers. Staying means waiting for the verdict on 12 November [15]. The city has said the ruling will guide what it does with the current licence [7]. If the ruling goes against the shop, the city decides when any move happens.
The verdict settles one licence this autumn. The argument behind it will take longer to settle. "This is a question of taking space, who owns the place and whether you can just use public space," said Lisa-Bobbie Kamp, a lawyer for the neighbours [12]. Havelaar said "tourism provides 70,000 jobs" and that "Amsterdam would have a gigantic financial problem if tourism went away" [13]. In my view the case applies to any takeaway whose queue stands on a public street in a city that licenses on residential effect, because the crowd a viral post brings waits on ground the business does not control. For now it is one shop in front of one court, and that court has not ruled [15].
What to watch
- The 12 November verdict, and whether the city then refuses or keeps Fabel Friet's current licence.
- Whether the owners or the council take up the "flagship store" licence for a larger site before the ruling.
- Whether other Amsterdam residents use the same residential-environment power to challenge licences of businesses that go viral.