Where to Eat in Berlin: The Casual Spots We Kept Going Back To

We've eaten in Berlin across three separate trips, and never once dressed up for it. This list is what came out of that: casual spots we kept returning to, plus a couple of well-known names we haven't tried ourselves but that came up often enough in our research to include.

Berlin doesn't demand much when it comes to food. It's affordable, it's not fussy, and reservations are rarely necessary for the kind of casual places we gravitate toward, especially when we're traveling with Dylan.

Where We Actually Ate

Zollpackhof

Elisabeth-Abegg-Str. 1 · Website

We went to Zollpackhof after a full day of sightseeing and it worked perfectly for that. Expect big portions, German food and a busy beer-hall atmosphere near the Reichstag and Spree.

Kaufhaus des Westens (KaDeWe) Food Hall

Tauentzienstr. 21–24 · Website

We ended up here more than once. The top-floor food hall is massive but somehow still easy to navigate, with everything from Italian pasta and pizza to seafood, pastries and sit-down counters. It's a good option when nobody can agree on what they want.

Good Friends

Kantstr. 30 · Website

A Cantonese spot that's an easy choice after a long day out. Fast, comforting and reliable, especially when you want something familiar that still feels local rather than like a tourist stop.

Kuchi Kant

Kantstr. 30 · Website

A solid Japanese option a few doors down from Good Friends, with a lively, not-fussy atmosphere. Exactly what we wanted on a night we didn't feel like being quiet.

Aroma

Warschauer Str. 62 · Website

Fast noodle soup and dumplings near Hackescher Markt. Not fancy, but great when you need something quick and warm between stops.

Brammibal's Donuts

Multiple locations · Website

Vegan donuts that don't taste vegan. We stopped twice. That's all that needs to be said.

Places We Want to Try Next

We haven’t eaten at these yet, but they kept coming up while we were researching Berlin restaurants for future trips. We’re including them separately so there’s no confusion about what we’ve actually tried.

Curry 36

Mehringdamm 36 · Website

One of Berlin’s best-known currywurst stands and somewhere we still haven’t managed to try. It’s near Mehringdamm, so we’d pair it with other stops in Kreuzberg rather than crossing the city just for lunch.

Zeit für Brot

Alte Schönhauser Str. 4, Mitte · Website

Known for its cinnamon rolls and other baked pastries. There are several locations, including one in Mitte, which makes it an easy coffee and pastry stop while sightseeing.

Mustafa's Gemüse Kebap

Mehringdamm 33 · Website

The famous vegetable kebab stand on Mehringdamm. The line can be long, which is probably why we still haven’t tried it, but it remains on our list for a future trip.

Monsieur Vuong

Alte Schönhauser Str. 46 · Website

A casual Vietnamese restaurant in Mitte with a small rotating menu. We haven’t eaten here yet, but the location would make it easy to combine with a day around Hackescher Markt and Museum Island.

The Barn

Auguststraße 58 · Website

Berlin has plenty of serious coffee shops, and The Barn is one we’d like to try next time. There are several locations, including one on Auguststraße in Mitte.

Map: Where to Eat in Berlin

Practical Tips for Eating in Berlin

Reservations: Most of the places we ate were casual and we didn’t need reservations. For more formal restaurants, especially Friday and Saturday nights, I’d book ahead.

Prices: Berlin was reasonably priced compared with many other major European cities we’ve visited. Casual Asian restaurants, bakeries and takeaway food make it easy to eat without spending a lot.

Getting around: Don’t choose restaurants on the opposite side of the city just because they’re famous. Berlin is huge. We usually ate somewhere near whatever we were doing that day.

What we’d order again: German food and beer at Zollpackhof, something different from the KaDeWe food hall and basically any donut at Brammibal’s.

Wondering where to base yourself for easy access to most of this list? See our Where to Stay in Berlin guide.

Want more from our Berlin trips? In our 48 Hours in Berlin episode, we talk about what we did, where we ate and the places we’d go back to, along with the parts of the city that worked best for us.