Cocktails, wine bars and dives: drinking in Berlin for grown-ups.
Cocktail bars, wine bars, dive bars and gastropubs: drinking in Berlin for grown-ups.
Buck and Breck on Berlin's Brunnenstrasse has run an unmarked speakeasy cocktail bar since 2010; 14 seats around a single bar, classic and pre-Prohibition.
DrinkBuck and Breck (Cognac and champagne)
FoodNone (drinks only)
TipUnmarked door, ring the bell. Reservations only via email; the bar opens at 19:00 with two seatings.
Bar Tausend on Berlin's Schiffbauerdamm runs an unmarked door under the train tracks at Friedrichstrasse station; the bar runs late, the cantina kitchen.
DrinkTausend No. 1 cocktail
FoodTausend Cantina restaurant attached
TipUnmarked door under the train tracks, the entrance is a side gate. The bar from 20:30 runs cocktails until 04:00.
Victoria Bar on Berlin's Potsdamer Strasse in Tiergarten has been the city's reference classic-cocktails bar since 2001; the long brass-and-leather room.
DrinkGreen Victoria (champagne cocktail)
FoodSmall plates
TipWalk-ups for the bar from 18:30; the back banquettes need a phone call. Closed-door cocktail school runs Monday afternoons.
Bar Bonvivant on Berlin's Goltzstrasse in Schoeneberg runs the city's reference vermouth bar with 50 bottles on the back wall; the cocktail list.
DrinkHouse vermouth on the rocks
FoodTapas and charcuterie
TipThe walk-up bar takes early-evening crowds; the back booth seats four and books online a week ahead.
Schwarze Traube on Muskauer Strasse in Kreuzberg has run a no-menu bespoke cocktail room since 2012; tell the bartender a spirit and a profile and they build.
DrinkBartender's choice cocktail
FoodNone
TipNo menu. Tell the bartender a spirit and a taste profile. Ring the bell, reservations by email; small room, 18 covers.
Velvet on Ganghoferstrasse in Neukoelln is a hyperseasonal cocktail room from a small team that resets the menu every week around foraged Berlin plants.
DrinkForaged-Berlin weekly menu
FoodSnacks only
TipThe menu rewrites weekly so ask the bartender what is on this week, and skip Tuesday (lab day).
The Curtain Club at the Ritz-Carlton on Potsdamer Platz runs an elegant cocktail room behind heavy drapes off the hotel lobby, the carte built around.
Drink1920s-era classics with live music
FoodBar snacks
TipHotel bar, smart-casual at minimum. Daily 18:00-01:00; the live-music nights pack the room early.
Windhorst on Berlin's Dorotheenstrasse near the Bundestag has run since 1991 with the same bartenders; the martini and the journalist regulars define.
DrinkVodka martini
FoodNone
TipSmoke-friendly room (rare in Berlin). The Vodka Martini is the canonical order; cash and card accepted.
Beckett's Kopf on Berlin's Pappelallee in Prenzlauer Berg has run a no-menu classic cocktail bar since 2004; the room is named after Samuel Beckett's head.
DrinkClassic cocktails (no menu)
FoodNone
TipNo menu. Tell the bartender what you like; the Old Fashioned and the Negroni are the room's defaults.
Lamm Bar on Berlin's Wisbyer Strasse at the northern edge of Prenzlauer Berg runs a craft cocktail bar local mixologists recommend to each other.
DrinkJurke (signature large-format cocktail)
FoodNone
TipOpen Mon-Sat 18:00-00:00 and Sun 17:30-23:30. Reservations for groups up to 15 until 20:00; otherwise walk-up to the bar.
Rum Trader on Fasanenstrasse is the oldest cocktail bar in Berlin, behind an unmarked black door trimmed in gold off Charlottenburg's Fasanenstrasse.
DrinkBespoke rum-based cocktails
FoodNo food, drinks only
TipRing the bell, dress up a touch, and let Scholl steer the round. Cash only, closed Sundays and Mondays.
Stagger Lee on Berlin's Nollendorfstrasse in Schoeneberg runs a 1920s American whiskey bar with 200 bourbons, the music is bluegrass and country.
DrinkBourbon Old Fashioned
FoodSnacks
TipClosed Sunday and Monday. The bourbon tasting flight of three is the order to start.
Thelonious on Berlin's Weserstrasse in Neukoelln runs a jazz-themed cocktail bar with live music three nights a week and an Old Fashioned program.
DrinkJazz Manhattan
FoodNone
TipLive jazz Thursday to Saturday from 21:00. The Manhattan is the room's signature order.
Reingold on Novalisstrasse in Mitte is a low-lit 1920s cocktail lounge favoured by Berlin's media and advertising crowd, classic-era drinks set to recorded.
DrinkClassic-era cocktails with jazz
FoodSnacks only
TipRing the bell, dress up a touch. Quieter mid-week before 22:00; the room fills late on weekends.
2 hours
Learn how to mix cocktails like a pro with a professional bartender. Enjoy a welcome drink and learn the art of mixology. Mix 3 different cocktails and learn about the...
2 hours
Fresh, aromatic, and full of flavor: The Garden Special will show you how to mix extraordinary drinks using herbs from your balcony or garden.
2 hours
Learn to mix mocktails like a pro. Our non-alcoholic cocktail class is perfect for anyone who wants to discover creative mocktails or non-alcoholic classics.