Buletten are Berlin's hand-shaped meat patties: minced beef or pork-and-beef bound with onion, soaked bread, egg and parsley, pan-fried until deeply browned on the outside and juicy within.
Buletten arrived in Berlin from French Huguenot refugees in the late 17th century, who brought the term boulette (small ball) from their Paris kitchens. By the 18th century, the dish had become a Prussian working-class staple. Buletten were standard Imbiss food across Berlin's 19th-century factory districts and remained a kneipe and butcher-counter classic through both world wars. The 1950s East-West Berlin split saw the dish hold steady on both sides of the wall, with the GDR's HO-Gaststaetten serving Buletten as a staple lunch protein. The version is hot or cold, with mustard or potato salad on the side; many Berlin butchers still cook Buletten daily at the counter.
3 editor picks for Buletten in Berlin, ranked by editorial score. All Berlin signature dishes · Buletten across every city.
Konnopke's Imbiss ★ 4.6
prenzlauer-berg · Schoenhauser Allee 44B, 10435 Berlin
Konnopke's Imbiss under the Eberswalder Strasse U-Bahn arch has cooked currywurst at this Prenzlauer Berg site since 1930. At Schoenhauser Allee 44B.
Lutter und Wegner ★ 4.2
mitte · Charlottenstrasse 56, 10117 Berlin
Lutter und Wegner on Berlin's Gendarmenmarkt has cooked the city's traditional Wiener Schnitzel since 1811; the wood-panelled room runs the long lunch.
Zum Schusterjungen ★ 4.1
prenzlauer-berg · Danziger Strasse 9, 10435 Berlin
Zum Schusterjungen on Danziger Strasse in Prenzlauer Berg serves unchanged Berlin tavern cooking: Buletten with potato salad, Gulaschsuppe and Eisbein.