Bars and bar culture in Berlin 2025: 7 new recommended venues

Rei Bar
© Jan-Peter Wulf

What bars and restaurants in the German capital serve great drinks? Read on for our recommendations for Berlin 2025!

Berlin already boasts a bar dedicated to the famous filmmaker Luis Buñuel – the legendary “Würgeengel” (The Exterminating Angel) in Kreuzberg. Like in the movie, some guests get lost in this place. Now, a second bar dedicated to this surrealist has joined the fray: independent Berlin film distributor “Neue Visionen” opened “Bar Buñuel” on Bergstraße in Mitte late last year – as a new meeting point for movie and cocktail lovers.

The interior features chic mid-century style design: velvet-upholstered chairs, green leather benches, black shiny tables, classical herringbone parquet flooring, all under the light of a chandelier. Alongside numerous classics the menu also features proprietary creations such as the “Buñueloni”, a negroni with a twist where “Punt e Mes” replaces the Campari, or the “Supergetränk” (Super Drink), a German Mojito made with Doppelkorn wheat schnapps. Prices are comparatively moderate – and smoking is allowed too, which would certainly have pleased the tobacco-loving namesake.

Bergstraße 25
www.instagram.com/bar.bunuel

Bunuel 
© Bar Bunuel

A place of superlatives: boasting 1,125 rooms the “Estrel” in Neukölln is Germany’s biggest hotel and currently also constructing Berlin’s highest building – the Estrel Tower rising to 176m. But there’s also something going on here in terms of bar culture here: spring saw the “New York Bar” open in the basement of the building.

With a blend of chic design, art from the in-house collection and creative drinks the people running this place want to attract not just hotel guests – many of whom travel to Berlin for meetings and congresses – but also Berliners to the hotel. Served here are cocktails like “Erddurchstechung” (Earth Piercing) made with whiskey, orange liqueur, IPA beer syrup, lemon juice and lemon curd, “First Girl Sitting On Bench” made with sake, rosé vermouth, orange blossom water, egg white, lime and soda or the mocktail “Jasmins Childhood” made with jasmine-tea cold brew, pineapple, lime and licorice. Snacks are also available at the bar.

Sonnenallee 225
www.estrel.com/de/hotel/restaurants-und-bars/new-york-bar/articles/die-new-york-bar

New York Bar
© Estrel Berlin

While the Estrel is constructing the city’s highest building, Berlin’s TV tower Fernsehturm – affectionately referred to as the “TV Asparagus” – remains the highest building. And it is now also becoming an exciting culinary destination again: June 2025 saw the new restaurant “Sphere” being opened by starred TV chef Tim Raue at a height of 200 metres. Solyanka, Königsberger Klopse (Königsberg meat balls), suckling pig knuckles, grilled chicken – the menu clearly focuses on (East) Berlin specialities.

The viewing platform on the floor below houses the “Sphere Bar” with its chic retro design. Served there are typical Berlin bar snacks such as currywurst with a bread roll or meatballs with cornichons and creamed mustard. Drinks range from the fancy “Sphere Bar Cocktail” (rum, raspberry vodka, strawberry syrup, cherry, and lemon juice) to “Beer Royal” (Porter, dry sparkling wine, currant juice). Classics such as Sour, Margarita and Espresso Martini are also on offer. This experience is anything but cheap – but it’s Germany’s highest bar after all.

Panoramastraße 1A
www.tv-turm.de/sphere-bar

Sphere Bar
© Berliner Fernsehturm 

Reichenberger Straße in Kreuzberg has become home to a little Japanese hotspot: while the “Buya Ramen Factory” serves home-made noodles in the backyard here, the same people have opened the “Rei Bar & Izakaya” in the street front – right next to the “Sake 36” run by techno-DJ Richie Hawtin.

Hardly visible from outside since its windows are covered with posters, the “Rei” surprises diners with a spacious yet cosy interior: dark furnishings, suspended wooden elements that structure the room. At the bar and the tables Japanese tapas such as tuna tataki, “Karaage” chicken bites or Pork & Tofu Gyoza are served. The cocktail menu features original creations like the “Employees Only” containing Yuzu, Fernet Branca, Aperol, vermouth and orange or “At The End Of Rei” with sesame shochu, Bourbon, shiitake mushrooms, cocoa and chocolate. The sound is excellent – thanks to turntables and large loudspeakers in the back of the room along the lines of Japanese Listening Bars. And there’s often live music, too.

Reichenberger Straße 36
www.instagram.com/reibar.berlin

Rei Bar
© Jan-Peter Wulf

The London company Kerb operates several successful food courts – and has now also arrived in Berlin: at the former cinema on Potsdamer Platz. In cooperation with some dozen Berlin food brands – including Moksa (Indian), Fräulein Kimchi (Korean) and Butter Bronson’s (Fried Chicken) – a versatile place for “munching” was created here.

They also brought “Pick & Cheese” along from London: cheese specialities on little plates pass eaters by like sushi on a conveyor belt. Kerb operates two bars – one in the basement and one on the first floor, the upper one boasting a big terrace. While the food is ordered at the stalls and picked up after a pager notification, the drinks are brought right to the table. The menu includes classics such as Negroni, Paloma and Gin Basil Smash as well as the quaffable “Berliner Spritz” mixed with Aperol and Berliner Weisse. The perfect venue to kick off your bar hopping.

Potsdamer Straße 2
www.kerbberlin.de

Kerb
© Jan-Peter Wulf

More and more restaurants in Berlin – especially the new ones–   treat their guests to high-quality cocktails. A particularly captivating example is Lo Fūfu on Kantstraße, which specialises in “Omakase Italiano”. The team serves a tasting menu on the stainless steel counter – completely in the style of Omakase dining concepts but with predominantly Italian ingredients. The team is made up of the former staff and manager at Italian restaurant “To The Bone” on Torstraße.

In addition to wine and sake there’s also an exciting cocktail selection: featuring “Umeshu” with the liqueur of the same name, Japanese whisky, PX Sherry and Bitters, “Dansu” with Reposado Tequila, sake, lime and Shichimi Togarashi or “Hanami Reviver” with Single Malt, Sakura liqueur, Verjus and Thai basil. The Japanese Amaro “Yuntaku” finally also completes the fusion of Italy and Japan – called Itameshi – in the glass.

Kantstraße 144
www.lofufu.com

Lo Fūfu 
© Romy Kaa

For some 25 years now Berlin has served as Germany’s capital again – the federal parliament moved from Bonn to the capital in 1999. In the days of the “Bonn Republic”,  “Bundesbüdchen” was a legendary kiosk where former chancellor Konrad Adenauer would buy his newspapers and where first green-party Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer is said to have purchased comics. The iconic kiosk still exists – but since summer there’s also been a restaurant of the same name right in the heart of Berlin with a bar counter that echoes the oval footprint of the original.

On offer is sophisticated German-Alpine cuisine with seasonal and regional ingredients – plus a cocktail menu with and without alcohol. “The Gardener”, for example, is mixed with with Pisco or with Undone No. 8 (made from fermented grapes) – add to this carrot-cardamom syrup and tonic. “Nordic Grove” comes either with gin-dill and a vodka-aniseed-fennel infusion or dill aniseed tea, gentian reduction and saline solution. Seats at the bar are “reserved” for walk-ins, by the way, meaning you can pop in for a spontaneous drink - though the food is also highly recommended, so make sure to order something à la carte to go with them.  

Hannoversche Straße 2
www.bundesbuedchenberlin.de

Bundesbüdchen
© contentley media _ Arash Farahani