The places at a glance
| Place | Type | Address | Checked hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| Konditorei Buchwald | Pastry shop and tearoom since 1852 | Bartningallee 29, 10557 Berlin | Daily 11am-6pm |
| Café Einstein Unter den Linden | Viennese-style café | Unter den Linden 42, 10117 Berlin | Monday-Friday 8am-10pm, Saturday 10am-10pm, Sunday 10am-6pm |
| Father Carpenter | Roaster and café | Münzstraße 21, 10178 Berlin | Monday-Friday 9am-4pm, weekends 10am-5pm |
| Silo Coffee | Australian-style café | Gabriel-Max-Straße 4, 10245 Berlin | Monday-Friday 9:30am-3:30pm, weekends 9:30am-5pm |
Kaffee und Kuchen, a Berlin ritual
"Kaffee und Kuchen" means the afternoon coffee and cake, to be enjoyed sitting down. You choose a slice from the display (fruit tarts, curd cheesecakes, chocolate cakes) with a coffee or tea. A Konditorei is a traditional pastry shop with a tearoom. The jam-filled doughnut that Berliners call a Pfannkuchen (a "Berliner" elsewhere in Germany) is presented in our guide what to eat in Berlin.
Konditorei Buchwald, home of the Baumkuchen
Konditorei Buchwald has been in business since 1852. It is at Bartningallee 29, in the Hansaviertel. Its specialty is the Baumkuchen, a layered cake prepared in the Cottbus style; it also serves tarts, cakes, pastries, ice cream, coffees and teas. The tearoom has a creaking parquet floor and old-fashioned décor. It is open daily from 11am to 6pm, with a two-week summer closure (weeks 29 and 30 according to its website): confirm before coming in July.
Café Einstein Unter den Linden, the Viennese-style café
Café Einstein, Unter den Linden 42, is a Viennese-style café founded in 1996 by Gerald Uhlig, taken over and renovated in early 2016. People come for coffee and cake, for breakfast and for its Wiener Schnitzel. It is open Monday to Friday from 8am to 10pm, Saturday from 10am to 10pm and Sunday from 10am to 6pm. It is a handy stop in Mitte, between the Brandenburg Gate and the Berlin Cathedral.
Café Kranzler, a name from history
Café Kranzler opened in 1834 on Unter den Linden. Its Kurfürstendamm branch became an emblematic address of West Berlin after the war. Our guide to the Kurfürstendamm places the avenue. We could not check the current hours of this address: find out before you go.
Roastery coffee shops
From the 2010s onwards, Berlin saw roastery cafés open in the Australian or Scandinavian spirit. Silo Coffee, Gabriel-Max-Straße 4, in Friedrichshain, open since 2013, launched the trend of Australian café culture in the capital. Father Carpenter, Münzstraße 21, in Mitte, is both a roaster and a café, and has served breakfast and lunch since 2015. To eat more than coffee, see our guide to brunch in Berlin.
Practical tips
- Time: Kaffee und Kuchen is taken in the early afternoon; small establishments close early, often around 6pm.
- Tipping: round up by announcing the sum when you pay, as our guide to paying in Berlin explains.
- Cash: some small establishments prefer cash; keep some on you.
- Closures: some small establishments, like Buchwald, close for two weeks in summer.
Going further
To combine a sweet break with shopping, see our guide to Berlin's markets and the Marheineke Markthalle food hall. The KaDeWe also has a large gourmet floor. To plan the cost of your breaks, our guide to the budget in Berlin will help.
