What to eat in Berlin

Berlin food is eaten with one hand: a döner from a Turkish-run stand, a currywurst from an imbiss and a Pfannkuchen from a bakery, each with a short history and a few addresses worth the walk. The döner as a sandwich reached West Berlin in the early 1970s and Konnopke's has sold currywurst in East Berlin since 1960, so what you eat here is the city's postwar history. The daily bill and the Späti deposit are on the budget page.

Döner, and the queue on Mehringdamm

The döner as a sandwich in flatbread is credited to Kadir Nurman, who sold it in West Berlin in 1972, though the claim is widely disputed. The first Berlin version held little more than meat, onions and a bit of salad. Today you are asked about salad, sauces and chilli, and the median price at a snack bar is €7.

The best-known stand is Mustafa's Gemüse Kebap at Mehringdamm 33 in Kreuzberg, which Tarik Kara opened in 2005. In July 2025 it moved from the kiosk at number 32 to number 33, because construction had started behind the kiosk. The chicken döner with vegetables comes with a queue of 30 to 45 minutes, which is normal.

Outside Kreuzberg there are Imren Grill at Karl-Marx-Strasse 75 in Neukölln, open daily from 9:00 to 3:00, and Rüyam Döner at Schönhauser Allee 44a in Prenzlauer Berg, next to Konnopke's.

Getting aroundThe U6 and U7 meet at Mehringdamm, and how you get home from there at night is on the transport page:Getting around Berlin →

Konnopke's Imbiss, at Schönhauser Allee 44B under the elevated railway in Prenzlauer Berg, has been open since 1930 and has sold currywurst since 1960. It is open Tuesday to Friday from 11:00 to 18:00 and Saturday from 12:00 to 19:00, and closed on Sunday and Monday.

Curry 36 has stood at Mehringdamm 36 since 1980, open daily from 9:00 until 5:00 in the morning, with sausage with or without casing and a vegan version. It has further counters at Zoologischer Garten, the Hauptbahnhof and Warschauer Strasse. The average price of the cheapest portion at Berlin snack stands is €3.63, almost a euro less than in Hamburg.

3 daysPrenzlauer Berg is lunch on day 3 of the plan:Berlin in 3 days →

Markthalle Neun, and Thursday

The Markthalle Neun market hall at Eisenbahnstrasse 42 in Kreuzberg was renovated in 2011, and independent vendors sell locally and regionally produced food in it. The weekly market runs Friday from 12:00 to 18:00 and Saturday from 10:00 to 18:00, and a breakfast market takes place on the third Sunday of the month from 10:00 to 17:00. On Thursday from 17:00 to 22:00 comes Street Food Thursday, where independent cooks sell dishes from around the world. The nearest U-Bahn is Görlitzer Bahnhof on the U1 and U3, 400 metres away.

Where to stayKreuzberg as a place to sleep, not only to eat:Where to stay in Berlin →

A jam doughnut with no hole is called a Berliner in most of Germany and a Pfannkuchen in Berlin, a word that means a pancake in the rest of the country, so use the local name at the bakery counter. It is made from yeast dough with eggs, milk and butter, fried in lard and filled with jam. Berliners traditionally eat it on New Year's Eve and at carnival, when a few are filled with mustard as a joke.

Hidden gemsThe Sunday flea markets at Mauerpark and on the RAW site:Berlin with an address: a listening station and a river pool →

To drink, and one dish to sit down to

Berliner Weisse is a cloudy, sour wheat beer of about 3.5% alcohol. It was the most popular drink in the city in the late 19th century, brewed by up to fifty breweries, and only two were left by the end of the 20th. It is served mit Schuss, with a shot of raspberry syrup (Himbeersirup) or woodruff syrup (Waldmeister). Among the heavy dishes, Berlin serves its Eisbein, cured ham hock, with pease pudding.

BudgetThe Späti deposit, tipping and the counters that take only cash:What Berlin costs →

Day tripsLunch out of town, in Potsdam or the Spreewald:Day trips from Berlin →

When to goThe Christmas markets and the summer evenings are placed in the year on the when-to-go page.The best time to visit Berlin →