BERLIN’S TOP 50 EATERIES 2020
your ultimate food bucket list
Dec 10th, 2020
Dear Reader,
Welcome to the 5th edition of my very favorite places to eat in Berlin right now – the list of the BFS TOP 50 EATERIES 2020! People always ask me for my favourite restaurant in Berlin, but it’s impossible for me to name just one – so I figured I give you 50 instead!
This year, marked by pandemic lockdowns and restrictions, has certainly been a complicated year for Berlin gastronomy and for a long time I contemplated, whether it made sense at all to publish this list in a year where restaurants really just are happy to be alive. I decided it did make sense, just to add a bit of normality and good vibes to this forsaken year.
The 2020 list features 10 new entries and features plenty of eating inspiration for everyone, from Michelin star experiences to bakeries and holes-in-the-wall street food joints, all according to my principles that a meal’s greatness always should be held to the same standards, regardless of its price: It all comes down to quality, execution and consistency.
Berlin’s Top Eatery list is a list for very serious eaters, who always travel the extra mile for a great meal. It’s a list that dives into the heart of contemporary dining culture in Berlin, and although it can be used by visitors and locals alike, it was specifically conceived for people living in Berlin as the ultimate restaurant bucket list for 2021 when restaurants open up again..
Makes sure to look out for the blue Berlin’s Top 50 Eateries 2020 sticker in restaurant windows and doors all across town and treat it like a beacon of good food hope by celebrating these food heroes of Berlin and paying them a visit. With no further ado, behold the Berlin Food Stories Top 50 Restaurants 2020 in full glory (in NO particular order or ranking):
Adana Grillhaus
Home of Turkish Grill House love
Albatross
Category leader of contemporary baking
Annelies
Taking the Berlin breakfast to unfathomed levels
Barra
The very cool expat neighborhood restaurant
Burgermeister
Trusted smash burger dealer
CODA
Dessert fine dining traiblazer
Chung King Noodles
Chinese Chili Noodle revelations
Da Jia Le
Chinese Dongbei style epiphanies
Ernst
Path-defining fine dining putting Berlin on the world food map
Einstein Unter Den Linden
Big city Austrian finer dining
Estelle
Sourdough pizza neighborhood restaurant
Fine Bagels
Bagel perfection
Gazzo
Sustainable and highly entertaining pizza eating
Goldies
Frying with fine dining expertise
Grill Royal
Notorious celebrity hangout and fine steak house
Güllü Lahmacun
Exceptional Turkish Manti and Gözleme
Hallmann & Klee
The modern German dining benchmark
Heno Heno
West Berlin Soba and Udon oasis
Horváth
Neo-Austrian fine dining
Khao Taan
Next level Thai style family dining
Khwan
Eclectic and open fire-cooked Thai food
Kin Dee
Michelin star Thai dining with local ingredients
Kumpel & Keule Speisewirtschaft
Meat-centric, next gen casual German
Lebensmittel in Mitte
Exceptional, classic Southern German lunch fare
Lino’s BBQ
Fine Texas BBQ
Liu
Chengdu style noodles and dumplings
Lode & Stijn
The Dutch take on contemporary casual fine dining
Madame Ngo
The mesmerizing Vietnamese Pho Dealer
Malafemmena
Classic Neapolitan style fare
Malakeh
Contemporary Syrian eating
Mangiare
Groundbreaking Neapolitan pizzas
Meet You
Chinese breakfast revelations
Michelberger Hotel
Contemporary farm to table hotel restaurant eating
MINE
Extravagant finer Italian eating
Mogg
Extraordinary Jewish deli and home to the best pastrami
Mrs Robinson’s
Extravagant, multi-faceted and utterly trailblazing fine dining
Nobelhart & Schmutzig
Regional and produce focused revolution of Berlin fine dining
Otto
Contemporary German Eating with neighborhood roots
ORA
Simple dining in the extravagant setting of an 1860’s pharmacy
Örnek
Category defining Lahmacun baking
Rocket + Basil
Schöneberg’s freshest neo-Persian lunch offering
893 Ryotei
The cool Nikkei Japanese West Berlin Finer Dining experience
Sasaya
Classic Japanese eating
Shiori
Japanese Omakase experience
Sironi
Italian baked goods dreams
Smart Deli
Japanese deli love
Standard Pizza
Neapolitan style pizza perfection
St. Bart
Modern gastropub dreams
Thai Art
Classic and simple Thai fare
Tulus Lotrek
Extravagant fun fine dining