In a perfect world, family friendly restaurants would include delicious food, a playground, varied entertainment, a tailored menu, an ice cream parlor AND an on-call nanny, BUT here in reality they mostly boast a coloring book with 3 broken pencils and, if you’re lucky, about half of a puzzle.
With this in mind, I’ve put together a list of restaurants where there’s enough going on to be able to keep everyone happy for a significant amount of time. In particular I'd like to give a shout out to the Beer Gardens, the true MVPs for families; don’t miss out if you want a relaxed day out and love coming home covered in ketchup and sand. But as summer is short lived, here are a few more options in no particular order where you can bring the little ones and not get the stink eye. I will reluctantly share that Estelle Dining is my favorite spot from the list. I hope to still be able to get a table once the word is out.
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Estelle
What makes this place so great? It ticks all the boxes, food: delicious, kid friendly: definetely, coloring pages, some toys: yes, is there a playground right next to it? You betcha. This is where you come to have a truly enjoyable meal for the whole family.
If you love food and have kids, this is the place! There's a playground right next door! Their weekday lunch and weekend brunch are the highlights.
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Zur Haxe
Zur Haxe is an old Berlin institution and they do a great job at making you feel welcome. The staff is actually happy to see your kids, they'll bring out some coloring materials and a special menu for the littles. The place is covered floor to ceiling with many cool artifacts, this will keep older kids entertained, but as a warning it can get challenging with smaller ones that will want to grab it all!
Super friendly service! They have coloring pages and crayons for kids and an adorable collection of German knick knacks to accompany a comforting traditional meal.
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Gasthaus Alt Wien
Another restaurant with traditional hearty meals, fantastic schnitzel, and is loud and joyful enough to make the kids feel fine with being kids. They have some children's books to help entertain them, and I'm still to find a kid who doesn't like "Pommes" aka fries.
Make sure to reserve a table in advance and get the legendary Kaiserschmarrn for dessert.
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Standard Serious Pizza
This makes it into the list because well, it's pizza (one of Berlin's best ones too) but where it stands out for famlies is that they do great kids' pizzas, there's some lovely outside seating and it's just across the street from a huge playground where you can send your kids off to play.
Check out the extensive (natural) wine list and make sure to get at least one pizza from the daily specials
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Ma-Makan
Ma-Makan might not be your most obvious kid friendly place BUT the food is delish and it's nice to get a break from sausages and pizza -- they have fried rice which should work and little coconut jam sandwiches, yumm. The greatest thing though is that it's right on Lausizter Platz, a car free zone, with a gigantic playground in the middle, where the kids, even smaller ones, can roam off risk-free.
Order the Ayam Goreng Chicken Wings and bring your kids, it's opposite a lovely playground in a car free Platz.
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Anleger zum Eierhäuschen
This beer garden deserves a special mention on the list as it's truly a step above all the others, foodwise. If you want to have fantastic food and want to enjoy the relaxation only an outdoors spot can bring, this is the place for you. If you need more time for another beer just send the kids out to the playground and/or for a "paleta".
The green salad's dressing is amazing! and you can order extra sausages without bread.
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Prater Biergarten
Prater Biergarten has everything a good beergarden should have; communal tables, an impressive beer selection, adequate shade under chestnut trees. And then there's the food. Schnitzels with just the right amount of crispy coating will suffice if you're hungry enough for something larger, or just pick at some pretzels potato salad for a snack. The friendly staff and prompt service add to the overall charm of Prater Beergarden, making it a beloved destination for locals and visitors alike.
Keep it simple with beer and pretzels for the ultimate summertime snack.
