Berlin museum cafés
Tips for special places to take a break
What would a museum visit be without a break? If you fancy a coffee and cake or lunch in the sun after the exhibition, you'll find what you're looking for in Berlin's museums: The numerous museum cafés offer the opportunity to linger and relax in special surroundings. We present some nice places to take a break.
(Status: January 2025)
Café Benjamine
Georg Kolbe Museum
Café Benjamine is named after Georg Kolbe's wife. Following extensive refurbishment, the couple's former home, which is part of the listed museum ensemble, has been home to a sustainable organic restaurant since summer 2021. In addition to breakfast, homemade cakes and coffee, the restaurant also serves a daily changing lunch menu. The menu is seasonal and focuses on the use of regional products. A fine wine list completes the offer. If the weather is good, you can enjoy culinary delights and a view of Kolbe's Dancer's Fountain from the terrace. Open daily from 10 am to 6 pm, closed on Tuesdays.
Café Bravo
KW Institute for Contemporary Art
KW Institute for Contemporary Art is one of Berlin's best-known exhibition venues for contemporary art. Café Bravo has been part of it since 1999. The glass cube was designed by the American artist Dan Graham, who has also exhibited at the Documenta. The steel construction of intertwined cubes made of polished stainless steel, a facade made of one-way mirror glass and the translucent ceiling create a fascinating spatial effect. The culinary programme is also well thought out. Changing coffee roasts and selected pastries are served throughout the week. Open Monday/Wednesday, 10 am to 7 pm, Thursday 10 am to 9 pm, Friday to Sunday, 11 am to 7 pm (also during exhibition breaks).
WeltWirtschaft
Haus der Kulturen der Welt
The Haus der Kulturen der Welt is a great place to sit in the basement with a view of the Spree. The restaurant offers a daily selection of pizzas from the stone oven, antipasti and salads. They are great for combining and sharing. There is also a large wine menu. From 5 pm you can choose from the à la carte menu. Open daily from 12 noon. Snacks and drinks are also available at the kiosk on the roof terrace and in the beer garden in summer.
Café C/O Berlin x Barkin’Kitchen
C/O Berlin
Regional products and international flavours - the café in the Amerika Haus, close to Bahnhof Zoo, combines tradition with modern and unconventional cuisine. Homemade dishes, seasonal creations, salads, simple dishes for in-between meals and a regularly changing lunch menu are on offer. The owners Antonio Rilling and Frederik Jagla work together with suppliers, roasting and patisserie partners from the region. Special events on culinary themes are organised from time to time. Changing artists constantly reinterpret the café's spaces as part of an extended space and exhibition concept by C/O Berlin. Open daily from 11 am to 8 pm.
Café-Restaurant Beba
Gropius Bau
Beba, located in the Gropius Bau since 2019, is a partnership between Cynthia Barcomi, known for Barcomi's in Berlin-Mitte, and Shani Leiderman from Infarm, a vertical gardening start-up. The café is named after Leiderman's Jewish grandmother. Beba offers creative and colourful dishes alongside home-roasted coffee and pastries. The menu, inspired by traditional Jewish recipes, focuses on freshness, variety and sustainability: leafy vegetables are grown in the restaurant's vertical garden and harvested just a few minutes before serving. Reservations for groups are possible. There is also take-away food and a brunch buffet on Sundays between 12 and 4:30 pm. Monday to Friday, 12 am to 6:30 pm, Saturday and Sunday, 11 am to 7 pm, closed on Tuesday.
Café im Haus am Waldsee
Haus am Waldsee
The café in the museum extension has an idyllic atmosphere. In summer, the seating extends far out into the large garden by the eponymous lake. The management favours organic produce and regional cultivation. Look forward to seasonal soups and salads, delicious coffee and a great selection of organic cakes from the region. Pretty flower arrangements from Wedding complete the menu. The café is open from Tuesday to Sunday, 11 am to 6 pm. Every 2nd Friday of the month from 11 am to 8 pm.
Café Dix
Berlinische Galerie
Café Dix shines in new splendour. The architecture firm Kinzo and the Berlin furniture brand Objekte Unserer Tage have brought the interior design and furnishings up to date in 2021. The cool restraint of the wall surfaces meets brightly coloured plastic stools. Since last year, the new operator BARK Berlin has been serving cakes and coffee as well as seasonal dishes, salads and small dishes for in-between meals and regularly changing hot dishes of the day - all freshly prepared and with a focus on the highest quality. Wednesday to Monday, 10 am to 6 pm.
LePopulaire
PalaisPopulaire
There is a lot to see between Bebelplatz and Schlossplatz, but hardly any opportunities to stop for a bite to eat. This has changed since the art collection moved into the Prinzessinnenpalais. In addition to exhibitions worth seeing, the PalaisPopulaire also has an original shop and the Café LePopulaire. The palace, built in the 18th century, was reconstructed in the 1960s. The internationally renowned restaurateurs from Kofler&Kompanie focus on savoury delicacies and homemade patisserie. The culinary offer is complemented by changing, seasonal dishes. There are also cakes again - for which the Opernpalais was famous for decades. Open daily except Tuesday, 11 am to 6 pm. Thursday until 9 pm.
Restaurant Baret
Humboldt Forum
The rooftop restaurant with its contemporary cuisine is particularly worth a visit. From here you can enjoy a unique view of Berlin. During the day, the Baret is a café serving small lunches, coffee and delicious cakes. In the evening you can dine on the basis of an extended menu. There are fish, meat, vegetarian and vegan dishes. The down-to-earth classics, always with regional ingredients, are often combined in surprising ways. Due to the high demand, reservations are required. Open daily except Tuesday, 11 am to midnight. Also located in the Humboldt Forum: The Lebenswelten Bistro at the arcade and the Forum Café in the staircase hall offer daily snacks and fresh cakes.
Museumscafé Max
Liebermann Villa on Lake Wannsee
There is hardly any other place with a more beautiful view of the large Wannsee. The panorama is rounded off with coffee and cake or another tasty treat in the museum café. Ordering can take some time, especially at the weekend. You will be rewarded with a huge selection of cakes and different types of coffee. There are also savoury dishes such as vegetable pizza or quiche. However, you can only enjoy these as part of a visit to the museum. Open daily except Tuesday (including public holidays). April to September from 10 am to 6 pm, October to March from 11 am to 5 pm.
Café Babette
KINDL – Centre for Contemporary Art
During the summer months, Café Babette serves good coffee, delicious homemade cakes, seasonal soups of the day and refreshing lemonades on the forecourt of the KINDL under the name "Babette's Garden". You can enjoy a freshly tapped Rollberg, a Berliner Kindl and many other hot and cold drinks: Open Wednesday 12 pm to 8 pm, Thursday to Sunday 12 pm to 6 pm.
Restaurant Buchholz
Gutshof Britz
It is not uncommon for star chefs to renounce the pressure to perform, seek a refuge away from the haute cuisine circus and refine their culinary skills in a quiet and self-determined manner. This can be experienced at Gutshof Britz, where Matthias Buchholz celebrates casual country house cuisine. The motto of the former Michelin-starred chef from the ‘First Floor’ restaurant: ‘No chequered lily of the valley, but food from Germany, reminiscent of my mother's cooking, but lightly cooked.’ The menu is small but delicious, the portions are filling and the prices are in the upper segment. Hot food is available from 12 noon to 8 pm, served in the small dining room or in the beautiful garden. Britz Palace and the Neukölln Museum are right next door.