Cafe Mia

Cafe Mia (Flash site) is a cafe with an interesting concept: it changes its color scheme "on daily basis and on weekend every half-an-hour." Figure out what color makes you look most attractive, and bring your date.

In addition to the usual cafe food and drink fare, Cafe Mia offers hot cocktails and free Scandanavian chips, which I've never tried but sound lovely on cold Berlin days. Also free Wifi!

Pappelallee 58

Koernerpark

Schierkestr. 8, 12043 Berlin

Hidden little park with a small cafe/terrasse and gallery attached. Peaceful
and relaxed atmosphere. Open Air Concerts in the summer.

Atalante

Richardstr. 112, 12043 Berlin

Cosy club/bar/gallery not far from "Cafe Rix". Regular Live-Acts and Jazz
Sessions. Food is served until about 0:30h. Check out the "Literature &
Dining" events!

Cafe Rix

Karl-Marx-Str. 141, 12043 Berlin

Very nicely decorated cafe next to the cinema "Passage" and the theater
"Saalbau Neukoelln" (which you should check out too!). In the summer food
and beverages are served outside in a little Beergarden as well. The Rix is
open daily and serves breakfast in the morning, delicous cakes and different
dishes day and night. Special tip: the breakfast/brunch-buffet on sunday!

Bambi Bar

Kollwitzstr 97 Prenzlauerberg

This is a great bar. The bartenders are the owners, and they like you to feel at home. Very good Pina Coladas.

It also happens to be within a WiFi hotspot, if that interests you.

QBA

Orienenburgerstr, Mitte

I'd call this a bar, although the food is very good too. The cocktails are very good but spendy - happy hour is until 8 if I recall. Actual Cuban staff, and on weekends, live, free music. A fun destination bar when you're feeling happy and have some euros to spend. Try the mixed tapas if you like fried things. Classy.

Razzia in Budapest

Oderbergerstr 38, Prenzlauerberg
This is one of my favorite bars in Berlin. Super friendly, great atmosphere, DJs on the weekends (but I've never seen anyone dance, except myself), no covers. Good cocktails, and there's a special drink every night for cheaper.

Click here to go to Zitty's entry for this bar with events.

Im Nu

Cafe Im Nu on Helmholtzplatz isn't anything terribly special, but they seem to have all the essentials for a nice cafe down: good location on a nice Platz, some space for outdoor seating, pleasant lighting inside, reasonable prices, and a cheap Sunday brunch. (Service can be just as slow as at any other cafe in Berlin.) I guess other places on Helmholtzplatz have those things, too, but we keep going back to Im Nu.

Marietta

Stargarderstr 12, near the Schönhauser Alle S- and U-bahn.

Despite the very cool retro furniture and decor that usually signals high prices, Marietta is actually a very friendly and reasonably intexpensive place. Latte Macchiato for about €2, and a fine croissant, fruit, and jams breakfast for about €2.50. Self-serve, so go up to the bar to order. Good music every time I've been there, and DJs on some nights. Where do I get some of those 50's floor lamps in perfect condition, though?

Cream

Schlesische str. 6, just down from the U-bahn station. One of a very few (that I know of) coffee shops in Berlin that also roasts their own beans. (Barcomi's is the other.) The results are terriffic, and certainly far better coffee than anything else for many blocks. The pastries are also a cut above the usual, and include good "American-style" brownies. The interior is also quite swank for the neighborhood, and looks more like something you'd expect to see (but don't) around the Hackescher Markt.

Marcan's

French-owned coffee bar at the Zinnowitzer Strasse U-Bahn, walking distance north of the area around Oranienburgerstrasse. There’s nowhere to sit down, but Marcan’s serves the cheapest and best Latte Macchiato in Berlin, and every other coffee drink here is almost as good. The real bargain here is the luscious sandwiches (eaten cold) and baguettes (warmed on the griddle): wonderful hams and cheeses, vegetarian options, marinated chicken, and more all on big fresh baguettes for between 2 and 3 Euros.

Gorgiel ("The Red Bar")

Zionskirchstrasse 63. We can never remember the real name of this place, Gorgiel, so we just call it Red Bar. This place must only get going after 2am (the latest I’ve been there), because it’s often almost empty. Which is weird given the cheap and good drinks and friendly staff. Plus, the inside is cleverly divided into several spaces for small groups. And everything is red.

Universum

Ku'damm 153. Fabulous designer interior with a 50’s NASA theme. They actually make great drinks. Worth it at happy hour, but expensive any other time. It can be pretty loud sitting outside on Ku’damm.

Gorki Park

Weinbergsweg 25, about twenty meters from the Rosenthalerstrasse U-bahn. The attraction of Gorky Park is its Sunday brunch. Arrive promptly at 10:00am to get a seat for this vast feast of Russian and German deliciousness. I’m not even sure what I ate, but it’s all great. The spread includes decent green and fruit salads—which can be hard to find at other Berlin brunches—and at least one soup.

Kapelle

Zionskirchplatz 22-24. Kapelle is the best of several cafes around the Zionskirchplatz just off Kastanienalle on the border between Mitte and Prenzlauer Berg.

Kappelle's mostly-bio/organic approach really works at breakfast: the pricey but giant and wonderful Kappellenfrühstuck includes several Spanish cheeses and meats. It can serve 2. Even the Kleines Früstuck is good-sized. Great coffee as well; try the Cortado. There's usually a good selection of English and German newspapers and magazines.

Weirdly, in 2005, three years after this entry was originally written, I visited Kapelle again and heard what I'm quite sure was the same CD of pleasant though forgettable jazzy electronic music that I'd heard on every visit back in 2002. Food's still good though!