Bavaria Berlin — Restaurant in Berlin

I never write Google reviews, but the treatment we received here was outrageous. We are American and one of us has very olive-toned skin. I asked (in German) for a table for 4 and we were told we could only be seated with a reservation... but also could not be seated at all because a table of 60 (?!?) people were on their way. This sounded like a lie because the restaurant was half-full already, so I walked outside and made a reservation on Google. We walked back in, showed the reservation to a female bartender who seemed nice, and then a man whom I believe to be a manager walked up next to the first employee who had lied to us and said in an annoyed tone, "You're back," and sucked his teeth at us. I showed him the reservation and he EXTREMELY RELUCTANTLY said "fine, you can sit in the corner." We were sullenly escorted to a corner, past many open tables. When he approached with menus we asked him to explain why we had been turned away when the restaurant could clearly not seat a party of 60. He responded that they did have a large party (it did not sound convincing), but also explained that they were the overflow restaurant for their sister restaurant around the corner (which had a long line outside when we passed) and had to keep tables empty in case anyone needed to come there, despite paying customers asking for a table right in front of him. This explanation made even less sense than the previous excuse, so we said "you know it sounds like you didn't want to seat us, right?" And he DOUBLED-DOWN, saying "Well, I did show you respect because I have seated you after all " ...WHAT??!?!? With that, we told him we were leaving. I have never been lied to like this or treated so badly at a restaurant and I believe it is because we are not native German speakers, or it was racism, though neither of these employees were ethnically German. It is very strange to encounter such gatekeeping at an apparent "tourist trap" that other reviews have said has terrible food. I am writing this review so hopefully others see it and avoid this place. I blame the owner, who apparently condones this behavior- You should go out of business!...

PASSIVE AGGRESSIVE & INATTENTIVE WAITERS!!!!

One star is just enough to describe our unpleasant experience in this place. After our dishes came, we were surprised by the big portion and could not finish the meal. We asked the waiter A if we can have takeaway boxes, he said “No, we don’t have boxes.” But on Google Map this restaurant has takeaway service, so I asked waiter B the same question, to which he replied “No, we finished the boxes. There are no boxes to give.” We had to not only force ourselves to eat as much as we could but also had to waste the food because of this.

The waiters were so inattentive and we waited so long for the bill. Eventually, we walked upfront to pay, which is quite ridiculous already. The waiter then pointed out that the amount on the bill “does not contain tips”, and proceed to ask me “SO how much do you want to pay?” When I stated no tip, which is normal in Germany and tips are not mandatory, he replied “OH OKAY, SO YOU THINK THE SERVICE IS BAD.”

I cannot believe the passive aggressive attitude this waiter gave when no tip is added. It only shows how much of the tourist trap place it is, by talking their customers into mandatory tipping, but also with such situation, he treated the customers like enemy.

Will never return and also not recommend this place for people who visit Berlin. You deserve better treatment. Also everything is overpriced in...

WARNING from 26 Dec 2023 Unlike other restaurants, if you pay by card the cashier will input the final amount into the machine. Which means he will rudely ask you for tips and he will either enter any amount that he likes if you don't specify the % or purposefully enter a higher amount than what is agreed even if you specify the tip %

Cashier Pressure to Tip: Because we spoke English, he knew we were not local. During payment the waiter pressured me into tipping 10%. I relented but without telling me, he added a tip amount larger than 10%.

No Receipt & Price Manipulation: The waiter did not offer a receipt, and hence I have no breakdown of the price manipulation. I only have the bank payment to "Bavaria Food Company G" as evidence of my patronage.

History of Manipulation: reviewing 1 & 2 star comments I found multiple reports by foreign tourists of tip pressuring and manipulation by the waiter. This is not the first time and likely much unreported comments.

Service not up to par: Prior to payment the waiter's attitude was already below average. Food was brought but cutleries were forgotten and I walked to the cashier to request cutleries.

Overall: No food is good enough to warrant dishonest price manipulation by staff. I hope restaurant management will take this comment seriously and train staff to...