Galão A Pastelaria — Restaurant in Berlin

this is my first negative review here ever as I know it is easy to judge something as bad. but this review is earned by the staff of GALAO in the past almost 7 years as I gave them several chances to prove me wrong:

the bircher muesli and the sandwiches are good. that's out of question. but a coffeeplace lives not only from the products and extras they serve, it's an experience. and it has to be a positive friendly one. even if it is called "self service", I want to feel some service as a customer. they have to be friendly, open, organized, focused. if you are looking for that at a cafe: AVOID GALAO here in mitte. I was returning to the place again and again with a hope: maybe the last time they just have had a bad day. maybe to much customers. maybe to much stress …

this saturday morning at 10 I was the 2nd in the queue and it took a little more than 10 minutes to watch the THREE (!!!) girls behind the counter to NOT work. obviously they have been doing something: producing chao:. wrong mixed juices, coffee in a glass as it was ment for take away, wrong toasted sandwiches. please remember: it's just 10 a clock in the morning.

it was (again) a performance hard to watch. one of the best parts of the show is the arrogant mimic of the "working" girls here as they fail and try to play cool as it is a) totally ok to waste products, the customers time, the employers money and b) great to have the I DON'C CARE ATTITUDE. bravo!

I was coming to this place so many times. and they fail indeed every visit of mine. – I AM DONE here!

if you like to wait, be not-served by unorganized staff and love to listen to their private discussions and after all pay for all that: THIS IS YOUR PLACE!

if you like other things (like quality and "a human touch") just go to MILCHHALLE, LA PRIMIATA DITA or even ST OBERHOLZ few meters down the street. sidenote: eben ST OBERHOLZ changed its image to a positive one as the service there knows how to deliver a coffee with a smile and with a system behind the counter.

GALAO?...

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (temporary rating)

I’ve been coming to Galão for almost ten years — it’s always been my quiet refuge in Berlin. The coffee, the sandwiches, the calm — all perfect. But lately, the atmosphere has changed completely.

The issue is The manager, has made the place genuinely unpleasant to visit. She dominates the room with a loud, intrusive voice that carries across the café, interrupts orders, and constantly talks over staff and customers. Interrupts orders, does not get Non-verbal communication doesn’t seem to register — every small action turns into an unnecessary conversation. It’s exhausting.

She’s even moved the juicing machine out into the main seating area (it used to be sensibly tucked away in a back room), so now the peaceful café soundscape is replaced with grinding fruit and non-stop abrasive chatter.

I say this as someone who loves this café — the coffee and food are still top-tier, and the younger staff are kind and professional. The sound tracks they chose keep my up to date. But the atmosphere that once made Galão special is gone under the current management.

This is a temporary review because I genuinely hope things improve. Bring back the calm, and it’s right back to 5 stars — just not while the present manager is...

Actual terrible place. Borderline cultural appropriation. The past 3 times I went there before closing time they refuse to serve me, how hard is it to sell me bottle chocolate milk and a sandwich. The people just hate to work and don't care for the customer.

Quick mental exercise, imagine a Mexican coffee shop opens in the middle of a big european city, and a Mexican person walks in, seeing a bunch of traditional mexican food and drinks. None of thev staff speak spanish and act dismissively and rude when you bring to their attention that it's 5 minutes before closing time and you just want to buy ONE (1) item. How would it make that person feel?

It's an affront to Portuguese cafés and would be better off closing down or changing something about...