Herman Schulz Café-Bar — Restaurant in Berlin

Herman Schulz is my favourite café and GREAT, still,... changing, and sadly - as I have been observing over the past weeks - not to the better, so what used to be FIVE STARS is hereby losing one in my own personal ranking. Let me tell you why: Ever since quite important (probably co-founding) people from behind the bar left, who provided for a laid-back and extraordinary atmosphere, there is a lack of lightness, of personal note and 'edge'; these days, hipsters come in with money, not only fur coats. And of course it's important to make money in an area which is no longer affordable. So the cups have shrunk; I feel tricked now when ordering my cappuccino; some of the new staff just cannot bring themselves to smile or know how to fill a glass properly or how to make a spritzer. Yet gastronomy can be so much fun, if you want to learn and like what you are doing or generally like people. Maybe they are still nervous or also, grieving what changed, for even old school staff are no longer at ease, it seems. I do hope they find back to what made them very special to me and others. And I am not only talking about their gorrrgeous vegan...

Very grandparents’ house type of vibe. Very chill and very cozy❤️. *They only accept cash.

I am actually quite surprised people are recommending the carrot cake! Even the staff recommended it. Carrot cake was VERY HEAVY AND GUMMY. I barely finished half of it and this is coming from a sweet-tooth person. The texture is extremely gluey. Coffee was good, but not amazing.

The kitchen is in the middle of the cafe, so any cooking, the smell just woofs all over the place. For some people it could add to the grandma house vibe, but for me personally, it was a bit too much. That is of course not gonna be a problem if you were lucky enough to find one of the outdoor chairs :)

If you want to use your laptop, you have to sit in designated areas at the cafe (tables are clearly labeled as non-laptop-tables).

*Staff are super chill and friendly.

All in all, great vibe but a bit...

3 Stars for the service not because of the crew. They are great at what they do and certainly are super tired. The explanation follows:

Herman Schultz is a "hidden jewel" of the city. Good food, with a "home-made" taste, nice cocktails and coffee, amazing vegan cakes and the environment is just as cozy as it gets. It is a great place.

I would really love if my review wouldn't be taken as a bad one, but I'll leave a note here, maybe food for thought: Sometimes it takes too long to get something. The staff is certainly overwhelmed by the amount of orders. Being able to "make your own bagel" is a nice thing, and I've no idea how long it's been like that, but it certainly takes too much time of the short staff, delaying other "simple" orders and probably turning the staff upside down from...