Mata Hari Bar — Restaurant in Nuremberg

Context - I’m a tourist so my experience may be different from locals visiting this bar. I’m here to talk about my experience and some constructive critique from the lens of a tourist. We are both bartenders in the USA and would not recommend this bar to any out-of-towners.

We walked in on Wednesday, October 2nd in the evening. There were 12 people in there total (I ended up counting because of how ridiculous the service was). We walked straight to the bar and it took the bartenders 15 minutes to even acknowledge us and take our order. Another 5 minutes to pour two glasses of red wine. They were either cleaning or talking to other guests. The #1 priority as a bartender is making sure every guest has a drink in their hand before cleaning/socializing. When I bartend and I see a guest looking at me with their credit card in hand, I acknowledge them immediately and take their order as soon as I can. A simple smile or “I’ll be with you” or “one moment, please” would have been nice.

Then we sat down on what seemed to be 2 empty seats at the bar (no jackets or purses left). A bartender came up to us and said we can’t sit there because the other guests were just smoking outside. We didn’t want to cause issues so we moved to a standing table. Never heard of bartenders saving seats at the bar but ok.

Then we went to order some shots. The female bartender made eye contact with my boyfriend (who had his wallet out and ready to order), nodded, and turned around. At this point, we were angry. Then she went to another German-speaking guest who walked to the bar AFTER us and took her order. That guest also sat on a chair that “belonged” to someone who was smoking outside but the bartender didn’t say anything to her.

On the brighter side, we loved the Eisschnaps Caretta shots. The only reason why we stayed there.

If you are not a local or if you can’t speak German that well, I would not recommend this place. We ended up going to KonTiki and had a great time with the staff there. I can see Mata Hari being a good spot for locals. Just not...

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