Prenzlauer Berg: wood-fired dinners and hand-pulled noodles

Two pizzerias with doughs all their own, a wood-fired oven in the middle of the room, a restaurant that sources from the Schorfheide, and a queue outside a noodle shop: almost all of the eight places here are between Helmholtzplatz and Kollwitzplatz, and most only open in the evening.

GEMELLO – vegan pizza that doesn’t need to say so

Prenzlauer Berg · ItalianGEMELLOOn the map

Stefan Kugler was an engineer before he started throwing pizza parties at home. After catering and pop-ups he opened GEMELLO on Lettestraße with Idan Gilony in September 2024, a pizzeria where everything is plant-based. The dough rests on biga, a pre-ferment, and the kitchen makes its own mozzarella and ricotta. The P.Berg comes with sour cream, potatoes, maple-roasted onions and truffle oil. The Nano Plate brings three mini pizzas with pickles and dips, and a gazoz, Israeli lemonade, goes with it.

ITA Bistro – the wood-fired oven in the middle of the room

Prenzlauer Berg · ItalianITA BistroOn the map

Micaela from Argentina and Javier from Colombia are known from Remi and Bar Normal. With ITA, a few doors down on Lettestraße, they opened their own small bistro. Kitchen, wine cellar and tables flow into each other, with a big wood-fired oven in the middle. Fish, meat and vegetables cook in it, such as pike-perch with roasted skin. Several plates to share with natural wine are the right amount. Closed on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.

The Grain – the high crust

Prenzlauer Berg · ItalianThe GrainOn the map

Sarah and Musa grew up in Berlin and travelled to Naples several times before opening The Grain on Gleimstraße. They call their pizza contemporary: with the right flours the dough takes on more water and gets lighter, and the crust rises high and stays airy. The crust is best eaten plain first; before that there is burrata, bruschette or fig salad. Bookings by phone.

NOVEMBER Brasserie – a Japanese brasserie with fish from the market

Prenzlauer Berg · JapaneseNOVEMBER BrasserieOn the map

The corner of Husemannstraße used to be Café November. In 2022 the team behind The Catch took it over and turned it into a Japanese-inspired brasserie. Fish and seafood come straight from fish markets in Japan and Spain, the room is clad in oak, and the house has held a Bib Gourmand since 2023. The best seats are at the small sushi counter, where you can watch the cutting.

otto – Brandenburg on small plates

Prenzlauer Berg · EuropeanottoOn the map

Vadim Otto Ursus cooked for three years in Norway, on the Faroe Islands and at Noma. Back in Berlin he fell for the Schorfheide and in October 2019 opened otto on Oderberger Straße, with 19 seats. Most ingredients come from small organic farms, producers and hunters in the Schorfheide biosphere reserve, plus the restaurant’s own garden in Buchholz. otto has since spawned the wine bar Pluto, the tavern Trio and a daytime café. The menu consists of small plates to share and changes with the seasons; several for the table is the right amount.

Jolie Bistrot – bistro cooking by Kollwitzplatz

Prenzlauer Berg · FrenchJolie BistrotOn the map

Jolie belongs to the family behind The Catch and November. The bistrot sits on a corner of Wörther Straße by Kollwitzplatz and is fitted out like a 1920s yacht, with lots of mahogany-style wood. The cooking is classic bistro food to share, such as chicken liver pâté with lingonberries or grilled sea bass with chanterelles and lemon butter. To finish there is sticky toffee pudding when it is on the daily menu. Closed on Tuesdays.

Osmans Töchter – meze in the Bötzow complex

Prenzlauer Berg · TurkishOsmans TöchterOn the map

Arzu Bulut and Lale Yanik founded Osmans Töchter in 2012. In spring 2026 the restaurant moved into the historic Bötzow complex on Prenzlauer Allee; today Arzu Bulut runs it alone. The cooking is modern Anatolian in the meze tradition: many dishes arrive at once, such as vine leaves with sour cherries, pine nuts and cinnamon, or çiğ köfte as beef fillet tartare. The kitchen is halal. As a four, one of the sharing menus is worth it; one of them is vegetarian and vegan.

Wen Cheng 1 – the first shop on Schönhauser Allee

Prenzlauer Berg · ChineseWen Cheng 1On the map

In June 2021 the brothers Rui and Peng Gao opened their first Wen Cheng at Schönhauser Allee 65, and a queue formed outside straight away. There are biang biang noodles in the Xi’an style, thick, wide and hand-pulled, with beef, lamb and cumin, tofu or aubergine with vegan mince. Before eating, the bowl is mixed thoroughly with the oil. No reservations.